Chapter 19: 019

Henry waited for an hour. The sun has shifted in its spot. Various monsters and creatures had passed by him. The Alpha Ruguth’s carcass had completely decayed due to the venom running through its veins. His stomach had begun to growl. Yet, there were still no changes to him despite an hour after he consumed the Alpha Ruguth’s Mana Heart. 

 He stood in front of a deep puddle of water and imagined the water rising from the ground and forming into tendrils in his mind but no such phenomenon happened in reality. He wondered if he was doing anything wrong. No matter how he tried imagining himself using water magic, it bore no fruit regardless of his efforts. He did feel revitalized and energized after consuming the Mana Heart but it was only to that extent. He didn’t gain any abilities or received a tremendous increase in his prowess. He had expected to at least gain some affinity with water that could help him in traversing through deep waters but he didn’t feel any changes as he stuck a limb into a small pond he found. He glanced at the reflective surface of the pond. He saw the face of a Dragon with features rougher than he remembered. Aside from the changes he received from his evolution, he didn’t grow fins, flaps, or gills on his body. In short, it was a huge disappointment considering the hardship he went through.

Maybe it has something to do with compatibility.

Henry mused in his despondent state. Now he was back to square one. Just when he thought he could finally make some progress, reality flipped the bird at him and just told him to suck it. There was no other way to cross the lake than to go around it. He once again contemplated returning to his abode and waited for the haggard man to come to him instead of him going to the haggard man. A huge part of him was reluctant to return, not after what he had been through. It would be an absolute waste if he chose to return now of all times. He strolled back to the lake and stood about thirty metres away from the water. He looked around again, hoping to find a way across but no miracles fell into his vision.

What the hell am I doing…?

It was a question he had been asking himself since day one. There was no real meaning behind any of his actions. A relatively peaceful life was the only answer he arrived at every time the dread of his existence set in but that was a very vague answer and not to mention, quite unrealistic too. There was no way he could actually leave a peaceful life in the wilderness where dangers lurked at every turn and corner. At best, he could only become strong to the point that none would dare to challenge him or even approach him but that was also just another pipe dream. Moreover, strength invites challenge. Not just monsters or animals, even people would come and challenge him either for the sake of glory or the rewards that were his body. A Dragon’s body would give out legendary materials if the cliche was followed and so far, the cliche was followed.

Henry sighed and slumped to the ground. Suddenly, he felt extremely exhausted as if all his vigour and energy were sapped by his bleak thoughts of the future. Whatever he did, everything just fell into the realm of nihilism. Just as he was closing his eyes and succumbing to the temptation of his exhaustion, he was jolted wide awake when he felt a great tremor through the ground. He bounced to his feet and snapped his gaze around. He saw monsters and animals running away while shrieking. Even the birds up in the trees flew off into the skies. Something big and terrifying was appearing. And then, Henry caught that sight in the corner of his vision. A ripple, the largest one yet, spread across the lake’s surface. 

Not again…

Henry backed away from the lake further. Suddenly, thirty metres felt like a distance too short. He retreated until he was more than fifty metres away from the lake. He found a large boulder and hid behind it as the ripple shuddered. From behind the boulder, he heard the surface bursting and a loud splash of water hitting the land. Something huge had broken through the water and came to the surface. The ground trembled greatly as that gigantic monster set a single foot on land.

Then, there was an earth-shattering howl. Henry went stiff from that howl. He recognised that howl. It was the same howl of the Ruguths but this was louder and bigger. By his estimate, it was even bigger than the Alpha Ruguth… or this could be the real Alpha. The one he assumed to be the Alpha might just be a knight or some kind of elite soldier. Henry couldn’t resist himself and jutted his head out of the boulder, taking a quick peek. The colossal Ruguth was staring straight at him as if it had known he was hiding behind the boulder from the get-go.

Oh fuck…

Henry quickly dashed away from the boulder as a jet of water shattered the boulder into pieces. 

Holy mother fuck!

The shockwave from that spell’s destruction tossed Henry into the air and he went tumbling across the ground. He quickly got himself back to his feet and resumed his sprint. He took a sharp turn to the right as a water jet streaked over him. If he had continued running straight, he would have been obliterated like the ground. Knowing that staying on the ground would just make him a clear target, he looked above and around him, searching for trees or anything strong enough to support his mass and weight. As if a miracle finally presented itself before him, he spotted a long thick branch that sprouted from a giant trunk of a tree a hundred metres away. The branch was thicker than twice his size.

He had noticed the giant tree and branch ever since he entered the swamp but he had thought it was a hill range in the distance all this time. That was how massive the tree was. The downside to this was that it was leading him further away from where he wanted to go but now wasn’t the time to be finicky. Pouring strength into his limbs, Henry jumped up high into the air. The tattoos on his limbs glowed as he jumped.

