I accelerated quickly, almost approaching the speed of sound even, and with the help of Arcane Eyes, I quickly found the bright Aura belonging to my friend.
The large chunks of flint and limestone falling from the sky stopped soon enough, and we were getting pelted with small pebbles for the next few minutes, until even those stopped, and the forest returned to relative peace.
Shao Lin slowed down and I stopped my magic, dropping to the ground.
[Dude, what the hell was that? It was like an apocalypse just started.]
“You tell me! That came out of nowhere.” He was breathing heavily as sweat ran down the side of his face. He wiped it off with his sleeve and fell backward into the snow. “So scary.”
I looked the way we came from. [Well, it doesn’t look like it’s coming this way. Whatever that was...]
“Hope so. That’s something for the Elders to take care of. Or maybe Grand Elders… We are still in our territory, I think.”
[Yeah…] I took out my piece of paper and recorded our escape as best I could. The direction and speed were questionable, but we shouldn’t be too far off. [But not for long.] We were closing in on the Brilliant Sword Sect’s territory. Soon we would have to cross the border.
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There was no great wall or a guard house between the two Sects, keeping people out. It was just a long stretch of forest, younger than the rest, with recent signs of damage. The border was basically wherever conflict stalled. Sometimes it pushed west, other times east. It was constantly changing, year to year.
We crossed that place hours ago and were deep into the enemy territory. We had to avoid most creatures instead of fighting them as we didn’t want to attract unnecessary trouble. However, no matter how careful we were, some things were simply unavoidable.
[Wait!] I hissed and came to a stop.
“What is it?”
[Look, over there.] Since we were far away from prying eyes, I had my Arcane Eyes constantly active, allowing for an unobstructed vision all around me. That way I noticed a few strong, but not too powerful, Auras fighting in the distance.
[I think some creatures are fighting there. They should be on your level, if not a bit stronger.]
“Should we even concern ourselves with that? What if we attract too much attention?”
[Psssh!] I waved my hand dismissively. [They are already loud enough. Come, it’s a good opportunity. We can get easy loot if we play our cards right.]
I saw Shao Lin hesitate for a moment, but who could let someone from a younger generation overtake him? Certainly not that guy, haha! And I was counting on it.
“Fine! Let’s do it!”
And we went, sneakily as Giant Rats when stealing food, we crawled through the snow, various techniques cloaking our presence.
Apart from hiding our Auras, I used Sound Barrier to keep my steps deathly quiet, on top of casting Invisibility that was close to perfect with all the experience I had in magic.
It was as if I wasn’t even there.
Shao Lin was right beside me, inside the Sound Barrier, so we could whisper to each other.
“Oh my… Look!”
He didn’t have to tell me twice. Two creatures were wrestling together, one of them like a large gray ape with four arms, and the other some kind of brownish-green lizard with way too much skin around its neck.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
Both were bigger than an elephant and the claw and bite marks on their bodies were many. They fought with such vigor and fervor, you would think they were mortal enemies. Not one of their blows was held back.
However, behind them was something even stranger, something that was impossible to miss in this world of white and gray.
It was a tree, a towering thing nearly ten meters tall, much smaller than the surrounding Ironbarks, but also much livelier.
With a comically thick trunk and a tiny, lush, green canopy, it was truly a sight to behold. But on those tiny branches way up there, were many bright red fruits, looking like small frozen cherries in the middle of summer.
[What the hell is that?!] I excitedly whispered to Shao Lin beside me. I didn’t recognize the fruit, but I could tell it had to be something good if the creatures fought so fiercely beneath it, while avoiding landing a single scratch on the tree itself.
“I can’t believe it… It’s the Neverwinter tree!” Shao Lin gasped wide-eyed. “Those things are super rare!”
[Really?! What is it used for?!]
“Absolutely nothing. The quality of the wood is as garbage as it can get, it doesn’t even burn well.”
[Bruh!]
“But the fruits…”
[Spit it out already!]
“They give slight frost resistance and can be also used in alchemy, as far as I’m aware. Neverwinter Frost Pill, that’s the name.”
I was shocked!
[That’s it? They protect you from the cold?] Like… Wasn’t that useless? I didn’t even feel cold anymore. Not really anyway. I barely felt some chill in even the most powerful snowstorms.
“No, not cold, I said frost! They protect your body from freezing, and the change is permanent if you eat enough of them, or take the pill.” Shao Lin shook his head. “It’s extremely useful against some creatures that use ice and cold. A single breath can freeze you solid, and those things prevent that. It’s extremely valuable! Oh, and they contain a bit of Essence too, but that’s secondary.”
If I had a mirror, I could probably see money signs forming in my eyes. Did I mention I was greedy? That was probably very difficult to tell since I was a very upstanding person.
So, here came a dilemma.
Two beasts were fighting for magic cherries, and it didn’t look like they were going to be done any time soon. I wanted the fruits, but I was also short on time. Wildly attacking was out of the question since it would probably damage the tree, not to mention we would probably have to fight both of those beasts if we wanted to get those fruits any time soon.
While the creatures were fighting, they weren’t too badly hurt, even if the snow was already painted red with their blood. Those were only surface wounds, anyone could tell. They were probably also concerned about a third party coming and taking their reward after doing all the hard work.
[Fucking animals! Stop being so logical and kill each other already!]
Yeah, as if their actions would change just because I wanted them to. No, wait…
The ape grabbed the lizard with its four hands and threw it over its back on a piece of exposed rock. The lizard shrieked, probably, I couldn’t hear since I was still inside the Sound Barrier, and then flipped over, enraged.
Its floppy skin below its neck began to expand and it rose on its hind legs as the balloon reached its maximum volume in a few short seconds.
[Well, shit.]
As the lizard opened its mouth, I saw three, yes, three condensed shockwaves blast out and hit the ape, one after the other, almost instantly, as the creature was thrown back as blood burst out of all of its orifices at once.
At the same time my Sound Barrier burst, and a sound wave, louder than any other, hit me and my friend beside me.
In a torrent of snow, we were blasted back and went tumbling, in such excruciating pain that, for a moment, I thought I was dead.
Blood poured out of my eyes, ears, and nose, and I could barely see, let alone hear, as I gasped for breath while coughing up blood.
That lasted for an entire five seconds until I healed myself back to full.
Shao Lin was similarly writhing in agony beside me, holding his head. We weren’t ready for a sound attack and it was as such extremely effective.
Luckily, after a few moments, he calmed down and took a pill out of his pouch, and quickly swallowed it. That seemed to do the trick as the bleeding soon stopped and he could see again.
He got on all fours and spat out some remaining blood and then greedily gasped for air. His limbs were shaking, but he was otherwise doing fine.
“What… monster!” He coughed.
I wordlessly nodded and looked at the lizard. It seemed the last attack was quite damaging to it as well as it was visibly shaking. The ape, however, was laying motionless in the snow. Still alive though, just unconscious. Which was surprising after taking a blast like that point-blank. Its vitality had to be absurdly high not to die instantly.
But then I noticed the lizard turn towards us.
[Fuck! It knows!]
The barrier broke, and it could now hear us. Or smell us, since the barrier blocked the smells as well. It was now or never!
I boosted myself as much as my body would allow and more and dashed like lightning at the beast.
The lizard began taking in air for a second sonic boom. Yeah, as if I would let it.
I gathered Chaos magic in my hands and reached it in a split second.
[Die!]