Vol. 2 - Chapter 19 – Monsters of Gravelmark

With most of the magic books in the experimental room taken away, stashing his inventory bag with books full of different content, from elvish language to draconian, to common language one, from just the ones he skimped he could draw the conclusion it was worth millions just to acquire this type of knowledge. (A/N: Knowledge is power)

'Sigh, thankfully those brutes didn't understand much about the laboratory, or maybe only that Evander guy entered inside, and took one of the 'Vials of Darkness' before hiding the vault from the other bandits so they wouldn't challenge his authority.'

'Fay, we have the books for a magic school, but I am not talented enough to study them, so I hope it will another present gift for you which will bring a smile on your lips.'

Thinking that as he walked out of the Fortress Ruins, he could slowly notice how he was approaching the end line, the point where he started his crawling to get to the vault.

After getting away from the experimental room and exiting the fortress, he set a new respawn location right at the ruins courtyard, so he wouldn't have to embarrass himself by returning to Cidarian and being spotted by any villager.

The respawn setting was something any player could pick to their choice as long it wasn't a contested zone or someone's property. In such cases, the wide wilderness and nature of Satisfy was the safety of the players.

Done with his precocious settings, he started moving up the mountain, and the more he was getting higher, the bountiful the monsters his eyes could meet were. The sun also started making his way to greet Mathias, but he didn't take it as such, because in the morning the beasts were also active, if not the most.

Nonetheless, he moved ahead, and now with the natural source of light, he no longer had to spend his MP to use an arcane construct he created that was like a torch.

In the distance Mathias could see some mountain goats grazing the greenfields in peace and even after noticing him passing whose target was to pass this first range of the Gravelmark Heights, they ignored him, continuing to eat grass, unfazed.

Those mountain goats had thick, white and black fur and their bodies were also rather muscular.

"Those goats could make for good mounts, there was this book from Fayrene library which mentioned about dwarfs using goats instead of horses to go into battle. Still, better not get too close to them since even in reality they are territorial and I want no business with those beasts since they outlevel me by a lot."

[Mountain Goat - Lv. 45](42.000 HP)

From then on, he kept walking slowly on the mountain which by now didn't have any trodden road to guide himself on. Even his maps were of no help in these moments because Gravelmark was a zone not detailed on Juander's map, so he had to guide himself using the compass his system map offered.

Still, to be sure, Mathias stopped in a safe spot beside a large tree, and using his system map which revealed only locations explored by him, he could see where Cidarian was and where his location was marked and using his drawn map for reference he looked in the distance, for where Titan would await him.

"I am yet far, far away. I didn't imagine Gravelmark to be so huge territory-wise, and because I have to climb and hike through difficult terrain, my estimation was really correct."

Saying that to himself, he returned back to his journey, being required to step of sharp stones which sent a chill to his nerves, but it was a climb which had also his bonuses for showing Mathias a view hardly encountered even in reality, but his enjoyment lasted until his stamina chose to play with him, and stop his right at the peak of one of Gravelmark Peaks.

"You've gotta be kidding me. Sure, I might not be able to climb such a tall mountain by myself, and this is how the videos of Kilimanjaro are, but please don't be realistic with me right now." lamented Mathias the situation he was, barely able to move in his difficulty terrain, where not long after even some debuffs started hitting him such as, 'Oxygen Imbalance' 'Mountain Acclimatization,

The moment the system decided to play its games on him were in the worst moments because his presence was sensed by some creatures.

He couldn't see or guess what it was because the mountainous terrain of Gravelmark was simply unworldly, with peaks and after peaks, and barely a pathway for him to take to overcome the mountain. However, right in the distance as his presence was felt, the strong resonating cry of a bird which was massive and from one of the highest peaks where a platform made from rocks and gigantic trees was formed, a massive bird took to the skies and started moving toward Mathias who began struggling to move.

Turning his head in the direction of the cry, he could see in the distance the platform in question with a nest, and in the air, a giant bird with dark brown feathers with a body Mathias could guess was about 15 meters with a wingspan that made him scared, making its presence even more imposing.

(★★★)[Zakharan Roc - Lv. 275] [??? HP] (A/N: Can you smell what The Rock is cooking? Haha, I had to do it)

"Fuck, don't tell me that monster is after me? Come old pall, don't leave me at hard times, I will waste more time if I return to the Fortress Ruins."

*Screech*

The aerial giant released a strong shockwave screech that smashed Mathias right in his face that dropped him on the ground, with his nose and ears instantly bleeding.

[You have suffered 1832 damage]

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"Hah, damn, just one shout, and I am dead. If that was some giant wouldn't I be dead if it sneezed at me? What am I thinking, focus? Fortunately, this shockwave pushed me closer to the cliff. I only got one chance to escape from here and not get myself killed."

Saying that he could feel the winds getting heavier on him, slowly blocking his set of motion, but using his remaining strength he jumped off the cliff like a madman, dodging the swooping attack of the Roc, with his long sword-like talons destroying the cliff Mathias was struggling not too long to overcome.

