Chapter 282

After a whole day of basically sitting and doing nothing but observing the hill valley, trying to deduce all he had seen and was still seeing, Ray realized that the world he had been thrust into was totally different than ever before.

It was like he was in another realm entirely.

Well, realm wasn’t the right word to use. But close.

Just as humans sleep during the night and work during the day, this world was the exact opposite.

The beasts were more active at night, populating the whole valley in search of prey and food.

But during the day, as the sun was rising, they would run to hide, seek shelter, and probably sleep.

One thing he noticed was that the Earth Shakers didn’t climb the hills nor try to search atop them for anything.

Which made the top of each hill a strategic resting and stopping spot for him.

Each minute throughout the past twenty-four hours he spent observing the beasts helped him formulate a plan.

The previous night, when the sea stopped crashing onto the shore, the beasts came out from wherever they were, and there, a fight ensued.

It seemed like the sea was their delivery man or something.

As the Earth Shakers were basically fighting to have the corpses of the spiders that had been thrown at their doorstep.

The Advanced-rank beasts didn’t even have the mind nor power to compete with these powerful King-rank beasts, hence they always stayed away from them.

Dragging the dead beasts from the loser’s grasp, the King-rank Earth Shakers would always find a spot to feast.

Eating as much as they could, they would leave the remaining carcass behind.

That was when Ray spotted the Advanced-rank beasts making their moves toward the carcass to eat the leftovers and sometimes, ending up in a fight just like their superiors.

Not only that.

He also noticed that the beasts, no matter the rank, could walk toward the sea but not get into it.

Contrary to the day when they were running from it, the beasts could stand in front of the sea, drink from it, or do whatever they wanted there.

The Tribrid had even tried inspecting the sea with his skill but well, it was just a sea and not much was given to him.

Just like that, the night was over and another day had appeared.

And just like the day before, the beasts were running away from the sea that was literally crashing out against the shore.

Rising and falling like a being angered.

And just like before, the Earth Shakers found their refuge against the angry sea.

While the remaining weaker beasts prowled the land, looking for a carcass to feast on.

Only rarely did he find a King-rank beast awake and roaming.

And that concluded his one-day observation as he sat down at the edge of his resting cliff with his legs hanging down the hill, his gaze fixed on the sea.

"If my inspect skill can fail to bring up something tangible, this shouldn’t, right?"

Tap. Tap.

Ray tapped the bridge between his temples twice and instantly, his vision changed.

All colors drained from the world, leaving him with a new, entirely different vision.

Looking around, he couldn’t see the hills anymore.

His vision had basically bypassed all sorts of barriers like the hills.

He could see hundreds of purple flames huddled in a particular spot a dozen meters away.

And with how they were spaced, the shelter was really spacious.

Looking behind him, he could see a few smaller purple auras huddled in a spot.

Sighing, he turned to look at the sea.

’Let’s see what you truly made of...’

His line of thought was instantly cut off as his vision flickered in and out the moment he looked at the sea.

It was like a light bulb flickering.

"Wha—?!"

Suddenly, a heavy headache assaulted his head the longer he looked at the sea.

Looking at that body of water, all he was met with was his Thermal Vision flickering in and out as if it were losing power.

Blood began dribbling down his nose, forcing him to double-tap the bridge between his brows.

Instantly, his vision returned to normal. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

The vibrant colors of the world reappeared swiftly, followed by the jagged outlines of the hills.

Grabbing his head, Ray groaned for a few seconds while his other hand wiped his nose clean of the blood.

After a minute of calming down, he turned to stare at the dark sea with newfound caution.

"So I was right... there’s something powerful in that sea. Whether it is the body of water itself or an external creature, something is hidden there and it even tried snatching my vision, huh?"

Sighing tiredly, Ray rose to his feet.

Twisting to the right and the left a few times, he heard a number of cracks in his joints before he let out a breath of relief.

He had been sitting in one spot since yesterday until now, leaving him a little sore and stiff.

’I need to be careful of that sea more than ever. I’m not strong enough for whatever it is, hence I need to avoid it totally if even King-rank beasts run from it.’

Turning his back to the water, he stared at the lush greenery and hills sprawling across the whole valley.

He kept staring at a certain spot, completely fixated on that area.

"System, how many hours left before nighttime?"

[Sixteen hours.]

"Great. So I have a lot of time on my hands."

Walking forward to the opposite edge of the platform, he peeked down at the long drop below.

It was an incredibly steep descent.

[Lasso of Light]

Instantly, sparks of illumination flared in front of Ray’s palm, and within two seconds, a short lasso of pristine golden energy was gripped firmly in the boy’s hands.

Walking over to a sturdy rock behind him, he tied the loop around it tightly.

"Increase in length."

The lasso complied, extending dynamically until it became twenty-five meters long as it fell over the edge of the hill.

Walking back to the drop-off, Ray crouched down and lifted his head to look into the distance.

"Now, let’s go see who owns those unique auras I spotted earlier."