《The Demon's Rapture》Chapter 36: Safe Basin
Advertisement
The water was loud. So, so incredibly loud, and it only got louder as Sebastian continued to walk towards it. Even then, no water was in sight. Trees were all that filled his vision as the convoy moved forward. Trees and the dead things they left behind.
Wildlife within the Primordial Forest was much more diverse than it was within the city. In the city, everything was limited to mutations of domestic animals or the pests within West Cairn. Even the wolves and coyotes were from the park, the little nest of nature within the city. Even the strongest thing he had seen was mutated from a normal cat
Yet the forest held all sorts of things within. Boars, deer, horses and bears. The pests that existed within West Cairn existed within the forest too of course, but they weren’t able to gather as strong a foothold as they had within the city.
Sebastian had noticed some patterns within the wildlife too. For example, animals that usually lived as prey had more control over the elements, whereas most predators had stronger bodies. A bear would get physically stronger as it levelled up but a deer would, albeit still with some bodily enhancements, increase it’s control over magic steadily.
The strongest animals however were the mix between the two. The Burning Sun Cat was proof of this. It’s body was incredibly strong and it had a minor control over it’s element, but not nearly enough for magic. Yet, it still countered Sebastian’s Ice somewhat. If an animal existed with physical prowess and magical control, it would easily outclass anything else within its habitat
This is why Sebastian hadn’t grown complacent even as he levelled up to Lv. 11. Beings stronger than him had already existed even within West Cairn, and the Primordial Forest’s inhabitants would only be even stronger.
A frown had formed on his face, warping the disfigured skin even further as he continued towards the water sounds. If they continued going deeper, even he’d be deathly afraid of the overlords of the area. His instincts had been sounding death bells for the last half hour already.
“Sebastian”
Snapping out of his thoughts and turning his head behind him, Sebastian saw Maeve gesturing towards the front with a strange expression. Following her gaze, Sebastian eventually understood why.
The trees remained, yet now they could see the water.
A river had cut through the earth in front of them, it’s water raging like an angry serpent as it twisted and curved through the ground and cut the forest in two. Sebastian was absolutely sure that even if it was him that tried to step into the water, he’d instantly sink and be swept along it’s current helplessly. It was easily a kilometer in width.
Advertisement
Looking in the direction the water flowed in, Sebastian saw it keep going as far as the eye could see, whereas the sight was different when he looked in the direction of the source. What must have easily been more than a few hundred feet away, a waterfall that spanned the entire width of the river flowed down a cliff easily the height of a small mountain, taller than any tree here.
Looking at the waterfall that almost looked like a sword of water cutting a mountain in half, Sebastian felt his heart leap into his throat. The world definitely had rivers this wide before The Light, but never around West Cairn. The scariest part though was the cliff. Were they in a basin? The closest thing he could relate the area to was Victoria falls, but even that seemed to fall flat.
“Is.. is this water safe?”
Maeve spoke up quietly from a few steps behind him, peering around him towards the water.
She seemed a little fidgety at the sight of the natural basin around them, but her concern still fell mostly on the quality and safety of the water.
Flowing water.
Life inside the water.
Not clear.
Wildlife in the surroundings.
Spring-fed.
That was the criteria he was given when looking for water. Some were easy to discern and some weren’t. The water was definitely flowing, that was easy. It was not perfectly clear either, That was two. Wildlife in the surroundings? The bladesman turned to look up and downstream again and fortunately, he managed to see a herd of deer drinking from the water.
[Lv. 18 Marbelite Stag]
As if sensing his gaze, the leader of the herd looked up from the water and turned in his direction. A strange serenity was carried within its eyes when it locked it’s sight on the bladesman.
It seemed just as surprised as Sebastian when a large, pointed and scaled mouth shot out of the river and clamped it’s jaws down around its neck before dragging it into the surging currents. The rest of it’s herd cried out and scattered quickly, returning the river to silence with nothing but the sound of flowing water as the backdrop.
“.. Definitely things living off of and within the water, which leaves the last question..”
“Is it springfed?”
This.
Climbing up a near perpendicular cliff with nothing but your own hands and knees. This was stupidity. The rock wall that made up the basin was taller than any of these trees, easily the height of a skyscraper, and he had to climb up until he found the source of the water.