What the—!?

He missed the branch. His jump took him higher than he intended. Since he was heavier than before, he didn’t think he could jump even higher than before. He immediately understood that it was magic that allowed him to jump this high. He ended up landing on a tree a few yards away from the branch he was aiming for. Before he could find his footing and leap to the branch, the tree began to tilt as his weight was slowly uprooting it. He forewent his bearings and kicked off the tree. The trunk snapped against Henry’s kicking force and the whole tree was uprooted. This time, Henry landed on the branch. He took a small breather and continued his sprint as a jet of water sliced off a portion of the branch behind him.

As Henry was high up, the water jet attacks lost half their precision. Nevertheless, the colossal Ruguth did not stop sending streams of water jets in his way. Henry kept his focus on the branch. Though the branch was large, the surface was curved and still damp from the rain. There were already a few times he nearly slipped off the branch. He then started running with the tips of his claws touching the branch, increasing the friction.

Henry spared a brief glance at the Ruguth, who was standing on the bank of the lake. There was quite a distance between them and it had no problem launching spells after spells at Henry. However, its aim was terrible. The water jet attacks were hitting everything but Henry. The colossal Ruguth howled in frustration after it missed its mark for the umpteenth time. Henry didn’t realise it himself but his skin tone and colour blended in well with his backdrop, coupled with the fact that the sun was also behind him and glaring at the colossal Ruguth’s eyes. After that brief glance, Henry did not look behind him again and kept running. But then, the sound of wood cracking entered his ears. He felt trepidation at first but he immediately came to terms with his luck. He had given up on hoping for a smooth sailing. The branch snapped off in the face of Henry’s weight but he had leapt off the branch way before it snapped off entirely. He tucked his head down and curled his body into a ball as he crash-landed to the ground.

The fall didn’t hurt as much as he expected but his body wasn’t spared of all the ache. He didn’t even have time to groan and grunt as a stream of high-pressure water nearly grazed across his neck. The colossal Ruguth was as large as a palm but its attacks still reached him. He ducked behind a fallen log. There were a lot of fallen logs strewn about and many were homes to some creatures. The volley of spells stopped after he took cover.

Henry was finally able to breathe easily, for now. He thought about fighting back but he couldn’t help thinking it would only be folly. He just couldn’t see the point in it. His victory wasn’t guaranteed and neither was the benefits if he had won, a much-warranted doubt. At best, he would grow a little stronger after his victory against the colossal Ruguth but it wasn’t worth the risk considering how meagre his chances were. The other benefit was that more monsters would be afraid of him but as it stood, the only monsters that weren’t afraid of him were all in places that he had no business in, save for the swamp but not even that was guaranteed. He came here for the haggard man but it would be all for nought if the kidnapper wasn’t the haggard man. 

Maybe I should just head back. This is really not worth sticking my neck out for reasons that aren’t even certain. It would be a waste but at least I get to keep my life.

‘Help me…’

A girl’s voice entered his head, then. He perked up and spun his head around but he saw no one in the vicinity. 

‘Help me…’

He heard it again. The voice sounded sad and desperate. He could also hear the voice sniffling. Even by using his other senses, he neither saw nor smelled anyone in the area.

‘Please… if anyone can hear me… please help me…’

But he was certain he wasn’t imagining things. After all, magic was real in this world. Hearing voices in one’s head wasn’t exactly unbelievable. The voice was real and so were the voice’s pleas. It didn’t take him long to figure out the voice belonged to the princess he was asked to save. He didn’t know why he was hearing her cry of pleas now but one thing was for sure, hearing her pleas had made it difficult for him to ignore the request. 

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

He was slamming the ground with his fist as he roared louder and louder, venting out all of his frustration. It was too much of a coincidence for him to hear her cries just when he was truly about to give up and return. 

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He tumbled forward all of a sudden, dodging a blast of a water stream. The colossal Ruguth had pinpointed him but Henry wasn’t surprised. He knew that outburst of his had told every living being in the swamp of his location.

‘Help me… Please… Anyone… Please…’

Henry couldn’t run away now. If he did, the girl’s voice would forever be living inside his head. But if he wished to save the princess, the colossal Ruguth had to be taken out first that was the hardest part, second only to crossing the lake. He managed to convince himself that the Mana Heart of this Ruguth might bestow him what the supposed Alpha Ruguth couldn’t. And so, he crouched as low he could go and crawled his way through the swamp. He used the foliage, tall grasses, boulders, and logs as his cover. He tried using his camouflage but it broke if he moved too much and it was also quite draining to use. He heard the earth-shattering howl again. The colossal Ruguth must be angry that it had lost track of him again, Henry guessed.

