Chapter 17: Moonclaw

As the sun reached its peak in the sky, the morning fog began to dissipate, its tendrils reluctantly releasing their hold on the land.

As I spoke, I ran my dagger through the bark of a tree, my words carried over the rustling of the leaves beneath our feet. "Why are we looking for this plant you're mentioning?" I inquired, scanning my surroundings while waiting for her response.

Ruri replied, "Secret," but when I looked at her blankly, she seemed pressed to elaborate. "It's a plant with unique properties known as 'Signal.' It only grows in areas where a specific mineral is abundant."

I nodded, recalling having read about the plant in one of my books. "I assume you do not simply desire the plant, but rather the mineral for which it serves as an indicator?" I inquired.

"Hm..." Ruri paused for a moment, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Yes, that is correct. It shall be a gift for someone special."

I nodded towards her, making our way through the trees as we searched for the plant.

The beast glades were an enigma that piqued my interest no matter how much I read about it. It was like the sea in the my last planet, a vast and unexplored expanse just waiting to be discovered. The dense foliage appeared impenetrable, like a verdant fortress protecting its secrets from the outside world. The very air seemed to hum with the promise of discovery, luring me forward with a seductive allure. That caught my attention, but I would never let my curiosity get the better of me, so I warned Ruri.

"Ruri, it's possible that a large predator is prowling this area," I said as I ran my dagger again across the bark of a tree, ripping off a small piece of its rough exterior.

She sent me a quick glance over her shoulder. "You may be right, but we are still close to the outskirts of the forest. It is unlikely that we will encounter any significant threat."

I sent her an appraising glance, my curiosity piqued by her sudden determination in finding what she was searching for. The mineral could have been rare, for all I knew it was as light as adamantite and as strong as titanium. Eldirium was its name, and it was commonly used to create magical artifacts due to its receptivity to mana. However, it was still unclear why Ruri was suddenly so determined to obtain it. She'd mentioned it was for someone, so maybe that's why she was so determined?

We go a little deeper, but despite having passed the designated safe zone, the mana beasts are noticeably absent. The only sound to break the silence was the rustling of the leaves against the trees.

I finally stopped Ruri by grabbing her wrist and pulling her to a halt. "Ruri," I said loudly. "It's time to get out of here. We've been walking for an hour and haven't seen any mana beasts. It's possible that a dangerous creature has made its way to the forest's outskirts in search of prey. You must notify the adventurer's guild of this."

Ruri sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly in disappointment. "Yes, you're right. I'm sorry for not recognizing the danger sooner. We must leave this location immediately." She turned on her heel and started walking back, her steps quick and purposeful.

Perhaps it was craven, but it was better to escape alive than to continue when both of our senses indicated an ill omen. But, as if fate had decided to keep us there, we both stopped on the way back.

Ruri knelt down to inspect a small footprint mark on the ground, tracing the damp earth with her fingers before looking up at me, puzzled. "Didn't we pass this way before, Kiyo?"

I carefully examined the tread marks, noting that they were indeed our own footprints. There was no question about it. It was strange, though, because I had specifically dedicated myself to leaving signs with my dagger on trees to avoid exactly this situation, and because Ruri had so much experience coming to this forest, it was nearly impossible for us to become lost.

I walked up to the tree in front of me, noting the 45th mark I'd made on its bark. Each mark was distinct, and I traced the tree's surface with my fingers to be sure. Every step and turn seemed to be in order as I replayed our journey through the forest in my mind. It was almost as if the forest had set a trap for us.

"Yes, we passed this way before. " I confirmed.

Ruri scanned the landscape briefly before deciding on a path and beginning to walk quickly towards it. She was more experienced in beast clearings than I was. She was an A-rank adventurer after all.

I followed her again, mentally trying to recall anything that indicated we weren't walking in circles.

However, we appeared to be heading in the right direction this time. We were winding on an unbroken path. Leaving behind whatever that place was where we seemed to be going in circles. I knew it was a mana phenomenon, but what element could do that?

That would be something worth including in my research, but I was going to think about it later because we both came to a halt in front of the sight in a small clearing in front of us.

A door.

