Beast Tamer Era: Capturing SSS-ranks with the Strongest Taming System-Chapter 113: In the no man’s lands of Veloria!
The world around Ray rippled like like a mirage breaking apart under the sun before vanished entirely, dispersing like an illusion.
In the blink of an eye, he found himself once again inside the Fifth Sector’s main chamber, where the four doors leading to different challenges were located.
He looked up.
The glowing leaderboard above his head updated once more.
Ray scanned the list with a scrutinizing gaze, and when he saw his name sitting at the very top, he couldn’t help the small, satisfied smile that crept onto his face.
He was finally in the lead!
Now he just had to maintain this lead until he had cleared the trial of the fifth sector and he would end up earning the additional prize for clearing this sector.
Arthis hadn’t said what it was, but he had explicitly mentioned it was the greatest benefit attainable in the Fifth Sector.
Taking into account the treasures he had received from passing the first three challenges, Ray believed it was going to be better than a Black Gold Rank enchanted item "The Monster Palace!"
"I want to have it."
"No."
"I must have it!"
With this thought dominating his actions, he darted through the last challenge door like a bolt of lightning.
Instantly, he was caught in a swirling blue vortex and teleported to a swamp.
Standing ankle-deep in cold, murky water, he looked around with a scrutinizing gaze, taking in the view his surroundings had to present.
Dead trees stood half-buried in the water all around him.
The trunks of the trees were thick and pitch-black like a starless night, and their branches were stripped bare of all signs of life, sporting not even a single leaf.
Here and there, small patches of land rose unevenly from the water. One could say, small islands were scattered throughout the swamp.
On some of these islands, faint silhouettes of odd figures could be seen moving about, but their true shapes were obscured by the heavy mist that permeated every corner of the swamp.
The air here was thick with a putrid stench, hard to describe in words. To put it simply, the swamp smelled worse than dogshit and pigpens combined.
When Ray took a breath, he wasn’t expecting to pick up such an indescribably foul stench wafting off the cold, murky water — one strong enough to induce nausea.
As it hit him, his nose scrunched up in disgust, and he puked where he stood.
Thanks to all the experiences he’d endured since his transmigration, he had cultivated immense self-control, and this was nothing compared to the mental torture he had suffered while absorbing Tristan’s and Ashclaw’s memories. As a result, he regained control over himself in no time despite being caught off guard.
Wiping his mouth, Ray wondered to himself,
"Why do I feel like I’m on an entirely different planet?"
"Anyways, what am I supposed to do here?"
Just then, the silhouette of a stone stele flashed into existence before his eyes. Its presence solidified instantly, becoming tangible. It hovered a few feet above the swamp’s murky water.
As Ray stared at it, brow raised in confusion, glowing letters began carving themselves across its surface, each one sizzling like water splashed on a searing hot piece of metal, cutting through the mist to make themselves clear to his gaze.
[Welcome, seeker, to the Misty Swamp Region of Planet Veloria.]
Upon seeing this, Ray realized his gut feeling wasn’t wrong. He was really on another planet. Coincidentally, this planet was Lia’s homeworld.
Out of curiosity, he looked up. He wanted to know what the sky here looked like.
What he saw left him feeling emotions he couldn’t quite describe. Awe, disbelief was mixed in with a strange sense of insignificance.
Countless silver stars and two scarlet moons, round like globes, loomed in the distance, twinkling enchantingly, casting a faint red glow across the swamp below.
Ray compared Veloria’s sky to a black carpet sprinkled with glitters of different colours. Beautiful in every sense, yet alien enough for an earthling to unsettle their heart.
If he was born in Veloria, he would have only found it beautiful, but since he was used to an entirely different sight, slightly different emotions arose.
"The fourth challenge door brought me to Veloria... for what?" Ray muttered under his breath, eyes narrowing as the unusual glow of the Veloria’s scarlet moons shimmered across the surface of the swamp’s cold murky water.
[Good question.]
