readease Chapter 492: Coming Across The First Inhabitant - 1
Chapter 492: Coming Across The First Inhabitant - 1
Chapter 492: Coming Across The First Inhabitants - 1
Both Shyra and Nyxa appeared before them with their size reduced to no bigger than 3 meters.
"Naelith, Lyswenna, climb onto Shyra and don’t dismount until I say so," Leo instructed.
Both nodded as Shyra lowered herself, allowing the elves to settle onto her back.
Naelith was surprised by how soft Shyra’s fur felt. Even though she had heard others talk about it, she had never personally touched it before. Considering the extreme resistance the fur provided, its glossy appearance made it seem as hard as stone, but with a simple gesture from Leo, Shyra transformed it into soft, comfortable fur one could easily fall asleep on.
The next instant, both of them felt as though they had been shrouded by a shadowy element that obscured their presence.
Leo hopped onto Nyxa and told her to increase her size by about 5 meters so Shyra could comfortably dwell within her shadow and remain stealthy as they traversed the secret realm at high speed.
The reason Leo made both elves enter stealth was because their strength was lower than his, and if a powerful individual targeted them first, it would become troublesome.
As for why he rode Nyxa and risked exposing her to the outside world, it was because she simply could not remain hidden forever. From this day onward, Nyxa would become known to the public.
Before departing, Leo quickly tried to deploy [Iceveil Hide] on both beasts, but it only succeeded on Shyra—probably because of the smaller frame she was in. Nyxa, however, had her own way of shielding herself when the ice failed. She used [Astral Aura Weave] to coat her body in a faint layer of aura that blocked the heatwave’s interference.
Hmm, if Nyxa has Aura for defence, Shyra has her physical hide. Good. Leo was inwardly satisfied that both of his frontline fighters had something to protect themselves with. Even Nyxa possessed her tough body trait, and Howl was... well, he was a walking fortress on his own. He didn’t need defence when such a dense layer of earth covered his body.
The only defenceless beast was Zelut for now, but even that would be resolved once mastery over [Iceveil Hide] increased.
As they closed in on the place where Leo had spotted the green trees, they realised it was a small-scale oasis—around 30 to 50 meters long and wide, with very little water. The water itself was shallow, with a maximum depth of only 2 meters, muddy and murky. Upon getting closer, it became clear that only the undisturbed upper layer was somewhat usable, though still not drinkable due to the dust particles floating across the surface. Most likely, volcanic ash filled the environment.
"Not disturbed..." Leo muttered softly.
The water felt unusually still for a water source in this barren land.
"Even if the water is dirty, many creatures could still survive on it. Not to mention, these green trees alone prove my point," he said, and the elves nodded in agreement.
He touched the bark of one of the many trees, the tree’s girth only about a meter thick. Not much compared to trees in a normal environment, where 2 to 3 meters of girth would be common, but still substantial for something growing in such a dry place.
The trees were even around 6 to 8 meters tall, and there were roughly 10 to 15 of them.
"My Lord, such lively trees indicate that this water source has existed for quite some time. I am completely certain that a territorial beast or perhaps a colony of beasts resides here. They may have hidden themselves after noticing our approach," Naelith said, displaying keen observational skills. It was highly uncharacteristic of someone who usually acted rashly and made many mistakes to be this observant.
Maybe I need to change how I assume her... but I need more time before deciding on a place for her to work on. Thinking that, Leo shifted his gaze toward the shallow, muddy water.
It was then that Lyswenna voiced what Leo himself had been speculating.
"Lord, this water is far too shallow to sustain itself for so long in such a hot and dry environment. I don’t think this area even receives regular rainfall to refill it. I think—"
"It’s connected to an underground source," Leo finished for her and nodded.
Leo used [Spiritual Sense] to check the surroundings, and his eyes immediately widened.
"Step back!" he shouted, and all of them promptly retreated more than 20 meters away from the oasis.
"Lord, what happened?" Lyswenna asked as she drew her bow and notched an arrow. Naelith did the same, except her arrow immediately ignited with flames, ready to be fired.
Naelith was slightly surprised because she had only channelled enough fire mana to create enough fuel for it to be lit by a tiny spark, not fully ignite the arrow in one go.
She quickly realised that even that small amount of fire mana was enough in this fire-element-rich environment to set the arrow ablaze.
She could do nothing about it now, as she had to focus on controlling the flames around the arrowhead so they wouldn’t burn her fingers. Her eyes remained fixed ahead, staring toward whatever Leo seemed wary of.
Though he wasn’t exactly wary—just surprised—as many hostile presences lurked beneath the shallow water.
