Capítulo 63: The hunt
"H-hi there."
An awkward smile formed on his twitching lips at the sight of the black figure in front of him. The pale face reflected onto the yellow, lustrous surface.
-The golden eyes that would be as clear as a crystal would reflect its prey's image with amazing clarity.
The lines that came to his mind in that situation were something he had written once. The chills running down his spine made his body freeze.
-The black scales that were enrobed in soft feathers would shine faintly in the darkness.
"And..."
He gulped down his own saliva nervously while gritting his teeth. The grip on the object held tightly within his grasp tightened up even further.
The smile he had transformed into a grin when he exposed his canines. The situation wasn't certainly a favourable one, given how the beast in front of him was looking at him as if he were its prey.
KRKKKKKK
The sound of the huge serpent spread throughout the forest as it writhed in pain. The yellow surface with a black line on it was not visible anymore.
Thunk
The sounds of a sword clashing and piercing through the flesh were clearly audible to his ears. Had he not pulled the sword out quickly while falling back, the black liquid that splattered around almost stained his clothes.
Watching the beast shriek in misery from losing its one eye, he knew what he had to do next.
"BYE BYE-!"
The voice left that spot, along with his steps dashing towards the monster. The path through which he had made his way there was being blocked by the basilisk.
In that situation, when there was no other escape, Jaden could think of only one thing; to run past their target.
The gap, which was more than enough for him to run between, had formed next to the bark of a nearby tree. But it seemed like to reach there, he needed to overcome this obstacle.
The huge tail flew towards him when the basilisk tried to rampage the surroundings, losing its reasoning to the pain. Certainly, it was coming at a speed a normal person couldn't have seen, but something was different.
The flow of time had slowed down to the point where he could even predict where the tail was going to crash.
'Huh...? Did the time come to a stop...?'
The thoughts that emerged in his mind left him stunned for a split second. But the time he had to act was less than what one could imagine.
"No, that's not it..."
His lips moved unconsciously while his sprint continued. He realised what actually happened was that his eyes were too sensitive, leading him to perceive everything at a slow speed.
Huff
The huge amount of air he sucked in through his mouth stabilised his unsteady breathing. He put his right hand a bit behind, trying to touch the sword to the ground.
This all happened within a span of 2 seconds. And right before the tail hit his body, he swiftly slid from underneath it.
Craaackkk
The ground was being torn apart as the blue blade dug itself into it. He had just managed to avoid a fatal blow to his body, finally succeeding in reducing injuries.
Not wasting a single moment, he continued his run despite the scratches he got on his left elbow. He simply bent his ankle and pushed forward his upper body's weight to throw himself even further.
A grin appeared on his face when he realised that the first part of the plan had been followed properly.
Pfft-
Jaden burst into a soft laughter, witnessing the progress he had made in the past few days. The heavy physical training he received from Adrienne improved his physical abilities a bit.
The speed at which he was running wasn't greater than when Aliana supported him using her wind magic, but it was surely faster than his regular speed.
The basilisk was a monster who had no ears to listen to sounds. How it was able to detect its prey was by sensing vibrations that it felt through the ground or air.
Its eyes, too, would also not see colours but only the temperature of the beings in front of it. They were like some sort of heat censor.
The havoc it had been causing made the trees fall to the ground. Then it was moving in the direction where it felt the most vibrations, wriggling around in pain.
Jaden didn't turn behind for even once. He was certain that the gap between them would be more than enough to ascertain his safety.
Sadly, that wasn't true. The basilisk was doing its best to increase the speed and keep up with its prey.
'Now I just need to run a bit ahead...'
The second part of the plan was about to commence after Jaden managed to pass through the spot in front of him.
That place was where Adrienne, Diona, Blaise, and Jaden had parted ways. What would happen once he managed to do that?
'This is it...'
He passed by the slightly open area with those thoughts on his mind. The location a certain person desired for Jaden to cross had been passed by.
The basilisk had caught up by then. Its senses had grown a bit dull, but the prey it was after was just in front of its mouth.
It exposed the interior of the mouth, relaying its desire to eat the being in front of him. The chance of chomping up the man never came to it, though.
Swishhhh
A green ray of light glowed; no, it moved at such a speed that not even a single person could follow it. The very next second, the monster was hissing and crying from the pain.
The arrow struck its tongue, blew it backwards, and ended up reducing its speed. It was visible to Jaden from the corners of an eye.
'Heck yeah! She's here!'
He rejoiced after realising that the real part had just started.
----------------
"Hm?"
