NOVEL NEXT Chapter 10: Present – Ryun
ACT II – Ryun
Fugitive
Ryun followed the strange group as they moved through the forest, his senses tracking them easily. With most of his power sealed, he had some trouble estimating just how strong they were. He did not have any inspect skill, so he couldn’t look at them and see their levels and Cultivation. Based on the pace they set and the way they moved, he could make an assumption. The crustacean was the most powerful by far—by Ryun’s estimates, at least level sixty and in the Mid Foundation Realm. He didn’t think that his Cultivation was all that strong for his level, but Ryun had never really met anyone who had cultivated to the same extent as he himself had. Most just gathered the Essence needed for advancement and spent it to reach the next level. Very few Cultivators actually cycled Essence through their cores to strengthen them. Why waste the Essence? Ryun alone had had the opportunity and means to cycle for long periods of time before advancing.
The rest all appeared to be still in the Mortal Realm of Cultivation, and without an evolved Class, putting them at below level sixty. None of them were a threat. What had been interesting, however, were the monsters that the group had encountered in the forest. Ryun had seen no sign of the Dire Wolf pack that he had encountered the night before. Most of the monsters were close to level sixty, only one being had been over that level at seventy, and none of the creatures were beyond the Mortal Level of Cultivation. They had encountered a bear-looking creature and some giant rats that had moss growing on their backs, but that was the extent of it, and the group had been able to handle everything that they encountered.
They didn’t speak much, to Ryun’s disappointment. They were acting in a straightforwardly professional manner. Ryun was somewhat impressed. The group was well trained, and the crustacean was a good commander. Eventually, as the sun in the sky dimmed, they turned around and headed back to their base. Ryun followed, jumping from branch to branch silently. Just before nightfall they led him to a large hill that had been cleared of trees and where the start of a small town could be seen. Ryun stayed in the forest, looking at the construction from a safe distance. In the dimming light he saw a couple hundred people, some digging large holes in the ground, others cutting trees down and more making planks. They had a simple palisade running halfway around the hilltop, with two buildings already erected. Both made out of black wood, one looked like a long barn, and the other was clearly a residence of some kind. There were banners with an image of a black serpent on a field of red and green, and most people wore the same colors. Ryun sat in the tree top, looking on as the sky turned to night and the people lit torches and abandoned their work. Most retreated to the barn, a few to the tents erected next to it, and a handful to the residence. Ryun counted the guards, seeing that there were around twelve set on watch around the town boundaries.
As he watched the town he sensed another presence some distance away from him. The vibrations of its passage through the air were slight, but enough for him to notice. He turned his head and looked into the darkness, seeing nothing. He waited for a long while until finally the presence took a step into a beam of moonlight. The Dire Wolf Alpha stood there looking straight at Ryun. That surprised him—he could see intelligence in those eyes, but not only that, the monster had actually been able to tell that he was there. The wolf turned its head and looked at the town, its red eyes narrowing and studying it the same way Ryun had. Ryun’s senses didn’t catch any sign of the pack, which probably meant that the wolf was alone.
Based on what Ryun had learned from listening to the patrol, this area had not been claimed by anyone because it had been too dangerous. And if Ryun was right, the wolf and its pack were the reason for that. The monster and Ryun seemed to have reached some kind of an agreement—the wolf clearly sensed that Ryun was not easy prey, just as Ryun could tell that the monster was incredibly strong itself. The two of them remained in their spots, each studying the town, hidden in their spots.
As the moon turned into the sun, the wolf backed away and ran off, but Ryun remained. With his endurance stat he needed to sleep only for a few hours every week or so, and he was nowhere near his limit. He remained hidden as the town woke up, and he watched as they started work. He was impressed with their speed; the town looked as if it was rising up before his eyes. Patrols left, and Ryun didn’t follow. Instead, he watched. Sometime near what he would consider midday, when the sky turned completely blue, a man—one of the demon-looking ones—walked out of the residence building. His tail was split in two halfway down its length, and he had two sets of horns, one above the other. Ryun wondered if he was in charge because he looked different, or if it was because of something else. He was followed by two soldiers, both armed, one a human woman and the other a crustacean. The man was clearly in charge, both based on his elaborate combat robe with bright green and red colors, and the fact that all those around him stopped their work and bowed deeply as he passed. The man walked around the town, clearly inspecting the work and talking with a few people that Ryun had marked as supervisors, and then he retreated back to the building.
