Free Web NovelChapter 11: Chapter 11: Every Lost Has a Cost
Ayala hugged the creature, pressing down on its body with her two hands. She even kissed the creature and patted its back.
He just stared at her not out of confusion but in disgust.
He hated these feral and furry creatures with a passion not because they were necessarily dangerous but because of a childhood trauma.
He didn’t want to remember, all his focus was on surviving this desert for a while and learning more about the lurking danger in the desert. Especially about the Devils of the desert.
Only Ayala could tell him more... but she was busy petting this creature. Riven just stared at her. When she was done loving the creature, he whispered.
"What are you doing?"
Ayala replied.
"Wait, what else? I am petting this cutie."
Riven stared at it for a moment. He said nothing but he didn’t understand what was so cute about these creatures. As she pet the creature, a few drops of tears streamed down her face which the creature licked off.
She hugged the creature tighter and drops of tears continued to stream down her face while the creature licked them off.
He silently stared at it, when the crying stopped. He asked.
"Do you know this creature?"
Ayala nodded and replied.
"He is the pet of our guild and the only member of the guild who survived!"
Riven blinked a couple of times not out of confusion but out of pure shock. How did a beast that survived when the entire guild had been wiped out?
There must be something special about the creature. However, he didn’t know so he had to be very wary of the creature.
"How did it survive?"
Ayala didn’t respond; instead, she kept petting him. Before he could ask anything else, she said, ignoring his previous question.
"With him... reaching my base has become a lot easier."
Riven eyebrows knitted together in confusion. He stared at the tiny creature which was no larger than those feral creatures in the real world called... cats.
How could this pathetic creature make reaching her base a lot easier? Did it have some kind of power?
Seeing his confusion, Ayala replied.
"She can suppress the sound and vibration that we make while making it if we stay close to her. This will make it difficult for monsters, especially devils of the desert to find us."
Riven didn’t say a word instead he kept staring at it. Now everything was clear. How this creature survived while her entire guild was annihilated made sense.
However, he didn’t dwell on the creature for long; instead, he asked her about an even more important question.
"You haven’t really told me much about devils of the desert?"
Ayala stopped petting the creature and fell silent. The creature also started to shiver right after he mentioned the devils of the desert.
A few seconds of complete silence later, Ayala spoke, breaking the silence.
"They are the most terrifying horrors of the desert that live deep in the sand."
"Most terrifying?"
Ayala nodded and continued.
"They have the strength to kill any living being in this desert. When they reveal their true form, the person who sees them won’t live to tell the tale."
Riven swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked.
"If people don’t live to tell the tale, how do you know this?"
"Our guild had our sources."
"What else do you know?"
"The horrors living underground may be of the king rank or higher. It’s just a guess ministry, I could be wrong."
Riven felt a chill run down his spine. A king rank... it was the fourth rank on the ladder of evolution. A rank so high that no human had ever encountered a being so powerful.
The ladder of evolution was divided into 7 tiers, Dormant, Awakened, Ascended, King, Emperor, Sovereign, and Monarch. Every 150 levels, the rank rose to the next rank.
And she was telling him that terrifying horrors could be king rank or higher. That would make the horror level 600+.
Riven gulped a mouthful of saliva in fear. For the first time, he felt fear and then he added
"If their rank is king or higher... fighting isn’t even an option."
Ayala shook her head.
As he was talking with Ayala, the system whispered into his ears.
(Your subject has died!)
(You have lost one sealing power!)
(Sealing power: 0/5
Level: 2)
Riven froze as the connection between him and one of his subjects disappeared. He didn’t freeze because of the loss of subject; instead, it was because of the second whisper that he just heard.
He had lost one sealing power — the same amount that he had gained after sealing the undead away.
It was bad... very bad since sealing power was the foundation of his strength — the thing required to level.
Now... he had lost one sealing power after one of his subjects died which was the foundation of his power. He should have 5 sealing powers now and it requires 5 sealing powers to level up.
So if he lost one more sealing power... won’t that mean his level would drop? His expression changed from shock to realization.
He stared at the subject beside him and thought to himself.
"I can’t use them carefully.*
Since every loss had consequences that he would physically fall. The loss of a level will cause a decrease in cognitive function and physical power.
So he couldn’t let the remaining level 1 Undead die. If it died then he was certain that his level would drop to 1 which was undesirable in any situation.
He had to call him back but he wasn’t sure if he could command him from such a distance even though he could issue commands mentally.
"I have to try."
Riven closed his eyes, trying to establish a connection with him. That is when he sensed his subject’s aura, it seemed like it was a few away from him.
He also felt like he could command it. So he mentally issued a command.
"Come back to me. Don’t die."
Then he opened his eyes. Although, he couldn’t tell if his Subjects had accepted his command since they didn’t respond. He was fairly sure he had accepted his command.
Because even though they were close to him, they didn’t let him know and went directly to taking action.
As he was lost in his own thoughts, Ayala’s voice echoed through his ears.
"Is anything wrong mister?"
"Nothing."
He wasn’t going to tell anyone about this fatal weakness of his. That would be suicidal and stupid. Ayala didn’t make a scene and asked.
"Shall we go?"
Riven nodded his head and they got up. Ayala whispered something into its ears. Afterwards, the creature’s body began to glow and was engulfed in a golden aura. It’s fur’s color changed from white to golden color.
The aura started to expand, engulfing everyone and only stopping when it was a few meters away from the creature in all directions, creating a thick red wall around them.
The wall disappeared as if it didn’t even exist in the first place.
"Is this it?"
Ayala nodded. He didn’t believe her completely so he jumped up and down. No sound or vibration was produced. That meant she was telling the truth.
Riven stopped jumping after confirming the power of the creature really worked and then Ayala’s voice resounded through his ears.
"Shall we head out now mister?"
Riven nodded and they started to walk following the creature. They walked past countless bones and skeletons of various creatures.
Suddenly Ayala halted her steps. He looked at her in confusion before he stared in front of him and his eyes narrowed.
Ahead of him were dozens of Undead creatures similar to his subjects. The only difference was their body structure and weapons.
Some had swords, some had axes, some had spears while some creatures’ bodies were muscular and others’ bodies were thin.
They didn’t remain still. The group of undead was constantly moving. The only reason they weren’t spotted was probably because of the creature’s power.
But Riven knew he couldn’t rely on it for too long.
Although their scent and sound were completely suppressed by the Rabbolt. If the group of undead got close enough, they could still be seen and be attacked. Riven turned towards Ayala and asked quietly.
"Is there another path?"
She shook her head and replied.
"No there isn’t mister."
Riven didn’t say a word instead he scanned a few undead creatures and his expression darkened even more. Most of the creatures that he had scanned were above level 10.
"Damn it."