Sebastian had gotten stronger, sure. He had more control over his body, yes. As a side effect however, he had also gotten much heavier. Denser, stronger, crystalline bones and tight-knit muscles that can dent a thin sheet of metal couldn’t just appear out of thin air. Improvements always had drawbacks.
Advertisement
He had once been just under 200 pounds and he was now easily 300, even if he looked more lean than he had before The Light. Finding rocks strong enough to support him as he climbed was easier said than done.
The basin was perfect though. A surging river, nearby wildlife, backed against a cliff and trees easily a few stories tall. The potential for a safe haven filled with resources was immense. They could build on the towering trees, bridge their way into a city carved out of the cliffside and live off of the water. Sebastian knew that was a fantasy of course, that would take years to build. But living within the trees and living off of the natural resources nearby? That wasn’t impossible. And he wanted somewhere to settle down too.
So he climbed.
The final criteria was if the waterfall was spring-fed. Even if it wasn’t a natural spring formed in the cliff-side, so long as it eventually came from a spring it would be fine. Probably.
These were Sebastian’s thoughts as he gripped a protruding rock some few stories off of the ground. A rock that immediately growled at his touch, and then nearly instantly after unfurled into a small armadillo-like creature that latched onto the stone surface with its claws. Sebastian lost his grip as the creature skittered away from him with mad squeaks
Left hanging on by a single hand, Sebastian refused to look down at the ground and did his best to grab onto another rock with his now free hand. Cold sweat soaked into the back of his shirt as he glared at the small armadillo looking thing.
[Lv. 4 Stone Shell]
[A creature that digs small divots into stone surfaces and fills them with it’s curled up body to hibernate, it feeds off of the Earth Mana found within its habitat. The creature is extremely lazy, but hates being touched even more than it hates moving.]
This.
This was stupid.
Dallas stood a few steps behind Maeve, looking up at the cliff-side. The convoy had long gathered into a small campsite in-between a few of the trees. Hasan had at some point decided to identify them, finding out they were [Ancient Trees] without levels, so no one was particularly worried they’d come to life like an ent.
Having decided to camp there for the night even if Sebastian couldn’t find the source or if it wasn’t a spring-fed waterfall, everyone had relaxed slightly. Hasan had helped the other militia form a small patrol, Ken remained in one of the trucks with Elijah protecting him. Only Dallas had nothing to do.
“You think it’ll be what we’re looking for?”
“Knowing Sebastian’s luck, probably.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You must have been one of the people we picked up on our way out of the city. Haven't you heard about him?”
Maeve shook her head as she too looked up at the towering stone precipice. She couldn’t imagine what it would be like climbing it, maybe even to the top. The height alone would terrify her, let alone what possible strange creatures could live in or on it.
“What’s there to hear? We already saw him fight against.. whatever appeared and made us kneel.”
“Yes. But he got to that point by being a crazy bastard.”
“He gave me that feeling.”
“Living through the shit he pulled without at least some luck is impossible. Two meetings with a rat swarm, one of which he destroyed. Fighting something stronger than him in every way and coming out on top a few times. It doesn’t seem like much, only a few instances..”
“But it’s only been a week.”
The ‘water specialist’ grew silent as Dallas spoke quietly, her brows furrowed. She didn’t quite get what he meant, or if there was any meaning at all. “It’s only been a week and he’s gone through more than most it seems, yes. Why are you telling me this?”
“Because statistically.. there’s bound to be more people like him. And if they aren’t.. Well, his morality is debatable, but he hasn’t killed anyone yet. But if the next person like him isn't so nice?”
“We’d be crushed beneath their feet.”
Sebastian roared as he slammed a vitality filled fist into the rock face, glaring at the group of [Stone Shells] that squeaked back angrily at him. They didn’t attack him, no, but almost every other rock ended up just being another strange armadillo creature. Climbing this, basically, mountain was hard enough as it is but when every other step was potentially fatal? That pissed him off. Even more so when the angry creatures formed a crowd and chased after him with their enraged squeaks.
A few dozen of the damned things grouped up to ‘shout’ at him from above as he attempted the climb. He was up here for a few hours now, so he guessed he must have gotten near to the source, or at least near the top of the escarpment.
The increased density of water mana only confirmed his guess.