Her blue eyes squinted, trying to get a proper look at the figure approaching her. Another huge figure was following the small one.
Clink
The arrow got loaded on the crossbow in her hand as she pulled out one more arrow. The weapon had three slots for loading arrows beforehand.
"There we go..."
She mumbled while glaring at two figures visibly faint at a distance. She pulled one last arrow from a pocket pouch on her left thigh.
Before climbing the tree, she had already prepared for her first shot. Just a while ago, the second arrow was loaded, and lastly, it was time to load the third one.
Peeeew-
She blew a whistle with the intention of alerting the two others further behind her that she was going to take action. She shut her eyes while gathering mana into the crossbow.
"Oh, the one whose winds guide the travellers, heed my command."
Aside from the nine attributes, there were some different types of magic that happened to not belong to any category. The one she was currently putting to use was similar.
Spirit magic, also known as spirit arts, was something that would only be used by the elven race. They would need to get into a pact with beings often called spirits.
Diona Ainforć had an interesting spirit contracted to her from a very young age. That was the reason she was able to climb to the position of commander of the elven forces within a few dozen years.
That name was something any elf would recognise whenever it was mentioned. It was none other than the infamous spirit named...
"Sylphid."
Her voice was clear amidst the silent atmosphere. Her blue eyes had a tint of green mixed with them as she opened them calmly.
Her blonde hair wavered with a green outlining, made up of a weird energy.
The winds that were non-existent just a moment ago began to stem themselves around the figure of the elf, who aimed the crossbow at a huge monster approaching her.
The surge of mana spread across the air, making all the beasts within a radius of 800 metres feel an overwhelming presence. Diona was releasing a fraction of the spirit magic she had prepared.
As soon as the picture of the basilisk became clear, she put her index finger on the trigger. For a moment, the winds that were blowing strongly faded away.
SWISHHHHH
That was just for them to reappear in the form of a green ray of light that flew straight towards the basilisk.
"PIERCE IT!"
She wasn't certain whether the arrow would be able to tear apart the rough skin that the monster has. The only thing she could do was hope that it reached and dealt some damage to it.
SWOOOSH
The shockwaves the arrow created left her eardrums numb, along with the thin layer of fog dispersing. Her eyes adjusted to zoom into the scene to find the arrow pierced through the tongue of the basilisk.
Her lips curled up at the sight of the success of her attack. The basilisk seemed to have fallen a bit behind Jaden, who was baiting it out.
"This isn't the time to take it easy..."
The smile she had disappeared when she mumbled that to herself. If she happens to make a mistake, it would cause Jaden harm.
The clip that hung from the edge of the crossbow was pulled by her index and middle fingers. The arrows loaded into a tube with three holes switched upon that.
SWOOOOSH
Another arrow shot at a high speed and clashed with the basilisk's hard skull. Diona squinted her eyes to observe how it went.
Sadly, there was no effect. The only thing that attack of hers managed to do was make the huge snake even more violent compared to a while ago.
Tsk
"I can't give up yet..."
She would've been able to pierce through its thick skull if she had used all of her strength. But since her first attack managed to deal some damage from that distance, she had let down her guard.
The last arrow loaded was still left on the crossbow. What she needed to do was clear. She pushed her feet on the tree branch firmly and braced herself.
This time, she was zooming into the scene without hesitation. The determination to deal even more damage than her first shot was set ablaze in her eyes.
Hah-
The wind was getting sucked into the two empty slots of the crossbow. Her serene and calm gaze fixed on the basilisk with a grin on her face.
"Let's see if you are strong enough to defend against this one."
Clink
The last arrow wasn't similar to any of those she had shot before. The green light enveloping it had a twister of wind coat it, making it look even stronger.
BAAAMM
Jaden didn't even glance behind but kept running after hearing the loud sound. Diona awaited for the dust to vanish from her sight.
Then what she could see, upon seeing closely, was that the distance between Jaden and the basilisk had increased by a lot.
Jaden was told about a certain spot that he took as the first checkpoint. When he ran past it, a sound fell on his ears.
Peeeeeeew-
The second whistle Diona blew was a signal to the person who was supposed to act after her. The eerie silence didn't last long.
Ting
The sound of windchimes became audible to Jaden when he ran past the second checkpoint. The bright light behind him left his lips gaping for a while, in awe.
"What the hell is that...?"
He mumbled after taking a glance at the scene unfolding behind him. What followed was a sound that made him unconsciously cover his ears.
Banggggg
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AbyssKun00
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