With the potion in her bag, Hera and the others started running. They were all 1 hour away from the location where the traps were set up. However, that time was counted as people walking at a brisk pace. If they were running, they would arrive much sooner. Everyone was moving fast through the jungle, being somewhat careful with some areas that could have some of the traps they had prepared for the smaller monsters. Grilat was leading the way since he knew more about this and even had made a couple of tests, running from their base to where he would fight the Night River to see his time. Alone, he could reach that area in about 40 minutes while not overexerting himself. If he needed to rush, he could do that in just 30 minutes, but then it would require him to take a break. As everyone moved quickly through the jungle, the fighter kept looking back with a frustrated expression on his face.
"Can you guys run faster?" he asked.
Hera and her friends were not slow by any stretch of the imagination, but they didn't have any specific skills to sprint for long periods of time. Hera herself had only one skill that could increase her speed, which only worked when she was running away from something while everyone else was very similar in that regard.
"Hera and I can do a thing, but Lena and Mylo can't," Blue replied.
'Nimbus, could you take two people?' Hera asked, already understanding what Blue was talking about.
'I can, as long as it's not Mylo and someone else. He is a bit too heavy to carry with someone else,' the Sentinel replied from inside the legacy.
"I could take Lena, but that leaves Mylo behind," Hera added.
"Say that you have a skill that lets you follow them. I'll show you the path," Sammy appeared right in front of Mylo.
"You can go. I have a skill," the fighter gave a thumbs up.
Grilat looked back at the man wearing a tank top and carrying a large staff on his back. The Chief-to-be seemed a bit worried about that idea, but he decided to just believe in the group. It was already clear that he was constantly underestimating the newcomers, and this wasn't the moment to make that same mistake again.
"Ok. If you get lost, try to get back to the base. If you still can't find it, look for the river, find a safe place, and stay put. We will find you later," Grilat turned to Hera and Blue, "How fast can you move?"
Blue created a dark storm cloud under her and jumped on top of it without even stopping. Hera called Nimbus on his mount form in front of her, already running across the jungle, and jumped on his back, quickly followed by Helena, who held on.
'I won't be able to move at top speed here. There are too many roots on the ground, and the trees are too close for me to fly,' the Sentinel said.
'That's fine; you are already faster than us,' Hera said to the Sentinel before turning to Grilat, "Go as fast as you want; if we start to lose you, I'll say something."
"Fair enough. We can talk about that thing later. I kind of want one for me," Grilat smiled and picked up the pace considerably. All that interaction was made while they were still on the move. Sure, they slowed down a bit, but it was a necessary delay.
Now that he didn't have to worry about leaving them behind, Grilat ran like a madman. It was obvious that he wanted to arrive before the Night River and rest. Hera knew that one of the many potions they brought here was a stamina potion. It would help someone recover the energy they spent during a workout session but not the strain on their muscles. By taking that potion, he would still be in perfect shape to fight the Night River even after running so much. The downside was that tomorrow he probably wouldn't be able to walk since his legs would be hurting too much.
No one was saying anything, knowing that conversation could distract them from running and make them lose some time. However, Hera and Armory were having a strategy meeting. They would fight on their own against a giant beast, and it would be better to have some idea of what they should do instead of just going in blind. Daskka was also helping with that since she could become a giant creature made out of mist. Their theory was that the Night River would have similar weaknesses.
Twenty minutes went by in a flash, and the enormous 100-meter-tall trees soon broke open into a large clearing. Somehow, the trees became thicker just as they crossed, forcing everyone to dismount and squeeze by the dark brown trunks. The ground in the natural arena didn't have a single piece of vegetation, but it wasn't completely flat. It was a small funnel to the center, almost like an explosion cleared out everything that was once in there, including a straight line that went all the way to the river. When thinking about it, Hera realized that this whole setup looked a lot like an impact crater made by a meteor. The part that was hard to understand was why the vegetation never reclaimed the 400-meter-wide clearing. Her only idea was that whatever fell here had some proprietress that infected the area and destroyed everything it touched, some sort of radiation or blight that ate up everything. Either way, this opening gave way for the sunlight to reach the floor, making Hera happy not to be in the dark jungle that didn't seem ever to be touched by the warmth of the sun.
