NOVEL NEXT Chapter 62
It has been a week since I left the base.
I finally arrived at the Large Rock Mountain. The path to the mountain wasn’t far, but I wasted a lot of time dealing with the Monsters I encountered along the way.
I frowned as I gazed up at the towering rock mountain. A thick cloud hung halfway up, and now and then, Monsters would appear from underneath the cloud.
Due to the distance, I couldn’t make out their features clearly, but I could recognize their long bodies and the flapping wings behind them.
Seeing several of them moving together, they were surely part of a pack. I took out the Monster Meat from my bag as I dismounted from the Nightmare.
The Nightmare drooled and wagged its tail when it spotted the meat, but this wasn’t food for it.
“I’ll give it to you later. Just step aside.”
Purr—
The Nightmare continued to stick its snout out, but I firmly pushed it away and began to cut the meat.
The cut meat would serve as bait to lure the Eagle Drake. Carefully, I started to climb the rocky mountain with the Nightmare.
The Nightmare ascended steeply, as if recalling its hometown, moving with remarkable agility.
Riding the Nightmare, I quickly reached the cloud-laden midsection of the mountain. I fidgeted with my stuffed ears and scattered the Monster Meat at a suitable spot.
The Nightmare drooled at the meat that had fallen to the ground, but unfortunately, there was no meat left to give it right now. I patted the Nightmare’s mane and hid behind the giant rock with it.
How much time passed in that state? Just as the wind, blown along with the thick clouds, was soaking my clothes, black shadows began to emerge from the foggy clouds.
With their long, torn eyes, yellow, sharp beaks, and heads covered in black feathers, they reminded me of eagles, but their bodies underneath were unmistakably lizards.
I squinted my eyes and scanned the backs of the revealed Monsters.
As described in the guidebook.
There was no doubt—it was the Eagle Drake.
Every single Eagle Drake that appeared was fully grown. Judging by the featherless wings that had grown on their backs, there was no mistaking it.
The cautiously emerged creatures grabbed the fallen meat in their mouths and hurriedly hid back into the clouds.
I kept my hand on the sword at my back, focusing on the one that had come out the farthest. Since the previously showed ones had all returned, I felt I could quickly deal with this one.
At the moment the remaining Eagle Drake picked up the meat in its mouth, I held my breath and lunged forward.
With the power of the great knight’s crest and enhanced legs through mana, I quickly closed the distance, but the Eagle Drake raised its head, sensing my approach.
Its ripped gaze fixed on me. In that moment, the Eagle Drake spread its wings, taking a threatening stance against me.
Seeing that, I frowned and planted my feet on the ground. As a result, my running speed sharply decreased, but I could adjust my sword trajectory toward the empty air.
A rapid shift in posture shifted my balance. Using my extended leg as an anchor, I poured all my strength into the unstable stance and swung the sword.
Skkk-!
The sword, wrapped in starlight, aimed for the Eagle Drake’s neck, but felt too weak at my fingertips. The elongated blade of starlight merely brushed past a few of the Eagle Drake’s scales.
Recognizing the failed attack, I immediately continued with my next move. The starlight rising into the air began to droop, leaving behind a tail as a new sword path unfolded.
The steep terrain of the rock mountain made maintaining balance difficult, but I adjusted my body position in accordance with the sword’s movements and finally stepped down with my stabilizing leg.
A thrust.
The sword, which had been rotating halfway, absorbed the starlight and launched like a shooting star. At the moment the tip of the sword struck the solid scale, a scream erupted from the Eagle Drake.
[Piieeek!]
I tried to silence its cry by targeting its neck, but my unstable stance seemed to have thrown my sword path off. Frowning, I twisted the sword.
Kwahck-!
Forcing the sword to spin as I pulled it out, the gash erupted with red blood, soaking my body, but I was able to silence the Eagle Drake’s noisy wail.
[Grrrk-]
The Eagle Drake writhed in agony on the ground, collapsed in pain.
Watching that scene, I bit my lip and shifted my gaze beyond the clouds. These were pack creatures. They must have heard the cry of their suffering ally.
As expected, Eagle Drakes began to appear from behind the clouds, just as I had feared.
“Oh no…”
This was the worst-case scenario. I could handle one or two Eagle Drakes alone, but if their numbers exceeded ten, it would be a different story.
[Kieeek!]
As the Eagle Drakes emerging from the clouds began to howl in unison, the thick fog stirred and rattled the area.
I immediately began to change the properties of my mana.
The starlight, which had a cold chill, gradually transformed, and when the Eagle Drakes emerged from the clouds before me, it became surging Blue Lightning.
I swung the sword wrapped in the lightning widely.
Kwahrlung-!
