"Master"
"Yes Momo"
"Where are we going?"
"Just walk"
"But we've been walking for days"
"Just walk"
"But"
"Then let's run"
"..."
The two young people continue on with their journey after reaching peninsular Malaysia. After six years isolated from the rest of the world, they finally embarking their adventure outside of Borneo.
However, the situation they were facing was not as how they thought it would be. Ever since they set outside of Borneo all they did was walking.
They had crossed the sea by walking on ice for days. There were some encounters with monsters but the monsters were much weaker when compared to those in Borneo which didn't satisfy their boredom from walking. The monsters were too weak that it ended in a flash!
By the time the number of monsters they fought reach to hundreds, they had to hunt for the monsters themselves since the monster stop coming and they need to fill their belly.
Good thing they managed to sense some stranded fishermen who were being attacked by a monster octopus which ended their long-lasting journey. Little do they know that the same thing is happening again on the land as they walk toward Kuantan, from Kuala Terengganu. At this point, even the monsters have stopped attacking, as if they were the monsters.
The fishermen village where they were before is situated by the beach in Terengganu. The fishermen took Kim and Momo to their hometown as gratitude for saving their lives.
During that time, Kim managed to get some pieces of information regarding the current situation on earth. Even though most info Kim got was about Malaysia, he could assume that similar thing is happening in other places since the era of mana is very new to anyone on Earth.
Considering that the so-called heroes or the otherworldly people who came to earth are the ones that were mentioned by the voice, they may have the similar modus of operation in other places and almost the same goal why they are here.
Another thing he suspected was the weird reaction Ahmad had when Kim mentioned both of them came from Borneo. Not only he was shocked but his body was trembling with cold shivers just by listening to the word Borneo. It almost like the word Borneo itself is a disaster. Kim didn't inquire more and Ahmad even told them to keep this a secret between them. Not even the other fishermen knew about this matter.
"It seems that to them Borneo is a forbidden place. Seeing how weak the monsters are around here, it's a no wonder why no one even visited us in the first place."
"Does it mean we are much stronger than the people here master?"
"Who knows? The universe is vast. There are also those so-called heroes as well as S-rankers. The old geezer did mention how different people have different aptitude with mana. Making them much stronger than others"
Even though he was showing a seemingly cold expression, he was a bit excited to see how other people were using mana. He was also interested in how knowledge is applied in the current world when he saw lightings in houses were powered by electricity generated by mana.
This mana came from an orb called mana stone which harvested the mana from nature and converted it to electricity. It will then flow into electrical appliances like a light bulb. The mechanism was similar to how machines work before with only using mana as the source of energy. But there was no waste, as the heat would be absorbed to nature and again go with the cycle.
He could even sense the electromagnetic waves being transmitted more efficiently using mana. It helped a rural village like the fishermen village to have stable and faster internet connectivity. Watching YuTube or streaming on NitFlix has never been this less stressful.
One thing he wanted to see was the progress with transportation. The boat the fishermen were boarding still uses oil as their fuel. Ahmad told him that the sea was dangerous to explore so only the military is provided with mana powered transportation like boat and ship to stop civilian from venturing the sea. Car was dangerous as it may attract nearby monsters. It's better to walk or ride on tamed monsters to commute by land.
However, in a big city like Kuala Lumpur, public transportation has adapted to mana technology. It is safe since most cities are protected with an anti-monster barrier. Albeit small, the same barrier is protecting the fisherman village as well. Kim is very much interested in this part because of the book that he read which depicted teleportation as a mode of transport.
Back then, the theory was laughable but to him, it was fascinating. Now that mana has evolved and people are adapting with it day by day, there's no such thing as illogical anymore. The sky wasn't the limit anymore! Kim is only able to move faster than an ordinary could catch. It was only a mere instantaneous movement with explosive speed. It couldn't be compared with how the crazy lich teleports from one place to another.
After walking for days without stopping, he wishes he could teleport as well or maybe use a faster or more viable mode of transportation. He now has more reason to visit Kuala Lumpur. Unable to hold his urge, he started to run with Momo by his side. They have been like this for almost half a day now.
"Momo hide your presence"
Momo nodded without a question.
Both of them concealed their mana close to perfection and hide on top of a tree. A mana user might even mistake both of them as two ordinary people. Within their sight, a wolf was standing in front of a three-person group.
Undergoing monsterization, the wolf has grown as tall as 3-metre in height, making it larger than any of the person standing in the group.
"I told you a high-rank Wolf would be here. We could force it to call its pack and finish our mission swiftly" Said the person with a bulky build standing in the front most. He seems to be the leader of the group.
A slender man behind him had some doubt "Wouldn't it be hard to force a high-rank monster to corners? Isn't it better to just kill it and slowly reduce their strength?"