An ornate bronze-colored door as tall as a tree, behind which lay a kind of cavern that seemed to lead to the ground like the entrance of a bunker. Even I was momentarily perplexed, for I had left marks on all the trees to prevent us from getting lost, yet we were still lost? Or had this door materialized out of nowhere?

"Kiyo, was that door here before?" Ruri asked incredulously at the cave in front of us.

"No."

"How strange." Ruri Commented, approaching the door and tracing the intricate designs on it. "I've never seen a dungeon like this before."

Curious, I approached the door and reached out to touch its surface... There was a rustle. It wasn't the wind or the leaves, but a soft sound that rose above the gentle rustling of the foliage. I came to a halt when I sensed a presence in the air, and Ruri followed, her staff at the ready. We waited in silence for any movement, but all we could hear was the gentle sigh of the forest.

Our eyes locked, communicating all we needed to know. Both of us had perceived a presence, though it was faint.

"Stay behind me." She whispered.

Ruri took a confident step forward, beginning to channel a great deal of magic through her staff. Ruri, who had once been playful and smiling, had been replaced by a warrior, her determination visible in the set of her jaw and the fire in her eyes. She radiated a sense of strength and determination, as if she would allow no danger to befall us.

I also prepared myself, I took out my daggers and they glowed whitish before the power that was being injected into them. My gaze narrowed to any movement that entered my line of vision, not even my peripheral vision prevented me from observing the slightest movement among the trees and bushes.

A shadow could be seen in the distance. My pupils constricted as I tried to figure out what it was, but it was moving too fast, a blur of motion darting between the trees. I was a little surprised that I couldn't fully perceive it; so far, any mana beast appeared slow when I focused the mana in my eyes, but there was no time to be impressed. As the shadow got closer, I could see the trees bending and rustling in its wake, as if it were the wind itself.

I couldn't see Ruri from where I was, but the way she moved her head indicated that she was following the shadow's movements.

I tried to continue watching the shadow's trajectory, but Ruri was a more advanced mage than me, as evidenced by her suddenly triumphant voice. "Gotcha."

Just as she spoke, Ruri swiftly spun her staff and lifted it high, like a maestro directing an orchestra. As the shadow passed, the ground trembled beneath us, and with a sudden burst of earth mana, several earthen chains snaked out from the ground, ensnaring the figure in their grasp.

I could see what it was now that the speed had allowed me to better visualize the shape of the creature. However, as soon as I saw what Ruri had captured, I knew this was going to be a difficult encounter. The haughty beast writhed and wriggled against the earthen chains that bound it, its sleek, hairless form writhing and wriggling in a futile attempt to escape. Its scales gleamed in the sunlight, sharp and lethal like the teeth that bared in a defiant snarl. A panther-like creature —but about the size of a school bus—with a powerful, muscled body that radiated danger and ferocity.

"Moonclaw. It cannot be."Ruri muttered between gasps, then frowned and let out a low growl as she added more mana to her spell.

She was clearly preventing the moonclaw from escaping, but judging by her worried expression and the way the chains creaked with each second, things were not going well.

However, it was understandable, things can't go well when you're up against an S-class mana beast.

I took a step forward from behind Ruri, watching her eyes widen as she reached out a hand to grab my shirt. Nonetheless, my momentum was stronger, and I charged forward just as the Moonclaw inhaled deeply and hunched its body back, its slitted, greenish eyes blazing with a fierce burn.

Ruri's terrified call was drowned out by the sibilant sound of air entering the beast's lungs, but I had already considered all possible plans. There was no way out. The only remaining option was to engage in combat. We couldn't flee because we'd be hit by the Moonclaw. It was a recognized S-class mana beast rated as such for its speed and stealth... in addition to its invisible attacks

As I approached from the front, the Moonclaw's tail rose into the air, its spikes quivering with triumphant glee. Its body coiled and tensed, ready to strike, as it opened its jaws wide like a dragon preparing to attack, revealing rows of sharp shark teeth.

The air around us reverberated with the force of Moonclaw's attack, the shock wave was enough to make my ears bleed and an annoying beeping sound reverberated in my head. I didn't need to listen to counter its invisible attack, though.

