My sense of hearing, which was more sensitive than humans, immediately felt excruciating pain. It was as if my eardrum had been pierced by a nail until it penetrated my head. My palms couldn't even hold back the loud sound that came in. Although the howl didn't last long, my energy was drained just to endure the deafening sound.
My body almost fell to the ground if my brain didn't give me the command to stay alert. I cast my gaze forward. The bear monster had thick white fur similar to a polar bear, it was about three stories tall. The beast had two pairs of arms and two legs, with a fat, flabby body.
I briefly remember the Biology lessons taught in my old world. This monster was similar to Tardigrada, a microscopic animal shaped like a bear. The shape of the head that only had a mouth without eyes was also very similar. I even felt that the monster standing in front of me was initially a Tardigrada who was enlarged with a Doraemon magnifying flashlight, then given a hair growth serum all over his body.
Yes, that's the monster in front of me right now! A second later, it immediately took the stance to lunge at me.
"Shoot! Why did it turn out like this?" I cursed angrily.
Without wasting any more time, I immediately took a thousand steps to leave the place. I quickly ran through the trees, hoping it would have difficulty catching up with me.
My ears could hear the thumping of the ground behind my back. It seemed that the bear monster wasn't speedy. I could tell from the interval the sound of the monster's footsteps was so slow. It was as if its quick movement was blocked by its fat body. Moments later, the sound of the monster's footsteps disappeared. I wonder if the beast has stopped and given up on pursuing this nimble me?
I slowed my pace and looked back, but I didn't find the strange beast figure there.
"Wait a minute! How could such a big beast just disappear?"
As I was almost lost in my thoughts, the answer was above my head. It wasn't a metaphor, but the beast was literally over my head.
Damn! I quickly dodged by rolling my body to the ground. If I didn't do that, I would surely die. My body shuddered in horror after finding the tree trunk near me earlier, split into two by the monster's claws.
For a moment, I was dumbfounded to see the scene. It was really close. Imagine if I didn't have time to dodge, my body would be split in two. This damn monster! Turned out it could jump far! I immediately ran away from the big bear, not wanting to suffer the same fate as the tree trunk.
But no matter how much distance I made between us, this Tardigrada could always catch up with a long jump. The small steps it made were just a prelude to a long-distance jump. Tardigrada would have won many long jump championships if it had been human.
Maybe this was why the monster suddenly appeared in front of me in the Turnia Flower Field. It jumped from a very far place. But why can't I know its whereabouts with my Supersense?
"F*ck!" I shouted when my back hit the roots of a tree that crossed while rolling on the ground.
The Tardigrada didn't give up. It's like it didn't know when to stop. On the other hand, I was exhausted from constantly dodging. It seemed impossible that he would just let me go. What should I do? Fighting him with a state of exhaustion wasn't a wise choice. Using Esze will be exhausting. If I ran out of power and the monster still hadn't fallen, I would be exhausted.
At that moment, I heard the sound of gurgling water nearby. It sounded like a river! If I ran away there, maybe the beast would stop chasing. I forced my legs to run even though I was almost dead. Not long after, I found what I had hoped for in front of me. The river was quite wide and seemed rather deep. The flow was strong enough to wash away something or someone.
Indeed, by following the current, I would get to the downstream, which would take me further away from the tent. But that might be better than being devoured by a Tardigrada monster.
I arrived at the cliff edge by the river. Three meters below was the stream I would use as an escape route. I looked back when realized there were no more footsteps on the ground or the sound of tree trunks breaking. The beast was jumping!
I immediately jumped off the cliff without wasting more time and saved myself. At the same time, the Tardigrada monsters rushed. One second late, then my body would be split in two.
Before hitting the water's surface, I took out the Viglet of Hope and started chanting a spell.
"Vitr Stit!"
The underwater world immediately welcomed me. My eyes that could see in the dark could be used on the ground or underwater as long as it was still evident. I could see small fish swimming away from me, as well as riverbeds filled with rocks. If only the situation was better, I would definitely enjoy this sight.
A second later, my whole body was enveloped inside the wind that came from the tip of my Viglet. The wind formed a thin membrane, then turned into a clump of wind balls that surrounded me. This was the wind elemental defence spell taught by Almira. Usually used to withstand from enemy's arrow attacks. But in this condition, I used it to not drown and be swept away by the river's swift current.
This gust of wind carried my body adrift before finally disappearing without a trace. If I didn't cast it, I might have been swept away and couldn't come back to the surface before becoming a corpse.
