NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9: Present – Ryun
ACT II – Ryun
Company
Ryun walked through the darkness, the pale moonlight barely illuminating his path, yet not hindering him at all. His senses allowed him sure footing and perfect sight of his surroundings. He did not allow his mind to wander; instead, he kept it blank as he walked. It was not as easy to achieve as he once could. The crystal seal over his power nagged at him. It made him feel like a part of him had been cut off, even though he could still feel it there. The fact that his skills were still under his control was the only thing that made the feeling hurt less. Still, if his skill could prevent the seal from covering it, he could probably figure out a way to free up the rest of his power.
But that was not what he was attempting to do now. He only wanted to enjoy a stroll through the woods without being hunted and without feeling the hate directed at him. Calm and peace were a few things that he had lacked on Earth. And now, even though a pack of monsters was circling around him, waiting for a moment to strike, he felt at peace. Every one of his steps was light, without the weight of his oaths. It felt good to feel so free and calm. Earth was behind him, and it would never matter to him again.
The future held promise. He could do whatever he wanted to do, could be whoever he wanted to be. The sky was, for the first time, truly the limit.
His peace was broken, however, by a monster deciding, at last, that he was simple prey. Ryun halted in his step, the black and furred shape flying through the air in front of him and missed as it overshot. Ryun heard and saw it in his mind as it hit the ground and turned impossibly fast before leaping toward him again. Ryun summoned his blade from his spatial ring. Shadow Princess appeared in his hand without its sheath, and he raised it as the beast finally came into his eyesight, its name appearing immediately above its head once his eyes saw it.
Twilight Woods Dire Wolf (LVL 90—Early Foundation)
The silver threads of his |Combat Mastery| showed him where to move and how to step to avoid the beast, while the red threads of his |Sword Mastery|
showed him how to move his sword in order to do the most damage. He ignored both.Stepping to the side and toward the Dire Wolf, he cut with a backward swing at the monster as it attacked. His sword hit it in the side, cutting a huge gash in its flesh until it hit the bone, and he felt a reverberation as his sword was repelled. The monster cried out as it fell on the ground, but it quickly turned around, looking at Ryun with glowing red eyes. It had obviously revised its estimation of Ryun’s status as prey, but already Ryun had nearly forgotten it. He was staring at his sword. It should’ve cut through the monster like it was nothing, yet it hadn’t cut through the bone. True, he hadn’t really put all of his strength into the attack, and it was a simple attack rather than a skill or ability, but still… It had been a long time since he had to put much effort into cutting through anything.
Howls rose up all around him, and Ryun turned around. In the distance, among the trees a single beam of moonlight illuminated a truly massive monster, a wolf at least twice the size of the dead one at his feet. Its name floated above its head in purple, marking it as an elite monster.
Twilight Woods Dire Wolf Alpha—Ereclaw (LVL 140—Peak Foundation)
It looked at him with piercing red eyes, its silver fur almost sparkling in the moonlight. As it studied him, so in turn he studied it. He could sense the entire pack standing all around him, just waiting to attack and avenge their packmate. But the alpha saw something in Ryun’s eyes. The alpha howled and the pack turned around, moving away from Ryun, but the alpha stayed, keeping his eyes on Ryun. The two studied each other, each measuring up the other. Then Ryun inclined his head, and the alpha turned around and ran off. He wasn’t sure because of the low light and the distance, but it looked like the monster had inclined his head at Ryun in return. He had never before met a monster that seemed to hold so much intelligence in its eyes, and he hadn’t encountered a named monster either. Ereclaw had been the name above its head, and he wondered what it having a name meant.
