Chapter 26: Chapter 26 – Snake Ravine

“Echo!”

Echo. Echo. Echo.

Adrianne played around with the sound of her voice.

“We finally made it! Snake Ravine!”

Before the duo was a large ravine covered in mist, its depths were unknown but deep enough for an echo to carry Adrianne’s voice.

“Yeah, the quest leads up the ravine. Or at least, that’s if the shopkeeper was right about the cave being down there.”

Adrianne watched as Novus fiddled with his aura. It still unnerved her, but at least now it wasn’t unbearable.

“What a pain. That means we’ll have to backtrack until we get down to the ravine entran—hey!?”

With a suspicious grin, Novus grabbed Adrianne’s hand with lightning-fast movements. Then, he dragged Adrianne to the edge of the cliff.

"HEY!"

Then, with a gentle fall, one pulled the other into the misty recesses of the deep ravine below. The only remaining trace of the two was a great scream that echoed far into the ravine.

“IDIOT!!!”

…

Snake Ravine was aptly named for the numerous dens of snakes that inhabited the soft dirt walls, underneath large boulders, and laid concealed along the ravine's watery edge. The ravine snakes were a curious type of moisture-loving python that weren’t pack animals by nature but reproduced so frequently that there were piles of them with each step. The smith had cautioned that many foolhardy people had already become bones here, but Novus remained standing despite their worries.

Beneath the lingering ravine fog, a crimson halo shifted forms into a rectangle, a triangle, then more complicated shapes like intertwining rope. Finally, the intertwining rope started to grow a heavy sphere at the end, and Novus hurled it towards a retreating snake.

Hiss!

Smash!

A few rocks cracked alongside the python’s body as the meteor hammer-like rope smashed into them. The other snakes nearby the murderous aura of the chain quickly slithered away, unable to be near the source of terrifying predatory fear.

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Good. My aura is starting to feel natural again. My mana manipulation skill has especially gone up a lot. The test with the parachute worked quite well, and it seems I’ll have backup hidden weapons through the aura, should I ever need one.

While Novus was curiously testing and expanding the limits of his Crimson Aura, Adrianne was protesting from behind. Slash marks appeared on rocks & snakes as she unconsciously sharpened her instincts to react to the snake’s leaping maws. Faint mumblings echoed each time she slashed her sword.

“Idiot… I can’t believe him… ugh!”

Adrianne took out her aggrieved feelings on the fleeing ravine snakes, and Novus circled back to harvest their weak paralytic venom sacs and fangs.

“Is it a skill he has? How does he fight so well?”

Adrianne made a smile that wasn’t really a smile. Through her illuminated eyes, she could see how Novus dodged frightened snake pounces by a hair’s breadth. Simultaneously, a sword was in the way of another snake that seemed to slice itself. Novus’ control exceeded her expectations repeatedly as he appeared to calculate possibilities faster than time passed.

Smash!

The meteor hammer aura crushed another hiding snake.

Suddenly, her illuminated irises picked up movement.

“Hey, idiot. A strong snake is coming towards you.”

Novus’ ears perked as the rope he was manipulating lashed out towards a concealed snake. Two coiling bodies battled against each other until Novus pumped more mana into the Crimson Aura, rapidly constricting the snake.

Slice!

The restrained snake was sliced open as Novus’ sword inflicted lethal damage. Then, quickly, he hunched down and pulled out the venom sac and fangs from the snake while chatting with Adrianne.

“Thanks, but I already sensed him. It’s a shame only the strong ones approach close enough, or I could have made a killing on ravine snake materials.”

Adrianne swung her sword with a smirk. Her absence of a reply made Novus look up at her, but all he saw was a pair of fangs headed his way. Novus fumbled a hasty retreat, but his untrained body couldn't catch up with his thoughts. All he could do was push out more aura in defensive layers, hoping it would falter the oncoming snake.

Hiss!

A thin line appeared on Novus’ cheek as the incredibly fast ravine snake couldn’t fully penetrate Novus’ defending aura.

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