Advertisement
Destroyer of Ice and Fire
As the era of dragons gradually came to an end, as arcane masters left countless riches and legends under the starry sky, one awakened youngster after another began to set foot on their journey. Translator Notes: A lighthearted shounen-style story in a western fantasy setting filled with a group of friends, magic academies, chuckles, hot-blooded youth, and no harem. Let their adventure begin.
8 131Infrasound Berserker
Kate is a firefighter near Falstadt, living her life in the Alps between her demanding work, wandering, and enjoying the sanctity that is coffee. She's dealt with flooding, fires, and cats, but nobody is really prepared for the sudden appearance of bow wielding goblins, strange magical powers, and a game like system. Thankfully she won't be alone to face this new and strange challenge. Trying to survive in the forests and towns she thought were theirs was certainly not the plan, but she won't go down without a fight. Genre: Fantasy Litrpg Apocalypse on Earth. Focus on action and slice of life. Cover art by bacon: https://baconstrap.carbonmade.com/
8 185An Upgraded Soul
Aditya, a 16-year-old teenager dreaming of becoming a professional Formula racer, currently studying in an international school is dealing with the biggest crisis of his life. He had been informed by the police that his parents have gone missing leaving no clue behind. To add on to his misery, Aditya has been sleeping 14 hrs a day due to an unknown reason for the past two weeks. He had been dreaming an alternate world where the 'other' Aditya lives the exact same life as him. But, things became more intriguing when the events in his dream started diverging from his real-life events. For one, his parents did not go missing in his dreams. They were safe and sound. Later in his dream life, Aditya went on to continue his studies in Europe and later became an F1 racer just like he aimed for, while in real life, he got himself expelled from his school and started working in a garage as a mechanic. A world of difference.Accompany Aditya on a journey filled with many impossibilities as he comes in contact with many hidden truths the world is unaware of, in his quest of rescuing his parents.The setting is mainly focused in IndiaTags: Action, Adventure, Missing Parents, Smart Protagonist, Kind Protagonist, Romance, Harem, Friends, Subordinates, Futuristic technology, Biologically Modified Humans, Cyborgs, Genius, Mafia, Firearms, Military Technology.
8 424The Crest of the Emperor
This is my first time writing a story.I was inspired by other fictions in royal road and some chinese xianxia novels.So please point out the mistakes, so I can edit in the future.Happy reading........ :) A man who rebelled against the heaven to protect his loved ones and lost everything.An ancient beast who reins over absolute strength and wisdom, curious to explore the unknown.When their fates intervene, an overlord descent to the world.NOTE:-The characters still in development stage, although I have a rough sketch of plot, I shall change it as the story progresses making it more interesting.-This story has MATURE content, intense killing , sex and usage of foul language.NOTE:-Being my first story, please excuse my grammer and spelling mistakes.
8 166Twisted Tales
A she-elf, the last of her kind upon the earth after the rest of her race abandoned it centuries earlier, becomes entangled in fairy tales. Je Kinah's moral compass demands that she lend a hand to stories that were meant to have a 'happily ever after' but have gone astray. However, she is not without her own story and her past is coloured with tragedy and tainted with despair. Even as she unwravels each fairy tale, more of her own story is revealed and the ultimate conclusion is addressed. Can a she-elf ever hope for her own happily ever after, after all she has done?
8 232My Luna, Helena.
*• POV IS IN BOTH MALE AND FEMALE•*•• Any similarity to a different story is a complete coincidence! I thought of this story on my own.••18 year old Helena Celine was known for her beauty and kindness, but also known for being abused and alone. She's always been different for having white hair and vibrant purple eyes.Her family has rejected her completely and everyone's labeled her as the outcast. Her 2 older brothers contribute to the beatings while her father and mother stand by and watch.Alpha Levi is aware of the way his pack treats Helena but he takes no actions to stop her torture. In fact, he joins in every one and a while to make the poor girl more miserable and broken.When they clash on Helena's 18th birthday he knows right away he needs to reject her. To him she's incapable of running a pack, especially when that pack hates her.Lucky for Helena, she takes the rejection quite good and is able to find the strength inside of her to get out and move on to something better.--I SUCK AT DESCRIPTIONS IM SO SORRY!!!
8 144