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n

nA creature with an arrow stuck through its neck lied before Eldrian. Observing it Eldrian found that it reminded him of a black panther. But it was larger and clearly not simply a normal animal. Its fur was so dark that it seemed to absorb the light from the fire.

nEldrian could not do much more than a quick change at it as another of these Yania creatures rushed at him, from behind the darkness. Eldrian dodged to the side to avoid its attack, having had almost no time to react. The creatures blending too well with the dark of night.

nAs he readied himself for battle the beast ignored him and ran towards Floyd who was closest. Eldrian cursed, wanting to chase, but more beasts were charging in from the darkness.

nRealizing that his normal fighting style of avoiding and countering would not work, Eldrian stood his ground and instead blocked the beasts with his spear. Forcing them to fight him.

nThis quickly earned him far more wounds than he would normally get. At the start Eldrian had found an opportunity to use Observe, finding out the stats of the beats he was fighting.

nYania, Demonic Beast

nTier 1, Level 2

nHP: 186

nAttack: 20

nAttack Damage: 33.8

nArmor: 1.5

nEldrian received 17 damage when the beast's struck his armor informing Eldrian that it had likely saved his life. Not only did it make the damage to his body far less, it also greatly reduced the damage he took.

nAlong with his armor and a heal which he would receive every time his HP dropped below 50, Eldrian managed to hold two or even three beasts busy at a time.

nEldrian only managed this due to the extra speed he had gained from increasing his agility. This along with using Accelerate allowed him to act faster than the beasts. If he used Floga or Frost Needle at the right time, he would even manage to kill a beast every now and then.

nSabrea on the other hand was dealing with the beasts as if they were goblins. She would kill one with a few swings. Eldrian also did not need to kill nor keep all the beasts at him. He simply needed to slow them down. Terlas and Cadriel would kill those who tried to flank them, or if any beast got past Eldrian.

nIn this way Eldrian managed to help somewhat, earning a good number of XP from this fight.

nAs quick as it all had started, it ended. Evapius had easily killed 20 or more beasts after just two spells, while Andreas had killed a bunch more in the dark. The rest of the group had not killed as many as those two combined.

n

"Can't move out yet,

" Andreas said as he walked back into the light. Eldrian being the only one who found his actions weird. Wondering just why he was able to move in and out of the protected area without a problem.

nEldrian dismissed this thought quickly, believing that he simply did not know what Andreas was capable of. All the others find this normal, so he must have a special skill or item. Eldrian reasoned, finding this to be the most likely.

n

"In that case let's gather some of their claws. You have a dimensional storage, right Haru?

" Sabrea said as she was wiping the blood off of her sword. Eldrian followed her example and used Nidia to clean himself and his blade, his action causing quite a few eye rises. None of the others asked for Eldrian to do the same for them though, feeling that this would be stepping over a line.

nAs Nidia absorbed the blood on his spear Eldrian replied,

"Yes, but how good are the claws?

"

n

"Decent, they aren't great. I think each one will be around 1 silver, so we can get around 5 gold total.

"

nEldrian froze after he heard this, mentally he told himself that this would be split by 7. But the simple change from silver to gold was too much for him. Quickly he pulled out a skinning knife, one he had taken from Boran after skinning the Alpha, and dug right in.

nSeeing his action the others shrugged and joined. A little extra cash was always nice.

nThey finished this task as the sun rose, starting their journey again. During this time Eldrian managed to gain more and more experience. Quickly reaching level 7.

nHe did not directly spend his free attribute points, unsure how to use them. He would like to put them again in agility, already having tasted the advantage of more speed. But he was hesitant due to weapon requirements. In the end he simply saved them again, not feeling the need to use them right now. He could always dump them while fighting.

nAt the end of each day, Eldrian would practice magic. Spending around an hour where he would practice to cast Double Strike, trying to get the hang of it. His goal being to hit the same place, currently he was off by 5cm.

nAfter training his skills he moved onto spells, trying out the ideas he came up with during the previous days. Slowly Eldrian managed to change the spell, managing to slow its momentum a little bit.

nThis allowed him to learn better how nodes and pathways worked, giving him a deeper understanding of magic. He could now get Frost Needle to make a 90-degree turn, but it would lose 50% of its damage if he did this.