His limbs and joints were trembling like a massaging armchair. One strike from the colossal Ruguth and that would be the end of him. He comforted himself with the fact that his end would be quick and painless should he meet it. He didn’t know if his fear lessened but his limbs weren’t trembling as strong as before. He was currently creeping towards the colossal Ruguth. His venom was the only thing he could rely on. As it was a water-type monster, fire would certainly be ineffective. His aura blades were an option but the colossal Ruguth was thrice his size. A glance at that thing was enough to make him doubt how much harm his aura blades could do.

The colossal Ruguth howled once more and launched a water jet in a random direction. The ground shook from the destruction it caused. Henry didn’t dare to take a peek. He was moving slower than a tortoise but at least he was moving. If he stood straight on all fours, he wagered himself to be around five feet or more. When he crouched, he could lower himself as low as two feet. He was basically dragging his belly across the dirt. The Ruguth howled, then it fired off another water jet somewhere and the ground shook. It gradually became a pattern as it kept repeating this routine while Henry slowly crept up to it.

‘Please, please, please… if anyone can hear me… please save me… Please…’ 

Henry could hear the desperation and fear growing in the princess’ voice. He wished he had a way to tell the princess that he was coming but he didn’t know how and he didn’t know if he even could. 

“Come out, you fucking lizard!!” a woman’s voice entered his ears. “Stop hiding!!”

Henry nearly jumped out of his concealment but he managed to keep himself calm. The woman’s voice was loud and deafening, as loud as the colossal Ruguth’s. The rage and fury were all too apparent in her voice.

Wait. As loud as the Ruguth…

Henry stumbled upon a realisation. He swallowed a lump in his throat and carefully peek his head out of the cover. He peered at the colossal Ruguth.

“Wait till I find you, you mutt of a lizard! I will make you suffer for killing my mate and children!”

There was no mistake. That was the voice of the colossal Ruguth. It was a female and it just said he had killed her mate. Then the puzzle pieces fell into place. He realised the Alpha Ruguth was actually the mate of the true Alpha. Or rather, the queen of the nest. He killed the queen’s mate and her children. Now she was out for revenge.

Henry ducked back down behind cover. He could understand the Ruguth’s language and he could only attribute it to one single reason, he consumed the Ruguth’s Mana Heart. It didn’t give him their abilities but it did give him the comprehension of their language.

Great. Now I have two voices to bear with.

As Henry crept through the covers of nature, voices on both ends of the spectrum were assaulting his mind and ears constantly. One was a meek voice pleading desperately for help and the other one was a shattering voice lashing out her rage and promise of destruction. Henry quickened his pace. He felt that he would go insane if he kept listening to the voices of these two. Suddenly, the ground in front of him exploded and he was thrown into the air. 

“Found you!” cried the Ruguth Queen. “You think you can hide forever!?”

Fuck. 

Henry found his bearings and landed on his feet. He took only a single breath before he leapt into the air again, dodging an attack from the Ruguth Queen. 

“You are not worthy to be my food. I will not feed you to my children. I will dump your corpse at where I dump my waste after I’m done with you!”

Henry leapt again, dodging an attack that sliced down the trees behind him. Every time his feet found land, he leapt again to avoid getting hit by the Ruguth Queen’s attack. After some repetition of the same manoeuvre, Henry grasped the rhythm. He leapt to dodge an attack. He took a deep breath before he leapt again. And when he leapt again, he unleashed the breath in his mouth in the form of a firebolt. The Ruguth Queen widened her eyes in surprise. She tried dodging the firebolt but slowness was the bane of her size. The firebolt hit her in her right shoulder and she howled in pain. She lost her balance in the process and tumbled over. Henry seized this opportunity to close the gap between them.

Replicating the same feeling as before, the tattoos on his limbs glowed and he was running faster but at the cost of control. Which was why he didn’t use this when he was dodging the Ruguth Queen’s attacks. However, he didn’t need any control or restraint right now. He just needed speed. He reached the Queen before she could stand up. He bared his fangs and lunged.

“Fool!” the Ruguth Queen sneered with a smirk. Spikes of water protruded from all over her body and Henry was falling towards those spikes in his lunge. 

Henry merely tutted and conjured the translucent barrier. He had anticipated this but he decided on this course nonetheless. The barrier blocked a few of the spikes that would otherwise stab into him. His hide wasn’t tough enough to withstand the magic of the Ruguth Queen but it did curb the spikes from going too deep into his body. The only thing he didn’t account for was that the spikes had prevented his fangs and jaws from reaching.

Crap.

“You have failed, foolish lizard!”

Plan B.

Henry tutted and sucked up the pain that was spreading throughout his body. His mouth might be out of reach but not his forelimbs. He returned the Ruguth Queen’s smirk and plunged his claws into her right eye. The whole swamp trembled from the earth-shattering cry of the Ruguth Queen’s agony.

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