The tingling scent of overgrown cacti.
The parched stench of dry sand strewn across the cracked soil.
The lingering smell of fresh droppings cooking under a jutting stone’s translucent steam.
The late afternoon sweltering wind caressed Lyshisha’s face, fluttering her robe as it left her open flesh with a glimpse of sweat.
Minutes came and went when her horizon of red valleys became a desert of sharp stones and low caves buffeted by the wings of steppe eagles and passing squalls.
They arrived at the Daojin plateau.
“Oooh, but it’s hot in here and we’re still on the edge of the desert!” she heard the merman exclaim.
The young queen smiled as she ordered her summon down.
Her feet had only reached the ground when her tigers gathered around her, their mien strong despite the betrayal given by their exhausted gazes.
Her fingers cajoled the scruff of their sweaty neck as she told them that they’ll take a break so they could recover.
Their heads melted inside the crook of her arms as they rested on the ground, their eyes merely a slit as their tongue licked the back of her palm.
She giggled. “You smelly guys will lick away my hand lotion at this rate!”
But how could she refuse their care despite their stench?
*
Forty minutes elapsed when they stepped inside the plateau with a bit of apprehension on their brows hidden within razor thin beads of sweat. “Do you have any idea about which cave would be suitable to find the ihuako rock?” she asked her fellow sect mate as she kicked a stone away.
Kamealoha scratched his head before he said, “The higher quality ihuako stones tend to be found deeper in the desert within caves that tend to have a lower elevation than the ones we’re currently in, Your Royal Highness.”
“All right, then let’s head deeper then,” she replied.
The ground scrunched by their footsteps as the air grew in heat, kicking up a few particles of dust as it swirled and eddied along the plateau.
While the group entered a canyon, a smattering of snarls echoed across the opposing cliffs.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The snarls became growls as the culprits emerged from ill-concealed holes within the jagged escarpments.
Their fur a faded gray, rising on four sturdy legs tipped with pissed-colored crooked claws, their pink snout swelled and fell below their icy eyes. Thin but sinewy tentacles studded with prickly thorns lolled on each side of their necks. Their ebony pointy ears twitched by the caress of the blistering wind.
What the hell were these wolflike monsters? Lyshisha had to know more about them.
Patalika
General Information
Average height-length/weight: 4ft-6.5ft/245lbs (male) 3.4ft-5.9ft/195lbs (female)
Quadruped mammal usually living within recessed caves in arid climates. Their barbed tentacles can not only skewer but also electrocute their foes. Such tentacles can also extend up to fifteen feet. Some of their strongest can even fire electrical bolts at a distance that could exceed twenty feet. Their bodies are immune to mental energy.
Their top running speed can reach 50 mph.
Specific Information
(Think specific information to see more)
Seriously?
They’re immune to mental energy?
The saying that “True might could be found under a tiny stone” was accurate…
Attracted by their arrival, the Patalikas pounced.
A naginata bloomed out of the mermen’s bracelet, who said, “Your Royal Highness! Please stay back and save your energy, I’ll fend them off!”
Lyshisha smiled. “You stay back and admire my might!” she said.
A passel of brown clouds appeared overhead, brewing a crunching peal of thunders in their wake.
The patalikas interrupted their assault, gazing an eerie maroon sky.
“What the—” started Kame when a flock of hazel tendril bolts rained across their four-legged foes, scorched their bodies black, reaping instantly their life.
You lost some breath! You lost 13% Stamina.
Remaining Stamina: 100%—> 87%
The remaining animals away from the massacred whimpered their way back to their caves, their ears slumped and eyes frantic, making themselves silent and scarce.
Your breath recovers!
Remaining Stamina: 87% —> 87.5/100% ¤Recovering 0.5% Stamina every second¤
At the very least, she didn’t lose as much stamina since her cultivation improved. This great news meant that she might use this trump card at least once or twice beyond her original limits.
“Your Royal Highness…” The mermen piped with an audible gasp, his weapon wobbling in his grasp.
“Let’s go now, dear,” she said with a rapid breath in her throat, shuffling forward with her pets in tow.
“ … yes…” he muttered before he followed her steps, giving a solemn but fearful glance at this impundulu of hers.
Come to think about it, he never paid attention to the summons might the previous time when he simply heard the rumble of lightning and the howling peals of their fallen enemies.
But now that he saw it with his own eyes, even though the lightning this time sounded more quiet than in the red hills, still…
Was that the might of a seventh hellish layer monster?
Undoubtedly terrifying!