Oblivious to the two presences trailing behind her, Zara continued to walk. Though she tried to keep a straight face, her mind couldn't help but drift back to the boy from earlier.
"He's clearly a low-level Awakened, yet why did I feel like a slave in the presence of its master?" Zara mumbled. She had been trying to avoid saying this for a while because it was a wound to her dragon pride, but this was the exact feeling she got from the youth.
Hence the reason she wanted to stay as far away as she could from him. The mere feeling of being underneath someone, especially a human of all creatures, didn't quite sit well with her. If the others back in the empire heard she had become the slave of a human, she couldn't even imagine the look on their faces, especially her mother's.
Zara clenched her fists, and her eyes burned with determination as she mumbled to herself in a voice filled with resolve, "I just need to retrieve the treasure and escape from this place... better still, if I encounter him again, I'll get rid of him, just in case."
Even though she had a powerful bloodline and felt threatened by the presence of that boy, Zara didn't doubt for a second that the others would also feel the same. To avoid complications in the future, she swore to get rid of him if the chance presented itself.
As she continued her solitary journey, Zara suddenly sensed rustling behind her. Her heightened senses were on high alert as she froze in her steps and briefly scanned her surroundings. She was currently treading through a field with no trees in sight.
If there was something or someone following her, it should've been easy to spot them, but she didn't, which probably meant she was merely imagining things.
"Hmmm." Pushing the thought to the back of her mind, Zara continued.
Behind her, a baby blue python hissed in relief and stared at Fluffington, who was crouching beside her, using the grass as a shield to hide himself.
[Sorry,] Solora apologized with a sheepish expression on her face. Because she wanted to get a closer look at Zara, she had accidentally accelerated her pace, causing the field to rustle. Fortunately, Fluffington quickly stopped her; if not, the two pets would've been exposed even before their mission began.
[It's alright,] Fluffington said softly, like a responsible older brother. [Just be careful.]
The baby blue python nodded her head cutely before slowly slithering beneath the grass once more. Fluffington followed behind.
"Why do I feel as if I'm being watched?" Zara thought as she froze in her steps once again. The dragon-clawed gauntlet on her arms twitched as she warned in a voice that almost sounded like a growl, "If you don't reveal yourself, don't blame me for being merciless."
[D-Did she discover us?] Solora whispered telepathically, her body beginning to stiffen. This was her first-ever mission for her father; she didn't want to mess it up.
During the past years, Nox had shown her nothing but care. She didn't want to see him disappointed.
[Calm down,] Fluffington responded with a sigh, one could almost sense the exasperation in his voice. It was obvious that he didn't like the idea of Solora tagging along, but the cat understood this was the best way for the python to develop.
[She's sharp, but she can't pinpoint us unless we give her a reason,] Fluffington added with confidence.
Zara took a step forward, her gaze narrowing as she stared into the distance. She inhaled deeply. "A snake... and something else." Her voice was barely a whisper, but it sent a shiver down Solora's spine.
The python turned towards Fluffington, who quickly reassured her. [She's guessing. She doesn't know exactly where we are.]
Zara watched for a while, and then she smirked. "Is this how you want to play? So be it!" Zara declared and flicked her wrist. Dozens of ice shards materialized in the air and shot out in all directions.
The dozens of ice projectiles whistled through the air and scattered across the field. The ice projectiles weren't a problem for both Fluffington and Solora. They easily slithered and moved from side to side, evading each and every attack!
Zara watched the countless ice projectiles pinned throughout the field and sighed.
"I'm probably overthinking."
She continued her journey. She was very confident in that attack; if anyone had been following her, one or more of the ice projectiles would have found its mark, and they'd have revealed their position.
Fluffington and Solora both sighed in relief and continued trailing the blue-haired girl, who had hastened her speed for some reason.
After a couple of minutes, she eventually arrived at the mouth of a cave. Upon secretly following her into this cave, both Fluffington and Solora were stunned.
Inside the dim cave, there were mountains of beast cores stacked on top of each other, casting beautiful blue shadows on the walls of the cave. Both Fluffington and Solora's eyes flashed with greed, but the light soon dimmed as they remembered that the beast cores wouldn't have any effect on them if they didn't complete their evolution requirements.
However, Zara wasn't like that. She was yet to hit a bottleneck. As she stared at the mountain of monster cores, she began to salivate. Her eyes shone with immense greed, so intense that it would make even the fiercest of dragons wary.
Under the watchful eyes of both Solora and Fluffington, she did something very strange. Like a hungry beast, the blue-haired girl pounced on the mountain of beast cores, causing them to fly everywhere.
Zara's actions left both Fluffington and Solora momentarily stunned. The once graceful girl now appeared wild, almost primal, as she grabbed handfuls of beast cores and started to devour them.
[She's growing more powerful. We've seen enough. I think we should leave,] Solora whispered telepathically, her forked tongue flicking nervously. Her body trembled slightly as a wave of powerful aura splashed out from Zara. It was intoxicating yet terrifying.
Fluffington nodded as well. The blue-haired girl was growing more powerful with each second. At this pace, she might reach a threshold where her instincts sharpened enough, and she could grow powerful enough to sense their presence.
If that happened, it would be a one-sided bloodshed.
"Come on, let's go report our findings," Fluffington said. However, before they could leave the scene, something unexpected happened.
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