Chapter 2: Chapter 2 – Hiding

James turned out to be an Australian.

No wonder he was wearing a winter outfit, Noah thought. It was the cold months on that continent.

James told his side of the story to Noah.

Coming from a wedding, he was traveling to a pub with a friend for the afterparty when his friend noticed light envelope James' figure, so his friend called out to him.

James, in turn, became rooted. His eyes widened, and his breath became short.

What is going? He spun and found everything white. He looked at his friend, and spoke something, but no reply came back, no sound, nothing.

H-Help! In an effort to escape, James tried to wipe off the white curtain, again and again. Then, a hand, no, a mysterious force restricted his movements and knocked him out. He didn't know what happened after that.

When he woke up, he found himself near a three-way road with a few buildings in his sight. The buildings spew smoke and dust in its smokestacks commonly seen in factories; however, the design of the buildings differs from what he remembered. There were better, compacter, and cleaner. That was when he realized he was in the industrial part of an unknown city.

He walked around and realized the buildings were dimly lit. It was clear that work hours have gone past, so he wouldn't receive help from people. However, he had a bright idea. If he wanted to see humans, he just needed to follow the light.

James stared at the horizon and found the nearest houses to be on the northwest road. Putting strength to his legs, he started walking toward the lights. He thought it was weird how he can see houses clearly. But maybe it was just the moonlight.

Step.

Step.

..

Step.

..

His shirt damp, he put more power on every step. Meanwhile, James couldn’t get this bad feeling that’s been pestering him since when he started walking.

He felt that someone or something was watching him in the dark. Like predators watching him and his actions, if he showed a moment of carelessness, they would pounce.

Bang.

Screech.

As he quickened his pace, James could hear some scuffling and low cries after him. He listened carefully as he was running. And it turned out to be not just one or two, but several things have been following his movements.

He ran, faster than he had ran before. Behind him, several shadows sped and their sounds became louder. It was at this moment, James knew the action has started.

The shadows weren’t fast, but what they lacked in speed, they made up in numbers. There were always shadow beings in front, waiting for him to come near, which he avoided by turning to another street. Still, they are just too much for him.

This is the end. James closed his eyes. After a moment, he opened them, looking stern and determined.

Screw dodging. I don’t need to dodge if they can’t reach me.

Squeezing everything he could get, James fled with all his might. That’s when he heard explosions from behind.

He turned his head back and saw vines and roots of trees. These things entangled the shadow monsters. Helping him to escape. Then his eyes widened as a fireball then flew out from god knows where. It illuminated the vines and revealed the identity of the shadow beings. Monsters. They are huge like wolves and possessed sharp claws like a bear. They also had a mouth of jackals. Each one different even by a little that he felt it was better to call them a pack of mutated dogs.

When the fireball touched the vines, it exploded. Incinerating both the vines and the monsters caught in the explosion. Some monsters partly escaped the explosion with varying degrees of injuries. They did not follow James, but directly scattered after seeing its kind perish in one attack. Although many of the uninjured monsters kept chasing after him.

The cycle kept repeating.

He would run and almost get cornered by the mutated dogs, all while the vines and fireballs hit those behind him... until it finally stopped. Realizing that, James hid behind a booth and watched where the monsters died.

He then saw a group of people. They wore the same blue outfit with specialized equipment attached to it. As for the captain in the middle, he wore a dark blue variant of the outfit used by his group mates, showing he was of higher rank. Overall, they look like next-generation police to him. Next, James focused on the closest person. The man floated a few millimeters off the ground. Around him, leaves moved in a circular pattern like they were steps on stairs. He realized that the man saw James, judging by the finger pointing at him. So, his body shook.

"W-Wait!" Shit. James screamed internally. This man is going to turn him into cinders. He closed his eyes.

... Seconds passed and nothing came, instead sounds of crashing and a monster’s cry could be heard from behind him. He stared at the now destroyed part of a building. Inside, James could see slight movements under the crumbled pieces of rocks. Then an angry screech rang out. The monster thought it could sneak a bite, but the policeman noticed and interrupted it when the monster slowly approached to eat James. It only made tiny movements, but the policeman was a scout, and so he was able to notice it.

