Freedom Jumper-Chapter 178: Possibly Regrettable

Slam!

Lazily, Elijah let the wooden door slam shut, spewing a small amount of dust into the air. freewebnσvel.cøm

After hanging up his black tightly knit jacket, he glanced towards the kitchen counter where Niko stood — eyeing the new shoes he had just bought.

Phew... Elijah sighed. "I was worried you were going to get something different."

"Actually, I did see something that interested me. A backpack with a fire thruster that allows you to temporarily fly!" Niko was extremely excited just thinking about this piece of equipment, then quickly lowered his emotions before revealing the price. "The price is just too expensive. 110,000 Genny..."

"What?! What kind of place were you shopping at?"

"I found a large runic equipment store near the Adventure Guild." Niko finished tying the braided laces, then brought the shoes to the corner of the living room where his reclining chair sits.

Because of the curfew and adventure restrictions, their moods have become sour. After a few minutes of conversation that allowed Elijah to explain what he had witnessed the previous night, and the need for Niko to pay a visit to the Education Hall, they had agreed upon venturing into the jungle during the night.

Elijah hasn't felt more confident in his abilities ever since today. Truly, it was because of the conversation he had with the attendant in the Education Hall. Ideas related to combining the strength of his body and the creative power of his mind revealed themselves.

Specifically, a spear of water thrown at an unseeable speed.

On the other hand, Niko had wanted to build the muscle memory it takes to effectively use the wind walkers.

...

The night was as dark as it was still. Considering it was the fifth day of the 8th fortnight, it was to be expected.

Normally, the fifth day of every fortnight is used similarly to a Sunday in Elijah's past life.

A day of break and rest.

In the morning, preparations for the second half of the fortnight would be made to secure the success of any existing business.

This caused the parties and gatherings to be very minimal on this night.

"Are you ready?" Elijah asked while sitting on top of Richter's roof.

Niko stood up from his kneeling position, his black cloak rustling in the wind. "Of course... Since we may not be communicating much, I just want to clarify that we won't be confronting beasts head on."

"That is the plan."

Elijah did not hesitate any further, and allowed Niko to mount his back.

Whoosh!

Because of the night sky dimly illuminated by a crescent moon, they had no quarrels with avoiding the use of their invisible runes. Honestly, they both were annoyed by the time it takes to wrap them around their bodies.

Crickets, fireflies, and niche insects that were most likely poisonous were seen climbing the thick trees filled with vines while floating in the air.

Thankfully, the sound of the jungle didn't disappear with the action of slowly floating through the trees. Even to the point of avoiding every branch and leaf that would cause the slightest vibration.

As usual, the River of Lanc was found.

After just nine minutes of stalking the area from the branches of a tree, they witnessed their first group of beasts running frantically through the jungle.

Black cat-like creatures that used their rough and dense surroundings as a playground. Jumping in between the wide flappy bushes, and pouncing off the sides of trees one after another were some of the feats shown.

Elijah began thinking about the possibility. So far, his experiences has shown there are many similarities about his past life and present. Especially in the animal category.

"I wonder... if that is a black panther? Or rather, a shadow panther?"

"You might be right about that... I spent some time today reading over the bestiary in the guild building. The shadow panther was one of the beasts I remember. They are mainly orange and yellow core beasts, and possess an affinity allowing it to travel through the shadows..." Niko whispered

Elijah sighed... "Leon had a shadow affinity, likely one of the only ones in the entire world... The difference here is that the Shadow Panther is always born with the shadow affinity."

"I suppose we shouldn't try to find them?" Niko asked while readjusting his kneeling position.

Shifting his feet, Elijah focused on trying to see any movement near the river. "Actually, shadows only exist when there is light. Now would be the best time to attack."

"What? Where did you hear that?" Stunned from confusion, Niko further inquired.

"That is just the natural way of the world... Shadows exist as the bridge that connects light and darkness. Only when both light and darkness coexist can a shadow be born... This just means that the shadow panthers won't be able to create shadows anywhere, unless you use your fire affinity..."

What Elijah and Niko attempted to do was not able to be completed due to the beasts already being long gone. However, this did not mean they wouldn't pounce on the opportunity if it appeared again.

Finally, the time had come to go after a group of beasts.

Just from the long black wings they revealed before landing on the edge of the river, it was identified as a nistor — a medium-sized bird with oversized wings.

One by one, more and more nistor's appeared on the edge of the river, dipping their small but sharp beaks into the delectable water.

Meanwhile, Elijah was creating a simple swirling spear of water — one that visibly vortexed releasing small drops of water on both of their bodies.

Slowly, Elijah's body was seen to be dimly glowing, creating a barely visible ambience in the darkness of the night.

WHOOSH!

Elijah's arm moved at an unthinkable speed, sending the spear of water directly through a nistor that had curved its neck to drink water.

CAWWW! CA-CAWW!

All of hell broke loose and followed with Niko releasing a smaller and more condensed beam of fire than usual.

What they didn't expect was for a nistor to surprise them with an attack. All Elijah and Niko saw was a shiny metallic blade extending from the wing of a nistor, before he was forced to shove to shift his body.

SHING!

The air was heard splitting, and at the last second, Niko had pulled his runic hunting knife to parry the attack.

"Elijah! This was a...bad idea, we have... to go!!" Niko's hands were trembling from the vibration of the impact, and was visible within the slight sputter of his voice.

Truthfully, Niko did not have a means to defend himself against an attack he couldn't see. Pure luck was what saved them both, which resulted in the situation quickly escalating into something both of them were incapable of handling.

At first, Niko's realization did not persuade Elijah to take them both to safety. Only after Elijah had received a brutal slash against the center of his chest.

Whoosh!

Niko was picked up by his armpits and dragged into the sky at neck-breaking speed. Hilariously, his mouth flapped in the wind as he struggled to keep his mouth closed.

"Dammit!!" Elijah was doing everything he could to lose the nistor's trail. To no avail, the two descended towards the wall — hoping for a chance at survival with the help of the Protector's.