Edward stood up with difficulty after his fall. The impact had been important and it was only adding to his injuries after the wyrm had managed to hit him with its tail. Moreover, he was spent. He had used a lot of his aura even before the fight just to dissipate the fog, then he had to use his acceleration powers for several minutes while chaining attacks to exhaust the beast’s aura. In the end, he had to charge his aura again to manage to pierce through the monster’s defenses.

However, the reward was just in front of him. Edward pierced his daggers in the open cut on the head’s side, absorbing the beast’s blood essence. The monster was replenishing his reserve and healing his injuries. Its blood essence quality was comparable to other monsters able to use auras such as the Regal wolves or the Harpy queen. The head’s blood essence was quickly extinguished, entirely consumed by Edward. It didn’t do much besides healing and replenishing him.

Still, Edward had the rest of the body to absorb power from. Without its head, the long serpentine body had uncoiled and slid off the tree, falling limply on the ground.

It was only now that the rest of the convoy approached him. This fight had broadened their horizon, exceeding what they thought possible. The villagers had never gone deep into the Vipin Forest before, they had never seen a wyrm, and even less one reaching this size. In the same way, it was the first time they saw someone run freely in the sky, they didn’t even know that humans were able to do something like that after reaching a certain level. The villagers blabbered excitedly, while Caspian and Balin went to congratulate Edward on his victory.

Caspian applaud Edward while the latter was absorbing the blood essence from the wyrm’s main body. “What a fight! You have grown a lot since we battle Bloodmaws together.

“Well, I have fought a lot since then to reach this point. Besides, it was a close fight. No matter how much I progress I feel like the fights are not getting any easier. Each time I encounter a new monster they have some trick that I’m not aware of.” Edward explained, mixed between rejoicing at his victory and worrying about the monsters’ evolutions.

“Oh, you can be assured that you have progressed a lot. It’s not a simple Bloodmaw that you have fought today. And you only have to look at us to realize all of the progress you have made.” Balin added.

“Though I admit those monsters are worrying. You were right about leaving Agripin. This beast would have torn easily through our walls and there would have been nothing we could have done to stop it.” Caspian conceded.

“Actually, it could be a good idea to stop here and loot the corpse. I know we are not traveling light, and that we don’t have much storage space, but I’m sure those scales could be used to craft good armor or shields. Even the teeth could be used for arrowheads or knives.” Edward proposed.

“You are not afraid of more monsters coming to attack us?” Caspian asked.

Edward shook his head. “No, have you noticed? The presence watching us has vanished. We must be in this wyrm’s territory, for now, we should be safe. No other monsters will dare to trade in the domain of such a dangerous monster. Besides, it will give us some time for the mist to dissipate.”

“You think this wyrm was producing the fog,” Balin asked surprised.

“Well, we are in its territory. It seems plausible to me, but I can’t be sure since it didn’t produce fog during the fight. Yet, one thing I know is that I would have lost if that beast had attacked us while we were blind by the fog. With its attack speed, I may not have been to avoid it in time if it managed to creep close enough. So, I would appreciate it if we wait enough time to check if the mist is dissipating or not.” Edward explained his reasoning.

“All right. Let’s do it that way then. Besides, the villagers also need some time to relax. The atmosphere has been tense and gloomy these last few days.” Caspian agreed to Edward’s proposition.

The group paused, the villagers gawking at the monster’s remains. Some of the awaken guards were using knives and daggers to remove its scales. Even though the beast was dead and didn’t have any aura armor anymore, its scales were still particularly tough and not easy to harvest. The guards had to use their aura to help their daggers to cut into the body.

Edward participated as well, taking some for himself as well as a few teeth. The teeth were the same length as his opened palm. I’m glad that it didn’t manage to bite me. A single bite would have been enough to leave me severely injured. Edward continued his work. This will be a nice present for Leyla. I’m sure she will love it. She always had clever ideas on how to utilize runes and new materials.

