145 Dead Woods (2/2)

”Really, why would he do that? Doesn't he know I will kill them.”

”Hehe, we mice are normally closer to the bottom of the food chain unless our bloodline and talent level is fairly high. Coexisting so peacefully with the other native magic beasts was a very lucky situation for a weak race like the Snowfur Mice. The recent arrivals are mostly all strong predators and the mice are the ones suffering the most damage.” Theo was not surprised at all that this mouse decided to help them out.

”He said that?”

”It's a she. And not in so many words, but that's pretty much the gist of the stuff she conveyed. After all, her intelligence is not that high. She just knows her friends and tribe members are dying and new predators are lurking in the forest.”

”Okay, well, tell her to lead the way!” With no other alternate plans, Greyson did not see the harm in trusting this little mouse.

As it turned out, he made the correct decision. Though the power levels of the magic beasts were not consistent, this Snowfur Mouse led to Greyson to around a mix of 20 different magic beasts. Some of them were even dead and he caught the dead magic beast along with the scavengers eating the corpse. The highest was equivalent to a magister level stage four magician while the rest were a mix of stage three and below. Killing them and grabbing the pendant was one thing, but he was also glad that he could collect the bodies as well. Later on, he could sell the fur, magic cores, and other materials. Grinning contently about his future earnings, Greyson decided to find a relatively open space to recover his energy. The Snowfur Mouse, originally nicknamed by Greyson as Little White, was named Holly in the end by Theo who could not help but scorn Greyson's naming sense. She stayed with them happily as she watched the number of threats continuing going down. As Greyson meditated, Holly and Theo kept guard.

Before long, Greyson started again. The first day passed rather quickly and uneventfully. He dropped into a search, find, and kill routine. With Holly helping them, Theo and Greyson quickly collected almost 50 with even two magister level stage five magic beasts mixed in. Those two were a difficult kill on Greyson's part. Working as a pair, the two were Nilhir Apes. Their thick fur would absorb the power of impacts and was also extremely durable against sharp weapons. They were actually earth element beasts and at a slight magical disadvantage in the Dead Woods, however, they mostly attacked in a close combat style while taking advantage of their natural physical strength and tremendous stamina. Completely ignoring the trees, the Apes eventually went berserk in that moment of do or die against Greyson. Exploding with unexpected power, Greyson was rather injured during their last-ditch retaliation. The situation would have been worse if Theo had not jumped in and quickly pulled Greyson to dodge using his lightning element movement magic.

Holding his side, he groaned in pain. Moving his limbs slightly, he could tell that a couple ribs were fractures. The rest of his body was covered in bruises, but nothing more than skin deep. His scales could take the credit for him receiving the minimum amount of damage from a direct attack. Theo was also injured and his were much more serious. Gently holding the mouse to make sure to not aggravate the injuries, Greyson stopped using his dragon bloodline and began to use light magic to heal the both of them. In his dragon form, his magic was weaker and he could not access the normal seven elements, but his physical body was many times sturdier. During this moment of vulnerability, he was not paying close attention to his surroundings. Holly's ears twitched as she could feel the vibrations of the ground that signaled the presence of another group. Squeaking loudly, she ran over to Greyson to warn him.

Surprised by the noise, Greyson looked over at Holly only in time to watch as an attack rained down on both of them.

”Holly! Watch out!” Before those words even came out of his mouth, he was already trying to set up an ice shield around himself and the mouse still a couple meters away. The shield went up in time, but the two balls made of wind and fire slammed into the shields and exploded. Not strong enough, the ice burst into pieces and Greyson and Holly were both catapulted backwards by the impact. Still tightly holding Theo, Greyson knew what kind of trees were behind him so he shifted his body to the left. Gasping out in pain, his right shoulder, torso, and thigh were stabbed right through by the branch of a White Witch tree. Breathing hitched, he tried to regain his bearings and look around for the enemy. Clenching his jaw and squeezing his eyes shut, Greyson pulled his body off the tree. Unable to contain a yelp of pain, he exhaled a shaky breath and held back the tears. Bleeding profusely, Greyson quickly activated his light element to start healing the wounds. Turning to his right, he managed to spot Holly on the ground. Limping over, he went to heal her as well. Thankfully, he could tell she managed to miss any of the sharp branches. However, the moment he picked her up, the color drained from his face. The still warm body was completely limp in his hands. Almost instantly, he knew that Holly's weak body could not handle the explosion's power and the bones in her body were broken. The tears he managed to hold back earlier fell one by one. Sadness turned to resentment as he jerked around to gaze closely at his surroundings. Tucking Theo away in his pockets, he prepared for battle. He could not understand why they were still hiding instead of attacking while he was injured, but he did not have the leisure to think through the possibilities.

Frustrated with his inability to see, Greyson took one look at his wounds before deciding to activate his dragon bloodline. His healing barely started, the wounds started to bleed once again. Breathing deeply, his now purple eyes glared at four different spots. The scent was caught. Rapidly, he brought out his bow and nocked four arrows. Seemingly noticing the change in his behavior, more wind and fire balls flew at him while the snow grabbed at his ankles. Knowing they were trying to throw off his rhythm, Greyson jumped up to quickly dodge. Within the small pause between spells, the four arrows flew out like bolts of lightning. He really wanted to see what kind of people were sneak attacking him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please clickfor visiting.