Well, that decision can be made once he dealt with the apparent threat.

This one seemed different than any other Quaraxi Ragnar had killed until now.

Along with the Black Lustrous Exoskeleton that gave it the Evil glow, it also fancied some translucent wings. But it seemed like they haven’t been used in a long time. Its size was slightly larger than even the Quaraxi Soldiers. With Mandibles strong enough to snap Ragnar in half and stinger ready to pierce through him.

Going by the pattern he had observed, this one should be an Arcane Menace.

Ragnar had only killed Arcane Rogues until now, but he fancied his chances even against this fella. If he chose to run than it had no chance of catching him.

He planned to finish this in one strike because extending this one didn’t seem like a very good idea. Not when there is a chance that the Nest is aware of his presence. And he didn’t want to experience the ability of a Arcane Menace.

But could things ever go as planned?

When the Creature was about to reach the spot Ragnar was hiding at, he turned invisible. If he didn’t then he would not be able to get behind this Quaraxi because it was surveying its surroundings as it moved.

Reaching the boulder Ragnar had chosen to hide at, the Quaraxi moved its head to search behind it and paused.

A drop of sweat trickled down Ragnar’s forehead. He wasn’t sure if this invisibility was as perfect in this form as it was in the Shifted form.

But his doubts were uncalled for. The Quaraxi soon looked away and walked forward without noticing anything odd.

This was his chance; he took out a Mandible from a Quaraxi Soldier that he had prepared before.

At once, he channelled his waves through his legs for the boost and through the Mandible for giving it the same effect as the dagger.

He had practiced this move several times during combat and back in his hideout. He could now directly channel the waves with adequate intensity to gain the effect in the Mandible and the boost in his speed.

His body shot forward with a boom as he instantly reached the Quaraxi. He was aiming for the abdomen this time since he planned to damage the core region directly.

What happened next was unexpected to say the least. A little for both Ragnar and Quaraxi.

The mandible was met with the stinger of The Quaraxi as if it could tell exactly where Ragnar was even though he was invisible. However, the mandible phased right through the Stinger as a liquid sprayed out from the cut.

But the mandible was no longer headed for the abdomen because the Quaraxi had moved just enough to escape the path of his attacker.

Ragnar could not let this chance go to waste. His invisibility would run out soon and would need another 30 seconds to activate it again.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

So, he adjusted his posture and changed the trajectory of his weapon to again head for the abdomen. The Quaraxi had only dodged it slightly, so it was still very much within his range.

But at this moment, Ragnar felt a vibration in the floor beneath him. And in the next moment, the floor raised him up, messing up his balance.

This must be this bastard’s ability.

The floor he stood upon kept going higher as it carried him along with it. Ragnar was already 5 feet above the ground and still moving up.

He had to do something, now, otherwise once the creature evaluated the situation, he would lose his best advantage, the element of surprise.

He used his hand to send a blast of shockwave down the tower of Earth that was raising him.

*Boom*

It shattered completely as pieces of debris pattered everywhere and a dust cloud formed in the cave.

In the next moment, Ragnar used his legs to produce the highest intensity of Shockwaves and Sonic waves that he was capable of. He used it in the air, with no support, but it still sent his body shooting towards the Quaraxi’s head like a rocket.

It pierced through the dust clouds, cutting them in two.

The Quaraxi reacted just as fast as it tried to protect himself with his Mandibles but it was futile.

Ragnar landed with a thump as his body crashed into the ground. This one was going to hurt.

But he still had a contorted smirk, the Quaraxi’s head rolled a few circles before it stopped right in front of his face.

“You have slain a Shifted Menace of the Arcane Rank, Quaraxi Drone.”

A groan escaped his lips after hearing this voice. This battle might have been short, but it was the hardest one Ragnar had ever fought.

His whole body screamed in pain, slamming into the ground with a speed close to the speed of sound was not a good experience. A normal human’s body might have blasted into pieces, but he didn’t think any bones had broken for him.

But the pain was still excruciating.

Well, he did not have much time to revel in his pain because his Sonar told him that other creatures were closing in. And there were a lot of them.

He still felt that he was not completely incapable of escaping here in one piece so he didn’t change forms.

He stood up as another groan escaped his lips and looked behind him. Several shadows were visible in the corner where the cave took a turn and they seem to be getting larger and larger.

He looked at the dead Quaraxi Drone. Pulling out its mandibles from its head, he kept them around his waist, fixing them inside the loin cloth.

Then he made a run for his hideout.

In order to gain some distance from his tail, he used his shockwaves to boost his speed. He still had essence left because he had only used the waves at full throttle for an instant.

After running for a minute or two, he noticed something strange, again.

An eerie silence hung in the air. He could not sense any activity in his near vicinity. At least the echoes of so many creatures moving at once should have been audible but there was nothing.

As if… they had stopped following him as soon as he got away from them.

Ragnar stopped running, he had already stopped using his ability a while ago. He looked back. There was nothing, the cave seemed even quieter than before.

He also couldn’t sense anything from his echolocation, no movements.

What did this mean? Were they scared of him? Or maybe, they refused to leave very far from their main base. But why would that be?

Ragnar continued walking as he thought about the possible reasons for their strange actions. He was tired, very tired for today. His body ached almost everywhere.

He checked the number of charges he had received.

Saturation:101/5000

*Sigh*

He had only received 6 from that battle.

After reaching the hideout, he slouched on the makeshift bed of Exoskeletons and drifted into his dreams. It felt like a cushion of furs. Even though it was more akin to a metal.

***

Ragnar woke up with a start. He had realised how big of a blunder he had made by sleeping in this hideout.

He was glad to see that he was still alive but he still felt like reprimanding himself.

After noticing that the Quaraxis weren’t following him at that moment, he assumed that they would not come for him later on either.

But that assumption had no basis, it was just a really bad decision. He was glad that they had a reason to not search the whole network for him. Because if they had, he was not confident that he would have woken up on time, considering how tired he felt before falling asleep.

Well, he was alive now so he could only be more mindful in the future.