Fuck! No wonder Professor Gunther told me to master [Spiritual Sense] until it becomes second nature... almost like a passive skill, so I won’t get caught off guard like this.
Leo cursed inwardly because he had only sensed them now, when he could have detected them from several hundred meters away.
Leo extended his senses toward the underwater area from a distance. As he focused, he detected nearly 30 to 40 creatures, each around 1 to 1.5 meters long, submerged beneath the water. They were holding their breath with astonishing mastery, not allowing even a single bubble to escape.
Only 1 of 2 possibilities remained.
First, they were waiting for Leo’s group to leave so they could avoid conflict.
Or second, they were waiting for the perfect opportunity to ambush them the moment they approached the water.
"Well... since I am here, I should check if they are hiding some natural treasures on them."
Leo figured that these creatures likely wanted him and his group to leave, because they had the perfect opportunity to ambush them earlier near the water body.
Even now, despite the distance closing, there was no disturbance suggesting they were not eager to attack. This implied they were either avoiding confrontation for some reason or simply not strong enough to face them.
With that, Leo formed an earthen spear in his hand and aimed at the strongest presence inside the pond—an individual who was barely at peak 1-star.
Swoosh!
Splash!
Lyswenna and Naelith tried to sharpen their senses to see what Leo was firing the spear at, but since they didn’t have [Spiritual Sense] or any other sensing skill, they couldn’t tell exactly what he was targeting.
Leo’s shot struck true, and the next moment, a gurgled cry echoed out.
Hrreeek!
Then came a shriek as a creature writhed out of the water, splashing muddy water everywhere.
Ashfang Kobolt (Peak 1-star) - Ordinary Bloodline [Intelligence - Adolescent]
It was a small, scaly humanoid standing about 1.2 m tall. Having crocodilian snouts, sharp teeth, and small horns. Its long tails balanced its lean bodies, which are covered in stony grey scales.
Ashfang Kobolt (Peak 1-star) [Intelligence - Adolescent] killed - No XP
After that, Leo fired a few more earthen spears, targeting the next strongest remaining members one by one, until 5 of them were killed. The rest hurriedly jumped out of the water, gripping their crude weapons—which were nothing more than sharpened stone blades coated in a yellow substance.
Chik-chik-chik!
Chik-chik-chik!
Nearly 30 Kobolts surfaced and directly charged toward Leo and the group. Since Leo and the elves were far too strong compared to the Kobolts, the creatures couldn’t sense the gap in strength, especially because Leo wasn’t openly releasing his aura. Thus, they charged recklessly.
Their intelligence varied from juvenile to adolescent, but surprisingly, none of them were unintelligent.
But the moment their eyes landed on Nyxa’s 5-meter silhouette behind Leo, they skidded to a halt, their wet feet dragging harshly against the dry ground.
Trrik?!
Panic instantly ensued, and within moments, they turned and ran back before diving into the muddy pond, desperately trying to burrow beneath the mud to hide.
Wait. Leo suddenly thought of something, but Lyswenna spoke before him.
"Lord! There is surely an underground passage!"
Leo immediately activated his [Spiritual Sense] to track the movement beneath the water, and he realized all the Kobolts were slowing down, stealthily trying to move toward a particular tree in the distance that stood slightly farther from the oasis than the others.
Leo was astonished because no one should have been able to penetrate the mud with their vision or senses alone, as the muddy water made everything beneath completely opaque which would really allow most of these Kobolts to escape.
A really well escape plan.
If there had once been a clear upper layer, now the entire pond had turned murky grey, and nobody without sensing skills would be able to tell what was happening underneath. Even Lyswenna and Naelith were frantically looking around, trying to locate the Kobolts.
[Luminous Prowl Steps]!
Leo instantly appeared beside the tree and extended his hand toward the strip of land beneath what seemed to be a half-submerged tunnel through which the Kobolts were making their escape toward the tree’s roots.
[Earth Manipulation]!
In an instant, the earth split apart, exposing the half-submerged tunnel to the open sky.
Snrnnnk?!
The Kobolt right in the middle froze in shock as his slit pupils contracted in terror.
As for Leo, he was staring at the entrance at the end of the tunnel. The hole was no wider than half a meter, just enough for a panicked Kobolt to squeeze through with its lean body.
Since there was no way of telling what lay beyond the entrance, Leo used the Howl trait—[Geo Resonance Sense].
Just a second later, he was completely shocked.
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A/N: I am very tired today and wasn’t able to complete the second Chapter on time and joined the part of the unfinished 2nd Chapter here itself. I will see if I can publish another Chapter; otherwise, I will surely try to do 3 Chapters tomorrow.