Free Web NovelChapter 26: Chapter 26: The Wounded Predator
Riven reached out for the top of the mesa and grabbed onto the uneven surface of the mesa. Using all his might, he pulled himself along with Ayala to the top.
Afterwards, he let go of his body. Both of them collapsed onto the ground drawing in sharp breaths. His gaze lingered on his mana reserves.
( Mana Reserve: 126/225)
His mana reserves were too low due to manifesting four mana daggers earlier. He wanted to take a moment to recover his mana...
However, it wasn’t the time to rest. They needed to establish a base near water and food if their survival was to be certain. Riven took a deep breath and got up.
His gaze lingered on Ayala who was trying to stand up. But her legs trembled slightly and he asked.
"You okay?"
Ayala didn’t respond immediately, instead, she rose to her feet a moment later. She drew in sharp breaths and exhaled — her legs stopped trembling.
After her legs stopped trembling, she nodded her head slightly and said.
"I am fine... It’s just that my mana reserves have become very low. I just won’t be able to use my powers for some time."
His eyes narrowed. That was bad, since he didn’t know what kind of danger lurked on the mesa, so having her support power would prove very handy.
Even worse, he wasn’t in his peak condition. The climb had physically weakened him — creating 4 mana daggers had also cost him a significant portion of his mana.
But he couldn’t do anything about it... The only thing he could do was to maximize his chances of survival.
Riven tilted his head slightly and his gaze swept across the entire mesa. It wasn’t a lush green paradise but it wasn’t barren either. Small trees with dried-up leaves were scattered across the mesa.
He could see two to three trees in front of him and some of the branches of these trees carried various types of fruits of different color and shapes.
This wasn’t all... There was also dead grass and a few cacti scattered across the mesa.
Ayala suddenly pointed towards a certain direction and said,
"The river is in that direction."
Riven turned his head around. There were a lot more trees in the direction that she was pointing at. This wasn’t because the trees were noticeably more lush and healthier.
Riven glanced at Ayala and asked.
"How do you know?"
Ayala responded.
"That’s where my guild members used to replenish our water supplies..."
Ayala paused and added a moment later.
"However, we must be very careful when approaching the river..."
Riven raised one of his eyebrows and asked.
"Why?"
Ayala responded.
"A lot of powerful monsters come to the river to drink water. Furthermore, the river is full of marine life but I don’t know if the marine life was dangerous or not."
Riven nodded his head — this was expected. Any creature that needs water to survive will need to drink water from the river.
He didn’t think much of it and walked in the direction where Ayala pointed while Ayala followed behind him.
As he walked across the mesa, the system whispered into his ears.
(You have sealed an enemy!)
(You have gained 8 sealing powers!)
(You have leveled up to 4!)
(You have sealed an enemy!)
(You have gained 10 sealing powers!)
(You have leveled up to 5)
His lips curled upwards slightly. It seemed like his subjects were obeying his command and actively growing larger as they made their way towards him.
By the time they reached him, their numbers would probably be much greater than before.
They continued walking through the mesa. As they walked across the mesa, their entire bodies were drenched in sweat, and beads of it dripped from their foreheads.
One drop at a time...
Although the mesa was much cooler than the vast stretches of sand below, it was still hot... unbearably hot. His lips and tongue turned dry.
Unable to able to bear the heat for longer, Riven took out a bottle of water from his inventory and swallowed it all in one go and continued walking.
As he walked, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. He also noticed one thing, the sand beneath his feet was decreasing. Soil full of grass was slowly taking the place of the sand as he walked forward.
A few minutes later, they came to a sudden halt not because of the heat but because of a sound. A powerful roar echoed throughout the mesa.
The roar was very loud.
Ayala turned to Riven.
"Mister, it’s the sound of a monster..."
Riven nodded his head and said.
"I know that."
Worse, the sound of its footsteps was becoming louder with every second. That meant whatever kind of monster it was... it was getting closer to them
His face darkened. He didn’t want to fight it, especially when his mana reserves were so low. So he took a look around him, looking for a place to hide.
That is when he saw it — a tree with countless withered leaves standing to his right. That was it... they could hide there.
"Follow me."
Afterwards, Riven rushed towards the tree. Ayala didn’t question him and followed him.
After reaching the tree, he started to climb to the top. When he was at the top of the tree, he pulled Ayala who was behind him to the top of the tree.
From the top of the tree, he saw a massive brown Wolf. It had bloodlusty eyes,
This wasn’t what got his attention... It was the creature’s wound that got his attention. Its fur was covered in blood, its claws broken and one of its teeth missing.
Riven locked his gaze onto the creature and mumbled.
"Scan."
The system whispered into his ears.
(The level difference is too high!)
(Scan failed!)
Riven’s face became pale. That meant the creature was at least 35.
A heartbeat later a question arose in his heart.
"Who could have done this to such a powerful monster?"
The only creature that could do this was a creature of a higher level than or at least the same level as, this creature.