Contrary to previous expectations, the Tardigrada monster didn't stop chasing after me even though it had plunged into the water. In fact, this made it easy for him to guess the direction of my movement. He just followed the river. The Tardigrade jumped several dozen meters to the riverbank ahead. The ground where it was standing now was a narrow river area, which jutted into the water.
Slowly but surely, I approached the Tardigrada waiting on the cliff above me. The monster raised its claws high and prepared to stab it into my body. The river's width that narrowed to five meters left me unable to go anywhere.
This is really bad! If I don't do something, my body will definitely have a hole!
At a supercritical moment, suddenly, I got an idea. It wasn't a brilliant one. It was actually a high risk because the chances of success are 50:50. But it's not me if I give up before trying.
The water current was slowly getting faster due to narrowing the river's width. Made it difficult for me to maintain a position above the water surface. I tried to raise my hand while holding the Viglet of Hope. One meter, two meters, little by little, the distance between Tardigrada and I was reduced to a few meters.
From this close, I could see its face clearly. The monster had no eyes, nose, or ears. There was only a vast mouth that contained dozens of pointed teeth. I don't know what will happen if my head goes into its mouth. Maybe it's out of shape.
The Tardigrada monster raised its right hand high and prepared to slash it down. The split second before the claw pierced my body, I aimed the Viglet of Hope at the monster's face.
"Vitr Blast!"
After the spell left the mouth, a white aura immediately gathered at the wand's tip. The wind clumped up to form a vortex the size of a baseball. I shot the wisp of wind right at the bear monster's face. At the same time, I took a deep breath before finally sinking myself to the bottom of the river.
As soon as I entered the underwater once again, my sense of hearing wasn't functioning, and my eyes couldn't penetrate clearly above the water's surface. But I saw a huge black shadow tumbling off the cliff and falling onto the riverbank below. It made some dirt and rocks fall into the water behind me.
I didn't know what really happened up there. I had to hold back my curiosity. Because I had to stay underwater for a while, following the river's current that carried me away. I did this to clear the trail, just in case my attack might still not be able to overthrow the beast.
My plan was to attack it to lose its concentration on me. After its focus dissipated, I hid in the water and quickly used the river current to escape from Tardigrada. I said before that this plan was quite risky because it could be that the monster was immune to wind Esze attack.
Unexpectedly, that simple plan worked. I didn't know if that beast up there was still chasing me down the river or not? What was certain was that if I wanted to increase my chances of escaping, I had to stay in the water following the river's flow.
The rapids and currents were erratic, making it difficult for me to stay in the water. Sometimes my head pops up to the surface, so I decided not to hide in the water anymore. I noticed the surrounding was different from before. The river was no longer squeezed by high cliffs on both sides but small rocks and grass.
It seemed that this place was close to the foothill. After making sure the Tardigrada wasn't chasing anymore, I immediately pulled over to the river bank. My body and clothes were soaking wet, plus a gust of wind caressed my body, making me shiver with cold. My teeth chattered, my hands trembled wildly, and the cold penetrated my body. If the bear monster was here, it would definitely be death time for me.
I deliberately let out a slight cough to clear water from my throat several times. I sat on a large rock by the river, trying to rest for a moment.
"Vitr Ifu!"
Along with the string of incantations that escaped from the mouth, the tip of my Hope Viglet's wand gave off a rough and hot wind. I point the tip of the stick at my body. In addition to warming, it could also dry clothes. While the result wasn't completely dry, it was better than nothing. I didn't have time to dry clothes normally. I can't help but have to use this method.
Wearing wet clothes at night in the mountains was not a good habit. The body would experience severe hypothermia, which would immediately undermine the resistance. If so, I didn't know what would happen next. Not only would I fail to obtain the potion ingredients, but I would also even burden my team.
Before leaving here, I double-checked my luggage. I put the dagger in place and looked inside the wet leather bag. Only two bunches of Turnia Flower roots remained there. Even though I was absolutely sure that I had put six bundles in it before, it seemed to have drifted in the river.
I sighed. One good thing was there was still some leftover from the roots to be used as a potion. I stood up and tried to quickly get out of here. But just before making the first move, my night vision suddenly caught something.
Coming from within the forest in front of me, I saw something that provoked curiosity under the thick trees. I walked over to it, among the Willow trees that grew by the river. This area was humid because of several small streams between the trees and green moss.
A few meters in front of me, a small fungus group grew at the root of one of the trees. I stepped closer to clear my suspicions. It was then that I could clearly see what was in front of me. It was a black fungus with a shape resembling a pot.
"Wait, isn't this the Black Selenium Mushroom?"