The strange man known as Red—Lince still had no idea who he really was. Whether he was an individual searching for an item, a person who was a natural inhabitant of the island, or if he was someone working for the island's sake.
There was one thing that was clear though: he was quite the powerful person, and now he meant business.
'I was hoping that my last attack would have finished him off… and he has my dagger with him now as well.' Reaching behind, Lince could feel he still had one more dagger on him, but just having one left him feeling rather vulnerable.
When Red lifted his hand in the air, red energy was gathering in the palm of his hand, but in the air itself, small red particles—small line-shaped beams like lasers—were coming toward the palm of his hand.
It made Lince wonder, was this energy like Qi, where it came from within his body, or was it like Mana, where one used energy to force the energies of the outside world to be controlled? It was hard to say at just a glance, but whatever it was, he didn't like it.
'Maybe I should stop him rather than let him go ahead with this final move of his. A throw of my second dagger would be a bit harder this time, but then it would be harder for me to fight hand to hand,' Lince thought, considering if his attack didn't work the second time.
Just then, from behind his ear, he could feel a tingling sensation. A low deep roar and the sound of slight banging.
"That can't be?" Lince thought.
Turning his head, his thoughts had come true as he witnessed a giant white-furred monkey flying through the air. Moments later, it crashed in the middle of the sand and started to bang its chest again and again.
The monkey had a heavy landing, shaking the ground slightly and causing Red to stumble. Right after, the monkey spun its body and started to chuck sand all over the place, and even piles of rubble to the left and right.
Lince didn't waste any time and took his chance to head back where he came from—into the dark green part of the jungle, searching other areas. He ran at a fast speed, and with his silent footsteps and techniques he would leave no trace, making it almost impossible for Red to keep up with him.
"You know, when I got rid of that monkey, I thought I would be happy to never see him again. It turns out I was wrong. That was a good monkey—I should treat him to a few bananas the next time I see him… if he doesn't try to snap my head off, or try to eat me instead," Lince thought as he continued on, hoping he would never run into Red again.
The sun was starting to set on his journey, and Lince really had no idea where he was going. He just knew that there was no point in turning to the light green-colored territory of the jungle.
There was likely nothing there, as it would just be the outer area of the jungle, whereas the dark green section of the jungle would lead to different places internally. At least that was what he had gathered from his observations.
Eventually though, Lince had come across a stream of fast-flowing water. Seeing it, he knew there had to be a strong source nearby, like a waterfall.
"That would be a good place to hide a special item, right? Aren't there usually secret entrances to these things like behind the waterfall? If I was the one to hide the item, is that where I would hide it, or would that be much too obvious?"
The more Lince thought about it, if he really hid an item and didn't want anyone to get their hands on it, on an island , there really was only one thing he would do, and that was to hide the item where the strongest beasts remained.
They wouldn't have a clue what the item was, and Lince wasn't even sure if beasts could activate these artifacts by accident on their own—unless they turned into Hybrid beasts.
A shiver ran down Lince's entire body, just imagining how strong a Hybrid beast would be that had to live in this type of environment.
Judging by the level of beasts that Lince had come across already, he had figured out that it would be impossible to fight higher-level beasts than this on his own, and he had made the right choice to team up with Zon.
"The question is, where even is that guy? With the sun setting, it's going to be hard for me to keep searching."
So far, Lince had just gone down the river. If he came across the item, that wouldn't be a bad thing either, and if there was some dangerous dragon-type beast protecting the treasure, then he could look for Zon after.
Or just point some of the Light Faction members in the right direction, while they were fighting the beast he could steal the item.
"Zon, where are you?" Lince sighed as he stopped walking.
"You called my name?"
Looking around, Lince was surprised to hear a response but could see no one next to him, until his eyes caught something floating in the river. Lince had gone the opposite direction from the stream so the current was far weaker, and he saw a man in a black skin-tight suit just floating by.
"What are you doing in the river, get out of there, come on!" Lince asked.
Zon had quickly gotten up and pushed himself out of the river to the stone bedding, and now Lince and Zon had reunited.
"It's getting dark," Zon said. "It might be best we camp for a while. The beasts in this place are too powerful, and at night we have less of an advantage."
"I agree, and I think it's better we stick together and not run off from each other like last time," Lince stated. "But you're going to have to explain why you were floating in the river like that."