Free Web NovelChapter 315: Childish Friends
Chapter 313
Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak. Tak.
From slow, unhurried steps to a rushed, fast-paced walk that broke into a full sprint, Van and Ray lunged at each other.
When they drew close, they lifted their hands into the air as if they were about to execute a high five.
Clap—!
A loud, solid, deep dab echoed as they clasped their hands in the air with broad smiles on their faces.
"Man, was I worried for nothing. I never knew Kai was with you," Ray uttered as they smoothly transitioned into a deep, brotherly hug.
"Uh... Ray," Van coughed out while tapping his friend’s back.
"What?"
"You are fucking choking me, dumbass! Have you forgotten how strong you are now, fool?!" Van choked out amidst deep, ragged breaths.
"Oh. Shoot," Ray shouted and quickly disengaged with a nervous chuckle.
Breathing deeply while tapping his chest, Van growled at his friend.
"Stupid. I missed you too."
Ray smiled sheepishly, then tilted his head in Kai’s direction.
"Oh hey, don’t you dare think of choking me too, otherwise imma stab you with a dagger," Kai scowled.
Ray smirked and, within a fraction of a second, materialized directly in front of his friend.
Kai blinked. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
"Huh? You have grown faster?"
Ray lunged forward and hugged the handsome boy tightly anyway.
"I missed your annoyingly beautiful face."
"Er... that sounds weird," Kai uttered as he returned the hug.
A few seconds passed before Ray pushed the boy back.
"Get away from me. I think I could almost feel something poking me."
Kai blinked, looked down at himself, then lifted his gaze to glare at the Tribrid.
"You bastard! How dare you lie against me in front of the girls?!"
Ray stuck out his tongue in a mocking, taunting gesture.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!" Kai shouted as he hurled his crystal dagger at the Tribrid, who calmly sidestepped the projectile, allowing it to crash harmlessly into the ground.
Without warning, Kai gave chase, and the two boys began running around the compact cave while Ray kept mocking and taunting the handsome, blonde youth.
Chloe just chuckled at the boys’ playful taunts and actions.
Trisha simply scoffed and turned her head to the side.
"Weirdos."
....
An hour later, the group had settled down after sharing stories of what they had been through so far.
Kai couldn’t help but shiver after Ray reached the part about the dark sea.
"K-K-A Kraken? Fuck. How did you survive such an encounter?!"
Ray lifted a brow in genuine confusion.
"You know about it?"
"Of course I do. Aside from my family having a library of all the different abilities they have come across so far, there’s also a record of the different types of beasts one might encounter.
Some are common, some rare, and some are so mythical that even the Big Four might struggle against them."
Ray and the girls were visibly intrigued as they leaned closer to listen to more.
"... The Kraken is one such mythical beast. Just like a few others. You need to be incredibly unfortunate to encounter a Kraken, and incredibly fortunate at that to escape its clutches.
The Kraken doesn’t have any standard ranking because those who have encountered it almost always lost their lives. Well, not everybody has crossed paths with a Kraken, but the few who did, perished in the process."
"Hpmh," Ray mused silently as he stared at the handsome boy. "So no one has defeated a Kraken before, huh?"
"Did I stutter in my explanation?" Kai frowned.
"Okay then."
Van’s gaze sharpened as he turned to look at his best friend.
"Dumbass! Didn’t you hear what he just said? Nobody has ever defeated a Kraken before, and you think you can defeat one?!!"
"....?!!!"
Chloe blinked confusedly as she looked at Van.
"But he never said anything about defeating one, did he?"
Van facepalmed himself with a low groan.
"None of you know Ray as well as I do. I can tell what he is thinking already. He is formulating a plan to deal with that Kraken."
"Huh?" Kai stared at the tech genius like he had completely lost his mind.
"Or what do you all think his ’Okay’ actually meant? Dumbass, if you do anything reckless, I will—"
"Calm down, Van. You are overthinking i—"
Van cut Chloe off as he pointed directly at Ray, who was smirking devilishly at his friend’s words.
"— Oh no," Chloe blurted out.
"Bu-Hahaha-Haha! Chill, guys. I’m not stupid enough to dive into the sea and fight the very beast I barely escaped from... yet."
"You see," Van scoffed.
Ray waved his hand dismissively, aiming to change the subject.
"Have you both found anyone else in this region?"
Kai blinked once, then refocused his attention.
"I have practically covered half of this territory in the past few days, yet there is no sign or trace of the others."
"So... it means Felix and Caster are in another region."
"How sure are you that they are even together?" Trisha asked with a raised brow.
Van was the one who answered next.
"The red gate. So far, from what I have observed, it doesn’t follow the set of rules like normal gates we are used to. But even with that, it still adheres to its own logic."
"Meaning?" Chloe asked, prompting him to elaborate.
Picking up a sharp stone from the side, Ray began sketching on the bare ground, and within minutes, a circle was drawn in their midst.
And in the circle, which represented a crude map, a region of hills could be seen, and surrounding those heights was the dark sea that stretched toward a land filled with bones.
The sketch was so accurate that it was impressive at the same time.
Anyway, Ray continued his line and drew an X in an area farther from the Bone Ridge.
"Look. Even though we were sucked into the gate together, we were ejected separately."
"Aside from me and Kai. We fell together," Van butted in.
"Right. Now, from what I was able to gather in the short time we discussed, the gate seemed to want to separate all of us from one another but, at the same time, doesn’t want to completely. Which was why I fell alone yet found Trisha and Chloe in the same region as I was."
"..."
"Coincidence? No."
Tapping on the Bone Ridge area, he continued.
"Kai and Van fell into this sector together—separated from the rest of us by the dark sea."
Tapping on the X, he added,
"Which leads me to conclude that Felix and Caster are in this region together.
After throwing a few Aspirants into the same zone twice, it won’t break its pattern nor its rules. So we need to travel here and find those two."
Everybody listened attentively, but then Trisha uttered chillingly,
"And what if they had fallen into the dark sea and been devoured by the Kraken instead?"
"...."
