After two hours, he got his mana back to half, not amazing, but it only reinforced his priority on pumping up his Spirit. Widening his mana pool and upping the recovery rate throughout a single attribute were too good to pass up.

  Moving on, they continued the search for enemies. The last two snakes dropped no core, which sucked compared to the effort they put into the fight. Perhaps it was due to the fight, but his eyes got accustomed to the moonlight-silver veil already, and his skin was enjoying the occasional slapping from the wind whistles inside the mine. Not raging as wind howling through the valley between skyscrapers, but the kind of breeze on the grass field on a calm afternoon. Sporadic and irregular, but leaving behind enough gentle touch to make him kinda looking forward to their appearance again.

  “Is it just me, or are we actively looking for something here?” Zalanir asked after Seseguri made the fifth turn in a peculiar direction. Three times already, the Carrier had picked a more difficult path, making them duck under tight passage with sharp, jutting gray rocks, or crossing through an entirely chamber filled with rats to reach an arched trench swathed among mining scrap tools and constructions.

  “A galling and slightly bigger snake we encountered last week. We got humiliated and … well, we all want revenge.” Wanyi posted a confident smile.

  “Anything changed in-between? Except for me joining, of course, I know this much haha.”

  “We only lost because of a meahli showing up in the middle of the fight and trapping Shinnya with its illusory magic. Her fire magic was essential in penetrating the snake’s defense. But now we have this.” An incense appeared in Seseguri’s hand, forearm’s length, weathered brick-red color, its top oiled by some sort of black paste. “Preferably not using this, as wasting one for just a single meahli isn’t economically sound, but when push comes to shove, we can turn the tide in an instant.” The man poked the incense twice with his index finger before making it vanish from everyone’s view.

  “It’s also not a guarantee we find them against. What’s the odds of the snake or the meahli surviving for a whole week, remaining in the same place, and sticking together there? I hope they do, but it isn’t in our control.” Wanyi shrugged.

  Turned out, they did. After tiptoeing around one of the vibrant-yellow stone pillars supporting the structure of the mine, about a hundred meters ahead, a giant snake twice the size of the previous two they had killed was hanging loosely from the ceiling, its head resting against a yellow beam. A red ball of fur snugged right next to the serpent’s jaw. Small compared to the adjacent gigantic monster, but its lustrous red color made it stand out in this otherwise placid and cold picture.

  Two quick Identify showed Zalanir those were the targets they were looking for.

  [Aegis Racer — Level 84]

  [Meahli — Level 73]

  Although the group said nothing, the environment maintained its beat. The hastening breath and drumming chest of everyone shouldered the job of the speech eloquently. Somewhere behind their back, the wind curved along the path they just took, high-fiving the walls and inviting along some stone babies, passing by their group at the turning point before petering out in this non-speaking chamber.

  Eye signals only, but Zalanir was clear of everyone’s intention. He agreed too. No need to pull back when the targets were already in sight. They just had to do what they often do: Wanyi at the front, with triple threats following behind, ready to bring hell upon the enemies. As for the opener, naturally it was his responsibility to deliver the most spectacular performance. Shinnya might had the best offensive power in the group with her fire magic, but in a short, instant burst, his Sonic Lance would triumph.

  Nine seconds. He charged a full-powered Sonic Lance, and then, after going through a coil and uncoil motion, with the image of a javelin throwing athlete in mind, he released the shimmering orange projectile into the air. Both the snake and the meahli jolted up at the last second, but it was already too late.

  Bang! The whole area shook violently, tremor rippled through the supporting constructions, as well as all the walls forming this very chamber. Boulders rained down from the ceiling, a big one shattered upon hitting the beam the snake was resting on, creating even more falling rubble to this already chaotic scene.

  Wanyi slammed her shield down, empowering everyone with vigor and regeneration, whereas Seseguri deflected, cut, and smashed the debris away from their spot with his armies of saw blades. Meanwhile, Shinnya was continuously shooting fireball upon fireball into the orange mist left behind from the initial explosion.

  A prolonged high-pitched hiss cut through all the noise, and a second later, the Aegis Racer poked its head out, looming over the beam and examining all four of them. Its shadow pressed on them, as if a mountain came to life when they had just arrived at its foot. Red, vertical slit pupils darted back and forth until its body uncoiled and fired downward in a lightning-fast lunge.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Its target appeared to be Shinnya who was keeping up with the bombardment all the time, but Wanyi, being an absolute paladin, jumped up and intercepted the serpent mid-air with her golden shield in full dazzling effect. They collided like two trucks going maximum speed on the highway from opposite directions, the snake head skated over to the right, disturbing goosebump-evoking sound grated along, whereas Wanyi lost the grip at the end and plunged butt-first onto the earth. Her shield stuck onto the snake body and was dropped about fifty meters away when the serpent swirled for the second round.

  “Stop it!” Zalanir shouted and activated Wind Rush at the same time. His target was none other than the tank of the group. Without her shield, even Wanyi would be in deep trouble receiving that charge head-on.

