"Let's start up the mountain and hope to find an azure snake before dark," Harret told the group. They all nodded in agreement.
Azel and the group of hunters set off. The path was not very steep and it was still possible to walk; but the paths were narrow, the entire surface was made of stone and from time to time, the boulders could be heard rolling down the mountain. They had to be careful at all times not to suddenly find themselves hit by rocks and fall downhill.
"I don't detect any signs of life near where we are ... but I don't think this is strange, after all, beasts still need water and plant life to survive and the environment here is so inhospitable." Azel commented as he pondered at the same time. In fact, he still did not rule out the possibility of finding creatures around the place because in this world, where magic exists, a different kind of life would not be too far-fetched.
After walking a few hours uphill, they reached the entrance to a cave in the mountain. They entered the place and it ended up being a wide space, with stalagmites and stalactites on the surfaces, it was dark and humid unlike the dry outside. The group momentarily settled in the place to rest.
Azel began exploring the cave and approached a mound of stacked rocks. Suddenly, there was a movement, one of the rocks lifted up and began to walk in another direction. He stopped in front of another rock and began to consume the nearest rock peak.
'Is the rock walking and ... eating?' Azel's eyes were filled with curiosity. The creature was strange, its body was round, it was composed of rocks and short limbs were seen on its body. His eyes, which looked like sapphire gems, glowed blue.
"Don't be alarmed, it's just a rock golem and it's not a big deal. They consume stones or minerals and aren't hostile to living creatures in general." Ryan walked over to Azel and explained with a smile. He was still pleased with himself from his knowledge of magical beasts acquired throughout his years as a hunter.
'Hmm, it's fascinating how a piece of rock can walk and have a life of its own ... it's like in fantasy games on earth, how does its biological structure work? they have one? Or is it just mana or some other kind of energy that gives them life? ' Azel was getting more and more intrigued by the creature when he noticed something where the golem came from. It was thin, like a rope, but it was coiled, like a spring. Blue with brown stripes, with a horn on its head, the creature rested inadvertently in place that was exposed after the golem changed places.
"Snake?" Azel couldn't help saying it out loud.
Ryan, who was next to Azel, directed his line of sight towards the same place and also saw the creature. Surprised, he said to the others `` we found it! Actually, it's an azure snake ... woah Azel, you really brought us luck. These snakes are only supposed to live in their nests and here is one of them, quietly surrendered to us. '' Harret, Taro and Hak also approached the place and, when they saw the sleeping azure serpent they could not help but be excited. They walked all the way here for this snake, not knowing if they were going to find it or lose their lives first; only they knew how excited they were to have achieved their goal.
Harret grabbed the handle of his blade and slashed straight at the serpent's head. The head was easily detached from the body as the snake opened its eyes and screeched. A few seconds later the body stopped twisting and went limp. Hak grabbed the bag he brought with him and shoved the snake's body inside. After these events, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as they began to celebrate the success of the mission, noises could be heard coming from all sides. The cave began to shake, dust and small stones fell from the ceiling until something broke through the ceiling in the center of the place. A giant head followed by a long and thick body, it was a snake similar to the azure snake, but colossal in size.
"Damn it, we entered the azure serpent's nest!" Said Taro with a pale face. He was frightened of his wits when the colossal creature appeared and his mood, previously in the clouds, fell into the depths of hell.
Hak was silent, but the nervousness in his eyes betrayed his apparent calm. He rushed to remove the spear from his back and aimed it at the colossal creature.
The azure serpent was in a mad state. They killed one of their young in their own territory, which was the same as openly defying his authority. It was itself a very territorial, wild and unbridled creature. With the group's actions, they managed to enrage her beyond reason. He lunged at full speed hitting the group with his head.
Harret stopped Hak, who was about to throw his spear at the snake, grabbed his arm and led him to the side, avoiding the snake's blow. The place of impact left a large footprint and many cracks, but the colossus did not care and continued swinging to kill the intruders. As Harret caught his breath, he said to the whole group, '' Don't fight it! It's impossible for us to defeat him. Let's quickly escape from this place. We already got what we need anyway, it's time to go back to town! ''
Azel agreed with Harret immediately and ran for the cave exit. Ryan was following behind him when he suddenly felt something squeeze his calf and exclaimed: '' my leg! ''. He looked at the ground and saw that many azure snakes appeared or rather, came out of the rocks where they were resting.
The cave was the nest of azure snakes but, as these are nocturnal beasts, they were originally sleeping; until the screech of the first azure serpent they killed disturbed their rest. It was one of these snakes that wrapped itself around Ryan's leg tightly and prevented him from moving.
