Chapter 8: Chapter 8. Unexpected misfortune
Kailen's gaze shifted from the television to his phone at the sound of a notification.
''When will these guilds stop pestering me'' It has been 2 days since he made his debut, causing the whole city to land in a state of shock. The video of his feat at the Smallville County had spread to every nook and cranny of the city, causing everyone to know about him.
The three guilds in the city had been constantly sending him ridiculous offers incessantly to join them, offering varying amounts of money and privileges. However, Kailen had ignored all of them.
Also, right outside his villa were a group of reporters who were doing everything possible to stalk him for any opportunity of his appearance so that they could interview him.
''I need to find a way to escape this crowd of reporters and head to the wilderness to create more shadow creatures. I need to increase my strength. Heading to the awakening center to take on a mission will only worsen the situation. Didn't know how much I hated crowds until now... Fame is really tiring" Kailen sighed inwardly, then stood up from the couch, he turned off the television, then headed to the balcony of the house.
He had just been struck with an idea on how to escape the annoying reporters.
''Since the balcony faces the outer zone of the forest, I can use that as a shortcut to the forest.. why didn't I think of this ealier?'' Quickly, he activated his shadow manipulation skill, sensing the shadows in his immediate environs. The shadows begun to move, assuming dark ethereal outlines as they gravitated towards him.
The shadows enveloped Kailen from head to toe , solidifying into some sort of armor, his whole being now completely dark, as black as night.
''System, I'm pretty much gonna secure a harmless landing with this reinforcement right.?''
[Tsk, is it not obvious, since you have the strength as a mere E ranked awakened to take on D ranked monsters and awakened, with the reinforcement of using shadows as an armor , your defense has become further solidified, its alright to secure a stable landing in the forest, although you might crush into a tree or...worse...]. The time dilation artifact responded.
Kailen stood on the balcony, staring at the mass of trees beneath him '' Crush into a tree or worse... huh... don't like sound of that... All because I became famous...To think I'd have to resort to this method to leave my own house, because I can't freely walk around anymore''
Kailen leapt off the balcony, as gravity did its wonders .. The howls of the wind brushed past his benighted face, as the trees below him became larger in his eyes.
''Here goes nothing, time to crush into a tree I guess.. Feral, come out''
The ginormous shadow creature appeared from the shadow expanse , Kailen now seated on its back.
''Feral, secure a clearing" Kailen commanded, as they neared the forest in their descent. Feral, quickly acted, a dark fireball started to brew from its mouth, then grew and became about twice its size .
The fireball shot towards the forest below as the temperature in the atmosphere rose exponentially.
WAAAAAA!
The flames landed on a large number of trees and begun to spread as dying wails of diabolic beasts resounded , as a large clearing of land soon appeared as a result of the flames burning a number of trees.
The flames had incinerated an area of the forest enough to ensure that their landing was secure.
[Tsk, to think you managed to find a way to escape crushing into a tree or worse.. would have been a good show to watch.. looks like you are not completely brainless]
''This system is too sharp tongued''. Kailen shook his head helplessly as he landed on the cleared land finally on Feral's back . Cracks appeared in the ground where they landed, due to their combined weight and the sheer force of gravity with which the landed. Kailen's sight was greeted with a scorched black ground with lingering remnants of Feral's dark flames weakly burning.
Burnt remains of some beasts lay sprawled on the ground.
''I guess I could make do with these beasts....."
Groooooaaaaaaarrrrrrrr!
A mighty pressure suddenly descended on Kailen, even Feral quivered at the sound of the deafening roar and the pressure that accompanied it.... However the voice seemed not too far away, It was so loud that Kailen's ear drums almost burst...
''The aura of an A ranked beast?... Damnation... Even with the combined effort of Feral and I, an A ranked beast is too strong for the current me..... Where the hell did this creature appear from.."
Kailen lifted his eyes, only to see a massive creature about 5 meters tall with a deep reddish draconic body standing on two reddish deep pillar like legs.
The creature however, was yet to turn towards Kailen's direction...
Ding
[You have earned the ire of the A ranked terror Wyvern for destroying one of its eggs during your shadow creature' s attack ...
Your mission is to survive the wrath of the A ranked terror wyvern and steal it's last remaining egg .
Reward; Increase in the amount of time you can spend in the time dilation artifact to 5 days
Punishment for mission failure-You will become an unawakened ...
Time limit- 2 weeks..This means that If the mission is not completed after 2 weeks , It will be counted as you having failed the mission ]
Inasmuch as Kailen was so terrified that he didn't have the time to read the information on the holographic screen before him, the thoughts of the time dilation artifact were clearly communicated to him.
" Think....Kailen.... Think ..... Think ..... This is not the time to panic.....What do I do when I encounter an enemy I have no chance of winning against and can't outrun since it's close to me ...I hide.... Where can I hide.... A large clearing such as this will definitely expose me to the wyvern .... With it's acute perception as an A ranked beast,,can I even hide... ..Screw it ..the only thing I can do now is to run since there's nowhere for me to hide.. ... If I am able to survive, I'll have no choice but to find a way to grow stronger so that even if I'm not able to kill it I can temporarily injure it and steal it's egg then run away... That could also count as completing the mission... There's no way I'm gonna become an unawakened again.... "
" Shadow manipulation ...." The shadow armored Kailen quickly activated the shadow manipulation skill, whiles he landed on Feral's back and bolted away from scorched clearling towards another direction leading to the forest....
However, the ginormous reptilian head of the wyvern turned towards his direction, then it moved...