The sudden amplification of the mana carried by the Mana Stone caused a massive bolt of lightning to rain down. The blue light that erupted from the sword enveloped the bodies of the rushing Eagle Drakes. However, the scene that unfolded was not what I’d expected.
“Oh no…!”
They seemed fine. Their running speed didn’t diminish, and they didn’t flinch at all despite being covered in blue lightning.
Having never encountered such a situation before, my mind felt blank. Why didn’t the magic work? Is it possible they have magic resistance? Or are they just resistant to electric elements?
Thud- thud- thud-!
My thoughts didn’t linger long. Just beside me, I heard the rough sound of hooves, and the Nightmare grabbed me by the nape.
As my body lifted, it began to shake violently.
Flapping my short legs, I spun around and leaped onto the back of the Nightmare that had bitten my nape.
Situational assessment was complete. The Nightmare must have come racing to save me from the danger. It chose to flee rather than face numerous Eagle Drakes.
I frowned as I looked back. While the Nightmare’s choice was wise, I needed to retrieve the body of the Eagle Drake I killed to complete my mission.
“Can you run a little faster?”
Purr—
The Nightmare answered my question with heavy breaths. As I pulled on the bridle, it began to increase its speed.
Once the Nightmare truly started to run, the distance between us and the pursuing Eagle Drakes began to widen.
[Kieeek!]
The cries that had been right behind me faded away. At that moment, I immediately instructed the Nightmare to change direction. Changing direction on the steep rock mountain without reducing speed was quite dangerous, but the Nightmare handled the risky maneuver effortlessly.
The following Eagle Drakes also turned to chase the Nightmare, but only a few managed to successfully change direction. The majority of them couldn’t maintain their speed and tumbled down the steep rock mountain.
Thud- thud- thud-!
Even while changing direction, the speed didn’t decrease, so the gap between the Nightmare and the Eagle Drakes continued to grow.
Returning to my original position while riding the Nightmare, I jumped to the ground and plucked decorative feathers from the fallen Eagle Drake’s head. The goal of this mission was to take that decorative feather.
“Let’s go!”
Having secured the feather, I got back onto the Nightmare’s back. Looking back, I saw the Eagle Drakes that had rolled down the mountainside were now crawling back up.
Since I had achieved the mission objective, there was no need to fight them anymore. I tugged on the Nightmare’s bridle and began to descend the rock mountain.
Thud- thud- thud-!
The Nightmare didn’t lower its speed this time either. Instead, it utilized gravity to increase its pace.
Thok-! Thud-!
It ran almost as if flying, making the spacing between hoof sounds further apart. It felt as though I was gliding through the air.
However, that feeling of liberation didn’t last long. The Nightmare’s speed, which was nearly in free fall while running, allowed us to descend the Large Rock Mountain in an instant.
Kuwung-!
As the Nightmare landed and reduced speed, I turned to look back at the Eagle Drakes. More than ten lizards were wriggling beneath the hazy clouds, but they didn’t seem inclined to come down.
I had successfully evaded them.
“Ugh… Are you hurt?”
Purr—
I asked with a sigh of relief, and the Nightmare responded with a little snort. It seemed fine, as it prodded the ground with its front and back legs.
I tucked the decorative feather I had in my hands into a small pouch attached to my bag.
Having completed the mission objective, it was time to head back, and just as I was about to pull on the Nightmare’s bridle, the refreshing breeze suddenly shifted direction.
Turning my gaze along with my flowing hair, I spotted the murky sky.
Wondering if it was going to rain, just at that moment, dense dark clouds began to rapidly accumulate overhead.
The moment the densely spread dark clouds engulfed the entire forest, it began to rain. Heavy downpours smacked against my skin.
“This is…”
I frowned and wiped the rainwater from my face.
The cold rain was filled with rich mana.
Kwahrlung-!
The wind picked up fiercely, and blue lightning flashed through the dark clouds. I gripped the Nightmare’s bridle as I was assaulted by the heavy downpour.
The abrupt change in weather, driven by the massive movements of mana, was surely a precursor to the mana storm that Celyon always warned about.
Celyon had said to find shelter when the storm approached and wait for it to pass.
“Run!”
I tugged on the Nightmare’s bridle and raced through the forest, trying to find a suitable place to hide until the storm passed, but I couldn’t find any suitable spots.
As time passed, the wind grew even stronger, and small monsters that had been hiding in the forest were swept away into the sky.
At that moment, the wind suddenly intensified, uprooting a massive tree that stood before me. Immediately afterward, my body began to lift. It felt just like when I was descending the rock mountain.
The mana storm came suddenly. It came quickly, without even giving me time to prepare.
I held tightly to the struggling Nightmare as I swam through the ferociously raging storm.