Defending against Yuri’s advances, trying not to slip and reveal the truth, Alnea thought that he might have found a new way to temper his Heart. Resolving inner conflict was fine and good, but the relentless assault of his white haired friend, that drove him right onto the verge of revealing his shameful thoughts to her, only to have him control himself right at the very last moment, was quite a good way of exercising restraints on his thoughts. Not a way he would like to use often, but it surely did feel like his Heart was benefiting from the metaphorical chase he was being put under.
Fortunately, though time was flowing slower than he would have liked, it never stopped flowing. And so, after what seemed like an eternity, Cecilia’s turn to lead them in exploring the canyon finally came to an end. Next, it was time for him to lead the way. And he could not lead without concentrating completely on the path ahead. So, though she seemed reluctant, Yuri finally gave up on asking him questions. For the moment. She still warned him that it was not over, but it was fine. Being able to rest for a while was enough.
Letting out a sigh of relief, Alnea took over the task from Cecilia, and walked towards the front of the group, entering his Spirit State along the process. That was the only way to observe his surroundings in the Night Canyons. He could also use his Aspects to light up the way, but that would be akin to marking his position in the darkness, inviting all the Oren Beasts to feast on him.
Besides, the Night Canyons were trickier than one might think that they were. Relying on just sight alone was not enough to venture its depths. Or else, one might find themselves ambushed by Oren Beasts, not to mention get blindsided by the canyons themselves. To truly explore the canyons, and their dangers, along with the fortunes they hid, one had to observe them with all their senses. Even taste, and hearing. Of course, other than observing his world through all those senses, Alnea also needed to have enough wits about himself to infer what those sensations were saying.
Like the ground. A ground, with a tangy smell, and a metallic taste meant that the ground was often covered in blood. Most probably the territory of some Oren Beasts. But that was not enough to know what kind of Oren Beast the territory belonged to. Or what its strength was. So, he observed a little more, and found that though the ground was filled with dirt, and dust, it was barely had any footprints. An Oren Beast without any feet? Like a snake?
No, if that had been the case, then there would definitely have been marks of slithering. There were none. It was as if the Oren Beasts was not used to travelling on its feet at all. As if it could fly… As if… it could walk under the ground. Raising his hand to motion for the girls to stop, Alnea listened very carefully to the ground. He listened to all its vibrations, and sound. He listened to all its thrums. Its creaks, and groans. And in them, he heard what he was looking for. The sound of an Oren Beast clawing its way through the ground underneath his feet.
He did not know how big the Oren Beast was, or even what species it was of. But for an Oren Beast to be able to move around under the ground with fast speed, and such ferociousness, it was surely not an average Oren Beast. Maybe, even the blood that he was sensing from the ground did not come because of death of its preys on the surface of the ground, but from the blood overflowing from under the ground, when the Oren Beast was done with its prey.
“It is an intermediate phase Oren Beast at the very least,” Alnea said to the girls, without even looking back at them. “One proficient in digging, and preferring to live underground… Probably some mole, or it could also be some mutated worm. In any case, it would be best if we retreated from here.”
“You are the one leading the way,” Yuri said. “The decision is yours to make.”
“…Let us mark this area as something to explore later,” Alnea said, before turning around, and leading the way back to where they had come from. This was not the first time they had to change ways because of the presence of Oren Beasts. In fact, much of their exploration was just running around, finding out which area belonged to which kind of Oren Beasts, and marking them all down, before having a couple of fights to call it a day. Their main purpose was exploration of the canyon, after all.
