The sun was almost down.
Fortunately, the human-wolf duo had already made their way to the bottom of the dangerous mountain.
They should be safer here from the stronger beasts like the Jadescale Wyrm and the Galewing Roc.
They still had to cross the unsettling river, though, and so that’s what they did.
With what was left of the sun’s exhausted light, Loki jumped from one boulder to another, making great use of his senses to avoid the dangers lurking beneath.
The duo soon made it through with one last assistance from the flying Hal, summoning an Earthen Pillar that bent like an arch from one boulder to the riverside.
Loki jumped off, and the two were officially out of the Hazan Windswept Mountain, now back to the less dangerous territory of the Marcha River.
Hal gave Loki a rub on the head.
"Let’s camp here for the night, what do you say?"
The pup was undoubtedly pleased, as he loved watching over his master at night, especially in the wilds.
It was was his calling.
Hal gently smiled, gazing rather tenderly at Loki for a moment before proceeding to set up camp.
The first thing he did was set [Wind’s Whisper] traps around the area.
Then, once the defenses were set, Hal went and gathered firewood, lighting them up with [Ignite] before proceeding to retrieve chunks of hog meat from the system’s inventory.
It seemed that Loki preferred his seasoned meat today, and so he roasted an entire huge leg for his wolf companion, the two watching the campfire as its crackles echoed in the serene night.
Except tonight wasn’t meant to be one.
In the distant darkness, a pair of eyes watched from atop a tree, scheming how to capture its prey.
The cooking meat seemed tasty.
But why settle for it, when the monster could also take at least either the wolf or the human, perhaps both if it was lucky?
Slowly, the creature descended the tree, hanging from the branches with its eerily long arms before transferring to the trunk, slithering downward.
It then circled to Hal and Loki’s back, increasing the success rate of its ambush.
If it could swiftly take down the human, then the wolf companion would probably be furious and fight it to the death, which would result in its second kill.
The creature rubbed its webbed palms together in excitement.
It then lay prone, slithering on the ground, closer and closer to its unsuspecting prey.
It had long been detected by the duo, and they were merely waiting to see if it would make its move.
If not, then Hal and Loki planned to let it be, but since it tried to go for them...
Hal was about to move.
However, to his surprise, Loki suddenly stood up, nimbly turned, and rushed for the slithering monster that resembled an amphibious ape with webbed feet and hands, which it uses to catch lower-ranked fish monsters in the nearby river.
The Gibbarian Fisherlimb was momentarily dumbfounded, but soon hissed back.
It was one of the strongest C-ranked creatures and one of the three kings of Marcha River, so why would it be scared of a mere Dharmwolf?
It had even invaded an entire den of Dharmwolves once and killed all the cubs right in front of their so-called alpha!
Unfortunately for the riverside monster, Loki had become untethered by racial restrictions after consuming the Chaos Core.
The webbed primate, slightly infuriated at both being discovered and disrespected, rose from its prone position and began sprinting in a rather eerie and irregular manner, reaching out to the boulders and rocky protrusions near the riverside and pulling on them to perform agile and irregular turns.
But Loki didn’t seem to be fazed, showing his own nimbleness.
The distance between the two sank, until finally, they were about to clash head-on.
Hal nervously watched from behind, recognizing the monster. He was ready to step in if needed, though he somehow felt he didn’t need to, as Loki’s senses had never been mistaken.
If the pup dared to confront the monster, then there should be no need for him to worry.
To his astonishment, Loki suddenly sped up, far faster than he expected. His wolf companion’s speed was somehow almost on par with the Iberian Cliffscalers now!
He gulped in excitement, watching as Loki skidded to a halt in front of the Gibbarian, as if baiting it to attack, before dodging at the last second and performing an insanely quick and agile maneuver that allowed the wolf to get onto the monster’s back, biting the back of its neck hard while snarling.
The webbed primate hissed and squealed in agony, reaching with its long limbs to swat Loki away.
However, before it could do so, the wolf companion jumped back, firing a black sphere with hints of crimson swirling at the center.
The projectile made contact with the reaching limbs and exploded in an unexpectedly gentle but unsettling manner as black and crimson flames ignited and slowly crawled down the Gibbarian monster’s long limb.
The fisherlimb panicked, feeling a stinging sensation as if it was being pricked tens of times, then hundreds, then thousands, further increasing as the flames crawled to the other parts of its body.
The monster was smart, immediately making a mad sprint for the river.
It dove in, water splashing everywhere, but to Hal’s horror, the black and crimson flames continued to burn, and it crawled even more, unbound by elemental disadvantages.
The Gibbarian Fisherlimb dove deeper, eventually escaping sight.
Loki moved at this moment, rushing towards the river, as if waiting for something, and stalking the banks.
Soon, a corpse floated up, lifeless as it flowed with the current.
There were no burn marks on the affected parts, but the Gibbarian Fisherlimb harrowingly died.
The wolf companion then suddenly dove into the water, appearing next to the corpse, biting on one of the limbs, and swimming back to the banks with unexpectedly powerful paddles.
The strong current didn’t even make the huge pup sweat.
There was a proud look on Loki’s face as he emerged from the river, pulling his victim closer and closer to his dumbfounded master.
And then, by the time the corpse delivery was completed, Loki’s tail was wagging excessively.
It was as though what happened was nothing more than playing a slightly different version of fetch.