The monster burst out of the rocks and lunged toward the scared off man in winter clothing. Like a kid quickly snatching food after the vendor found him out, it made a grab and dash.

James ducked to the ground in the nick of time, while the deadly lizard passed him. He raised himself quickly and turned his head.

“Shit.” James cursed when he saw the big lizard adjust its body and prepared to attack again. Behind it was the floating super policeman, who was surprised to see the lizard’s body.

James wanted to be near the man, however, life wanted him to do the hard route. Now he could only turn in the opposite direction and ran once more. Following him was the lizard.

Behind him, the policeman shouted at the team far from him. “Spike-Tailed Chameleon!”

A wind slash suddenly chased after the chameleon and hit one of its hind legs. The monster stared at the man wearing a dark-blue outfit and snarled. Turns out, when the man saw the lizard come out unharmed, he immediately started casting the spell before the policeman shouted. A cry came from the monster’s mouth, but it kept chasing after James with an injured leg.

James kept running, dodging the monster whenever it came close... and that’s when he met Noah.

 

---

 

It elated James when he heard the group’s voices, but Noah stopped him. He wondered why, but Noah didn’t reply to explain. After the men left, James told him his story, and the dumbfounded Noah opened his mouth, but no sound came. It turns out they were the good guys.

But why did they say we were worth a price, though? He wondered.

Ah, whatever. Noah stopped thinking about it. “Let’s go.”

They came out of the building and saw the destroyed street like it came from a scene in a monster movie. Many smaller buildings on their left side crumbled into mere rocks, while most of the bigger ones had parts of their first floor broken like someone had looted the place. Many of the cars looked like a heavy boulder dropped from above and crushed them.

“What do we do now?” James asked. He stared at Noah, but when he looked behind him, his face changed.

“We will come closer to the city lights. And then contact the authorities and explain what happened to us… What are you looking at?” He saw James’ face change from relieved to scared quickly. He realized James was looking behind him.

He turned around.

...

"Grr..."

Behind him are moving pieces of the wall and the ground. When it moved, it looked similar to the Predator when it partly revealed itself before hunting its designated prey. But the prey are Noah and James.

It was the Spike-Tailed Chameleon.

It knew where Noah and James were hiding. It could smell them, so it camouflaged itself. Hiding. Avoiding the group of mages, it waited for its opportunity.

You are reading story It takes more than 10,000 hours at novel35.com

The part of the ground moved. Its left arm moved in a swift movement as it grabbed the two.

“GO!” Horrified, Noah ran, but he bumped into James and pushed him to the hard pavement.

James tumbled down and avoided the swipe attack. Noah wasn’t so lucky, and its arm grabbed him. A powerful force bound him while the serrated steel-like claws dug through his midsection, dark blood pouring out.

“AAAAAAAAAHHH!” Noah felt excruciating pain running down his lower back to his waist.

"Noah!"

"Fuck. Fuck." Screaming, Noah tried to wriggle himself out of its powerful grip but couldn’t. Unable to do anything, he could only look at the monster’s mouth as it swallowed him whole.

Shing!

Suddenly, wind moved past him as a bright object flashed before he closed his eyes in pain, and he subsequently felt the grip on him loosen. As he fell with the cut-off arm, Noah saw within the tiny slit of his eyes, a sword made of light lodged in the pavement.

A loud cry resounded afterward. The chameleon leaned on the ground with its remaining hand as it tried to swallow Noah again, but a curtain of light manifested before it.

The monster looked at the source of the magic. His black hair swayed as he cast the previous spell with his raised right arm. It was a young adult with a splendid physique. Wearing the police outfit earlier, he checked Noah before switching back his attention. He stared at the chameleon and slammed his right hand on the ground.

Aware of his strength, the chameleon retreated. It ran, but before it could get far, a wall of plants emerged from the ground and stopped its path. It tried moving to the left, but another wall came out. Walls also burst out behind its back and its right side. Soon after, a circular wall of greenery surrounded it.

Swish.