'' Give me a gun! '' Azel bellowed at Taro. The latter quickly drew the blade at his waist and threw it towards Azel and replied `` Hurry up, snakes keep popping out everywhere and they'll be closing us in a fence in no time! ''
The blade was in midair and Azel prepared to grab it. As if time were slowing down, he was able to calculate the trajectory, turns and final position that the weapon was going to have. In accordance with this, he raised his hand in the air and caught it by the handle. He walked over to Ryan, raised the blade, and sliced vertically toward Ryan's leg.
'' Swish ... ''
There was the sound of gushing blood as the snake was slaughtered. Ryan shook his leg and dislodged the bind quickly. '' Thank you '' he told Azel; the latter just nodded his head and turned around to run again.
The snakes were already everywhere besides, the colossus was also chasing them relentlessly. Still, the group was already near the exit and in a few more steps, they would be out. At that moment, the giant azure serpent stopped and opened its mouth; the mana converged at one point to form a sphere that grew larger and more solid.
Azel had a bad feeling about the sudden action of the beast and his mind mapped out all the possibilities about this action in an instant. Without warning for fear of running out of time, he took Hak's spear and threw it towards a stalactite at the top of the cave. The spear pierced the weakest part of it and went through it, the cracks widened and the rock thorn finally fell.
'' Arghrrrruaaagh ''
The colossus let out a fierce roar from the pain of being pierced through, losing control of the collected mana, and it spread out of control.
'' Booooom ''
There was an explosion that locked the colossus and the snakes in place; the cave began to collapse into pieces. The group was blown away by the resulting waves and fell to the mountainside.
'' Ughh '' Azel touched his head and grunted in annoyance. His body was scratched everywhere and his ragged clothes got worse. 'That was dangerous, I will never be so reckless without first being able to defend myself ...' although he had to admit that they were very lucky, because even if they left the mountain they could not prevent the giant azure serpent from chasing them. But the earlier blast sealed the cave and injured the snake as well, so they were now much more confident that they could return. Azel finished thinking to himself and approached the others.
"Damn snake, it almost killed us all ...!" Taro couldn't help cursing. He was proud and boasted that he could even face wild beasts in a group, but the above situation forced him to admit defeat immediately. Just look at that explosion and you will understand that not even with nine lives you will be able to survive the attack of such a creature.
Hak and Harret already got up and went to help Ryan, who was knocked unconscious. The latter awoke quickly after Harret slapped him twice on the face and then got up. Hak mentioned '' we must go down the mountain now. We are still in their territory, so let's avoid setbacks. ''
Harret nodded at the idea. He took one eye at Azel and said with undisguised admiration "You reacted very quickly; I just concentrated on running at the time and couldn't get a further look at the big guy's actions, but you went one step further by noticing the attack and even saved us. You are a very impressive guy. ''
Azel was calm before the praise and neither courteous nor humble replied `` I am sensitive to mana, thanks to this I realized the attack. I didn't have time to warn them so I took action on my own. I hope you don't mind throwing your spear. ''
'' Boy, you really are something. I respect the strong and I can tell by your actions that you are one '' said Taro, to which Hak added '' a spear is nothing compared to our lives; I am also grateful to you. ''
Ryan was more and more convinced that Azel was a freak and respect for him was rising to the level of adoration. His eyes sparkled with excitement as he began to comment on Azel's previous actions with the group, like a fan who knows his idol. Azel could only stare at this silently and crack a bitter smile.
They started up again and the way down the hill was much faster; in half the time they were back at the base of the mountain. There were still a couple of hours until the sun set and they decided to move in the direction of the town. Harret carried with him the bag containing the serpent's inert body as if it were a treasure. Azel noticed and took a few more thoughtful looks.
When twilight appeared on the horizon, they decided to camp at the base of one of the nearby mountains, which was better than staying on the plains. Hak and Taro killed nearby wild beasts while Ryan prepared the fire; Harret and Azel were sitting on a rock near the fire resting.
"It's for my daughter." Azel was surprised by the sudden comment but Harret continued "She was poisoned by being bitten by an azure snake while she was gathering herbs; If she had not been found by a young man from the village, she would already be dead. Normally these snakes don't live nearby, but unfortunately one of the snakes got lost and suddenly inhabited the forest where my daughter collects medicine. The poison does not act fast, but it is lethal. It takes ten days to cause death and my daughter only has two days left. That is why he was so eager to find an azure serpent. Since her mother died, she is the only thing I have left ... I can't afford to lose her too. ''
Azel felt sorry for hearing his story, because he always wanted to have a family to return to or someone who cares about you. Unfortunately, he was an orphan and had no one by his side in his previous life. He knew loneliness and yearned for the warmth of a family, so he looked Harret in the eye and said seriously "you will definitely save her."
After eating everything, they once again took turns watching while they rested. The night passed without further incident and at dawn the group resumed their journey.