章 24: One Last Hurdle
It had been almost two full weeks since the two of them started their journey eastwards towards the Elantryan border, and once they went past the mountain range, they would finally set foot on Elantryan soil.
To avoid any unnecessary suspicions toward Arvell the two of them were forced to travel through the treacherous mountain pass.
The normal border used to traverse between Elantrya and Vispia was walled off in its entirety during the war by both sides and used to prevent both sides from invading each other.
Both sides summoned an army of earth mages for this task, and even then it still took them 2 months to complete it due to the large amount of land they needed to cover between the two nations.
The only area where they couldn't wall off and monitor was the Algreppa mountain range.
The presence of a strong rank 6 beast had deterred both sides from its territory.
Normally the beast would stay in a state of hibernation, however, due to its strong territorial tendencies, it will awake to fight anybody it deems as a threat to either itself or its territory.
Mages of the fourth circle and above were counted in this category, forcing them to be unable to maintain the mountain border.
Meanwhile, mages below the fourth circle would fall prey to the numerous other monsters that inhabit the mountain pass.
Only by having a group of strong third rank mages like the bandit Zalcon's group would be able to pass through with minimal casualties.
That would be an issue for most people, fortunately, Zen was able to watch Zalcon's group take a hidden tunnel through the mountain itself, allowing Arvell and him to travel through the range relatively safely.
This was extremely good news for Arvell who planned to slowly sneak through the mountain while trying to avoid getting caught by the various monsters.
He had even trained Zen on the basics of masking his presence in preparation for passing through the mountain pass, but luckily for both of them, it seemed like it was unneeded.
Arvell looked up at the looming mountain peak that was said to be the home of the fearsome rank 6 beast.
He could feel an aura of dread emanating from the peak.
It was as if he was staring death itself in the face.
While this monster's aura was nothing compared to the mind-numbing fear Arvell felt when Lykos unleashed his bloodlust, it still made Arvell feel quite uneasy.
Furthermore, the mountain peak was still far away, so he couldn't feel the full brunt of the beast's bloodlust
However, in that uneasiness, there was also a strong burning feeling.
'How much stronger do I need to get to reach that level?'
Arvell clenched his fist and looked at the peak with determination.
Zen who was next to Arvell looked at him with a knowing look.
'He must be terrified while knowing that such a strong monster is this close to us. I know how that feels… I felt that same terror when I first came through here. I should help him out, after all, he's done for me this is the least I can do.'
Zen rested his shaky hand on Arvell's shoulder.
Even now he could feel a deep fear throughout his body. Even experiencing it once before could not diminish the raw terror Zen felt when being near the rank 6 beast.
"Hey don't worry about the beast. It will only wake up if someone from the fourth circle or above appears. It wouldn't even bat an eye at low first circle kids like us. If anything we should be on the lookout for other bandit groups," Zen shakingly encouraged.
The only main concern about using this path was the presence of other bandit groups using it.
If they were to fight against a group as strong as Zalcon's group, the two of them would only be either caught as slaves or killed.
Since the two of them didn't have bad appearances, the former would be the more likely option.
Arvell looked at Zen with a knowing look.
'He must assume that I'm shaking because I'm terrified. While he's not completely incorrect, I can already tell this beast can't hold a candle to Lykos... Even though it could kill me effortlessly if it wanted to, ' Arvell sighed, ' I'm still nowhere near strong enough to protect myself should it choose to kill me.'
"You're right. We should be on the lookout for bandit groups. There's no way that only your captor would have known about such a convenient path through the mountain."
Zen pondered for a minute.
"The tunnel is filled with numerous dead ends and fake passageways. If we were to take notice of a group of bandits, we could hide in one of those until they pass by us."
Arvell nodded his head in agreement.
"That would be our best shot at trying to pass the border unnoticed."
Pointing his head to a nearby cave, Arvell beckoned Zen to follow him.
"We should use the cover of night to get to the tunnel without being seen. It'll turn dark in a few hours, so we can use the remaining time to prepare for the trip ahead."
Arvell and Zen walked into the cave and decided to set up a fire near the entrance.
After they filled their back with various nuts they acquired from the nearby trees, Arvell decided to investigate the interior of the cave.
It was better to make sure they didn't have any unexpected 'neighbours' before said 'neighbours' decided to make the two of them into their dinner.
He erased his presence and crept alongside the walls, paying extra attention to avoid making any noise.
Since they were in a cave, he couldn't risk making any noise that would create an echo.
'This cave is quite large'
As Arvell explored the cave he began to realize just how large the cave he had found by chance was.
He had even almost gotten lost a couple of times as he ended up in dead ends.
Arvell was able to find an entrance to an underground river and managed to secure a source of drinkable water for both him and Zen.
It seemed like one of the nearby rivers flowed into this cave from the outside.
Even some fish were eagerly swimming in the river.
Arvell however was more preoccupied with a red blotch he found on the floor near the river.
The red blotch trailed onwards to one of the nearby tunnels that Arvell hadn't checked yet.
'This… is blood. It's not that old either. It's been here for about a day.'
Arvell slowly crept towards the tunnel with his sword in hand.
Whatever would find behind this corner would either be dying or strong enough to kill whatever bleed out earlier.
It was better to be prepared for a fight.
As he slowly peeked his head around the corner, Arvell was shocked by what he saw.
He almost revealed his presence in shock.
'This…. What is this? Could it be…?'
'Yes and no.'
Lykos materialized next to Arvell
The two of them looked at the large winged beast.
It had black metallic scales, with a reptilian face.
Its long and illustrious wings laid bare for them to witness.
'Yes, this is the same creature we saw at that pond two weeks ago, however… This is no wyvern…'
Arvell looked at Lykos with shock.
'Don't tell me this is a…'
Lykos nodded.
'This is a dragon.'
クリエイターの想い 
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