Grilat gestured for them not to move as they squeezed by the rim of the crater. He pointed out that most of the outer layer of the area was flat, and that's because the traps were all there. As they slowly walked around the crater, Hera noticed the smell of fresh water and turned to the river, seeing it for the first time in all its glory. From what everyone talked about, she expected a small stream or something, maybe 5 to 10 meters wide. Not enough to be dangerous, but enough to carry a small boat. However, when it came into view, she was surprised to see something at least five times bigger than she expected. This wasn't the small river that would eventually connect to a larger body of water; this was the kind of river that could cross a continent and still fight back against the ocean for hundreds, if not thousands, of meters. The speed of the stream was also something she had never taken into account. Anyone who fell inside it would struggle to fight against the current.
"Is the Night River walking by the river or in it?" Helena asked.
"In it, but it stays close to the shore. If it were in the middle of it, it wouldn't be able to fight the current from below," Grilat said between breaths; he walked closer to the river, not enough to be dangerous but so that he could see upstream.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
"How deep is the middle?" Hera asked.
"Don't know. No one ever managed to check that and come back."
"And the Night River does what? Just walks?"
"It is known to swim in the middle when trying to reach some place faster, but usually, it only walks along, catching food. There is a funny story… Shit!" Grilat jumped up and pointed upstream.
There was a mass of deep blue water that clashed with the green-brown liquid that they were seeing in the river itself. The lump was in the middle of the river, and it was approaching fast.
"What do we do?" Hera asked.
"Go hide in the forest. I'm the only one with a taunt strong enough to stop it now," Grilat replied.
"Are you sure? I also have a taunt skill," Blue asked.
"I don't know, but we only have one chance, and I'm not willing to take the risk. But stay close; if mine doesn't work, feel free to use yours," Grilat grabbed an orange potion from his belt and downed it at once. His breathing became steady, and his posture shifted, showing that all his tiredness was gone.
Hera and Helena nodded and moved back inside the forest. Grilat told them to stay by the path to the river, it would be easier for them to get in and out, and they wouldn't have to worry about the traps around the crater. With a nod, they all moved away. Blue was close by to try to pull the Night River in case things didn't work. The fighter waited for the monster to get closer and pointed at it. A strand of red light shot out of his hand and touched the lump of blue water that moved in response. The face of a wolf came out of the water as if it was a crocodile and looked around. When the eyes, or what seemed to be eyes, found Grilat, the creature moved to the side and came ashore a few dozen meters away from the entrance. A loud, gargled roar echoed through the jungle, making some of the trees shake violently. What followed was the sound of heavy splashing, getting closer and closer. Grilat steeled himself while the monster approached, and only when it was close enough not to break the line of sight that the fighter dash towards the crater.
When the man passed, Hera had the first full view of the creature. In essence, they were fighting water. A water elemental with two very long and apparently muscular arms and a set of short legs compared to the rest of its body. Hera could see muscles or shapes that resembled muscles. Its face was that of a wolf, with a pair of ears that were much longer than what one would expect and a set of teeth that seemed to be constantly moving, almost like a chainsaw made out of water. The creature was much darker than anyone made it out to be, with the water looking like what one would see in the ocean during a storm. However, she understood why they said that only its center was filled with shadows. When the sunlight hit the creature, most of its body would be translucent, with only a small part in the middle able to stop the light completely.
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Night River - Level 35
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The level was much higher than she expected, especially since the room should only have creatures up to level 31. Grilat was in the middle of the crater when the fight began. The main issue with all of this wasn't just fighting the monster, which was already a problem by itself, but keeping it from turning away by not dealing too much damage, which ended up being just a defensive marathon. Yet, the Chief-to-be did an incredible job. He managed to stall the Night River on his own for 15 minutes before he started making mistakes. When the man pushed the monster away, making it fall to the ground as some of the water on its arm splashed away, the ears of the creature turned into water whips that lashed out at Grilat, pushing him to the side and making him fall into one of the traps.