nEldrian only knew of the damage decrease thanks to the system informing him. Telling him that his spell had reached Rank 1 and gained a new effect; Change.

nEldrian inferred that his Change was due to him managing to change the direction of the spell, but he also felt that it was only the beginning. As such he did not stop his actions of trying to change the spell module. Or at the very least how his mana would flow through it.

nAs the days passed, the group became closer. Eldrian became good friends with Floyd, Terlas and Sabrea. Andreas would always stay quiet, distant. Shut off from the rest. Cadriel... Eldrian struggled talking to her, failing to find a common ground.

nEvapius on the other hand was just work to talk to. He would burst into fury if you tried to correct or contradict him. He also disliked jokes and would generally just brought the mood down. No one disliked him tough, his help in fights were simply too great to leave out of the equation.

nLeaving his likeability at around neutral. Terrible personality, but a great fighter.

nFinally, after 12 days of travel, they reached the area where his map said Vivian was. Eldrian having improved greatly through the constant fights and tips from Sabrea. Floyd also helped him learn better how to use and apply rejuvenation and healing magic.

n

"She's dead,

" Andreas said as soon as he saw where Eldrian was pointing to.

nThey were currently still far from the place, but they could already see it clearly. Between two mountains, filled with caves, was a lustrous green forest.

nIt was so out of place that it simply screamed; I am special!

nEldrian did not see this though, he felt that Vivian was certainly in there and alive. He felt that this might simply be an oasis in this terrible land void of plants.

nAndreas started turning around, wanting to leave as soon as possible, but Sabrea grabbed onto his shoulder and stopped him.

n

"We aren't here just for her. We also need to find out what is killing our scouting parties.

"

n

"Are you **ing kidding me?

" Andreas asked exasperatedly,

"What could not kill a scouting party?

"

n

"He has a point.

" Evapius agreed with this statement.

"Just a few kilometers from the planned path and we met a goblin shaman. We later met an army of orcs, luckily we managed to avoid them.

"

n

"Then there is also the group of trolls on the seconds day. One wandering troll almost caused us massive trouble, if a group came upon a scouting party. Then naturally they would be wiped.

"

n

"Are you all ignoring that we found no bodies other than those from the parties?

" Sabrea countered.

n

"So they took their dead...

" Terlas replied, feeling that this must be obvious.

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"And leave the dead humans. Which, need I remind you, is one of their favorite foods.

"

nThe mood of the entire group plummeted once Sabrea mentioned this.

n

"Did you have to bring that up?

" Cadriel asked, disgust clear on her face.

n

"Yes, because it is strange and means that something special is going on.

"

n

"I am afraid I have to agree with her. I don't like the idea of going in there, but we must get an answer.

" Floyd was the only one who sided with Sabrea, causing everyone to look at him in surprise.

nIt was known within the group that Floyd hated danger and had wanted to skip this mission, an order was far too heavy a thing to ignore though.

nAndreas suddenly snapped,

"Are you kidding me! You want something special, then just look in front of you.

"

n

"That! That right there is special! A freaking forest in the middle of this barren land. Look, there is no grass, none. And then there is suddenly a forest!

"

n

"I feel Vivian is still alive!

" Eldrian shouted, overcoming his nervousness and causing everyone's attention to shift to him.

n

"So what if she is? Andreas is right, if we go in then we will all be killed.

" Evapius countered, looking at Eldrian like he was looking at an idiot.

n

"But... It is our mission.

" Eldrian fought to get this out, only to get screamed at by someone else.

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"Of course you wouldn't be afraid! You won't die for real!

" Terlas shouted, irked that Eldrian was treating them like they mattered less than Vivian. He could understand that Eldrian wanted to save a friend, but he could not forgive that he would need to pay for this wish.

nConfused Eldrian looked at everyone,

"Why are you so afraid?

" This came out as barely a whisper, but everyone heard him clearly. His question was filled with pain.

n

"Do you still not get it? This is clearly the base of some really strong monsters. Maybe even Ancient creatures or devils. And if that is the case, then we are all dead.

"

n

"If they are that strong, then would they not have already noticed our presence?

" Eldrian asked, causing everyone to jump.

nAndreas darted away from the group, only to run face-first into a barrier.

nDungeon found.

nSurvive and find the hidden threat

nWhat... The... **...

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