I intensified the gravitational field in front of me by drawing on the earth's swirling mana, staying the mana close to my body as possible, because every inch I moved away, I lost control of the mana. However, it does not require that much power, as the power was increased by concentrating the gravity intensification into a small square, causing the ground to shake and crack under the pressure. It was an intangible shield meant to deflect intangible attacks.

Because it was a fast, deafening, and unstoppable attack that pierced through any shield and armor, it was theorized that the Moonclaw's invisible attacks were the ones that killed the most people who were unlucky enough to encounter them at night — when they usually emerged from their burrows to hunt—. It's possible that the air sent out at that speed is as powerful as a scalding blade at the speed of sound.

However, the mistake of all of them was trying to stop it in the first place if they were so weak.

As I increased the gravity in the small space, it acted like a magnet, drawing the wind in like a small black hole that absorbs everything. The wind, however, was simply deflected rather than absorbed. The earth cracked open, revealing a gaping hole with web-like tendrils extending throughout the clearing. I sent tentacles of electricity through the ground to disorient the Moonclaw, a plume of dust rose to provide cover for me. Simultaneously, small tendrils raced through my body, sharpening my mental processes just in time to see a claw swinging towards me. I narrowly avoided it by redirecting the attack with wind mana to the hole created by the Moonclaw's last attack. The hole closed, encasing its paw like a bear trap.

I took advantage of the Moonclaw's brief distraction, coating a thin layer of my skin in wind mana. As I surged forward with a burst of sonic wind behind me, this served as a protective shield against the wind's resistance. The resulting pseudo vacuum enabled me to travel at incredible speeds while avoiding the significant limitation of the wind.

I emerged from the swirling cloud of dust to see the Moonclaw, its chains now loosely clinging to its mighty form. Though the previous attack had left my ears ringing, the faint echoes of Ruri's voice reached me, carrying with them the sense of her ongoing struggle to subdue the beast. The Moonclaw clearly possessed formidable strength, capable of shattering its restraints in seconds. But I didn't want to see the full extent of its power.

Ruri moved at breakneck speed, hurling a massive spike at the Moonclaw in an attempt to skewer it. Despite her best efforts, the beast managed to avoid the attack, taking only a glancing blow to the side. Ruri persisted in her assault, unleashing a barrage of sharp projectiles that pummeled the creature and caused it to bellow in frustration. I bounded into the air, taking advantage of the distraction, determined to strike the Moonclaw's vulnerable eyes.

The Moonclaw, on the other hand, was not an S-ranked mana beast for nothing. When I got to its head, I used all of my strength and mana to pierce one of its eyes, it felt like I was piercing metal. This pause allowed the enraged Moonclaw to shake off the attack and prepare to launch another invisible attack at me, one that would be nearly impossible to dodge or deflect due to its close proximity if we were in normal conditions, but we were not.

My attack had successfully struck the Moonclaw's eye, rendering it blind on one side. Taking advantage of the beast's newfound weakness, I carefully observed its movements, noting how its muscles quivered and its head tilted to the left, as if compensating for its impaired vision. Taking advantage of the situation, I calculated the trajectory of its impending attack, using my enhanced senses to predict its next move and prepare to defend myself accordingly.

As the Moonclaw opened its maw, I reacted instinctively, darting to the right to avoid the attack. Though I narrowly avoided the main force of the attack, the sonic blast still struck me, causing a new ringing in my ears. I leapt into the air, my remaining dagger at the ready. I plunged the blade into the beast's remaining eye as it let out a deafening shriek and broke free from Ruri's chains.

The throbbing in my head was exacerbated by the jolts of electricity that coursed through my body as I fell to the ground. I turned my attention to Ruri, who lay motionless on the ground, her head and ears leaking a steady stream of blood. Though the previous attack had clearly taken its toll, whether she had been killed or simply knocked out was unimportant to me. My attention was fixed on the Moonclaw, and I knew that defeating the beast before me was my only chance of victory.

I advanced, my steps taking me away from Ruri's prone form. I couldn't afford to wait, even though I knew it was dangerous to leave her there, vulnerable and unprotected.

Humans must frequently leave things behind in order to progress, and I knew that if I wanted to succeed, I had to move forward regardless of the cost, because nothing else mattered as long as I won in the end.