Three days have passed. Draven and the villagers continued to travel to Riftwater without changes or dangers.
Everyone was happy, especially during als and rest tis when they could talk freely with each other.
Draven was getting to know them, and at tis, he was the one making the villagers laugh.
As always, whenever he threw a pick-up line at Naisha, she would just roll her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
On the afternoon of the fourth day, Gil returned from scouting, riding quickly toward the group.
"We found a Red Minotaur near the lake. What should we do?" he reported.
A Red Minotaur was a Rank A beast with a higher intelligence than the Bugbear.
Hearing this, Draven eyes lit up with excitent.
"A Minotaur! I've never seen one before."
He grabbed his Morphos weapon, ready for action.
"No," Mother Venice interjected firmly. "Red Minotaurs are the sa rank as Bugbears, Rank A. We'll change our route."
"But I can take it down," Draven protested.
His mind was only filled with the thrill of fighting ever since escaping his old world.
"No," Mother Venice said again, her tone serious. "I know you defeated the Bugbear. But a Minotaur is sharper and nearly as strong. Besides, we can't risk attracting more beasts nearby. Others might get hurt."
Draven understood the situation and reluctantly stood down.
Still, Mother Venice couldn't shake her concern.
"Why are these high-ranking beasts here? It's the sa with the Bugbear. Their place is either Skyreach Forest, layer 5, or Riftwater Forest, layer 3."
Naisha agreed.
"Maybe sothing attacked their territory, scattering them. But I'm not sure."
Mother Venice unfolded a large map, showing the different layers and territories for various beasts.
"We've been avoiding the territories of lower-ranked beasts," she said, pointing to their planned route. "Let's stick to this path. Gil, inform Felix."
Gil nodded and quickly rode off.
The group continued their journey, carefully avoiding misplaced beasts and changing routes as needed.
However, as they went on, Mother Venice realized that if they continued to avoid even the low-rank beasts, their journey would be complicated and could push them further off course.
She eventually allowed Draven to fight the lower-ranking beasts.
Thrilled, Draven fought a giant gray spider.
This creature, half Draven's size, moves quickly, leaping between trees.
Draven tried to strike it head-on.
But the creature surprised him by spitting a web from its mouth.
Draven attempted to dodge.
But the web was too wide and caught his leg.
The spider continued spraying webs, trapping him against a tree and covering his body.
"Damn it! I know spiders use their butts for spraying webs!!" Draven growled, struggling to free himself.
"Oops, sorry. I forgot to ntion that," Naisha teased as she leaped in and sliced through the web binding him.
With a deadpan glare, Draven muttered, "I'm going to your tent tonight to punish you."
"In your dreams," Naisha answered as they both dodged from another web attack.
Draven charged imdiately at the spider, dodging more quickly than before, and landed a single, decisive blow with his Morphos.
"Crack!"
"Splrch!"
The purple blood of the gray giant spider splattered onto Draven's body from the force of the strike.
"Gross!"
Draven turned to Naisha.
anwhile, Naisha was looking at him with pure disgust.
"Really? Are you looking at like that?"
He walked straight toward Naisha with a sly smile, clearly intending to do sothing.
Naisha ran away, already knowing what he was planning.
"Don't co near , you gross idiot!"
Every day, Draven faced Rank F to D beasts along the way.
One was a Rank E red giant snake emitting a poisonous smokescreen.
It gave Draven a mild fever but no serious harm.
Another was a Rank D giant rat.
It was unremarkable but tough. It can dig fast and can quickly change its location once under the ground.
It also attacks using its needle tail by surprise.
There's also a wild boar who tried to ram him with brute force.
But it ultimately fell to Draven's quick strikes.
Despite his initial struggles, mainly due to not knowing their abilities, Draven easily defeated them once he adapted.
As always, Naisha gave him critical information after the fights, and not before.
Still, every victory ant fresh at for the group's als.
Except for the spider.
After eight days of traveling, the group found themselves stopping frequently.
"A lot of beasts, and now even monsters, are swarming all over the place. We're not familiar with most of them," Gil reported to them.
"What should we do now, Draven?" Naisha asked.
"Call Babe."
"What are we going to do, Mr. Chosen One?"
"Tsk. All right, Draven's fine."
He paused and thought.
"We stick to the usual. Change the route again and again. What else can we do?"
"Unless, of course, you finally let fight the Rank A beast one by one," he added with a smirk.
Mother Venice sighed but nodded.
"You're right. We have no choice. We must be even more cautious. Scouts, stay sharp and be more sensitive to any signs of danger."
Naisha's brows furrowed.
"What's going on in this place? Sothing's not right."
"I agree with you," Mother Venice replied, her tone laced with concern. "But for now, our priority is to reach Riftwater safely."
The villagers murmured in fear.
They clutched their children tightly as the group continued onward, taking a more winding and distant route to avoid predators.
Days passed, and the constant detours began to wear on everyone. Frustration and fatigue were evident.
Monts later, Felix, one of the scouts, ca running toward them.
"Draven, we found four injured n unconscious. I think it's the work of a beast," he reported.
Mother Venice's eyes narrowed, and she quickly decided.
"Let's go to them."
Upon reaching the location, they found four n sprawled on the ground, as Felix reported.
They have dieval clothes, and two of them were wounded in their chest.
Their wounds were like they were made from the claws of a bear.
"Treat them imdiately!" Mother Venice commanded.
The villagers rushed to work, sprinkling healing herbs on their wounds and wrapping them with makeshift bandages.
"Those are shallow wounds. And yet they've fainted?" Draven comnted.
"No," Naisha interjected, observing the surroundings.
"It's not just the wounds. The atmosphere here is hot. Look, the leaves are starting to wilt. They probably collapsed from dehydration."
"Hmm... as you say."
Draven stared at the n, carefully observing their bodies and faces.
As he did so, he sensed movents deep in the woods.
He imdiately stood up and walked in that direction.
But he found none.
"Is sothing wrong?" Naisha asked.
"Maybe it was just my imagination," Draven replied before observing the four wounded n again.
The villagers carefully propped the injured n up, guiding water into their mouths to help them recover.
After a few monts, the two n who didn't have wounds coughed and stirred awake.
They imdiately recoiled in fear.
"Who are you?" One of them asked, his voice shaky.
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