[NunuNote: Thanks to Palana you are gonna get 2 more Bonus Chapters for 3 days! We are gonna have 2 bonus today for Soccer that I couldnt deliver yesterday, 2 bonus tomorrow for Kenneth tomorrow and 2 bonus for Palana in the next day, thank you!!]
The more Lohan fought alone, even against weaker monsters that posed no real challenge to him, the more rewarding it was to face his own shortcomings and difficulties by fighting without Lisa by his side.
’Even with this first evolution, I still feel that my body isn’t suited for solo combat like Lisa’s, but perhaps by Level 20 or after the Level 21 evolution, I’ll be capable of it. At that point, commanding my clones with my evolved body, I’ll be an unstoppable fighter on the same level...’
Suddenly, a notification popped up.
[Lisa: Good morning, Halon. I had to take care of some things in the real world before logging in. Where are you?]
[Halon: Good morning, Lisa. I was hunting some monsters to pass the time. Are you ready for our joint hunt?]
[Lisa: Yeah, to be honest, I’m really excited to see how fast we’ll be with just the two of us hunting, considering our racial advantages.]
While they chatted via messages, Lohan rolled at high speed back to the Guild’s base, finding Pip at the entrance of the tree, standing upright like a true guard, and Lisa, sitting and looking around.
When she saw Halon rolling toward her, the fox got excited for a moment, then remembered their conversation from yesterday and looked away.
Lohan noticed this, but knowing that the best way to handle it would be to act naturally, not pretending nothing had happened, but also not bringing up the subject directly.
And with his mind working at full speed, a response came to him.
"Good morning, Lisa. The solo warm-up was good, but the forest seemed a little empty without you." Lohan transmitted through the mental link in a casual tone, but with a slightly playful voice.
Lisa blushed even more. "Shut up, let’s just go hunt already!"
"Hahaha," Lohan replied, vibrating with satisfaction. "And I’ve been looking through the list Intervar gave us and noticed a type of monster that might be perfect for our grind today."
The fox tilted her head, interested. "What kind of monster?"
"Gremlins," Lohan revealed. "They’re not like the Goblins we faced at the beginning. Their average power ranges from Level 9 to Level 13. The problem is that they’re notorious for being extremely difficult to hunt. They’re small, fast, and live in coordinated groups, smart enough to use traps and rudimentary tools."
Lisa let out a low growl, her front paws scratching the ground in anticipation. "Level 13? That’s two levels above us. But why target them if they’re so troublesome?"
"For the loot, Lisa. Their eyes," Lohan explained, forming a small gelatinous hand to point toward the northern edge of the forest. "Gremlins have disproportionately large eyes saturated with Mana. The Intervar described these eyes as top-quality ingredients for Rank B perception and night vision potions. Each pair of eyes can be worth at least double, or even triple, the price of rabbit tendons. If we manage to clear out a nest, we’ll make a lot more money, so we can buy some things for our newly formed base."
Looking at the tree, which, though beautiful and imposing, was still empty of both decorations and useful furniture, that was a good idea.
Lisa smiled, showing her white fangs. "That’s great, Halon. Where do they live?"
"They inhabit an area called Shadow Cliffs, just past the Valley of the Bears. Honestly, I don’t know what’s with these people and using ’shadow’ in so many things here... It’s a place similar to the Shadow Serpents’ nest, full of cracks in the rocks and dense roots, the perfect habitat for creatures that like ambushes," Lohan explained. "But while large humanoids would have a hard time moving around there, I believe it’ll be much easier for us."
"Then let’s not waste any time. Climb on," Lisa ordered, lowering her body so he could settle in.
Lohan didn’t hesitate and rolled onto the fox’s back. Instantly, he activated [Selective Viscosity] and began expanding his biomass. Within seconds, the white fox was enveloped by the crystal-blue layer of Living Armor.
Lisa took off. Her new speed of 80 m/s looked like a bolt of lightning cutting through the vegetation of Mythlorien. To any outside observer, they were just a neon blur slicing through the trees.
After a few minutes of high-speed travel, the terrain began to change. The soft grass was replaced by rocky outcrops and trees with twisted, thorny branches. The air here was colder and laden with a metallic scent.
"Lisa, slow down. We’re entering their territory," Lohan warned, activating Thermal Perception.
Lisa slowed her pace, moving now like a shadow among the rocks. Lohan expelled two small clones that slid along the stone walls like pools of shadow, mapping the crevices ahead.
Suddenly, Lohan sensed multiple small, agitated thermal signatures.
’Found them.’ he thought.
Hiding behind a rocky outcrop, they watched the first group.
There were five Gremlins. The creatures were thin, with gray skin and pointed ears that twitched at the slightest sound. What stood out most, in fact, were their eyes: huge, glowing globes that rotated independently, capturing every movement around them.
Two of them were sharpening bone spears, while a third, clearly the group’s leader who looked stronger and more confident, kept watch from atop a rock. The other two were setting up what appeared to be a rope trap made of dried tendons.
"They’re organized," Lisa observed, curious about the information Lohan was transmitting through the mental link. "The leader looks strong, maybe around Level 12. If they scream, the rest of the nest will come down on us."
"We won’t let them scream," Lohan replied coldly. "Lisa, use Threshold Mimicry to get as close as possible. I’ll use Smoke Breath to blind their peripheral vision. When they lose sight of the big eyes, you come in with the flames."
"Okay," Lisa replied, entering combat mode.
Lohan contracted his body and began to accumulate Mana through his Superior Magic Core.
But what they didn’t know was that although the task of hunting these monsters was complicated, the rewards were so enticing that a group they knew had also taken an interest in it.