[According to our sources, the Bloodsuckers have persuaded the three Great Terrors ruling over the Misty Swamp Region to attack the Great Wall — the only thing preventing the Three Kingdoms from being pincered by the dreadful Army of the Night, made up of Thralls, Dark Elves, Enslaved Ratmen, and their masters, the Bloodsuckers themselves!]
Upon seeing this, a glint of realization flashed in Ray’s eyes. He realized it wasn’t just the demonic creatures who had planted spies in enemy territory. The Tower had done the same.
[Each Great Terror of the Misty Swamp Region commands an army of its own. The defenders stationed at the Great Wall can hold their ground against one Great Terror, perhaps even two if they are reinforced in time. But faced with all three, they will undoubtedly fall.]
Reasons were also given by the being interacting with Ray through the stone stele.
The Three Kingdoms were already busy fighting the Army of the Night on another front. The support they could send was limited!
[You already know what will happen if the Great Wall falls.]
[The Three Kingdoms are losing ground as it is. If the situation gets worse, they are done for. We will lose Veloria to the demonic creatures. That can’t be allowed to happen!]
"I see. The challenge this time is to foil the Bloodsuckers’ plan by hunting down the three Great Terrors of the Misty Swamp Region. Am I wrong?" Ray uttered.
The words on the stone stele changed.
[No, you are right. So are you up for the challenge?]
"Why wouldn’t I be?" Ray said. "Besides, I’ve come too far to give up now."
[Good! Since you have decided to help, all the information we have gathered about the Three Terrors up till now will be transferred to you. Here. Accept it.]
A beam of light shot out of the stone stele and struck his forehead.
A torrent of memories drilled into his brain.
In a second, he became familiar with the strength and weaknesses of the enemies he was to hunt. He also learned where he could find them.
[I wish you good luck.]
The stone stele dispersed.
From his interspatial ring, Ray pulled out the enchanted map to pinpoint his location. Reading the map, he discovered that he was close to the inner region of the Misty Swamp Region.
The Misty Swamp Region was divided into two regions. The inner region and the outer region. The outer region was less dangerous than the inner region, and two of the three targets he had to kill resided there.
Ray’s eyes narrowed in contemplation. "According to the intel I received, one of the Great Terrors I need to eliminate — the Mad Chieftain of the Targodyles — can sometimes be found in the Yarnan Ruins."
The Yanran ruin was located at the entrance of the inner region of the Misty Swamp Region. It was not far from his current position.
"Going there might not prove fruitful. But it’s worth a shot."
He immediately set off toward the Yarnan Ruins.
The closer he got to it, the colder the air grew, and the thicker the mist became, until it was so dense his vision was severely obscured.
He couldn’t see more than ten meters ahead. To widen his field of vision, he conjured several fireballs and made them hover around him, their dim orange glow pushing back the mist.
Suddenly, his sixth sense tingled.
A giant rat pounced out of the fog with a shriek.
It was nearly two meters tall and over three meters long.
Its body was swollen with disease, its fur patchy and slick with grime.
The teeth jutting from its wide-open mouth were long, yellow, and knife-sharp, while its bloodshot eyes radiated pure malice as it lunged straight for Ray’s head.
Ray didn’t bother dodging. Responding efficiently to the threat, he activated the Azure Wind skill, his magic power dropping by a few hundred points.
His eyes flashed green, and an azure wave that was sturdier than metal and heavier than boulders burst out of thin air, surging fifteen meters high into the air before crashing down like a roaring tide.
It struck the giant rat with tremendous force, driving it deep into the swampbed as if it were a nail hammered into a wall. Right then and there it breathed its last.
♦️ Congratulations, Host. As there’s no interference stopping the system from working as it should, you can start earning exp from killing others again.
♦️ As you have killed a Berserk Ratallia, an early-stage Bronze Rank beast, you have gained +15,000 EXP.
♦️ You have gained +15,000 additional EXP for killing a being an entire major realm above you.
"Finally. The system is back to normal!" Ray’s eyes gleamed with satisfaction as a smile spread across his face.