The pause lasted for two hours. All the scales weren’t harvested but the convoy didn’t have the space to store all of them. Besides, they couldn’t stay for too long either. They were safe in this spot as long as it was marked as a dangerous monster’s territory, but that wouldn’t last forever. Already, the mist, which was one of the reasons why they had stopped in the first place, had decreased a lot. It wasn’t reaching up to their waist anymore, but only up to their ankles, confirming Edward’s theory that it had been somehow produced by the wyrm.

The group resumed their journey in a far better mood. With the pace at which they were moving and with the addition of this delay they would need another day to leave the Vipin Forest. However, for now, the villagers didn’t think about it, they were still amazed by Edward’s fight, replaying it in their minds.

However, as the day passed by and the night approached, Edward grew unsecured. They had never caught that first monster that managed to cross their defenses somehow, killing a guard without leaving a trace behind. Although he was starting to get tired after two intense fights against the Regal wolves and the wyrm, and pulling a sleepless night to keep watch over the camp, he decided to skip sleep for another night.

This would be their last night in the Vipin Forest and he didn’t want to be even partially accountable for another death if he could avoid it for the small price of more exhaustion.

The convoy organized their last encampment. Edward could hear some villagers missing their beds, but by now they had realized that leaving Agripin was the right choice. This venture broadened their horizon, showing them what kind of monsters were residing in the forest just outside their small village. They knew they didn’t stand a chance against them. It wasn’t just the wolves that they were used to fending off anymore. Monsters were growing larger in numbers and evolving into more dangerous creatures.

Edward projected his aura on the whole encampment, without the fog blocking his senses it wasn’t a problem anymore. He stayed alert even though everything seemed to be normal.

This night Agripin’s villagers had no trouble sleeping. This new day had proved exciting and coupled with their dreariness from their lack of sleep from the previous night, they fell asleep in minutes. Only the guards and Edward were left keeping watch over the camp.

Being in the center of the encampment to monitor it, Edward’s senses couldn’t reach far into the forest. But from the small amount he was sensing there wasn’t any monster activity.

This monster probably won’t show up. We crossed most of the forest, leaving behind what must be its territory. Moreover, we even traveled through powerful monsters’ domains. This night should be uneventful.

Several hours passed, and Edward couldn’t help but let his thoughts drift away. He was still monitoring the encampment but he couldn’t help to think back about everything that had happened since he had arrived there. He had already risen to a level he could only have dreamed about before. His physical prowess, all of his aura abilities, and his powers. Some days it almost felt unreal.

Of course, it came with great boons like being able to run in the sky or to go on an adventure, exploring real wilds and untouched territories. This was something that was least and least feasible on Earth. What people called nature was often nothing more than a garden or groomed forest. It couldn’t rival the wild and untamed biotopes that he was experiencing here.

Other parts were less pleasant. He had grown accustomed to killing monsters, but he often pushed away the fact that he could die as well in such fights. Fighting while on the edge was exhilarating but also dangerous. He had one life only, if he died that was it. However, that wasn’t the part that was bothering him the most. Having the choice, Edward much preferred dying after living his life fully, rather than living a long but dull, bland life.

What he was really afraid of, was seeing friends or loved ones die alongside him. Already, Adrien had died while they were trying to escape Oshle Tirion’s Bloodmaws-infested ruins. In the current exodus of Agripin, one guard had died thus far, and another had been able to survive only thanks to his help. Edward loathed the idea of his friends or Leyla dying one day due to a monster.

Back on Earth, death always seemed so far away. Not that it didn’t happen. Every day people were dying on the news, but that was in distant faraway places. It didn’t reach Edward who had the luck to live a safe if bland, life. Accepting the idea that the people you knew could die any day had a way to change your priorities. One’s friendship suddenly became a lot more important.

In particular, the fact that monsters were evolving and becoming stronger and that he had no idea for how long it would last, put pressure on him. It wasn’t his world, but already he had grown in strength and power so much, that he was basically the strongest person in both Agripin and Gobéliard. Only Acanthio was his match in a fight. It meant that if he failed to protect the ones he cared about, there would be nobody able to do it in his place.

As he was deep in thought, Edward sensed a guard behaving strangely. The guard in question had left the watch perimeter and the group he was assigned to. He had already advanced two meters in the forest direction. None of the other guards seemed to have noticed it or found it as strange.