Rin panicked at the sight of the male lion-head. He subconsciously looks around to see if a party was sent after him but it seems there is only this one here.

The lion-head sprints toward Rin at a speed that is slightly faster than himself. He arrives in front of Rin and swings his sword. Rin intercepts the sword with his machete but the lion-head’s strength was too strong and causes the machete to fly out of Rin’s grip. Seeing that Rin deflected his attack, the lion-head kicks Rin on the stomach and knocks him away.

The kick knocked the air out of him so he is now on the floor gasping for breath. He glances at the lion-head, expecting him to run up and attack. But the lion-head simply stands there with the sword on his shoulders waiting for Rin to get up. Rin is still a little panicked but soon realizes he needs to calm down. Panic often prevents one from thinking clearly and will often hinder performance. Rin takes deep breaths and then takes a closer look at his opponent.

The first thing that he notices is the height. This dark gray-fur lion-head is not as tall as the adults that he saw earlier but only as tall as Rin. He also notices that the mane is not as thick and majestic as a full-grown. He speculates that this lion-head is still an adolescent who has yet to reach his full potential. Even so, Rin cannot underestimate him. Even after standing up, the lion-head simply stares at Rin.

The lion-head ponders for a few seconds and then throws away his sword after seeing that Rin only has a frail-looking spear and some stick, at least in his eyes. He cracks his knuckles and claws extend on his fingertips. He crosses his arm and waits for Rin to make the first move.

Rin was surprised that the lion-head threw away his weapon. His action suggests that he is looking down on Rin. But his eyes do not have a hint of arrogance nor disdain; instead, it portrays pride and anticipation.

Rin puts down his backpack and spear. He takes out the knife, so he has the knife and staff in hand now. Then he turns around and sprints away.

The lion-head’s face turns into a frown and then into anger, he furiously roars at Rin. Then he runs to gain momentum and makes a far leap at Rin’s location. Seeing that the lion-head is falling towards him with his fist ready, Rin rolls to the side and dodges the attack, causing his clothes to be wet and dirty.

The lion-head slides and slips when he landed. He gets up and wonders why the footing here is suddenly different from normal, then he notices that they are in the middle of muddy terrain, the same terrain that Rin created against the goblins. He looks at Rin’s feet and realizes that he was running on the mud unhindered and that he was lured here.

“Hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! Aeno ruqn semcq dsum nbems juerr ieqq!!!!”

The lion-head suddenly burst into laughter and said something to Rin, though he doesn’t understand the language. The previous anger is nowhere to be seen as a huge smile forms on the lion-head’s face. It is now replaced with excitement and even bigger anticipation.

Rin didn’t react to the lion-head’s sudden outburst. He instead takes this opportunity to manipulate the leftover water in the area that has formed ponds.

He gathers a muddy ball of water that is thrice the size bigger than a basketball. The most crucial part is that he gathered them on the lion-head, specifically his head, in an attempt to drown him. He took this chance when the lion-head was laughing and speaking, which should’ve used up most of his breath.

The lion-head panicked when his head suddenly got covered by water. He subconsciously breathes in surprise, which results in him inhaling dirt and water. He coughs in an attempt to get rid of it but ends up wasting a lot of his remaining breath instead.

He shakes his head and tries to grab the water in an effort to get rid of it but fails to do so. He tries to run away but puts too much pressure on his legs and slips. Rin controls the water ball to follow the lion-head when he falls, not allowing him a split second to catch his breath.

The lion-head is on the ground struggling to shake off the ungrabbable element, he becomes more frightful with each passing second. Eventually, he runs out of breath and can only breathe in the muddy water. In no time at all, his body that was frantically moving slows down until he becomes motionless.

Rin still has some mana left so he decides to drain it all first before dealing the finishing blow just in case the unconscious lion-head is faking it. The lion-head is still unmoving even after Rin’s mana depletes. Rin slowly walks up to him just as an extra precaution, then stabs the knife into his neck.

-----------------------------------------

[Tier 1 prydia has been slain]

[+7 exp]

[Exp: 1/17] 🠖 [Exp: 8/17]

-----------------------------------------

[ Water Magic leveled up!]

[ Water Magic level 3]

-----------------------------------------

[Web Foot leveled up!]

[Web Foot lvl 2]

[Move 10% 🠖 15% faster in muddy terrain] [Swim 10% 🠖 15% faster]

-----------------------------------------

Rin falls to the ground and takes a deep breath of relief. He would be lying if he said he wasn’t terrified, especially after he saw a glimpse of what that tribe of prydia was capable of.

‘There were a few things that could have gone wrong in that fight. For one, I wasn’t sure about the lung capacity of the prydia. If they were capable of holding their breath longer, then my plan would be pointless.

Another problem that I discovered mid-fight, was the prydia’s jumping distance. The mud will not prevent him from jumping vertically and I would have a hard time making the water ball stay on his head, even if he didn’t have the momentum to boost himself like the first leap.

Good thing he was young. His panic and loss of composure caused him to drown faster than I anticipated.’

Rin cuts into the prydia’s chest for the mana core. He found that many of the mana cores are located in the middle of the chest area, though not all. The prydia’s mana core is light blue like most but it has a few lines of orange that connect in the middle.

Rin drags the prydia into a random building and covers it with a table cloth. Then he grabs his stuff and quickly heads home. That tribe of prydia is a little too close for Rin’s liking so he plans to go home to gather a few necessities and then head to the city, which is south of Virllam. Maybe there, he will have better luck of finding survivors.

It only takes 30 minutes for Rin to power walk to his house. He took a small detour to grab an extra backpack but beamed straight home afterward.

He transfers all his canned food into the 2nd backpack and only keeps his weapons and mana cores in the first. Speaking of weapons, he takes out a sword.

It was a 0.9-meter double edge broadsword, it looks like a sword that Rin imagine a medieval knight would use in battle. It is the same sword that the prydia used to clash against Rin’s machete.

Holding a legitimate sword feels completely different compared to a knife or a machete. It was heavier and for some reason, it had a grand aura to it. He can’t put his finger on it, he just can’t help but admire the sword.

Rin shakes away his thoughts and looks around the house a second time for anything useful.

After looking for a few minutes, he stops in his tracks when he spots a few sketchbooks collecting dust on his shelf. After thinking for a few seconds, he grabs an empty sketchbook and a pencil and stores them in his second backpack. Then he stores the coyote meat in the thermal container for dinner.

It was still 3 in the afternoon so Rin decides to relax for a bit before leaving. He was satisfied with his progress today; although he didn’t find any survivors, he was able to get stronger. Well, he did found some people but there was no way he could help them in their current predicament.

He rested for an hour and practiced magic while waiting. Afterward, he grabs his belongings and goes into the garage. He takes his electric bicycle with him and heads to the corn farmer’s house.

He wanted to take their vehicle and drive to the city. It would take 3 hours to get there with the bicycle but it would only take 1 hour with a vehicle.

He takes a truck and drives up to the front of his house. He takes a look at the place for a minute or two and ingrains the view into his mind, this may be the last time that he sees this place.

After a while, he drives off into the distance…