The monster slashed with its remaining hand, but another plant grew after the last one was cut. It swiped once more, but the wall kept spawning more plants.

Slash. Slash.

Slash.

..

..

Slash.

 

Eventually, the monster couldn’t destroy the plants faster than it was growing and soon, it coiled around the monster and restrict its movements.

Screech!

The monster cried out. It was supposed to eat Noah and James and evolve to become a Commander-level monster, but now it is bound by these plants and could feel its impending death.

The policeman pointed his right hand at the chameleon and a familiar light sword bigger than the one before came out. It flew to the monster and pierced its head. Blood spattered across the road and a head fell to the ground.

The monster’s flailing arm dropped, and it soon stopped moving.

 

...

 

“Are you okay?” the man broke Noah's reverie, who was still inside the monster’s cut arm.

Noah couldn’t believe what had just happened. Earlier, he was grabbed by the chameleon, and in the next second, he was lying on the ground. The monster that tried to eat him was now covered by walls of vines and plants with its head on the floor.

He rubbed his eyes to check if he was just seeing an illusion.

Dumbfounded by the sight of magic, he stuttered, “Y-Yes.” He kept staring at the dead body of the monster.

“Am I dreaming?” By this moment, James arrived next to Noah, also unable to comprehend what he had just seen. He looked at their rescuer.

“Are you a superhero?” Although he saw magic being cast earlier, this is his first time directly seeing someone cast a spell and kill a monster. He couldn’t help but ask.

The man ignored James and placed his hands on Noah’s back to inspect it.

“A superhero? No. Anyway, take this young man. Put them on your wounds. You’re very lucky that it missed your vital organs.” He spoke and gave Noah pads and bandages to clean and protect wounds, water, and a yellow medicinal pill.

Noah accepted the rectangular pads and covered his wounds. Sometimes, the man helped him when he couldn’t put a few pads on some of his lesions.

“What does this pill do?” Noah asked, holding the yellow tablet in his hand. Looking closer, he noticed the tablet shine as though it has tiny crystals in it.

“Spiritual Energy Pill. I’ll use it so you can recover your strength while we wait for my group to come here. Anyway, let me split it for you.” The man took the pill from Noah’s hand and split it in half. Upon thinking more about it, he split it again and gave a quarter to Noah.

“I don’t really know how much a Transported can take an energy pill, so you will get a quarter for now. Use the water to drink the pill. Tell me if it’s working, if not, I’ll give you a quarter again.” The man said.

Upon hearing the man’s word, Noah made an awkward smile. Turns out, the man already knew who they were.

After swallowing the spiritual pill, heat began to spread across his body. Like being submerged in a hot spring, he stretched and felt pain once more.

“Don’t move too much. I know how relieving it feels when you take a spirit pill, but please be careful. You’re still injured.” The man warned.

Noah nodded and gently leaned on the monster's severed arm.

James finally butted in after seeing Noah’s body stabilize and his breathing normal. “Hi Mr. police officer, I am James. How did you make swords come out of your body?” He exclaimed loudly that it startled the man in front of him.

He introduced himself. “Hello, my name is Casa. I am a guard of the Cusco Patrol Squad…” Casa knew these two were Transported, so he continued, “what you saw earlier was an intermediate spell of the light element, light sword.”

“Amazing!”

“Spell? Like magic?” Noah was also listening, so he wanted to ask, “you said light element. Does that mean there are other elements? Also, can we become like you as well?”

Casa nodded and smiled. “Yes, there are other elements like fire and water, basically elemental magic. There are also light magic and dark magic. I won’t list out all of them, so you’ll have to study hard.”

“Awesome!” The two listeners exclaimed.

Casa pondered for a moment, before speaking. “Lastly, you can become mages as well,” He added the cherry on top.

“Nice!”

 

You can find story with these keywords: It takes more than 10,000 hours, Read It takes more than 10,000 hours, It takes more than 10,000 hours novel, It takes more than 10,000 hours book, It takes more than 10,000 hours story, It takes more than 10,000 hours full, It takes more than 10,000 hours Latest Chapter