Chapter 158 To Answer the Call (1/2)
CHAPTER 158
TO ANSWER THE CALL
Lino didn't immediately head for the entrance to the Dimensional Pocket within the Ancestral Grounds. The latter wasn't simply a tomb for the deceased members of the Clan -- it was also considered the top-grade training grounds with a variety of beasts roaming about the vast lands as well as numerous natural resources scattered about.
By inviting him in, it was a sort of an implicit acceptance that he would sweep some things in his wake and Lino wasn't that nice of a person to decline the offer. Following his quick encounter with the panther variant, he scouted the surrounding landscape - which consisted mainly of river valleys and mountains - before slowly heading West in a zig-zag fashion.
His first encounter following the panther was another strange variant that clearly didn't belong here -- Shadow Lycan. It was a creature which usually ran on all four but had the ability to do the same on the hind legs, with rather impressive agility and speed. The Shadow variant differed mainly in the fact that they were categorized under the 'Ethereal' branch of the beasts.
All beasts within the group sported incredible resilience to any non-physical attacks and were usually extremely difficult to kill as they technically didn't posses a corporeal body.
Lino observed the beast for a moment while noting down a few things about its appearance inside his mind before poising himself for an attack. As there was no danger of being made out he decided to use the sword and practice the arts related to it as well as the most basic forms.
The beast zipped toward him true to its name, moving beneath the grass itself as a shadow, circling Lino and emerging from the back end, trying to get in a surprise attack. Lino, however, didn't seem to pay much heed to it as he made a basic - but swift - cutting motion backwardly, easily parrying the beast's claws, before spinning around in place and thrusting the sword forth through the shadowed being.
The sword quickly came across a firm object but Lino didn't pause, pushing even harder, breaking it apart. A wail later and the beast slowly drifted into the wind, leaving behind a few broken pieces of a spherical stone which seemed to have lost its luster. Lino picked it up and studied for a moment, musing that the world truly harbored strange things.
”Probably only the weaker ones managed to escape...” he mumbled faintly as he turned westward yet again and resumed his zig-zag style of travel.
On his way over he didn't forget to search every nook and cranny for any sort of a material, whether it was rare or common. He was truly dried up - especially after crafting Felix's weapon - which forced him to welcome practically everything. Though he didn't have much expectations, the results still disappointed him as the best he got so far was a piece of [Frosted Ore], a relatively uncommon ore. The problem was that it was merely Level 40.
Cursing his luck, he decided not to move through the night and chose to camp at the edge of a small forest which acted as a sort of a border between the outer edge of the grounds and the inner parts.
The burial ceremony must have finished by now and chances were that the youths had already dispersed in search of their destinies. However, he was fairly certain that they were expressly told not to go near the location of the Dimensional Pocket so he wasn't worried about running into any hot-headed maniacs too thirsty to prove themselves.
”... the battle might turn out to be quite difficult.” just as he was about to have his beauty sleep, the familiar, robotic voice echoed inside his mind.
”What'd you find out?” Lino asked casually.
”Though the Realm is relatively small compared to others, it currently houses roughly sixteen thousand beasts, with the weakest being around Level 150 and the strongest around Level 400.”
”Difficult? That's fucking suicidal!” Lino exclaimed.
”The beast that's trying to break out is one of the rarest Vampire variants -- Crowned Dhampyre and is roughly Level 600.”
”... hmm, I suppose I don't need that piece of [Hervan's Divine Stone]. My life's a bit more precious I think.” Lino mumbled already formulating stories he would tell after leaving the Grounds without fulfilling his promise.
”It's not as though you stand no chance.” the Writ, unsurprisingly, decided to encourage him. ”I can lead you to some of the rarer resources around. If you can craft items properly, you should be able to defeat it.”
”... from what I remember, Dhampires are children of vampires and humans, right?” Lino chose to ask instead of confirming or denying anything.