He turned around and shifted his thoughts to other things. He walked over to a tree, then punched it. The bark and the trunk beneath it cracked with a thunderous snap that echoed through the forest. But Ryun frowned as he looked at the damage. There was a hole where his fist had hit, along with cracks spreading all over the trunk. Most of the bark had broken off and flown away from impact. It was not the effect he had expected. On Earth, a punch like that would’ve pulverized the tree trunk, snapping it in half and sending small wood chips flying everywhere. So either he had gotten far weaker, or things on this world were tougher than they had been on Earth. The wolf he could understand—it was a higher level than anything on Earth—but a tree? He experimented for a bit, hitting any trees and rocks that he could find, snapping branches and slashing with his sword. In the end he was forced to conclude that he had been right. Everything on this world was tougher than it had been on Earth: the trees, the ground, the rocks. It didn’t matter much, as he could still produce similar effects with only his stats alone, but it was good to have more information. It always was.
With his testing done, he walked toward the wolf’s corpse and put his sword back into his ring. He had gotten eighty Essence for the kill, a fortune compared to what the most powerful monsters on Earth had given him for killing them. He wondered how much he would get if he still had his Class and could use [Reave]. Putting that out of his head, he knelt and pulled out a skinning knife. He could’ve picked up a crafting skill, but he had decided against using up another of his limited skill slots. Instead, he had learned how to skin over the years. He got to work, cutting into the monster and starting the process of harvesting it. Nothing went to waste; he even took the bones. By the time he was done the moon had started glowing brighter, turning into the sun. He wondered if he would ever get used to that.
After he was done, and the wolf parts were stored inside his ring, he stood up and walked away, heading in the direction where he could sense a familiar pattern of air vibrations. He reached the small creek and pond a couple minutes later. He disrobed, putting his black robe into his ring and then stepped into the pond, washing the blood from his hands and himself after. He took his time, floating on the surface of the pond and relaxing. It had been a long time since he could relax like this.
But fate, it seemed, was not willing to let him relax. His senses picked up voices, speaking loudly some distance away. He would’ve ignored them, but they were headed his way. With a sigh he finished up quickly and pulled out a towel from his ring, drying up and dressing. Then, he jumped into the trees and waited.
Soon a group of six people came up to the pond, and Ryun blinked at what he saw. Only one person among them was human. Two looked human enough, except for the horns and tails. Another two had green skin and looked a lot like what Ryun considered to be orcs, but the strangest being was the last. He couldn’t even tell its gender. It looked like some kind of a humanoid crustacean, with an exoskeleton, standing upright on two legs, and with two sets of arms. Its head was somewhat triangular, with ridges and indents all over. Four small beady eyes stared out of indentations in the same places where human eyes would be, and its mouth seemed to have tiny pincers. Ryun watched as they refilled their water canteens and listened to their conversation.
“I can’t believe that we got this shit duty again,” one of the horned ones said, a female.
“It’s better than digging all day like those poor bastards,” one of the male orcs responded.
“Only just barely,” the human said.
All six of them had clothes with the same color scheme: red on green. The orcs wore armor, while the human and the two demons had some kind of robes. The crustacean had nothing except a strap across its chest and a belt, probably not needing anything on account of the exoskeleton.
“We are exploring the surroundings,” the crustacean said in a monotone voice with clicks thrown in between words. “If the sect is to claim this territory, we must know what will surround the new town. That way, we can prepare for any threats accordingly.”
“I don’t know what the sect heads are thinking,” one of the orcs said. “The Twilight Forest has remained unclaimed for this long for a reason you know. No one knows what kind of monsters lurk in here.”
“And we are here to find out,” the human said.
“They should’ve sent a stronger force, or at least more than one Lord,” the orcs complained again.
“Young Master Fier is a high-leveled Classer as well as a Lord. He is fully capable of keeping this expedition safe,” the crustacean replied.
“Of course, Commander. I am not saying that he isn’t. It is just that we have no idea what is out here. And with Jork’s team still missing…” The orc trailed off.
“I understand, but we still have a job to do, and I expect you do it without complaining,” the crustacean said, ending his sentence with a series of clicks.
The orc and the others all nodded and voiced their agreements. Then they were on their way, walking deeper into the forest.
Ryun waited for them to get out of his eyesight and then he followed, keeping to the trees.