Chương 23: Chapter 22: The Chase

Seth's heart pounded in his chest as he weaved between trees and stones, a Stone-Scaled Sloth hot on his heels. The beast's massive claws tore through the ground with each thunderous step, and Seth could almost feel its hot breath on his neck—its hungry growls were closing in.

"Low mobility, my ass!" Seth shouted before focusing on his bond.' Nightmare, where are you? I could use some help!'' Right behind it.' Nightmare appeared from thin air behind the massive sloth, his tenebrous form blending with its shadow. With a swift, fierce bite, the direwolf sank his teeth into the creature's thigh, black smoke eating through its brown, jagged scales.

The sloth howled in fury, swiping its large glowing claws at Nightmare, but the direwolf vanished back into his Illusionary Emptiness just in time.

Undeterred, the giant beast slashed and bucked the forest's floor, desperately trying to strike Nightmare even if he was practically invisible. Seizing the opportunity, Seth drew out his crimson bow and nocked one of his enchanted arrows—normal ones wouldn't even scratch that giant boulder-like creature. He focused and channeled aether from his Well into the arrow, following the grooves of Shocking Strike.

As his fingers pulled the bowstring, a purple glow flickered to life around the arrowhead and, almost instantly, transformed into crackling arcs of lightning. With a deep breath, Seth steadied his aim and released the arrow. It whizzed toward the beast, but just as it was about to hit, the sloth's scales darkened and gleamed, rebuffing the projectile in a shower of sparks.' Shit!' Seth cursed through Link's bond.' Obsidian Armor again!''

Power Shot would have been better,' Nightmare mocked him, nimbly dodging another swipe of the beast's Ripping Claws.' Oh, come on,'Seth huffed.' Just give me some spots to aim for.' Nightmare's crimson eyes softly glowed, scanning the massive creature for any weakness. As the sloth charged again, the direwolf leapt out of the way and then landed a Shadow Bite on its flank. Seth immediately drew another arrow, channeling the lightning spell once more.

The moment the sloth slashed and missed Nightmare, a small patch of corroded scales came into view, and Seth immediately fired. The arrow struck true and plunged into the beast's flesh with a loud sizzle, lightning surging through its body a split-second later. The sloth bellowed in pain and spun around, its huge claw slicing toward Seth. But before it could even take a step toward him, Nightmare pounced, tearing off another dozen of its tough scales and leaving the beast even more exposed.

It swiped wildly to retaliate, but more of Seth's arrows ripped through the air, sending dozens of tiny bolts soaring through its massive body. The sloth screeched—a startling sound for a body so large—and stumbled backwards, struggling to stand when suddenly Nightmare leapt at its neck and knocked it down. Ripping and tearing, the direwolf ended the Stone-Scaled Sloth's life barely a few seconds later.'

This is our last high-Toughness-beasts' contract,'Seth muttered, stepping over the corpse to retrieve his arrows and harvest the beaststone.' Not using any potions is great, but those sloths are a real pain in the ass to kill.' Marcus had brewed Seth six new Healing Potions with the tulips he had bought previously, yet they hadn't used a single one over the past two weeks.' And their stones are trash,' Nightmare added as Seth began slicing open the corpse.

At first, the Tenebrous Direwolf had insisted on eating one stone for every two sloths they'd slain, but he had quickly changed his mind. Due to their host's strong defense, they mainly increased Toughness—and Nightmare had little interest in making that his highest attribute. Since then, he had become selective, choosing only those with high Strength, Agility, or Arcane Power to follow his Path, where offense was everything one needed. Seth finally pulled the hazel beaststone out and Identified it out of habit.

Beaststone (Stone-Scaled Sloth) Resource Tier: Copper Rank: 17 Affinity: Earth' If I'd gone for more Toughness, we couldn't have taken it down that quickly,' Nightmare said with pride.' Yeah, yeah,' Seth replied, knowing the direwolf was right. That was the second-highest-Rank Stone-Scaled Sloth they had killed, and the fifth with Obsidian Armor. Without Nightmare's Shadow Bite and high Arcane Power, breaking through its scales wouldn't have been possible.

