Under the dim silver glow of the Luna, a black-haired young man and his wolf cub companion breathed heavily, trembling under the covers of thick bushes.
A few meters in front of them was a fairly huge yet slim beast—eight feet tall, fifteen meters in length.
The creature resembled a malnourished demonic fox, with its mouth, claws, and tail, all crackling with thunder.
It carefully sniffed around, certain that it sensed prey here just a while ago, and not the Red Goblin it just gobbled up as a snack.
Earlier, Hal was lost in the wonders of the Blue Zone when he suddenly felt small, forceful pulls on the bottom of his trousers.
It was Loki, an urgent look on its face as it kept staring in one direction while pulling him toward the opposite.
This instantly snapped Hal out of his reverie.
He quickly grabbed little Loki and ran as swiftly and silently as he could, hiding in the covers of the first hiding place he could find a fair distance away from his initial location.
A few moments later, he felt the horrifying aura of a beast, which was nothing like he had ever felt before.
If not for the Red Goblin’s corpse, it might’ve caught a glimpse of him.
Luckily, it didn’t, though the thunder creature wasn’t immediately convinced, resulting in the current situation of it sniffing around.
Time slowed to a crawl for Hal.
His heart had never raced this wildly.
His primal instinct told him he wouldn’t survive a battle with this beast, even with his [Gravity Ball].
Soon, his feeling of dread was validated when the creature suddenly left, disappearing as swiftly as it had appeared.
It was like thunder incarnate, both in speed and destructiveness, damaging everything that came within a meter and a half of its body.
The fox-like beast left a trail of burnt flora in its wake.
Outrunning whatever the creature was would’ve been impossible, not with his current arsenal of spells, and most certainly not with his human body.
Even though the beast was gone, Hal couldn’t leave the cover of the bushes for quite some time.
He didn’t dare to, especially with terrifying thoughts that beasts and monsters like that fox from earlier might be aplenty in this Blue Zone.
’D-Damn it... should I just return?’
He was probably only thirty minutes away from where he had entered, anyway, and he had a better chance of outrunning or surviving an encounter with a C-ranker of the same species as him...
However, the entire Blue Zone was illuminated by a subtle blue light, so Hal didn’t think it would be difficult to find his way out of this mystical but cursed area.
He believed he could manage.
And so, after taking a few deep breaths, he peered his head out of the bushes.
He then returned and quickly summoned the Spirit Sparrow, sending it to survey the periphery.
Hal didn’t dare let it go too far, as it could be destroyed with a single, casual swat from any creature here.
Not to mention, there might be beasts with sharp senses that could easily detect it.
The sparrow’s level simply wasn’t high enough to scout a wide area.
Checking the periphery and making sure he wasn’t in any immediate danger was enough.
After all, if the tiny summon was destroyed, he would be in even bigger trouble.
Hal carried Loki once more and steeled himself, leaving his hiding spot.
He then decisively headed towards the direction where he entered.
It wasn’t too difficult, as he had the lingering putrid blood of the Red Goblin as a marker.
Time passed as Hal carefully treaded out of the Blue Zone.
Before long, thirty minutes had passed, and yet the exit was still nowhere in sight.
All he could see was a vast expanse of beautiful, blue-lit land.
But Hal didn’t panic.
He remembered that he entered sprinting as fast as he could, so he probably misjudged the distance.
Taking another deep breath to calm his racing heart, he pressed on, moving the tiny sparrow with him and using it to observe the periphery from time to time.
He managed to avoid a few monsters’ attention thanks to his method.
Perhaps this was also why he hadn’t arrived at his destination as quickly as he had expected.
But then, another half an hour passed, and this time, his heart inevitably raced faster, panic slowly setting in.
’F*ck...where the hell is the exit?!’ he cursed inwardly.
Little Loki gave him a lick, lifting his mood, even if only slightly.
At least he had a companion...
But then, the thought of the cub dying with him made his heart ache.
’No... no... Don’t think about such dumb stuff... focus!’
Wasn’t he still going to bring his mother out of the sticks? He couldn’t die here!
Steeling his resolve, Hal’s gaze sharpened as he pressed on.
Only another hour later did he take a deep breath of acceptance.
He was f*cking lost in the darned Blue Zone...
Hal was sure he would’ve exited long ago if he had been going in the right direction, though he couldn’t fathom how he was mistaken.
He had the Red Goblin blood as a marker, and he wasn’t bad with directions either.
Forcing the issue was pointless, so Hal decided to make another marker—simple glowing pebbles that pointed toward the direction of the Red Goblin blood marker.
It was probably too dangerous to return now.
He would try again once the sun resumed its celestial duties.
Hal looked for a safe spot to rest for the night, and with Little Loki’s help, he found a rather spacious area hidden among thick bushes and a few oaks.
Fortunately, he still had some rations and drinking water, so he didn’t need to search for food and a water source.
Perhaps he never would in the Blue Zone, if he managed to find his way out tomorrow.
And so, Hal and Little Loki retired for the night, though it was difficult to sleep well, considering they weren’t equipped for a long stay in such a dangerous area.
Time inevitably passed, and the sun soon rose.
The mystical vibes had disappeared with the night.
The first thing Hal did upon waking was summon the Spirit Sparrow and survey the surroundings.
Then, suddenly, he noticed something, and his eyes widened.
The faintly glowing pebbles certainly hadn’t been pointing that way last night...