Thalion ran until nightfall, his stamina down to twenty percent by the ti he finally slowed. He doubted any human could have kept up with them, and for the next few hours, they would be safe. Jakob and Annie were also exhausted; clinging to him for so long as he sped through the jungle had taken its toll. Thalion glanced back at them, his eyes narrowing as he noticed their fatigue.
"You can’t rest just yet," he urged, his voice firm but understanding. "You need to free yourselves. That woman seed determined to find you."
Jakob and Annie exchanged weary glances but nodded, determination flickering in their eyes. They fumbled for small tal pins, their hands shaking from exhaustion, and began the painstaking task of breaking open the locks. The jungle was quiet, except for the faint rustling of leaves and the soft grunts of effort as they worked. An hour later, with a final click, both were free. Jakob let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding, his shoulders sagging with relief.
"Alright, climb up that tree and wait. I’ll be back," Thalion instructed, his gaze steady, though the tiredness in his eyes betrayed his weariness. He took the slave cuffs, his jaw set with determination and started running again. He didn’t want to do this, but if that woman traveled through the night, they could easily be hunted down. The thought made him pick up speed, his footsteps barely making a sound as he moved through the dense jungle.
After about ten minutes, a light murmur reached his ears, a river? He imdiately altered his course, pushing through the thick foliage until he broke out onto a grassy plain. In the middle of it, a crystal-blue river flowed, almost double the size of the one he had jumped over after encountering the orc with his first party. A wave of nostalgia hit him, and he paused for a mont, a lancholic smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
"Man, this brings back so mories," he thought, his mind drifting to Jas, Lukas, David, Emily, and Mike. What were they doing right now? But he shook off the thought; there was nothing he could do about it now. He shifted back into his human form and tossed the slave cuffs into the river. The tal clinked as it hit the water, quickly disappearing into the depths.
The grassy plain was dotted with vine horses and bone spike boars, all around level 19. He needed to fill up his stamina pool, and they would do just fine. He spotted a herd of bone spike boars grazing lazily, unaware of his presence. With a swift motion, he charged a fireball, hurling it at the closest group. The explosion was quick and deadly, killing two boars instantly while the others scattered in panic. Without hesitation, he shifted back into his shadowstalker form, his fur bristling with energy, and pounced on the fallen boars.
His sharp teeth tore into the flesh, devouring them with precision. Feeding in this form was more efficient than draining them with blood harvest in his human form. The sanguine thorn within him craved for high-quality blood, and was not impressed by the blood of those beast. After his al, he felt his stamina pool filling up, now at fifty percent. Satisfied, he made his way back to the slaves. He had checked out the forms of the beast he had killed, but they all didn't have any skills, and when they had one, it was a basic one, which wouldn't help him in any form.
When he arrived, he found them nestled between so leaves, sound asleep. They had hidden themselves well, at least. Thalion climbed a few more ters up the tree, finding a sturdy branch to lie on, his eyes scanning the area for potential threats. His mind raced with thoughts of how to get stronger. If these people could use their slaves to farm credits, he was falling behind in both equipnt and skills. Tomorrow, he decided, he would hunt on the grassland while teaching the new ones a few things. Reflecting on the situation, he realized he didn’t even know what classes they had.
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