After several minutes of running, Vincent heard Azhara’s meek voice.
“Um, can you please let go of my hand now?”
As soon as he heard her words, Vincent subconsciously looked at his hand and immediately released hers. He hadn’t realized he had been holding her hand since they started running.
“I apologize. I didn’t realize,” he said, unabashed.
On the other hand, Azhara, who was slightly blushing, felt a sense of loss when Vincent let go of her hand.
“It’s fine…”
At that moment, an almost 10-inch crimson dragonfly with a flame on its tail passed over them.
Vincent paid no mind to it. However, when Azhara saw it, her crimson eyes shone.
“Shroud, Shroud!” she called out.
Vincent turned, curious. “What’s wrong?”
“That, that!” She pointed at the flametail dragonfly.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of that?!” His voice couldn’t help but rise.
“No, no!” She shook her head. “Flairmuse!”
Although she only said one word, Vincent was surprised to find that he somehow understood what she was trying to say.
“Do you mean that thing is connected to Flairmuse?”
Azhara shook her head before nodding repeatedly. “Food!”
“You mean Flairmuse loves to eat that?”
This time, Azhara’s eyes shone as she nodded, indicating that he finally understood what she meant.
Vincent was slowly getting used to her personality, so he saved himself from having a headache by ignoring her short way of responding.
“Then let’s follow that bug.”
The duo followed behind the flametail dragonfly. Several moments later, a rustling sound came from the underbrush, and then a sudden red figure flashed toward the peacefully flying flametail dragonfly.
As it landed on the ground, the red figure finally revealed its appearance. It was similar to a squirrel; however, it had crimson fur, and its tail had a burning flame.
“Here it is!” Vincent exclaimed in his mind. Both of them were hiding behind the bushes. Although a Flairmuse had already appeared, neither of them moved.
According to the mission information, Flairmuse was known for being elusive. Just a simple sound could make them flee in panic.
Although Flairmuse also had a strength of Tier 1 – 3 stars, similar to him, he wouldn’t be able to catch up to its innate speed.
They even had a ‘burrow’ skill, allowing them to escape through the ground.
Therefore, he waited, silently letting the Flairmuse enjoy its meal.
Soon, when it was about to completely devour the flametail dragonfly, Vincent exclaimed in his mind, ‘Now!’
However, before he could even move, Azhara, who stood silently behind him, tugged the corner of his clothes.
He turned and asked in a low voice, “What is it this time?”
Instead of answering, she only handed him a shiny gem. He observed it but found nothing useful about it.
“What do you want me to do with this?”
“Throw it,” she simply said while pointing at the Flairmuse.
Although puzzled, Vincent just followed her request. She was the one who was looking for the Flairmuse in the first place.
Even if it escaped, it would just take him some time to look for another one. It was still quite worth it compared to what she was offering him.
As per her demand, Vincent softly threw the shiny gem toward the Flairmuse.
The Flairmuse, which had just finished its meal, suddenly perked up at the sudden sound, cautiously looking around its surroundings.
Its gaze then landed on the shiny gem thrown by Vincent.
Although still cautious, it slowly walked toward the gem.
Soon, it started fidgeting with the gem, seemingly interested and happy with it.
Upon seeing this, Vincent felt it was the perfect time to move; however, Azhara beat him to it.
He saw Azhara throw a crystal ball. It hit the unaware Flairmuse. A flash of light burst out of the crystal ball, forcing him to shield his eyes.
Soon, when the light faded, the Flairmuse was nowhere to be seen. What remained was the same crystal ball Azhara had thrown.
“Yay! Shroud, I caught it!”
Azhara, obviously delighted, immediately ran and picked up the crystal ball. She then walked up to Vincent, showing him the crystal ball.
“Shroud, look! I caught it!” She sounded so happy.
Filled with curiosity about the crystal ball, he looked closer at it. He found the small figure of the Flairmuse moving inside.
He had no idea what the name of the crystal ball was or its other functions, but for it to be able to imprison a primal, even though it was only a Tier I primal, he simply understood it was certainly expensive.
Then, he couldn’t help but wonder, “Are you here just to catch a Flairmuse and not hunt it for materials or anything else?”
Baffled, Azhara tilted her head. “Yes, why would I kill them? They are so cute! No one is allowed to kill them!”
‘Okay, she probably truly likes the Flairmuse to respond with more than a word,’ he thought.
“So, what now? Is our deal done?”
Hearing his words, Azhara fell silent. She felt a sting inside her, wondering why, but she still managed a reply, “Yes…”
She then waved her hand, taking out the promised rewards.
“Here, this is all yours…”
At the moment he accepted his rewards and put them all in his storage ring, the ground suddenly shook.
“W-What’s happening?”
Caught by surprise, Azhara moved closer to Vincent, tugging the corner of his clothes.
Although also surprised, Vincent immediately summoned his [Darksteel Sword Armament] while frowning.
Soon, the earthquake became stronger, trees falling down, as if making a path for someone or something.
In the next moment, a familiar pressure he felt when he stood against Grirak came crashing down, making it hard to breathe.
With his enhanced senses, his sight could see far and better than the average unawakened human. There, he saw a humongous moving black tortoise-like Primal, heading their way.
It was over 20 meters tall.
Without an ounce of hesitation, he took Azhara’s hand, calling out, “Run!”
That thing was undeniably stronger than him, something he currently couldn’t compare with!
That thing was even tens of meters away from them, but he could already feel the pressure. He couldn’t imagine what would happen if that Primal got closer to them.
He would die if he fought that thing! No, he might die just by its pressure.
However, they hadn’t gone too far when the humongous tortoise let out a deafening roar, forcing them to halt their escape.
Groans escaped from their mouths.
“Don’t tell me, this is how my journey is going to end…” Vincent couldn’t help but mutter, forcing himself to look at the humongous tortoise.
Soon, he saw a bright light flash straight toward the head of the humongous tortoise.
Bang!
An explosion erupted, and smoke billowed.
Roar!
The humongous tortoise roared with a mix of rage and pain.
Vincent then realized someone was fighting the towering primal!
Someone is actually fighting that monster?!
Focusing his sight, he finally caught sight of a lean humanoid figure.
Humanoid because it had an appearance as though its body was made of crystals. Even its hair was like a set of spiky diamonds.
Its upper torso was bare, revealing an ice-sculpted-like crystal chest and muscles.
“Is that a Crystallian?” Vincent wondered, remembering the well-known neutral race and rulers of the No.3 Novice Sanctuary.
Hovering in the air, the Crystallian lifted its right hand.
Several sharp crystals materialized above him.
With a wave of his hand, the sharp crystals swooped down, crashing into the humongous tortoise!
Bang!
Although there was a sound of explosion, the humongous tortoise seemed unaffected by the attack.
When the smoke and dust faded, the humongous tortoise was revealed, its huge mouth widely open, with swirling water slowly charging in its maw.
The Crystallian visibly panicked when he saw its action. His crystal eyes widened as he hurriedly flew back, attempting to escape.
The Crystallian flew so fast that Vincent couldn’t even track him.
Then, like a cannon, a powerful wave of concentrated water burst forth, straight toward the fleeing Crystallian.
Bang!
Vincent clearly saw the water cannon directly hit the back of the Crystallian, causing him to be shot down straight to the ground, his fate unknown.
“The Crystallian lost?”
As his thoughts stopped there, Vincent forced himself to run, dragging Azhara with him.
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
I welcome every comments, review, and gifts!
