Pride stalked the two ungraceful apes from above, directing just a trickle from her vast reserves of mana to empower the runic formations beneath her feet. The act, which had once required her full attention to control, was now maintained by the slightest shred of her awareness. Being paired with her own two-legged ape had been much less dreadful than she had first anticipated. He could still only speak in his guttural uncivilized tongue and was more of a newborn to this world than the deplorable fledgling, but she deigned to admit that she had grown in his company.
She let herself drift gently down behind a bush for cover. The feeling of grass touching her paws irked her, but it couldn't be helped as she quickly withdrew her mana in preparation for yet another scan to wash over her. As soon as it had passed, she leapt back into the air, not wanting to spend a moment more than necessary standing in the grass lest she sink through to the mud beneath and tarnish her pristine white fur. She felt the attention of the smaller human's scan shift to his surroundings as he continued to survey the direction they were heading in, even as the bald one struck him for slowing.
The altercation confused her as did most every interaction when it came to this species. Her senses told her the hairless human was far weaker than the shorter one, yet the smaller one was being scolded and kicked around like an unwanted runt. She was fairly confident that if it came down to it, she could take the hairless one in a fight, assuming she still held the element of surprise, but the shorter one made her nervous. Of course, if her elder or the demon ape in white were here, they would easily squash either of these annoying pests.
She continued to stalk them. The natural stealth of her kind mixed with her budding premonition ability allowed her to predict exactly when and where she needed to hide in order to escape notice. Still, she could do nothing for the two members of her newfound herd. They blundered through the thick vegetation with about as much inelegance and grace as she had expected from them. Even staying at the farthest range their communication allowed, she was still certain the short ape had noticed their presence, although he had yet to alert the other.
The humidity in the atmosphere grew thick as they approached the hovering green light beside the waterfall, and she was faced with her greatest dilemma yet. The light from her runes would be too visible as they refracted off the cursed moisture in the air. If she didn't want to risk detection, she had no choice but to land on the sodden mud-soaked ground, where the increase in ambient water had rendered the grass's protection from the unsightly substance moot.
She lowered herself until she hovered just above the horrid sticky mud, already imagining the disgusting feeling of it clinging to her paws and fur. Maybe she could get away with just keeping herself afloat here?
Impertinent feelings of agitation sifted through her connection as her own ape urged her to hurry in pursuit. Don't rush me! she snapped back, knowing that her words were wasted on his undeveloped mind. It was dreadful and unbecoming, but she knew it had to be done as she released the mana keeping her safe. A soft whimper escaped her mouth as her paws sank almost a whole half-inch into the sticky and squishy substance, staining her beautiful white fur the color of feces. Having to resist the urge to shake it off her paws with every step forward, she glumly chased their prey.
The remaining distance to cover was blessedly short but wholly miserable. The thick mist drenched her fur as she trudged along, unable to even erect a gravity field to keep the moisture away from her, lest the magic be detected. She was so caught up in her own misery that she didn't even notice where the pursuit had taken her. It wasn't until the rainbows shimmering in the air as sunlight danced upon the mist shifted to a deep ruby red, that she finally realized where she was.
The fur on her back stood on end as her instincts screamed she was nearing a foe that even her elder could not best. The primitive fear coiling inside her caused her to freeze in her tracks. Ahead of her drifted the sound of new voices, other intruders whose strength she needed to gauge, but to do so would require her getting dangerously close to that.
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Cycle of Ruin - Arrival: A LitRPG Series
خيال (فانتازيا)Cycle of Ruin - Book One They say Arrivals choose to come here, but Leo has no recollection of ever choosing such a fate. Thrust into the harsh wilds of a world where one's strength is measured and recorded, a single mistake here can cost him his li...
