Elias was sitting at a blazing bonfire. Besides him, Ren and Lily were lying on the grass, their eyes closed in deep sleep.
Elias looked around, turning his face, trying to find even a glimpse of abnormality.
' Wow, these simulations feel too real. I never knew technology was this advanced.'
Elias sighed at his own ignorance. Of course, as a low level worker he had never gotten a chance to feel the VR simulations. This was also one of the reasons he loved becoming a beast tamer. He loved technology. He loved how machines did their work. He loved computers. And most of all he loved computer games.
Ren rolled by his side, still in sleep, mumbling, " Mom, I don't want Zebra-tigers. Please don't…" He pushed his hands upwards as if he was rejecting something.
The sudden attack of Zerathian tigers had caused a bad impact on them.
Lily didn't even want to see them again, while Ren even had weird dreams of those beasts. Elias on the other hand also hoped he would never meet them again, in this trial, now, as he had not enough strength to put up a decent fight with them.
Elias wondered what had gone wrong. Why did they encounter such high level beasts? He tried to think if he had overlooked something.
No matter how much he thought, he felt something was missing.
Something mild but may be the key to solving this problem.
He raked his brain for another few minutes, but he still couldn't find the answer.
Frustrated by his own incompetence, he got up and began to pace back and forth. After pacing for a few rounds, he suddenly stopped.
He turned his face slowly towards the nearby tree. The glowing mysterious rune, embedded in its trunk, caught his eye.
" That's right! There were no runes! No runes!" He yelled in excitement.
" So the runes are for guiding the right path!"
Elias observed the flickering rune intently, before returning to his place by the bonfire.
—
After a few hours of sleep, the trio got up, ready to continue their journey.
Elias had already explained what he had found about the runes and both Ren and Lily agreed upon his opinion.
" Although, it's just hypothetical, it's still worth giving a try." Elias sighed as a glint of hope dawned upon them.
" Yeah, besides there is no other choice even, right?" Lily agreed.
" Then let's go. I really hope we won't meet them again." Ren mumbled.
" I really don't like them."
Then they began to follow the runes. Of course that didn't mean they could disregard the ' Sound' they were following. Ren was constantly using his superhuman hearing abilities, while Lily used her magical eyes to break through the illusions.
Runes glowed in various colours, in different trees. Red, green, yellow, blue symbols glowed along the path.
" I have always wondered what those symbols mean." Ren exclaimed following Elias.
Lily carefully observed each symbol, trying to remember every line drawn in them.
" Beautiful" she muttered every time she found a new symbol, like a baby girl who just found a new flower.
They kept walking for a few more hours, cutting through the illusions and tuning into the 'Sound' as they strolled down the dark, rune-covered path. Just to back up their hunch about the runes, they didn't spot a single Zebra-Tiger on their journey..
" It's close," Ren muttered, " The source is very close. And it sounds like…"
" Like what?" Elias asked eagerly.
" It sounds like a snore. A beast's snore."
Both Elias and Lily blinked a few times.
" WHAT? Is that the sound we were following all the time?" Elias shot back.
" Well, I don't know, besides that I don't hear any other ' sounds'."
Elias and Lily looked at each other l, with blank expressions on their faces.
" Alright," Elias sighed, " since there are no other options, we can do nothing other than following this 'snore'." He further continued with a calm expression, " and I don't think it's bad to take a look at this sound."
Lily, after pondering for a few seconds, sighed and nodded in agreement.
" Then let's-Shit, where are we?" Ren paused, turning around.
" A fog?" Lily whispered, as she tried to touch the thick veil of smoke like fog, swirling around them.
" It's thick, like snow."
Elias started to look around. At the moment, he could only make out things a few feet in front of him.. The dark, thick fog covered the surrounding trees and even the glowing runes which were etched on the trees were hidden inside it.
*Cough*
Abruptly, Ren and Lily began to cough violently.
" *Cough* Elias, I can't *Cough* breathe!" Lily tried to speak, her voice hoarse, clutching her neck. Soon, she fell on her knees and bent down coughing hard.
Blood splashed out of her mouth.
Ren was also similar state. He had already fallen on the ground, his whole body shaking as he tried hard to breathe.
Soon, Elias began to feel something…something blocking his airways. And then it started.
He bent down clutching his stomach, blood splashing out from his mouth.
' Think Elias, think'
Elias started to think hard, searching for the best ways to tackle the problem at hand. After a moment of contemplation, a risky idea popped into his head. This was the moment when all the insights he had picked up from reading different web novels really started to shine.
He remembered how those protagonists in cultivation novels consume various medicinal herbs whenever they encounter poisonous fog.
And then he remembered the system's hint. Moonshadow Herb.
Though it was a gamble, he had to take the risk. There was no other way for them to survive this.
Elias reached his pocket and grabbed one moonshadow herb.
"*Cough* ugh! Do I really *cough* have to eat this?" He stared at the herb in his hands, making a face like he just bit into a lemon.
'Alright! Before I change my mind, I might as well just eat it!'
Even when facing death, Elias was picky about his food.
He tossed the whole grass into his mouth and started chewing.
'Yikes! This is terrible!'
His face twisted in disgust as the sourness hit him.
Without chewing it too much, he swallowed it down. Almost immediately, he felt the effects kick in.
His coughing stopped suddenly, and breathing became a breeze. A warm sensation spread through his body, making him feel cozy.
Elias glanced at Ren.
"Eat one of those plants you've got. Hurry up."
He rushed over to Lily and shoved another piece of grass into her mouth, urging her to chew and swallow.
She mindlessly started to chew and gulp it down.
Before long, her color started to improve, and warmth spread through her body.
Ren had also eaten a piece of grass, and Elias could see him getting better too.