novelraw Chapter 67: Trouble
Chapter 67: Trouble
The wind whipped violently around Verso as he soared over the monster infested ocean, his hands gripping the cold, stony ridges on the Gargoyle’s neck.
Beside him, Xavier rode the second Stone Gargoyle as the two massive beasts cut through the mist around the main Island. Below them, the sea churned with hidden shadows, full of aquatic beasts that would have torn a swimmer to shreds in seconds.
"It can’t be that one either. I already went there." Verso called out over the roar of the wind, pointing toward a jagged pillar of rock they were passing.
It was one of the islands he had cleared during his solo run, the Siren’s was already dead when he had reached it which meant that the cavern was likely empty.
"There are barely any other teams left on the outer ring of Islands. Where could they have gone?" Verso muttered, his eyes scanning the horizon.
He turned to look at Xavier, expecting some sort of suggestion but the blonde boy was uncharacteristically silent.
Xavier sat uncomfortably on the gargoyle, a deep and contemplative frown etching lines into his face as if he had aged a few years.
’What’s up with him? Is he still mad about the mobile game?’
As if sensing Verso’s gaze, Xavier finally spoke, his voice barely audible over the wind.
"You had two gargoyles all this time?"
Verso blinked, thinking Xavier was judging him for the hitchhiking incident with Lua again.
"I already said it wasn’t intentional. You guys were moving so fast you never gave me a chance to-"
"That’s not what I meant," Xavier interrupted, cutting him off with a sharp shake of his head. He turned his head to face Verso, his eyes searching for answers.
"How many monsters did you kill this past month? Truly?"
Verso froze for a second, the question catching him off guard. Then, it clicked. He understood what Xavier was actually asking.
In the real world, Beast Souls had a miserably low drop rate making them hard to get hands on most of time.
For an elite student with family backing, these souls were often bought or inherited. Sometimes they even need to spent a fortune to create a support team that could help them hunt creatures above their ranks.
But for a commoner who had Force Awakened way later than his classmates, the only way to amass an arsenal like Verso’s, was through a sheer bloody volume of hunting.
To a traditional summoner, Verso’s collection of Mutant beasts suggested an insane kill count in the thousands.
Xavier no longer looked at Verso as a commoner peasant but rather as a somebody who had spent the last month out grinding everyone by putting his life on the line.
Verso turned his gaze back to the front, choosing his words carefully.\
"I mean... quite a lot." He wasn’t exactly lying, given his time in the system’s version of realms.
Although he had his drop chances boosted in the Realm Menu, it did not take away from the hundreds of hours he had spent grinding to get where he was at.
Hearing his answer, Xavier went silent again, his grip on his gargoyle’s neck tightening until his knuckles turned white.
He looked lost in thought, likely comparing his own privileged upbringing to the image of a desperate commoner slaughtering thousands of beasts in the dark just to stand a chance.
The fact that Verso had two Stone Gargoyles which were monsters known to be a nightmare to fight alone in the Shattered Wilds, completely shook Xavier’s remaining sense of superiority.
The silence lasted for another few miles until Verso’s intuition picked up a disturbance on a distant rocky island.
"Is that... the Red Eyed Bat?" Verso squinted, pointing toward a larger island further out.
On the rocky plains of the islet, a leathery black, red eyed creature was shrieking as it circled the air, desperately kiting a pack of massive brown wolves.
The wolves were snapping their jaws at its heels trying to catch the flying beast, their fur covered with dried blood.
"It’s her bat! I’m sure of it!" Verso shouted, a knot of dread forming in his stomach.
Lua would never let her Mutant Red Eyed Bat struggle like that for no reason.
"Quick, let’s go down!"
He didn’t wait for Xavier as he leaned forward and commanded his Gargoyle to use it’s ability.
Aerial Dive!
Both Gargoyles tucked their wings, their stony bodies becoming aerodynamic as they plummeted toward the island like falling meteors.
Xavier snapped out of his trance instantly, his face hardening as he manifested his Lightning Spear, the yellow sparks dancing along the tip.
As they pierced through the sky and neared the surface, the scene below became horrifyingly clear.
The ground was littered with the torn, lifeless bodies of several wingless bats, which had seemed to be Lua’s main combat summons.
At the center of the carnage stood Lua herself.
Her black hair was a mess and her breath was coming in ragged gasps as she clutched her crimson rapier.
She was surrounded, but not by monsters.
Three men, clearly older than the average candidate, were walking toward her with predatory, perverted smiles.
Their gear was high end, but their eyes held a filth that no amount of gold could wash away.
"Lady Bloodveil, we promise we just want to talk," the man in the raspy voice said as he licked his lips.
He stepped over the carcass of a bat, holding up a bloodied sword.
"An innocent girl like you should not be out here all alone, it’s dangerous. So why don’t you do us a favor and let us help you out."
CRACK-BOOM!
A bolt of blinding yellow lightning hissed through the air, striking the ground mere inches from the lead man’s feet.
The man simple stepped back with surprising agility as he looked up into the sky with a smile on his face.
"Oh? What’s this?" the man chuckled as he watched the two Gargoyles level out and hover a few meters above the ground.
"Miss Bloodveil didn’t tell us she had invited more friends to the party."
Verso slid off his Gargoyle before it even fully touched the ground, his Black Scythe already manifested in his hand.
He stepped up beside the injured black haired girl, his eyes locked on the three men.