*Screech*

Another deafening cry of the bird was released which shook the surrounding trees and rocks, with many more of them dropping around Mathias who was descending on nothingness.

The feeling of not sensing your body was unique for Mathias, and the rocks which started grazing his skin was an awakening call, instantly activating 'Arcane Barrier' lowering the impact of the rocks with him.

Mathias was still on a free fall, and in order to change something about this, he channeled his arcane energy and used the freedom of his arcane to create a rope that he secured Ragnius before throwing the spear inside the mountain.

When the fall was stopped he felt another shock in his body, where his palms started bleeding from the beating he took.

"Arghh, that hurt like heck."

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*Screech*

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Hearing that cry, made Mathias get closer to the mountain wall by pulling himself using the rope. While pulling himself closer to the mountain, he noticed some crevices that could be of use in this situation, and immediately as he pulled he hid under one of those crevices.

During that, just moments later the giant bird arrived closer to the mountain wall and started inspecting around releasing strong cries which put to test the resistance of the wall and its crevice.

'Please hold, don't break and bust me in front of this monster.' thought Mathias, remaining silent and unmoved by the predatory cry of the bird.

As for the Roc, it still watched for any sign of intruders, but time passed and it couldn't figure out where Mathias vanished since his corpse wasn't on the ground or impaled by the rocky spikes of the peaks.

Meanwhile, in the face of this dangerous moment, with Mathias securing a nice spot to hide, he began lazing around, talking with his guildmates about random things while also watching some live streams which got even more popular with the passage of time.

From E-girls to gamers, from casuals to old people, to even rankers, a plethora of types of players were having fun inside the game. As for Mathias? He was hiding from a predator that could probably destroy countries if unleashed down the mountain. (A/N: Life has his funny ways of screwing people)

The situation was similar to an apocalypse novel where the main character ignored the zombies outside his house, while listening to music and playing games. The Roc was doing its things while Mathias was with his own.

"I can just log out and return when my stamina is full. I should do some workout for the night, and prepare to wrap it off for today."

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Logging out from the game, he went to call home and talk with his family, before working out, and later on eating.

Once he did that and still had some hours before going to sleep, he opted to return back and continue on marching on the Gravelmark Heights, which were full of mysteries and surprises from encountering low-level monsters to giants he couldn't even wrap his head together to make a plan to defeat them.

As such, when Mathias returned back to his hiding spot the first was to peek out and watch carefully the sky.

'Did it go away?'

While thinking that, he kept on waiting for about ten minutes before exiting his hiding spot and slowly climbing the mountain wall using his arcane powers to create some climbing equipment, and when he was closer to the ground he jumped off, reducing his time of descent.

His view was again covered by other peaks, which might house creatures such as the Roc, something he found again when he encountered beasts from low level to high level. However at this new peak, it was a griffon instead of a Roc, and this creature was more intelligent than the Roc, enough to realize Mathias wasn't a danger to its territory.

Still, noticing Mathias, the Griffon released a warning cry from where it brooded its eggs.

*Eagle Cry*

Mathias turned his head in the direction of the cry, exactly on the peak the Griffon was nesting, and when he saw the huge level, he panicked again trying to sprint toward what he thought was a safe spot to hide from this noble giant.

(★★★)[Arch Griffon - Lv. 315][??? HP]

'Hah, not again. Other hours will be wasted because I need to hide and calm this monster. Let's hurry to that part of the mountain and find a crevice to hide. I am not fighting such monsters, no way in hell. Wouldn't one day be wasted if I do this?'

As Mathias moved to a rocky wall, he slowed down when he sensed there were no other griffon cries, or even feeling pressured, and so turning his head right at the griffon he saw it stare in the distance not even focused on him.

'Phew, it doesn't want me dead.' thought Mathias, while breathing at ease, later on hurrying out from this section of the mountain that was ruled by the Griffon.

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When he stepped on another territory of the Gravelmark, he said it quits, logging out of the game, and preparing to go to sleep, along with being fresh for his work.

Only after getting home from work, has he returned to his journey on the mountains, and with this second day, he could see new monsters that he noted down, from a flying beast that appeared to be between a cross of a giant eagle along with a demonic-looking Stagg, dark green feathers, while its stagg body had blue-black fur.

Its size from where he could see this beast was about three meters, small compared to the Griffon or the Roc, but its level wasn't joking about how dangerous it could be for him to challenge it.

(★)[Peryton - Lv. 170] (??? HP)

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Moving past such dangers with fast mobility, activating in those moments 'Raven's Movement' just so he wouldn't disturb the bosses territory. This cautious, lengthened his journey quite a lot, but just as the sun was about to dawn, he finally saw, at last, a peak from Gravelmark which was familiar to him.

"Finally, I am close to home. Those peaks are familiar, having a similar shape to the ones I used to gaze at with Fayrene. Hah, such nice memories, I will have to recreate them in the worst case possible. Also, Jeanne, I wonder how you are? If you are safe, if you are healthy and eat properly, sleep properly, I have so much to tell you."