'Nimbus!' Hera called even if it wasn't necessary.
The Sentinel was already prepared to intervene if something like that happened or if Grilat got into a position where it seemed, he would be in trouble. Coming out of nowhere, the bipedal form of Nimbus grabbed the man fighting the Night River and flew away with him. As the creature became distracted, Hera tossed a couple of paralyzing bolts at it, as her entire court, empowered by the Elemental Strength spell, lunged at the Wolf-ape, getting its attention as it roared one more time and tried to dodge the incoming attacks. However, its large body wasn't made for quick movements. The paralyzing bolt hit but wasn't able to trigger any effects, while Frost managed to freeze a part of its arm.
"Take a break. I got this!" She yelled angrily, trying to pretend she was talking with the Night River, not Grilat, who was already squeezing through the tree line and thanking Nimbus for the save.
Seeing the effect of Frost, she told the Glaive to pull back and focus on defense. If too much of the Night River was frozen, she was afraid that it would try to run away. Lurize was also there, but in his weapon form to not show they had the numbers. He was also not using his poison since spells like that would eventually deal enough damage to be a problem. Ironically, Hera had to jump around and dodge all the attacks like she was a monkey herself. More than once, she was saved by one of her court members, who blocked one of the attacks when she was caught in a bad position. Hera tried having Daskka help out, but when the monster started to absorb the mist into its form, she had to call the snake back. After ten minutes, she was hit by a similar strike as the one that took Grilat out of the crater. The ears of the Night River turned into whips and pushed her to the edge of the arena. However, instead of fighting back against that force, she leaned into it, using the momentum to hit a tree and jump toward the monster. As smart as she felt at the moment, she quickly realized that this was a massive mistake. The Night River didn't anticipate that she would move away and instead threw a punch with its full force at the same location where she landed. Now, she was moving in the air, going to meet that fist, and there was nothing she could do to change her trajectory. The arm that was able to crack the ground and break the trees was about to hit her. Her fire elemental armor took a moment to gather enough heat to move her in the air, and Nimbus was back in his Tonfa form. Between changing and running, he wouldn't be able to reach her in time. Currently, only Core was close to her, and it couldn't change her path in a significant way by himself.
Instead, the fire rapier did something unexpected. It flew at a staggering speed, aiming at the giant fist, trying to stop it in its tracks. Hera saw the blade of the rapier clash against the water, and instead of going inside, it tried to push back. In slow motion, she watched as Core bent and shattered, creating a large fiery explosion. This was enough to push Hera away and the fist back. The Empress tumbled to the side, and before she could gather herself, she asked.
"Was that Weapon Break? I told you to stop the legacy from taking that skill!"
'I didn't…' before Daskka could answer that skill, the Night River roared and put both arms above its head. Then brought them down with power, but instead of it being a physical attack, it pushed out a large quantity of water from its body, creating a small tidal wave that pushed Hera against the trees and forced her to squeeze by. She continued traveling, stuck inside the wave for more time than she could understand until the water finally released her.
The Empress coughed, trying to get some air in her lungs, but she was still worried about Core; she also felt that most of her court was far away, as her mana was dropping rapidly, but they were all there except for Core. Armory and Scythe were the only two who were close to her current location.
"Daskka, what happened?" she asked as she heard a noise at her side. Looking up, she saw Kadhan walking closer to her, "The Night River pushed us. We need to go back."
"No," the witch doctor replied.
"What?"
"No. The River did what it did. Grilat is there."
"So we need to help him!"
Kadhan lowered his body to be closer to Hera and placed one hand on her shoulder, "No. Grilat dies. Unfortunately, you follow."
Hera felt a sharp pain in her stomach as a dagger held by Kadhan stabbed her in the gut.