Chapter 281

[....]

[I think it’s time to wake up, you stupid host of mine!]

The loud chime and sudden shout from the system echoed so intensely that Ray’s eyes snapped open instantly.

"Must you shout?" he grunted angrily, pulling the jacket off his face only to see the sun rising steadily up into the dark sky.

He yawned loudly while lifting his upper body upright into a sitting position.

Rubbing his eyes to clear his blurry vision, he twisted and turned, carefully scanning the entire layout of the place.

"Huh?"

He rose completely from his sitting position and dusted himself clean before walking over to the very edge of the hill he had slept on.

There, he could clearly see the creatures below.

All the King-rank beasts were running away as the sun climbed higher and higher into the sky.

’Huh?’

"Why are they running?"

They were all dashing in a single, particular direction toward another tall and incredibly wide hill.

It was as if they didn’t want to be anywhere close to the rays of brilliant sunlight, for whatever reasons best known to them.

Intrigued by their behavior, Ray sat down at the edge of the hill to observe the unfolding scene much better.

Rumble!

His stomach growled in annoyance.

Checking his system inventory, he pulled out the steak he had saved to munch on after training in the Corps, and then he stared down at the piece of meat for several seconds.

’As a Tribrid adept, I can go weeks without eating anything at all, but I think because I possess a werewolf bloodline, my physiology is different. It alters my internal metabolism and makes me hungry at weird times, even when I technically shouldn’t be.’

Heaving a quiet sigh, he bit into the piece of meat and tore through it, chewing slowly while watching the beasts below.

Some ran helter-skelter in absolute panic, while others just trotted across the rough terrain like they owned the entire world.

"Okay, so those running are likely the weaker beasts, while those calmly walking are the actual King-ranks?" Ray quietly noted to himself as he kept munching on his steak.

’Hang on....’

The Aspirant frowned as his sharp mind caught onto a subtle detail.

Now that it was daytime and he was much calmer and no longer troubled, he could easily see a few dead bodies scattered here and there across the landscape.

They were not human bodies, but rather the massive forms of the Earth Shakers.

"Hm. So they basically fight one another during the night? But for what exact purpose? Aren’t they the same spe... never mind. Even humans fight one another for one reason or another."

Ripping another bite off the meat, he licked his stained fingers and continued chewing while seeing the beasts move toward that particular hill.

It was so exceptionally wide that the top surface definitely looked as spacious as a modern road.

But not all of them headed in that direction, though.

The suspected weaker monsters just loitered around the valley, staying far away from the waters.

Now that Ray could see everything properly, he realized that the water wasn’t a clear blue like the oceans he was used to.

This body of water surrounding the valley of hills was an ominous obsidian black.

It seemed like the dark liquid was actively absorbing the light instead of reflecting any of it.

’Is that why I couldn’t see inside the water before? But during my short duration inside there, I didn’t sense any immediate threat of the sort. So why are they all avoiding the shoreline?’

At night, the water hadn’t moved close to the base of the hill at all.

It had just flowed steadily in its position as if completely unwilling to cross a set territory.

Even a single stray drop didn’t fall on the dry land.

But now, the tides shifted and crashed violently against the shore like the sea hitting the hull of a ship.

It was as if the water itself were testing the boundary with the beasts, daring them to do something and face the consequences.

Only a small quantity of his meat remained as Ray observed the phenomenon with keen intensity.

Another massive splash later, something floated with the current onto the shore.

It was a body.

’Huh...?’

Ray leaned closer, almost completely forgetting that he was perched on the edge of an incredibly tall hill.

But he didn’t have to squint much, as his great vision could finally discern what kind of body that was.

It was a beast’s body.

His eyes widened in instant recognition.

Another beast’s body washed ashore right after.

Then another, and another, until about a hundred of the exact same carcasses washed onto the land.

"Aren’t those the spider beasts that poured out from the gate? The Advanced-rank beasts? How are there hundreds of these bodies in the water?" Ray questioned aloud as his mouth hung open in disbelief.

Even after delivering the bodies, the sea didn’t stop smashing against the land.

Twisting his neck around, he watched and waited to see if any beast would venture near the water or try to grab the bodies delivered.

But for some reason, nobody was brave enough to step forward.

’Or is there a more powerful beast hidden in the depths of the dark sea? Or is the sea a beast on its own?’

Ray shuddered at his last thought, recalling that he had literally been in those waters just a short while ago.

Which meant that if the dark sea was really a living entity, he had been right in the belly of a...

"No, no. Don’t think about that."

He gulped as he tossed the last strip of meat into his mouth and then licked his fingers clean.

"I wanted to go out and look for the others. I fear we may have been tossed into different locations.

I needed to go find them, but now, I think it will be wise to observe and study this strange land before doing anything else. One more day of waiting won’t do any harm, right? They would be fine, right?"

He gulped at the grim possibility of his friends being in immense danger, but he quickly calmed his racing mind down and decided to keep looking.

His eyes and senses tracked the location of the suspected weaker beasts prowling the area and moving around carefully.

The stronger beasts were all huddled up inside a massive hill which he suspected was spacious enough to house them all.

Maybe they were even slumbering after spending the whole night patrolling the hill valley and possibly hunting.

"Tomorrow... I find the others. Tomorrow...." Ray uttered silently as he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, all while keenly observing the volatile world around him.

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A/N: Well, it’s crazy we are eleven tickets away from having our two days mass release. Unfortunately, no more time left....sigh.... I guess it is what it is because I don’t think we would be able to hit it in time before the month runs out.