Because Ophelia had no idea where their destination was, she couldn't act haughty and lead the way ahead of Kara for an extended period, so when she found herself facing an area filled with thickets and various pathways crisscrossing through them, she had to wait for Kara to decide which path to take.
"As far as I can tell, we haven't been going in a straight line. How do you figure out which way to go to reach our destination?" Ophelia asked Kara as they began walking side by side again on one of the trails in the thicket-filled area.
"Because of the vibrations caused by our footsteps. In areas with tunnels, they propagate differently...", Kara replied. She had learned how to track creatures that moved underground during her time in The Great Moonshadow Forest, where giant earthworms were not a rarity, and she had to deal with them frequently.
Hearing Kara's words, Ophelia would have thought she was joking if she hadn't remembered that Kara could smell blood from tens of kilometers away, a clear demonstration of her senses being far superior even to those of beasts.
"Truly impressive! Next to you, the best hunting dog is just a joke...." Ophelia said, genuinely amazed by Kara's abilities but not missing the chance to tease her a bit.
Although Kara was sure that she managed to impress Ophelia, the way Ophelia expressed her admiration struck her as a little odd.
'What's she trying to imply? Does she want to compare me to a dog again? She better watch what she says, because her ass might be in danger of getting bitten in the future...'
................................
Although Kara did her best to keep her oppressive aura in check so as not to terrify the creatures in the area and to make them cause problems for the nearby settlements, the beasts still didn't dare to approach within a kilometer, thus Kara and Ophelia's journey remained uneventful. Since Ophelia was still hesitant to provide information about herself, Kara had no choice but to find topics of conversation, so over the course of the two-hour journey, Kara told Ophelia various stories from her childhood, focusing more on her adventures with her father in the woods, during which she had learned most of her hunting skills, and avoiding talking too much about Alice to maintain the cool image she wanted to create in front of Ophelia.
After hearing Kara's stories, Ophelia, who had not ruled out the possibility that Kara might not be human, had no choice but to accept that Kara was telling the truth because she didn't notice anything suspicious.
'From what I understand, Kara has been a hunting prodigy since she was just a little girl. But how is it possible for someone with a Hunter class to attain such power?' Ophelia wondered, becoming increasingly curious about Kara's secrets.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"Well, we've arrived at our destination...", Kara interrupted Ophelia's thoughts, as they approached a rock formation.
"Huh, I was starting to think we'd find a giant molehill... But I don't see any entrance to a cave or anything. Are you saying the creatures that attacked the caravans are above the rocks?", Ophelia asked, not seeing any clues as to where the so-called moles might be hiding.
"No, I'm sure they're hiding inside the rocks. They probably found some way to get inside from underground...", Kara replied, seemingly unperturbed by the fact that their mission had become much more complicated.
"So, what do we do now? If we can't find any way to get into the place where the creatures are hiding, do we have to wait here for days until they come out?" Ophelia asked again, a bit irritated by Kara's nonchalant attitude.
"Heh, if they've sensed my presence, I think there's a better chance they'll stay hidden and starve rather than coming out. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I know a way to get to them. Wait here for a moment." Kara told Ophelia and then headed toward the rock formation about a hundred meters away.
Watching Kara's back as she casually walked towards the massive rock formation with a diameter of over 100 meters, Ophelia wasn't quite sure what to expect.
'What is she planning to do? The last time she told me to stay put, she created a 5-meter crater in the ground. Don't tell me she intends to use the same method to dig a tunnel underground to reach the beasts' hiding place...'
Although Ophelia had a vivid imagination, the fact that she had only seen a fraction of Kara's power so far prevented her from guessing what Kara had in mind.
"Very well. If you don't intend to come out, I'll make sure you won't have a chance to leave this place..." Kara said when she reached a distance of about one meter from the rock formation, clearly hearing the trembling of the creatures hiding inside.
Since Kara didn't want to waste much time on this mission, she decided to unleash her powers for a few seconds to ensure that none of her adversaries would have a chance to escape. Thus, she delivered a powerful punch into the middle of the rock formation, intending to obliterate everything in her path.
"Boommm!"
Seeing how the rock formation was destroyed with a single blow, Ophelia couldn't believe that what she had witnessed was real.
"Such a thing is impossible... How?... How can anyone be capable of causing such destruction?... No, such power cannot belong to this world... It's something that belongs to the world of gods...." Ophelia murmured, unable to move from her position due to the shock caused by Kara's display of strength.
Because Kara's attack only targeted the upper part of the rock formation, some of the creatures hiding a few meters below the surface of the earth escaped with only a few injuries. However, before they could realize what had happened and attempt to flee, Kara had already reached them, passing through the rock fragments as if they were mere snowballs.
"Bang! Bang!"
Due to the dust in the air and Kara's speed, Ophelia couldn't make out how the so-called battle was progressing, but she didn't stay in suspense for long, as in about half a minute, she saw a silhouette shining in a mix of green, red, and black approaching her through the dust cloud, and when the figure got within 30 meters of her, Ophelia could clearly see that the person heading towards her was Kara, completely naked and dragging behind her the corpse of a strange creature that seemed to be a combination of a human and a mole.
'She's a true goddess. A goddess of destruction...', Ophelia said to herself as she watched Kara approaching as if Kara were the most precious treasure in the world. 'As long as she's with me, all my enemies will be destroyed... Yes, she will undoubtedly be mine...'