Ryun was too far away to really gauge the man’s strength, but if he didn’t misunderstand what the patrol had spoken about the day before, then the man should be in the Lord Realm, as well as high level. He didn’t know what these people considered high level, though, and Ryun wondered just how strong the man was. Ryun’s power was denied him, but his stats, skills, and perks were still his. Those he hadn’t lost. Ryun doubted that the man had anywhere close to the same stats as he did. The requirements for getting the perks that gave him such an advantage were not possible for any random person to meet.
This told him that his arrival here had not come at the same time as that of other worlds.
It didn’t matter much to him, as he had no intention of actually confronting these people, not until he figured out a way to remove the seal on his power. He waited until nightfall, and then prepared to leave. But as he was about to leave his hiding place and go back into the forest, he noticed something strange. Two forms, one adult sized and one child sized, ran into the forest. He saw one of the guards usher and let them through the perimeter. The other guards didn’t notice, and the two shapes disappeared into the forest.
Intrigued, Ryun followed after them. He jumped through the trees and quickly caught up. Down below him were two shapes, both appearing to be female from what he could see in the dark. Both were covered up, so he couldn’t make out more than that. The adult carried a sword on her hip, and held the smaller one’s hand as they ran through the forest. He followed them silently as they got away from the town. He wondered what was going through their heads, why they were running from a safely guarded town and into danger. It made him curious, and he had nothing better to do.
Then he felt a vibration in the air, one he was familiar with. His eyes turned, looking in the direction of the source. A stray beam of moonlight illuminated the source for just a moment, but enough for him to see its name.
Twilight Owl (LVL 65—Early Mortal)
Ryun changed directions, increasing his speed. He jumped over the heads of the two running forms, his feet making one of the branches creak as he used it to shoot off into the distance. He sensed the woman’s head rise alertly to the tree branches above, searching for any danger. Ryun flew and intercepted the swooping owl as it was preparing for the attack on the two running forms. It didn’t even see him coming. His hand grabbed the bird’s head, squeezing and cracking the skull, eliciting a loud pained and surprised screech from it. He landed on a branch and twisted with perfect balance, turning around and smashing the bird’s head against the tree trunk, cracking the wood as he pulverized it. A loud crack echoed in the forest as the owl died, and he sensed the woman stop and turn toward the direction of the noise. She pulled her sword out and put the child behind her back, looking into the darkness.
Ryun put the bird corpse into his ring and crouched on the branch, looking at the barely visible shape on the forest floor. The woman’s head was swiveling, looking for danger, but she couldn’t see him. After a long moment of silence, she put her sword back and pulled on the child, continuing their run. Ryun followed.
They ran for most of the night, going toward the mountains in the distance, and stopping only near dawn. Ryun could tell that the woman could still go on, but it was the child that couldn’t take it anymore, even after being carried by the woman for a while. The woman appeared to be Early Foundation Realm, but didn’t appear to have an evolved Class. Ryun had learned to recognize the signs. Upgrading one’s Class made people give off a slight sense of power, one that he couldn’t feel from the woman. He watched as she found a shrub with an opening that allowed her and the child to crawl inside. They hid, and Ryun could no longer see them. The child fell asleep nearly instantly, by the feel of her breathing at least, while the woman kept watch.
As the moon turned to sun, Ryun turned around and went back to the town. This was an interesting series of events, and he wanted to see what the reaction from the people in the town was going to be once they found out that the woman was gone. He crossed the distance in barely a fraction of the time it had taken the woman to get so far away.
Settling in to his hiding place, he watched as the town woke up.