After sheathing his dagger, Seth glanced down at his hand to cast Identify. Seth Class: Primalist Rank: 11 (Mid-Copper) Subclass: - Core: Feral Instinct This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. Strength: 20 (+2) Arcane Power: 16 (+3) Toughness: 14 (+1) Well Capacity: 16 (+2) Agility: 22 (+3) Regeneration: 17 (+2) Spells: - Link [??? 〜??? (???)] - Shocking Strike [Copper〜Uncommon (Standard)] - Identify [Copper〜Common (Refined)] - Quick Step [Copper〜Common (Decent)] Five more attributes until I reach Rank 12, Seth thought with a sigh. Gaining fourteen attributes in two weeks was great… yet it was still hard to muster any joy.

Hunting Stone-Scaled Sloths was paying off, considering he had almost maintained the same pace as last month despite his higher Rank; however, it had come at the cost of his Toughness—fourteen days later, it still hadn't gained a single point. At first, he had considered deliberately taking hits to address the issue, but he couldn't bring himself to go through with it.

If things didn't change, he would indeed achieve Professor Reat's goal of Rank 12, but he'd end up being a glass cannon like Nightmare—all offense and no defense—and his core would probably never activate again. It needed danger to do so, and with such low Toughness and no defensive spells, getting up close would just be simply too risky.' Did you gain any attributes?' Nightmare asked, biting off some of the corpse's flesh.' Yeah, one Arcane power,'Seth replied, tucking away the beaststone in his pouch.'

But if we keep hunting like this, my Toughness will stay low forever.'' Come up close with me, then,'Nightmare teased him.' I'm sure if one of their claws sliced your belly open your Toughness would —' He stopped and raised his head.' Danger.'' Where?' Before Seth could react, a bone-chilling roar tore through the forest, followed by heavy thuds. A massive bear emerged from behind a boulder, its muscular frame towering at over seven feet high while on all fours.

The beast's fur was dark as coal, with a wide and flickering stripe of flames running down its back. Its eyes glowed with a piercing red light, and steam billowed from its nostrils as it let out another thunderous roar.

Dread crept up from Seth's stomach and his heart hammered his chest. The beast's dark claws were easily the size of his arms, and its sharp fangs seemed able to tear through steel—hinting at what they would do to his body. As it slowly advanced, the forest's floor shook under its paws with each step, threatening to shatter beneath them. Despite his best efforts, Seth found himself frozen in place, unable to move a muscle, paralyzed by an unnatural fear.

And to make it worse, Nightmare seemed to be experiencing the same issue and was completely rooted to the forest's floor. Inferno Bear Potential: Iron Tier Rank: 32 (Low-Iron) Affinity: Fire Strength:??? Arcane Power:??? Toughness:??? Well Capacity:??? Agility:??? Regeneration:??? Suddenly, Seth's core surged awake and its mysterious energy stormed out, ramming into the invisible force that seemed to encase his body in rigid ice.

Each pulse sent heat rippling through his muscles, spreading from his chest and bursting outward like raging waves. With one final blast, the scorching energy shattered the spell and freed Seth before flowing through his bond and liberating Nightmare as well.' Run!' Seth shouted to the direwolf, too caught up to even think about what his core had just managed to do. They both spun around and took off in a desperate sprint, the bear visibly surprised when they started moving.

Dashing through the thick underbrush, they pushed aside the low-hanging branches and weaved around towering oak and sequoias. Behind them, the bear roared and gave chase, its colossal paws violently slamming against the forest's floor.' We need somewhere to hide!' Seth cried out as he hurdled over a small stream, stones skittering into the water.' Hide?

