Eldi immediately renewed Projectiles against me? and Regenerate was applied, although by itself it wasn't enough to counteract the poison. However, it slowed its effect, so it was giving him time to deal with the reptile.
He used Javelin, but his enemy's agility was more than enough to dodge it at that distance, and he preferred not to try Earthquake, because he feared it would also avoid it, and leave him vulnerable to its counterattack. He drew out another spear to use Mill, in case it would spit out poison again, but the lizard only moved away a little, keeping the distance and waiting for the poison to fulfill its function.
Eldi took the opportunity to drink one of the antidotes he had crafted. While its level wasn't enough to nullify the poison, it was able to weaken its power, so it could now be kept at bay through Regenerate.
The reptile could perceive that the poison was losing its effect, so it turned and left, and soon was lost in the thicket of the forest. Although it was three levels higher, the night was over, so it was dangerous for it to maintain an uncertain fight with who had already killed two of its fellow reptiles. Even overcoming it, other dangers could be awaiting it.
Eldi decided to rest and let his assistants collect the remains, so he cast a new barrier and waited to regain his strength, and for the poison to lose its effect. Meanwhile, he took out a strawberry milkshake and some cupcakes he had bought in Tenakk's capital for breakfast, trying to ignore the bodies that were being skinned and quartered behind him.
He hadn't found any beasts when he was walking through the forest, but, apparently, the smell of dead reptiles had attracted a good number of them. They were fifteen of them, similar in appearance to hyenas with dark blue fur, and with the spine covered with a line of spikes. Being level 30 and 31, Eldi decided to wait for them to leave, as it was dangerous to face so many of them.
But after an hour, they were still there, sniffing, searching, and even jumping on the ground and digging with their powerful claws, trying to discover if some other predator had buried some bodies to devour them later. And, as he was fearing, his shield began to suffer the consequences, threatening to break.
Faced with the impending disappearance of his protection, Eldi took the bow and began shooting at the hyenas. That made the shield disappear sooner than expected, but it also provided some easy targets, weakening and ballasting them, as he was aiming at its legs to compromise its agility.
The animals surrounded him before throwing themselves at its prey, attacking from all directions, and falling into the hidden holes surrounding the man. Only two of them managed to cross, while five of them have stayed behind.
He had created and covered the holes, placing at least one spear imbued with fire in each of them. He covered them with Frozen Walls when they fell on the holes, preventing them from escaping from there, though, before it, they would need to get rid of the spear that was piercing them, and be able to climb or jump out. And it was also deterring those who hadn't attacked yet, placing an obstacle that could harm them.
He jumped to the side to avoid one of the hyenas, while stopping another's attack and counterattacking using Double Edge. He tried then Lion's Roar, to which they were very vulnerable. And while the terror in the hearts of those animals only lasted a few seconds, it was enough to attack one of the hyenas from behind, using the hammer, and getting it into the hole.
He stored the hammer and faced the other one with the axe he has picked up from the ground, defeating it without major problems through a shower of Double Edge, since they aren't too skilled in individual combat, while they are very dangerous in groups. However, the traps had avoided that group combat, and the remaining five had decided that this prey was too dangerous for them.
"In this forest everyone runs away," Eldi was surprised.
It had never happened in his battles in the dungeons, but real animals have a survival instinct that is unusual there.
Meanwhile, he had leveled up to 30, and had unlocked Rock Wall, an improved version of Earthen Wall, but with a much higher mana consumption. In fact, with his current mana capacity, he couldn't cast more than three. However, one of them could plug an entry or exit for five minutes at level 10, unless the enemy was powerful enough to break it. He had it at 7, and was glad to add it to his arsenal.
He had also unlocked the hammer's skill Scatter, an area version of Propel. It throws away all the surrounding enemies, although at a smaller distance than the individual ability, and with greater energy consumption. He had it at 4, since he hadn't had many chances to use it.
It is worth mentioning that, during the journey, Projectiles against me? had risen to 6, and Rabbit Spirit had finally reached affinity 9, the result of being continuously training them. In addition, he had just leveled up Mole's Power to 5, Stand to 6 and Frozen Wall to 8.
A level 31 feline and a level 32 snake tried to hunt him and became experience and raw materials, before he reached the point of the map where his destination was. He hoped to find there a village similar to the beginner's one, but there were only ruins. Unlike the beginner's village, this one hadn't had a protective shield, or it had disappeared, and there were only remains of some buildings if you searched thoroughly among the vegetation.
There was no trace of the magic platforms or raw materials, something that he didn't know if it was because they had been taken away or that they had ended up turned into dust. What he did know was that it meant not having a suitable equipment for the dungeon, which was already several levels higher than his.
He frowned. Returning to the beginner's village wasn't an option, and the always convenient portals were still far from being available.
He regretted not having bought equipment in the capital of Tenakk. While its quality wasn't as good as his crafting, it would have been useful since he couldn't make it now. But, he could do nothing more than to move on.