53 Ravage (2/2)

In the end, the golden gorilla had had enough. It gathered an outworldly amount of golden energy into its fist and smashed the ground.

The shockwave disturbed even Shesmu who was hundreds of meters away. He turned around only to see debris flying everywhere. Trees, dirt, and rocks were catapulted like they were caught up by a tornado. And one of these rocks flew right into his face.

Shesmu could only hear buzzing in his ears. He couldn't see, nor feel anything around him. However, even though his vision was blurry at best, he could still make out the red in it. Whether that was the red of his blood or signal from the system that his life was in danger, Shesmu didn't know.

[You died]

[Those who hold the sword live their life at the brink of death. Lifeforce, in the end, is but another form of energy. Use the life of your enemy as your own sustenance, and thrive!]

The same notification Shesmu saw when he first entered this stage appeared once again in front of his face. After his death, Shesmu was sent back to the same place he first spawned in.

”Roar!”

Shesmu already expected the tiger's pounce, and as such, sidestepped it with ease. He unsheathed his sword and slashed at its exposed neck, leaving a deep gash in it. The tiger whimpered in pain, but Shesmu didn't stop. His flurry of attacks pierced and slashed at the tiger's flesh, slaying it.

Once he killed the beast, Shesmu knew he had to get out of his place fast, lest the golden gorilla reappear. Looking at his minimap, Shesmu knew that he had to cross a river and a valley before finally reaching the ruins. And that's where his goal resided.

Shesmu closed the minimap and focused all of his attention on running as fast as possible. As expected, the golden gorilla had appeared where he previously stood. However, instead of chasing after him this time, it took the opposite path. It went in the direction of the rat cave.

Shesmu sighed in relief before cursing within the depth of his mind. Who in godmother's holy land thought that giving a test full of Tier 2 beasts to a Tier 0 would be a fucking good idea. Talk about game motherfucking balance.

On his way towards the river, Shesmu encountered multiple beasts. Overgrown cobras, two-headed lions, packs of thunder horned rabbits, all kinds of lethal creatures that were way beyond his level. However, he survived. Either by running, hiding, or fighting, Shesmu did whatever it took.

Battered, and exhausted from all the fighting, Shesmu put his hands on top of his knees to catch his breath. He looked at the river. Its stream was strong, too strong for him to cross. But even if he could, Shesmu wouldn't dare touch the water.

A steel eagle soared atop the river, looking for a prey, but little did it know that below it were the predators. The moment it flew low enough, a pack of piranhas jumped from within the water took hold of it with their jaws. Their teeth bit so fast at the bird's flesh that by the time the piranhas went back into the water, the eagle was but a pack of bones.

Shesmu looked at this scene and crossed the cross the river idea from his mind. He took a look at his minimap and found that there was a bridge to cross the river upstream. Looking at its direction, Shesmu found that the river was passing through a small canyon, while the bridge connected at the top.

As such, Shesmu made his way to the top of the canyon and stood in front of the bridge. It was time to cross the first obstacle.