"I'm a B-rank! I can stand on par with high-rank monsters. All you need to do is stand there and support me got it? Besides, only the strongest wolf would stay alone in front of the pack. The rest must be easier to handle once we killed it"
The man didn't give any response with doubt still intact in his heart. The other person just nodded in silence. They took out their weapon and get ready for battle.
"Battle formation!"
The bulky man acted as a vanguard and shouted to provoke the wolf to attack him. The wolf gave him a glance and didn't move an inch. The man felt insulted as he felt like the wolf doesn't even bother to pay attention to him. Or maybe the wolf is just scared?
"If you not coming then here I come!"
The man enhanced his body and rushed towards the wolf, like a bulldozer. At the same time, the slender man creates a mana barrier to protect the bulky man. The other person suddenly vanished without a trace.
"Master... should we just watch?"
"Let's just see first"
The reason why Momo wanted to help was that the leader of the group had made 3 wrong assumptions which could cost them their lives. The first one was, the wolf in front of them is a superior rank monster. It took Kim and Momo just a glance to measure its strength. It's clear that the bulky man doesn't stand a chance fighting the wolf head-on.
The bulky man thrust his sword forward to try and penetrate the giant wolf strong body. But the wolf didn't show any response at all. The bulky man had a smirk on his face.
"Underestimate me and you are dead!"
To his shock, the giant wolf let out a howl which stops him in his place. He is paralyzed and couldn't move a single muscle. From that single howl, the wolf has bound him with enough fear to cause him to paralyze. His giant sword drop from his hands. Even though he could see death was approaching, he couldn't even shout for help.
Before the wolf could get closer an arrow was shot from its blind spot at incredible speed. It was the other person who vanished in thin air. The person concentrates on his arrow hoping it would at least injure the wolf and give chance for his leader to broke free from the paralyzed state. The next moment, however, would make all 3 of them regretted their decision for fighting the wolf... no... the monster in from of them.
As the wolf deflected the arrow, it stood up with its hind leg a human. Looking at this, the 3 of them was trembling in fear. That was their second mistake, the wolf they are facing is actually a werewolf! Everyone knows, that the weakest werewolf is at least a superior rank monster. Even an A-rank wouldn't win unscathed. However, their nightmares haven't finished yet.
Even though being a mana user could give you fame and fortune, it is an unstable and risky job. The unexpected will always happen and people always die from misjudgement. Even with good judgement skill, people could also die for simply being unlucky.
Their third mistake was, the fact that they found the werewolf was false. It was simply the werewolf found them who found them. All of the three mana sense become chaotic as they realized the situations they were in. As they see pairs of red eyes appearing one after another, blocking their path of escape. They could feel the bloodlust coming from those pairs of eyes. Each one of these wolves is at least a high-rank monster.
A wolf is natural predators which hunt in a pack. The Alpha Wolf, the strongest of them would lead the pack in a hunt. Not only they have an excellent nose that could detect their prey from miles away, but they also have the natural ability to conceal themselves. After the awakening, monsterization had made these wolves becoming deadlier than ever. Even more terrifying is their numbers. These group of wolves appearing now would easily cause chaos in a small city.
Sensing that they are being surrounded, the group can only taste despair. No miracle would be able to help them now. Unless a group of A-rank numbered to a dozen would suddenly pass this forest, then there is no possible way for them to survive. All of them were on their knees unable to leaving their life to fate.
Fortunately, fate was on their sides.
Two of the wolves were about to munch off the head of the slender man and the archer but a huge amount of blood suddenly spurted from their neck and they instantly die. It was only a moment but the archer was able to see some kind of a sword went through the neck of the wolf and vanished in a split second. If his speciality wasn't speed, then he would think that an invisible force suddenly killed the wolves.
The slender man heard the voice of a girl calling to him.
"Are you okay, uncle?"
He was confused to see a girl with purple hair and violet eyes appeared out of nowhere gave him a pure smile. He felt like his nightmare had turned into a dream.
"Are you a goddess from heaven? Have I die?"
The werewolf felt alarmed and turn its focus toward the top of a certain tree. However, it wasn't able to sense anything out of ordinary.
"Hello, Mr. Wolf. Are you looking for me?"
The bulky man was shocked to see the back of a young boy suddenly appeared in front of him. But the man couldn't unsee the terrifying monster in front of him who is several times bigger than the young boy.
"Run kid! It's a superior-rank monster!"
The werewolf heard both of them and didn't waste its time swinging its powerful claw towards Kim. The man felt grateful towards the young boy for trying to save his lives, but it was a pity a good-hearted young boy to die early for saving someone like him. He couldn't watch what was going to happen. If only he wasn't paralysed, he would throw himself to the front and let the young boy run.
"Hmmm?"
Even though the werewolf swung his claw, there was only silence. Was the cut too clean? He forces himself to raise his head and open his eyes. The moment he saw what has happened, he knew his judgement was wrong again.
Kim casually blocked the werewolf sharp claw with a lift of a finger. He smiled and looked toward the bulky man.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, sir!"