Free Web NovelChapter 193: I want a useful healer
The beast roared at something to its left, and when they followed the giant eye’s direction, their faces turned ashen with terror and hopelessness.
There was another huge straightening up from behind a mountain peak, its yellowish slit eyes blazing with rage as it stared at the intruder on its territory.
It let out a booming roar in response, a challenge to the other monster.
The red-eyed monster slammed its clawed feet into the ground and let out a roar, causing the trees to uproot and hurtle toward the other monster.
The mountain began to show signs of cracks, and rock debris slid down as it tilted from the monster’s action.
"Everyone into the dungeon!" Alex barked a sharp order, his voice trembling slightly with fear.
No one needed to be told twice. They snatched their beasts’ eggs from the ground and dashed toward the hovering rocky door of the dungeon.
As they ran forward, fist-sized rocks slammed into their backs from the mountain walls.
The ground cracked, and Zoey almost slid down, but was fortunately caught by Cole.
She didn’t have time to thank him and could only run ahead with her cheetah, which was in its small form, perched on her shoulder.
The monsters ahead hadn’t gotten serious yet, and the landscape was already tearing apart. Normal beasts began running to safety.
Some were thrown back by the force of the wind, while others were crushed by uprooted trees and rocks.
Aiden and the others disappeared into the dungeon as soon as they neared the door, though not before taking one last glance at the destruction the two monsters had wrought. Their blood ran cold, and a chill gripped their hearts.
Once inside the dungeon, they slumped to the ground. Zoey felt her body trembling, her heart thumping louder in her chest from terror.
"This... monsters weren’t in the tower test... or we are finished," Daniel muttered between ragged breaths. He had never been more grateful to be in a dungeon in his life than in this moment.
"There’s no chance of survival against one of those monsters... and there are two of them." Adrian wiped the sweat from his forehead. His back was completely drenched in cold sweat.
Zoey stared at the moist, rocky ceiling of the dungeon, her heart filled with gratitude. They were lucky to be close to a dungeon entrance; otherwise, they would have been dead for sure.
"We’ll rest at the dungeon checkpoint for the night. No monsters will spawn here," Alex muttered, his words barely above a whisper.
He closed his eyes, and a vivid image of the two towering shadows flickered across his mind.
Alex thought the beast they had faced was dangerous but manageable if they fought it, but these monsters told him otherwise—he felt like an ant that could be crushed with ease before them.
Everyone’s heart was gripped by dread as they realized they needed to grow stronger if they wanted a fighting chance against those behemoth monsters.
Their earlier joy at finding their beast egg was overshadowed by the oppressive gloom of the sudden appearance of those shadows.
Meanwhile, outside, the monsters raged, fighting intensely to kill each other. One was to protect its territory, and the other to take it over.
Their surroundings were like hell on earth, with the carcasses and blood of unfortunate beasts caught in the crossfire littering the ground.
Mountain peaks had crumbled into rubble, leaving behind cracks and craters, with blood flowing through them like a river. freeweɓnovel.cøm
The red-eyed monster was gaining the upper hand. It swung its barbed tail toward the other monster, which was bleeding and had its legs dangling loosely.
The barbs on its tail straightened and pierced the other monster’s throat.
It let out a pained cry but showed no signs of dying yet. Despite its bleeding throat, it sank its fangs into the red-eyed monster’s shoulder, further angering it.
They fought until the yellow-eyed monster bled to death. Its body was consumed by the victor until only blood remained of its existence.
The red-eyed monster was badly injured, its blood matted in its fur, turning it dark.
The monster looked toward the dungeon door hovering in the air, recalling that it had sensed some smaller beasts earlier.
Finding nothing, it lay down, its size shrinking into a normal-sized beast Adrian and the rest were familiar with.
It found a cave and settled in to recover and digest the monster it had eaten.
...
Meanwhile, in the dungeon, Alex and the others were afraid to step out, worried that the monsters were still fighting and that they might be caught in the crossfire.
Since they couldn’t go out, they decided to hunt the dungeon monsters.
They stayed there until the dungeon kicked them out.
"Ah!" Zoey let out an ear-piercing scream as she tumbled freely through the sky.