Or at least, that was the case for the moment. With their current strength, fighting against intermediate phase Oren Beasts would be too much of a stretch. Only Yuri would not have problems facing such beasts. Rather, she had already faced quite a few Oren Beasts in the intermediate phase of their Adolescent Stage before they gathered together to work as a team.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Cecilia, and Alnea, however, had just reached the False Rank. They had a lot of work ahead of them if they wished to fight against the stronger Oren Beasts. But then again, if they just kept running from the stronger Oren Beasts, then they would never be able to improve themselves. It was an endless dilemma. One with no answers. Or maybe there was…
Alnea stopped in his steps just as he stopped smelling the blood from the ground. The strange metallic taste of blood had faded away soon after he had retreated from the places where he had felt the Oren Beast. Even the vibrations had from the ground had stopped coming for a while. Still, it was only when the smell had stopped coming that he stopped retreating, and once again moved towards the depths of canyon, choosing to go around the territory he had just discovered.
Soon after though, he discovered the territory of another Oren Beast. This time, there were clear footprints on the ground. Thick, and deep, with each of those footprints being thrice as large as both his feet combined. That in itself was already enough to show the might of the Oren Beast. But when combined with the fact that the footprints were left on rocks, instead of the ground, it was quite obvious that the Beast was not something that they could take care of. Even if it was just because of its weight, the Beast had to be at the advanced phase of its Adolescent Stage at the very least.
Thus, Alnea was forced to retreat from the territory of an Oren Beast once again. Thankfully, the Beast had not noticed their presence. Or maybe it did, but just did not care about them. In any case, just like before, it was only when Alnea had confirmed that they had left the territory of the Oren Beast that he stopped retreating, and chose another direction to go in, rounding off around the beast’s territory. And just like that, they encountered another Oren Beast’s territory, and another, and another.
Most of the time, they were able to avoid confrontation with the Oren Beasts. At other times, by the time they noticed something was wrong, the Oren Beasts would be already upon them. In such cases, they had no choices left, but to fight. Still, most of these Oren Beasts they fought were of the initial phase. Sometimes, they even initiated attacks on the Oren Beasts on their own.
However, as time wore on, and as they kept exploring the canyon, it was inevitable for them to encounter intermediate phase Oren Beasts. Ones that they could not run away from. In such cases, they usually let Yuri hold off the Beast for a while, allowing him, and Cecilia to run away from the Beast. But as they faced against the intermediate phase Dark Wind Wolf, growling at them, making its way towards them ever so slowly, Alnea chose to do something different.
“This time, we fight.”
“Are you sure?” Yuri asked. She was, of course, not afraid of the wolf. She was at the Intermediate Stage too, after all. But he and Cecil were not. So, she asked, just to make sure. Yet before he could answer, Cecilia did so for him.
“About time we fought against a decent opponent,” Cecilia said, stretching out her hands, before tilting her head towards Yuri. “We cannot keep always keep running from them, you know.”
“…It would be better if we—
“Cecilia, and I will take it head on,” Alnea said, as he dropped off the bag from his back, feeling a lot lighter, and free in his movements. Stretching his hands out a little, just like Cecilia, he shifted to the stance of pulling out his sword, before turning towards Yuri. “Be ready to block its Dark Wind. Other than that, leave everything to me, and Cecilia.”
“…It is at the intermediate phase.”
“I know,” Alnea said, staring at the wolf just as it got ready to spring at them. “That is all the more reason why we have to do it. Like Cecilia said, we cannot keep running, or we will never be able to grow stronger. Besides, we can run now, but what about when the Heterodox Wanderers come? I am sure that none of us will be able to reach the Peak Stage by then. The difference between us, and the Heterodox Wanderers would only be greater than the difference between us, and the Beast in front of us is. If you still want us to fight those Heterodox Wanderers, then we must learn how to fight against stronger enemies.”
“…Why is it only at times like this that you can use your head?” Yuri said with a sigh, as she took out her Glyph Disc, and her carving knife from her storage pouch. “Try not to lose your limbs.”
Alnea grinned as he heard Yuri’s taunt. Though she sounded snarky, there was concern hidden behind her voice. But there was no need for her to worry. He was not the same Alnea who had stood frozen in fear, as a Wind Wolf had torn through his hands. Even if the Beast in front of him was stronger than him, it did not mean that it would win. Besides, it was not like he was fighting alone. They were a team. And they would always fight together.