Crocodiles?
Crocodiles?
Alex looked in a direction where he felt the stronger connection. Up to this point, he already killed many monsters but only those rank 5 or lower which he could insta-kill. Alex continued marching forward without looking back. When he arrived at the center of the forest, he finally felt the connection intensified by much. But on the other hand, he couldn't pinpoint where the center of this feeling was because of the intensity.
Alex frowned, "It seems I have to look for it slowly."
He was being careful enough to not encounter any high-rank monsters when he got closer to the center. But now, there was already a monster in front of him. This time he had to face a beetle monster. Judging from its aura, this monster was only a rank 7 monster. But Alex still needed to be careful. He quickly pulled out his sword and prepared himself. This beetle seemed to have a good defense. The monster that was good on offense was quite dangerous, but the monster that was good on defense was more troublesome. They were very hard to kill and Alex knew this well.
Alex took out the rank 8 spears from the system. He will go all out from the start to finish the battle as soon as possible. After all, killing as many high-rank monsters as possible was never his intention to come here.
"Flash Step!"
Alex disappeared from the scene. The beetle couldn't follow his movement, which was convenient for him. The moment Alex appeared, he already got behind the beetle and thrust his spear. The beetle didn't have any chance to react. Alex's spear already touched its back. The beetle was flying because of the momentum after it got stabbed by Alex's spear.
Alex looked at the beetle, he realized that his spear just now didn't manage to pierce the beetle. As expected from rank 7 defensive monster. He needed to find its weak point if he wanted to kill it easily. Alex didn't stop there and he made a few fire arrows. The fire arrows already started flying toward the beetle. The beetle opened its wing and flew to dodge the fire arrows. Luckily, Alex's fire arrows which were supposed to miss suddenly flew upward and chased the beetle. Even Alex was shocked by what just happened.
Alex was confused for seconds with the scene in front of him. Was there any connection between this and the connection he felt in this forest? He thought. But that thought disappeared quickly when he suddenly heard Sherry's voice.
"Wuu Wuu Wuu..."
"Sherry?" Alex was surprised. "What do you mean? You could control my fire?"
"Wuu Wuu!"
"I see. This way, we can fight together without revealing your form. You can control the fire to attack the opponent and I will be the one in charge of the weapon. Nice combo!"
"Wuu Wuu."
"Alright. I will leave it to you then."
Now, with Sherry in charge of his element, Alex can focus on his weapon. This way, his opponent was like fighting two people. They would have a hard time-fighting Alex.
Another few fire arrows appeared again. These fire arrows got together with the previous fire arrows and flew toward the beetle together like a homing missile.
'Boom'
'Boom'
'Boom'
A series of explosions could be heard. Sherry finally managed to hit the beetle. Because of that many fire arrows, the beetle finally fell to the ground again. Alex was a bit shocked by his flame. After looking at those fire arrows, he felt his flame got even stronger than before. He didn't feel any difference when he released the fire arrows but when he finally saw the result, he confirmed that his fire was stronger than ever. Was it because of Sherry? Or was there anything he missed? Did he forget any flame improvement he made or tried? But he can't be bothered by this thought, for now, he was still in the battle. He could research it after he got back later.
"Flash Step!"
Alex arrived in front of the beetle and he quickly thrust his spear once again. Even though it still didn't manage to pierce the beetle, this time, Alex adjusted his aim. He didn't let the beetle fly again like before. He pinned the beetle to the ground and because of that, it couldn't move at all.
"Boost Step."
Alex used his Boost Step on his spear and finally managed to pierce the beetle's carapace. It was very shallow to the point the beetle seemed to mock him because he would fail to kill it if he continued this way. But Alex also smirked a little. Behind his Boost Step, he also prepared for another move.
"Sanguin Sword Art. Seventh Slash!"
This Seventh Slash target wasn't the beetle but the spear. Alex wanted to use the powerful force from the Seventh Slash to boost his spear, like a nail and a hammer. Finally, the beetle was pierced like a piece of wood.
Now with that wound as the base, Alex continued to wound the beetle again and again. After a short while, he finally killed the beetle.
[Gacha Ticket Acquired]
Alex pulled out his spear and continued onward. He didn't have any time to bother with the Ticket for now.
He met a few rank 7 monsters on his way. Though they were a bit troublesome, Alex managed to kill them without getting any injuries. After resting for a while, he managed to restore his expended energy and Mana.