  It was a race of time between his legs and the beast, although he wasn’t alone. A chain of saw blades converged from the left and would hit the snake if it continued its course. Then, four explosions came off at the same time, one right on the Aegis Racer’s face, and the other three — several meters apart but in the same line — right on its path, whipping up a mini dust storm.

  Zalanir was the first to arrive. He erected a massive barrier several meters away, locked Wanyi’s upper arm with his, and dragged her slender body away at the very moment the snake emerged from the duster.

  It was like time had slowed down at this moment. Several blood streams flew in the opposite direction to the snake, courtesy of some cut and a burned bruise on its right face. But that was no hindrance for its charge. Its slit-shaped, glowing and bulking red eyes found him, and its massive head readjusting its course right away.

  The gracile woman within his arm’s hook moved. Still letting him drag her away from the bulldozing reptile, Wanyi pointed her sword toward the enemy, whispering lyrics similar to a 90s love song — mellow and rhapsodic. Some golden wisps cast over the predator and clung to its truck-sized body. Similar to what had happened to the rats earlier, the snake’s speed experienced a drop as a result, albeit to a lesser extent.

  But that was good enough. He would trade everything for this slight swing in this situation.

  The barrier broke the moment the snake slammed through, the burst of pure energy too weak to make any difference. At the last moment, he shot the snake a black mark, and with his full effort, he and Wanyi jumped out of the snake’s blitz at the very last second. Strong wind and momentum pulled both of them down to the earth, rolled and bumped onto each other four times before they finally lay still. His mouth, eyes, and nostrils were full of dirt, making it harder to take in some fresh air.

  Pushing himself up amidst metallic grating sounds and scorched smell, he immediately rubbed his forearm against his eyes to clear the blurry shroud parking outside of his vision. Looked like the Aegis Racer had also had to pay an expensive toll for the attack just now, withstanding all the onslaughts coming from his two free groupmates. He didn’t see everything, but there was no way those two could let such a free-hitting opportunity pass by.

  Even right now, Shinnya was chaining the snakes with two searing beams all the time, while Seseguri, with his washing machine on the back, non-stop sending deadly saw blades at where Shinnya’s attack was at. Their combined attack rained hell on the enemy, forcing the racer to be on the defense and forgoing any attacking opportunities.

  Scales. Flesh, and blood rained down with no stop in sight. One-eight of the snake’s head was shaved off cleanly around its nostril, exposing the altar-like base of a brown-gray fang. No longer silver, its skin now a dotted rag of many colors, ornamented by some leftover, loosely hanging burned scale and various gashes. The aura of a majestic serpent was no more, instead, it was just a wounded beast awaiting its fate, hissing sickly at every incoming attack.

  Their offensive power was scary! Zalanir made a hiss of his own. Seemed like this battle was easier than he had thought.

  “Hey, you’re good?” He shifted his attention toward Wanyi, who for some reason was still hunching up and not getting up yet.

  No response came. Not even a twist in her pose. Was she hit that hard? Shouldn’t be. Wasn’t she still fine to assess the situation and cast the skill to restrain the gigantic reptile? If anything, it should be him who …

  He lurched forward and flipped her up. Her weight was heavier than a moment ago when she was within his brace. Her face distorted, her hand squeezing the chest, and her breath rhymed in abnormal cadence.

  One. She was a tank. He had seen her tanking wave after wave of assaults without bulging an inch. Sure, the initial crash she intercepted for Shinnya was no doubt the strongest of all, but even that shouldn’t result in her being taken out of the battle completely like this.

  Furthermore, and this was the most egregious oddity, the sound of her wheezes didn’t match her position and chest’s movement at all. His ears were a master in picking apart sounds, and at the moment, not only the Wanyi in front of him gasping with excessive difficulty, but the nearest thing resembling a normal person’s respiration was somewhere to his left — probably within a radius of eight meters, give and take.

  “Sorry!” He pressed both hands on her stomach. Her body jolted up, and like a geyser, a jumble of porcelain-white, red, and green spurted out of her mouth, splashing his face with all the greasy, disturbing horrors. They crawled from pore to pore, down from his cheek to his neck, and together with all the acrid, metallic, musty odor, ravaging him with the ultimate perseverance test.

  Ever since picking up Sound Sense, his world had never lacked any sound, but because of said skill, he had mastered the art of filtering unnecessary noise. In a way, one could say that he could also single out some sound for his own interpretation, no matter how small, how far, or how tumultuous his surroundings were.

  Never had he craved a pail of fresh water to cleanse his face from this horrid disgrace, but everything counted. Out of all the five senses, and as much as he trusted his eyes with these striking visuals or his nose with these gourmet tastes, his ears were his final bastion in determining what was real. And right now, they were screaming at him, warning him of a mismatch between what he was experiencing and reality itself.

  We all have 24 hours a day. Thank you for spending some of that with me!