Chapter 90: Another near death experience.

The black dragon opened its giant mouth revealing its sharp teeth. A ball of energy grew in its mouth and seem to change from a ball of plasma into a gaseous form. This was the dragon’s breath attack.

Crule spared no time to think and quickly ran. The breath hit where he used to stand and it corroded the ground and plant life on the spot. Not looking back, Crule kept on running. He could hear the dragon’s enraged roar and its powerful limbs propelling it forward. This kind of dragon doesn’t have wings so it’s a land dragon. It’s still quite fast due to its enormous size.

As of right now, Crule was not prepared to fight a healthy dragon. He may perhaps win against an injured or dying one but a fully functional dragon means trouble. Dragons after the energy burst could be categorized as lvl 90 or up. Drakes perhaps only go up to lvl 70.

The dragon kept spitting out balls of gas as if it had unlimited energy. Its eyes glowed red and looked like as if it could shoot lasers out of them. It started to try to stomp Crule into the ground. A combination of breaths and stomps kept Crule busy. He could barely dodge the stomps and the breaths was starting to get close to hitting him.

[Crule]: Shit, this is bad.

There was no place to hide, no trees can block its wrath, no rock can hold it back, and not even the mist will stop the dragon from its revenge. Its powerful breaths slowly blew away the mist revealing the area around them.

Crule darted around like a rabbit with its tail on fire. He turned around finally and tried to hinder the dragon by firing some of his own aura. Half a dozen balls of famine energy collided with the dragon breath and dissipated it seems the two were evenly matched. The balls of famine energy could only consume so much things and each breath just happens to meet the capacity.

The dragon was shocked that its breath was blocked but soon it was even angrier that its prey would suddenly fight back. Its pride as a dragon demands that it kill its prey.

Crule quickly thought up of a plan to escape. He gathered a ball of aura around two meter in size and dropped it on the ground as he dodged the dragon. The ball landed on the ground with a plop and started to eat away at the ground. Soon a decently sized hole was dug in the ground. It was big enough for Crule to jump in and the dragon could not break in. Every time Crule pass by the area, he dropped another ball into the hole to make it deeper. This is his only way of getting away from this enraged dragon.

The dragon haven’t noticed Crule’s plans and continued to try to step on him. It stopped firing its breath as its energy started to run thin.

Several minutes of dodging felt like hours for Crule. His breathing was extremely labored and his chest burns like hell. But finally, the hole seemed deep enough for him to escape. He could feel a cold breeze flow from the hole meaning he may have hit a cave along the way. It would mean he had an escape route.

But first, he wanted to get his revenge on the dragon for making him work so hard.

He took out the hand cannon and started gathering energy. The dragon could feel the sheer power the Cannon contained as it slowly charged up.

Suddenly, Crule stopped and faced the dragon. He was right in front of the hole he dug. With a smirk on his face, he waves bye to the dragon and pulled the trigger on his gun. A powerful beam of energy shot forth and hit the dragon directly. The continuous beam caused the dragon great pain as it roared in agony. Crule swept the laser side to side and created a dust cloud. When the cannon has used up all the stored energy, he jumped backwards and fell into the hole.

When the dragon opened its eyes, his prey was gone. Its scales were extremely damaged and blood was oozing from a charred spot on its body. The cannon has done its job.

The dragon screamed into the sky with rage but no one was there to hear it. Its pride had been hurt and there was no way of recovering it for now. The dragon remembered the face of its enemy and limped away to tend its wounds.

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Crule fell down the hole and landed in a large underground water reservoir. The cold water hit him like a truck as he landed in it. After a painful coughing fit, Crule slowly swam to the shore. Looking up, he had ended up in a dark underground cave with a lake in the middle. Luckily he landed in the water or the fall would have caused even more damage.

It was dark but the light coming from the hole Crule made shone some light on the abyss before him. It was a decently sized cave, perhaps able to hold a galactic sized carrier. Crule felt his fatigue finally caught up to him but he can’t just fall asleep in such a cold environment. He looked in his storage for a new set of clothes so he wasn’t wearing something wet.

He sighed as it seem he was going through his clothes faster than usual. He wore his black overcoat and dragged his tired body to a secure location. A cave like this was bound to have some monsters so he needed to find safety.

His body felt extremely heavy and even taking a single step was tough. But soon he finally settled himself in.

[Crule]: These few days were extremely profitable but alas…it was full of life threatening situations. I begin to feel I am not fully prepared yet for the wild…

He realized he needed to finish his training. He needed finish establishing all his gates. Only then will he fear nothing in the wild. Only then will he be able to travel where ever he wanted. Nothing will stop him, not even Wyvern, a drake, nor a dragon. Its a good thing Shin and the others only stay near the foot of the mountain with only Crule, Ming, and Brigid traveling higher. Crule could feel safe that the others won't end up in such situations.

Shutting his eyes with after a long sigh, Crule went to sleep. Boundless amounts of energy started to gather in him from the atmosphere, quickly replenishing the amount he lost. At least the heavens favor him a bit…

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Ming could hear the roar from miles away. It was something she could not deal with right now but she couldn’t help but worry.

[Ming]: I hope everyone is alright…

She walked out of her cave on the side of the mountain. The cave provided a much needed relief from the gale force winds constantly hammering the side of Mt. Tai. She had traveled up the mountain for quite a distance and the air was thin. The mountain had reach an area where moisture had difficult forming there. This resulted in a sort of dry cold. The grey rocks of the mountain withstand this blistering cold with its majestic might. The winds that seem like it could cut wood easily battered the side into a sharp slope. Ming was tracking a certain monster…and she had finally cornered it in the cave. It was time to finally reap her reward.

[Ming]: Come here my little precious…

She stared down the cave at the beast huddled against the dead end.

[Ming]: Mommy won’t hurt you, much.

She glared at it with hunger in her eyes. The beast could only shiver not from the cold, but from fear.

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I don't know what to say about adding more romance...i literally have 0 experience in the stuff and most ideas i have involving such are from movies, anime, tv shows, books, other novels i've read. Sorry if its kind of flat but what can i say....i havent felt that kind of love yet.