Their hair whipped wildly in the air, the sharp wind deafening them as they fell toward the ground.
The mountain peak they had been on previously had crumbled, leaving them with no solid ground—the distance was so great that their bodies would splatter into a mist of blood if they hit the ground.
Adrian reacted quickly, creating a huge space tear in the air, and they fell through it.
Another space tear appeared where the stream was, where they usually washed up for the day.
Zoey fell face-first onto the grassy ground, her heart thumping loudly in her chest as she feared she might have a heart attack.
The others fell out of the space tear, landing in different positions as they hit the ground, while their beast eggs rolled safely to the ground.
The space disappeared, and Adrian felt his energy drain from his body.
"You saved us, bro." Daniel’s voice was laced with lingering fear and gratitude.
They all thanked him as they glanced in the direction where the mountain peak once stood—the air stank of blood, and vultures flew overhead, letting out excited cries.
But the forest they had teleported to was eerily quiet, with no sounds of bird calls, insects, or rustling leaves. The forest felt as if it had been stripped of life; even the aggressive fish in the stream had gone into hiding.
"The fight didn’t even affect this place, and all the beasts had disappeared. What kind of monsters were those shadows?" Marvin asked in disbelief, his eyes gleaming with respect and awe at their power.
Zoey hugged her beast tightly, trying to find safety in its warmth, but her mind kept returning to the huge shadows she saw last night.
"Should we leave here immediately? The dungeon entrance is high up, and there is no way to assess it." Zoey turned to them, waiting for their response.
She felt they should leave immediately, fearing the monster might come back for them.
Everyone shared a glance at Zoey’s question. Before their gaze fell on Alex in unison.
Alex remained silent for a moment, his gaze falling on the devastation ahead before responding. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom
"Here’s the safest place for now. No beast would dare trespass here after that battle. Once the beast eggs hatch, we’ll leave."
Zoey’s was about to disagree, but when she thought deeply about his words, she fell silent.
He was right. All the beasts here had fled because of those two, so it was practically safe at the moment. They didn’t know if the monster had gone far, and they might accidentally stumble upon it.
Everyone nodded in agreement. Daniel and Cole’s stomachs rumbled. They had been in the dungeon for hours without a bite to eat.
Their minds were focused on what was happening outside, so they didn’t feel hungry. Now that they were safe, their bodies reminded them of their hunger.
"I’ll make dinner," Zoey announced. She planned to keep busy to clear her mind.
Daniel went to gather some dried wood. While Alex brought out meat from his ring.
Marvin groaned at the thought of eating roasted meat again.
"We need a change of taste, guys. I even crave vegetables these days after how long we’ve been eating roasted, boiled, and stewed meat. Sigh... no stable food at all," he complained, then his gaze fell on the vast forest of trees, and he rose to his feet.
"I explore the area and see if there’s something different to eat." He left these words and disappeared into the trees.
Zoey watched him leave and suggested, "Why don’t we use this time and search for edible plants while we’re here?"
"Sure, no problem." Adrian accepted eagerly, his voice still weak.
"I’m in. First, let’s fill our stomachs before going," Daniel said as he tossed the bundle in his hand to the ground.
The atmosphere eased, with everyone busy doing their thing as the meat roasted.
The evening sun hung low in the sky, casting its orange glow over their five figures as they foraged in the forest.
...
Selina, in another location, looked at the meat handed to her in surprise.
She turned to Caiden, who was eating his with a questioning gaze.
"I want a useful healer, not one that might faint before the healing even starts," Caiden said in an indifferent tone.
Now that she was useful to him, he would treat her well, but once she outlived her usefulness, they would part ways.
Selina nodded blankly and took a bite of the meat. She was used to paying with her body before eating, so she wasn’t used to Caiden’s generosity.
The other women in the group looked at Selina with envy, feeling she was lucky to catch Lord Caiden’s eye.
Caiden ignored their glance, but inwardly he was thinking about Oasis City.
’Had they all come to the surface? There was no way those five cousins wouldn’t send back news,’ he thought, hoping to find them, and then traveled around without a destination in mind.
