Hal remained petrified for a few more seconds, forced to watch the ongoing cataclysm unfold just a dozen ters in front of him.
One mont, small craters ford as the Orc Captain’s massive axe missed its target, smashing onto the ground.
In the next, an entire column of trees was annihilated by a massive wave of lightning that the Orc Shaman barely managed to dodge.
The scrawny, blindfolded orc then counterattacked with wind cutters that toppled several trees, slicing them cleanly in half.
’I-I can’t stay here like an idiot!"
Hal sohow managed to wrestle back control of his thoughts after the heart-stopping scare he had suffered just monts earlier.
Trembling, he moved his legs one step at a ti, reaching his maximum speed after a bit of a struggle.
The battle fortunately didn’t end as quickly as it began, buying him more ti to leave the area.
Soon, the sounds of battle faded in the distance, but Hal kept going, his focus sharp as a laser.
He summoned the Spirit Sparrow and swapped visions with it from ti to ti, the adrenaline from having just survived a near-certain death granting him near-peak performance as he pushed forward through the runeforest.
Hal didn’t know exactly where he was, but he could always try to find his way back later.
What mattered most was that he was alive.
Around half an hour later, Hal felt weak and his head was throbbing.
’D-Damn...I need to rest...’
He was now a considerable distance from the orc party and that lightning fox, so Hal believed he could look for a safe spot to hide and take a nap, though it would be much more dangerous to do so now since Little Loki wasn’t with him.
Still, a good rest was needed one way or another.
He just needed to find the right spot to reduce the chances of perishing in his sleep.
Hal carefully looked around, ensuring his safety with the help of his tiny summon. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single decent resting spot in his current location, and what he needed was a great one.
’Sigh... can’t always be lucky, I guess...’
He and Liora found a few nice spots before they got separated that they even had the luxury to choose.
Only now did Hal appreciate how lucky they’d been, as he couldn’t find a single decent one despite looking hard for half an hour, not realizing he had been steadily advancing.
An hour later, he sighed in disappointnt and slight frustration.
’Co on, man... I just want to sleep, please...’ he inwardly cried.
It was then that he realized the sounds of the flowing stream were sohow louder, prompting Hal to take a quick look.
The stream area was dangerous, especially now that he was this deep in the runeforest, as he could potentially encounter rehydrating creatures or those waiting for prey to rehydrate, hiding in the covers.
Thus, Hal decided to swap one of his skills for the [Spirit Wolf] spell.
It would be a pity if it was ambushed and destroyed by a predator, as obtaining permanent-durability spells wasn’t easy, but it was infinitely better for one of his cards to be destroyed instead of him, no?
He could also use the Spirit Sparrow, but it was far more useful than the current Level 4 Spirit Wolf, and losing it might very well an his death.
And so, as the translucent-blue wolf appeared before Hal, he hid himself in a temporary, uncomfortable hiding spot and directed the wolf to scurry closer to the stream.
There didn’t seem to be anything special at first glance.
However, as he looked more closely, he realized he had found the stream’s source—or at least where the water was coming from.
He might already be in the area where Iridescent Willows thrive!
The problem was that he had to go all out in risking his summon.
’Should I do it...’
It was then that a rather cunning plan ford in his mind, making him grin slightly despite being both ntally and physically exhausted.
’Ahh... I should do it quickly.’
His Chaos Karma was about to run out, so there was no ti for hesitation.
He willed the Spirit Wolf to walk over to the stream, take a few sips, and then look in a certain direction before sprinting toward the source.
’Co on... even just a glimpse is fine...’
If there was indeed a predator lurking in the shadows, his wolf’s modest size and movents should have triggered its instincts.
There was, of course, still a risk that his plan would fail, but at least he might be able to draw out whatever creature was hiding.
The runeforest was huge, after all.
But there was also a low chance that he was simply overthinking things.
Seconds passed as the wolf slowly neared the mound with a hole in the ground where the stream was flowing from, though he only montarily glanced at it, swiftly heading past.
Soon enough, Hal’s guess was proven correct, as a black blur suddenly leaped down from the high branches of a nearby spruce, giving chase.
The speed of the wolf and what seed to be a Black Jaguar whose entire body was clad in black and greyish-white flas differed greatly, and the distance between the two was closing fast.
Hal sensed the predator.
However, he, within the consciousness of the wolf, didn’t even turn to look, relying purely on instinct to get the timing right.
’Tch, damn it,’ Hal cursed inwardly.
It seed he wouldn’t be able to get past the mound to see what lay beyond...
The wolf had already done a great job, so Hal quickly dispelled it, saving his permanent durability card, low level as it may have been.
However the big cat reacted to the sudden disappearance was none of Hal’s concern.
He quickly scurried away before it could find him.
The confused jaguar, on the other hand, rely stood where its prey had once been, looking around in the next few monts before shifting to a new hiding spot, ready to wait for the next unsuspecting creature that would co near the stream to drink.
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