Chapter 564 Four Minutes
- 4 Days Later
Monica wiped her brow of imaginary sweat as she finished hauling a creature she'd killed back to her 'den'.
In the few days that she'd stayed here in the icy biome, the lakeside cave she had first stumbled upon had become her home away from home.
Since her near death experience a few days ago, her luck had drastically improved.
With the discovery of these weird new blue flames of hers, she hadn't felt an uncomfortable chill ever since.
Not only that, but she had also developed a bit of a new talent.
After pulling herself and her kill into the small den, she turned towards the opening and unfurled a wave of blue flames from her palms.
Normally, this would have been one of the dumbest things she could possibly have done, but her flames themselves were a bit different from normal now.
Miraculously, the wall of blue fire changed it's composition slowly, and became a wall of ice as thick as a bank vault that sealed the young fire spirit inside.
"Still gotta get used to that..." she smiled to herself.
Turning back around, she finally got to work skinning the creature she caught.
To the best of her ability, she would identify it as something like a polar bear but with horns and rows of teeth like a shark.
Not to mention the fact that it was over fourteen feet tall on it's hind legs.
'Father-in-law sure likes creating some strange new creatures...' she thought to herself, unaware of the fact that she had referred to Abaddon as her father-in-law for the first time.
In her time out in this wilderness, she had come across all manner of creatures.
Whether they were big or small, they were all dangerous and had some sort of way to defend themselves or procure food.
However, since that first day, she hadn't come across any more abyss walkers, which was slightly concerning to her.
Were they hiding? Waiting to ambush her? That didn't seem quite right.
Or perhaps there was some other attraction out here that'd captured all of their focus.
Either way, she knew that she couldn't just hide in here forever.
This was still an exam after all, and eventually she would have to go out and prove that she was more than capable of joining the ranks of the Euphrates.
But just because she knew that she would have to fight didn't mean she was going to go out looking for them just yet.
This was a marathon, not a sprint.
She had to make smart decisions, and not just run around blindly when there was still over a month left to spend on this planet.
Finally, Monica finished separating the viable meat from the inedible parts and got to work skewering it over a small bed of coals.Alll newest chapters on no./velbi/n/(.)com
To be honest she still had rations left, but Monica didn't really want to eat them if she could avoid it.
The jerky was tough and flavorless and the little saltines made her feel like she was in prison.
As she roasted the meat over a normal orange flame, she had a lingering thought of home.
'I miss everyone else's cooking...'
As Monica thought about the family that wasn't her family whom she had left behind, her mood became slightly sour.
Cracking her neck a few times and dusting herself off, she was practically as good as new.
Kirina and Hajun showed up in the sky above her not long afterwards and prepared to string together another combination when Monica took them by surprise.
"I love you guys too."
Hajun: "...Eh?"
Kirina: "We didn't say-"
"I know you didn't, but I can tell. Babying me makes it kind of obvious."
The old dragon couple glanced at Monica with wry smiles.
"...We aren't babying you, Monica. We're just giving you a chance to fight back."
"Pretty big chances..." Monica muttered as she inspected her staff.
As she expected, the spot where her staff and Kirina's katana met had a small indent in it now, but no other damage.
She lived with these people 24/7.
And while she never trained with the old couple specifically, she had spied on them as they engaged with their grandchildren on several different occasions.
She knew exactly how sharp Kirina's sword was, and the fact that it should have cut through a simple weapon like hers with no real effort at all.
She had watched it even cut through even Thea's armor at one point.
And if she fed magic into the weapon, she could make it even sharper.
Hajun was a similar case.
Forget just using his strength to shatter bones, he could turn most creatures into a red mist with power coursing through that muscular old body of his.
If the hit from a few short moment ago was at full capacity, no doubt the same thing would have happened to her.
Monica clutched her weapon tight as she gave the pair a warm look.
"Look... I know that I might not be as strong as everyone else taking the test but you guys can't go easy on me because of that...
I want to prove that I can do this whole thing on my own, without handicaps. That I can still stand among the best, dragon or not a dragon.
I don't need you or anyone else to fix the odds to suit me. Just get ready to congratulate me when it's all said and done."
Kirina and Hajun smiled at each other like a couple who were watching their baby stand up for the first time.
"Silly us... I didn't think she'd notice." Kirina chuckled.
"Well she's a smart girl... I guess it's time to stop playing games with her."
"Indeed. Are you ready?l"
"Always, my wife."
If Monica had any regrets about her words, it was already too late to express them.
Because from the moment that they reached the same conclusion, a monstrous and unbelievable pressure filled the air for over fifty kilometers of land.
'Here we go...!' Monica thought excitedly.
