Reve found himself back in the river. He resisted the strong water current and dragged his body out with a single flip.
'Bloody Hell!'
His senses picked up on a presence behind him. He could feel the temperature of the air suddenly rise. Even his furs were scorched from the change.
Reve turned back to see the terror lizard opening its mouth. Red lights could be seen blaring from the depths of the lizards.
Without any usual roar, the lizard fired out a constant stream of deep red flames.
It all happened in a few seconds, leaving Reve barely anytime to react. He managed to summon his white plants which coiled all around him to form a great tree with him buried deep in it.
One might wonder why he had not used his [Force Barrier]. The skill was already compromised.
The smart lizard had probably figured out that the skill could only repel physical things. It wouldn't do well against an ethereal force like mana. That was why Reve used his best defensive skill. It was a variation of his [Nature] magic spell.
The original would stimulate the growth of plant life, but this variation would do the same with the purpose of it swallowing him. It made a good defense but wasted his mana.
The great tree kept blocking the red flames. It was doing a good job until Reve's mana reserve dropped and its efficiency significantly reduced.
The flame stream burrowed into the great tree, little by little. The sheer heat generated by the attack was already affecting Reve, "Endure. Endure. Endure!"
It was appearing to be a battle of energy. Whoever would win depends on who has more energy reserve. The lizard or Reve?
After a few minutes, Reve tapped out. His [Great Tree] dematerialized and left him bare to the flame stream but luckily the lizard was already running out of energy.
It stopped its attack and rushed out at a helpless Reve when an unexpected arrow embedded itself in its leg.
This unpredicted action gave Reve the necessary time to run away from the lizard. He wondered to himself, 'Is there a third party? Who saved me? No, it is wrong to think that way? If whoever it was wanted to save me, I would have been saved a long time ago. Does that mean----I was bait!'
He created a few clones to confuse his enemy and hid behind a tree. Closing his eyes, Reve fully expanded his senses way beyond their limits.
A mental image of his two-kilometer radius appeared in his mind. He was able to pinpoint the location of two figures.
One of them was beside the lake. The exact place Reve ran away from. Hence, that should be the terror lizard.
The second figure was just like him, hiding behind a tree. The figure faced the terror lizard directly. That was all the information his senses could give him.
There was no information on gender, weapon, and so on.
'Who is that?'
One thing was for sure. The hidden figure had a ranged weapon that could fire arrows. It was also in possession of exquisite arrows.
So far, it was the only thing that has proven to be able to leave a lasting damage on the lizard.
The situation strangely became silent. No one moved. No one was willing to move.
The lizard kept changing its sight. It stared straight at the rough location of the hidden figure. Then, it would glare at its east, the area where Reve was hiding.
It seemed to be having a deep discussion. Reve wasn't worried about that.
It worked well for him. He used the time to recuperate. He tried to refill as much mana points as he could. The coming moments would be perilous!
*Roar!*
After a while, the lizard became the first to break the peaceful atmosphere.
It screamed in pain as cracking sounds could be heard originating from its body. Reve observed all this with his supernatural sense.
He had a concerning look on his face as he watched the lizard break down further. The red eyes of the lizard bulged ferociously.
From the middle of its forehead, an extra eye was growing. A few more transformations occurred and the terrific moans coming from the lizard stopped.
The lizard appeared once more. Something was different about it. It was taller than it should be, reaching half the height of a normal tree easily.
Worst of all, the lizard stood on two legs with its lizard face scouring his surrounding. His red scales brilliantly shined under the light provided by the sun.
Suddenly, the lizard opened his mouth and spoke out, "Come out, two of you! I know you are there! Ahhhh."
The rage on its face was as explicit as ever.
Reve changed his hiding location as soon as he noticed the change in the situation, 'Just as I feared, the lizard had already attained its prime mode. With the way it spoke Troran, the beast language, I would say it is quite proficient with this form. I need to escape---'
He instantly ducked as a red beam of energy swept past his head. The lizard was becoming more active. Since it couldn't find its prey, it would clear the surrounding, eliminating all advantages Reve had.
That was probably what the lizard thought was the best course of action.
"I've found you!"
A roar echoed throughout the forest, scaring all the nearby birds. In an instant, the humanoid lizard appeared beside Reve.
It stretched its claw but Reve managed to dodge it. He cast his basic enchant spell and attempted to run away but the lizard smoothly caught up with him.
Due to the differences in height, it threw a kick at Reve which was blocked by his [Force Barrier].
Reve manipulated a nearby broken tree and flung it at the lizard. He did the same for other trees frantically. He wanted to use the chaotic situation to attempt an escape.
However, a fiery blast emanated from the lizard which turned everything to ashes, "Enough of this. I'm tired of your tricks"