'Nightmare bellowed while running.' We need to lose it first!' Seth poured aether in Quick Step's grooves to match the direwolf's speed, eyes frantically searching for a way out. The Inferno Bear roared furiously, gaining ground, its massive frame unrooting trees, tearing through the bushes, and leaving only destruction in its wake. Seth's mind raced as the thick branches and prickly needles whipped his body. He squinted, raising his arms to shield his face and pushing forward at full speed.

Then, without warning, the dense foliage broke open and both he and Nightmare skidded to a stop—just a few feet ahead, the forest's floor abruptly ended, giving way to a sheer cliff that plunged into the vast sky, with a wide, raging river sitting at the bottom a hundred feet away.' We have to jump!' Seth yelled through their bond as the massive bear stormed toward them, rocks shuddering beneath its paws. Nightmare hesitated, his gaze repeatedly shifting between the cliff and the enormous beast.'

We can't —' Without a word, Seth grabbed the direwolf and leapt off the edge, sending them both into a freefall. Wind roared around them, lashing their bodies as they plummeted down toward the river below. They fell with terrifying speed and panic gripped Seth. At the same time, he heard Nightmare scream through Link. Then, just as they braced for their death, they hit the water with a massive splash. A cold shock jolted through Seth's body and his head spun violently, his mind struggling to catch up with his eyes.

Soon, though, he broke through the water's surface, gasping, and saw Nightmare's head bobbing up beside him. A wave of relief flooded Seth's heart, and he grinned despite himself. Fighting the river's powerful current, Seth kicked his legs with all his strength and followed Nightmare while keeping himself above water. After a grueling effort, they finally reached the shore and crawled onto the cold, jagged rocks, both drenched and freezing—but alive.' You're crazy!

'Nightmare yelled as Seth panted, hands on his knees.' We could've died! We should've died!'' But we didn't,' Seth answered, flashing a broad smile, quite happy his gut had been right. Nightmare turned away and shook his fur dry.' Maybe your Toughness finally went up after that.' Seth glanced down at his hand.' Nope, still the same,'he said before straightening up with a smirk.' Guess we'll have to do it again.'' That will be without me,' the direwolf grumbled.

Suddenly, a thundering roar echoed across the gorge, making both their heads snap up. Right at the edge of the cliff, over a hundred feet above them, the Inferno Bear was snarling and sending pebbles into the river below.' We should move,' Seth said, wringing out the water from his pouch and hood.

'Relax, it's not gonna jump,'Nightmare answered in a mocking tone.' You're the only one mad enough to —' Before the direwolf could finish, the massive beast leapt off the precipice.' Shit! Run!' Seth and Nightmare burst into a sprint along the riverbank while searching the sheer rock wall on either side for a way to get out of the gorge. Suddenly, Seth's eyes landed on a large cave mouth on the right. Towering boulders flanked the entrance and thick vines cascaded down from the top, concealing everything inside.'

Let's hide in there!' Nightmare glanced nervously behind.' But if it finds us, we'll be trapped.'' Got a better idea?' The direwolf shook his head, so they veered right, running toward the cave. As Seth followed the direwolf inside, a strange, icy sensation suddenly washed over him. His vision blurred, and the cave started spinning around him, causing bile to rise in his throat. Shutting his eyes, he clutched the wall and tried fighting back the dizziness. Definitely not a good time to throw up.

A few heartbeats later, everything finally stopped moving and Seth's nausea lessened. Opening his eyes, he noticed a faint, eerie blue light emanating from rune-like carvings on the wall—a wall that now stood where the cave's entrance had been seconds before.' Wait, what? The entrance is gone!' Seth exclaimed, inspecting the new glowing dead end. He spun around, expecting to see Nightmare, but instead was met with another troubling surprise: the direwolf wasn't there.

Shutting his eyes, Seth focused on their bond and sent his voice as far as he could.' Nightmare, can you hear me?' Complete silence.