When he walked inside the forest, searching for 'that connection'. He suddenly stopped, "The feeling intensified around here."
Alex searched for his surroundings. He felt that the answer he sought was around here. But where exactly was the entrance?
Alex continued for a while but there was no sign of 'that' place.
"Sherry, do you feel anything?"
"Wuu Wuu Wuu (Master, I got the same feeling as you. But if I have to choose, I would love to move there)."
Alex felt some direction inside his heart, it must be the place Sherry's pointed at. He also felt that he could understand Sherry better now. He followed the direction in his heart and he found some kind of small mountain. It wasn't that big, only around ten meters high, but a bit huge.
It was covered completely and perfectly from the forests. If others flew to search for this rock, they wouldn't see it from above. But when they were on the ground, they would only see this weird-looking stone mountain and they wouldn't feel anything different from this stone mountain. But Alex was different, he felt this was the place he was looking for. When he was just about to enter the mountain he suddenly found two monsters there.
This time the monsters were crocodiles. But the difference from the earth crocodiles, these crocodiles could walk on their feet. As expected of the fantasy world. Even crocodiles could walk like humans. But what made Alex more hesitant was because he felt the difference in their power. These two crocodiles were rank 8 monsters. Alex was surely contemplating before fighting them. He needed to go there and search for 'it', but he needed to kill these monsters first, if not he wouldn't be able to search 'it' without getting attacked by these two.
Alex thought of a plan for a moment. How could he defeat them faster? Should he go back and get reinforcement? He immediately shook his head, he didn't have any time for that, he needed to get the cure for Alicia as soon as possible. The only way for him to win was…
Alex sighed a long breath, preparing himself for the upcoming battle. "Sherry. Use my fire to hold the crocodile on the right back. I will use that time to kill the other crocodile."
"Wuu!"
After Sherry gave an 'OKAY' sign, Alex finally stepped forward. He silently approached the crocodiles, when he got close enough, he aimed his rank 8 spears at the crocodile on his left.
"Spear Throwing Art. Spin Throwing."
He wanted to take this chance to make a surprise attack, hopefully, one of the crocodiles killed by his spear. As soon as he threw the spear, he also jumped forward. He needed to grab the spear back.
"Roar!"
The crocodiles noticed the spear, as well as Alex who was attacking it. The crocodile on the left was startled because the spear aimed at him.
'Boom'
The crocodile barely dodged the spear. But it still managed to injure its right hand. Alex continued and arrived in front of the two crocodiles. Sherry made a few fire arrows and threw them to the ground. The purpose was simple, it was to make a smokescreen for Alex to grab his spear.
Alex, who got his spear back immediately leaped forward and thrust his spear toward the injured crocodile. The injured crocodile was more alert than before. It dodged Alex's thrust completely and whipped its tail to Alex.
"Sanguin Sword Art. Seventh Slash."
The tail and the sword wave clashed. But Alex didn't stop there.
"Flame Sword Wave."
Alex finally used his Flame Sword Wave again. After he got the Sanguin Sword Art and his other techniques, he seemed to have forgotten about this move, or maybe because he refused to use his flame that this move was abandoned for a while. This was one of the most powerful moves in Alex's repertoire, with a sudden move like that, Alex got his tail. The crocodile now had his hand and tail cut. With powerful monsters as his enemies, this was a good chance to release it again.
"Roar!"
The other crocodile roared. The smokescreen also had been cleared away. With that, Alex immediately retreated a few steps from them. This time, the two crocodiles fully prepared for Alex's attacks. But with the clashes just now, Alex managed to get a hand and a tail from a rank 8 monster. It already gave him an advantage.
"Sherry!"
Sherry also started doing her job. Sherry used Alex's flame arrow and the fire arrows flew toward the other crocodile while Alex focused on the injured one according to his plan.
"Fleeting Step."
This time, since the crocodile was already prepared, he used his Fleeting Step to confront the crocodile head-on. Alex slowly and unpredictably walked closer to the crocodile. The crocodile sensed the danger, it immediately charged at him, hoping to break Alex's movement. Alex already predicted this and when the crocodile almost reached him, Alex raised his sword again.
"Flame Sword Wave!"
The crocodile was startled by Alex's sudden move. It suddenly ducked and walked with its four… no… three feet to dodge the Flame Sword Wave and get closer to Alex.