Chapter 49 (2/2)

“Let’s… not bother him with this.” Donny said. “After all, it is purely administrative work. It is being done to rank the Classers, nothing more.”

“Nothing more,” The other two echoed, eyeing each other.

****

Randidly had followed the trail to the edge of a small path, leading downwards into a ravine, before he hesitated, the hair on the back of his neck tingling. There was something… strange here. Something wrong.

But the trail of blood led forward, and Randidly felt a familiar thrill growing. Against his better judgement, he walked down into the gorge, around twisting turns, through meandering paths, until finally, deep within the gorge, Randidly arrived at a large cave.

The trail of blood had long since disappeared, so Randidly was expecting an ambush. Eyes of the Spear Phantom were activated and scanning around, but when he finally spotted the enemy, it wasn’t one that he needed to be using any extra skills to see.

It was large, as large as a short bus. Body of a lion, head of a woman, wings of an eagle. Its eyes slowly opened, its amber eyes drifting over towards him. It lounged in front of the entrance to the cave, plain as day.

The floating text above its head dominated Randidly’s focus, freezing him solid. In a bright yellow text that Randidly didn’t recognize, he immediately recognized that he might be facing his own doom.

The Hungry Tribulation, Ep-Tal Lvl 30

“My, my, my,” The creature murmured, getting to its feet. “It seems the sheep have wandered quite far from the shepherd. And what soft wool you have. Haven’t even received a class yet… Well, well, well….”

“What…. Are you? Your name is yellow-”

“Ah, ah, ah,” The creature said, seeming pleased. It sat on its haunches, regarding him with a glimmer of interest. “So the sheep does know some things. Yes, I do not fit into the normal hierarchy of enemies you face. I am… special. I am the tribulation that waits outside the edge of the Newbie Zone for freshly formed villages. A desolation, but perhaps also a blessing. The Hungry, Hungry, Hungry Tribulation.”

The sphinx flashed its teeth.

Randidly remembered now, the fear he had learned first in the Dungeon, surrounded by enemies much more powerful than himself. Although this enemy wasn’t as high as the level of the Boss of the Dungeon, the suffocating aura was 10x as great, and there was no Shal here to take the brunt of the damage. The feeling came, wet and raw and fresh. The old dread of a predator, looming above him. His hands were shaking, but his smile was growing wider and wider, his eyes bright.

He might die here… But he definitely felt alive here, too.

In a smooth motion, he drew his spear and leveled it towards the sphinx. “Aren’t you supposed to tell me a riddle or something?”

Its smile widened, and it lowered its stance into a crouch. “No, no, no… But we shall enjoy our time playing together. To a wandering, lost sheep, there are a few lessons that I am willing to teach, teach, teach.”

It leapt forward, and Randidly dodged to the side, activating Haste, Empower, Footwork of the Spear Phantom, and Mana Strengthening. His eyes narrowed, sensing rather than seeing that he wouldn’t make it in time.

He instantly used Phantom Half-Step, creating some distance, weighing his options.

But whereas the cats had been annoyingly fast, this creature was mind bogglingly fast, and already crossed the distance to him, its huge paw swiping sideways.

His spear got up in time, and he activated Mana Shield and Iron Skin. At the same time, he used Spearing Roots, aiming for its underside while it was distracted attacking him.

It laughed as it sidestepped so fast it vanished, avoiding the roots, and belched fire at him.

Randidly felt sweat on his brow as he raised his hand, simultaneously channeling Root Manipulation and shooting a fireball to intercept the fireball spat by the sphinx. Randidly didn’t doubt that he wouldn’t be able to take many of those fireballs due to his low Resistance.

The fireballs met in a huge explosion of roaring flame, and Randidly could tell that his was slightly weaker. But he leapt over the smoke, using the cover to pull out and down a stamina and mana potion. Then he narrowed his eyes, scanning for the sphinx.

“Here, here, here…” It cooed from behind him, its paw smashing into his back.

The impact was brutal; even with iron skin, Randidly could feel that several of his bones had broken, and some of his organs were failing. He simply pressed his hands to his chest and activated healing palm, barely keeping his health afloat. Staggering to his feet, he drank two health potions, feeling his body snap back into place, quite painfully, but otherwise without any repercussions.

Randidly had also come to a realization. It wasn’t that the Sphinx was fast, it simply used the same skill that Lyra did.

It could literally teleport anywhere around him. Snickering, he felt it move.

Rather than trying to track it with his eyes, Randidly raised his spear and prepared to receive its attacks. If Lyra had taught him anything in the past few days, it's that the things she did came at great cost; it was not a move that could be used indefinitely.

And when it ran out of mana, that was his chance. He simply had to survive that long.