Chapter 171: More Caves

"Are you really feeling any pain?", Shin asked.

The wolf stopped howling and shouting for a second and thought about it.

'Come to think of it, it doesn't hurt at all.', he realized.

Then what did the skill Devour do in the first place? Wasn't it supposed to completely engulf the foe and devour him?

While that was something everyone would think, the skill was completely different.

It did devour something, but it wasn't a physical entity. Yes, what it devoured was the mana of the foe - MP.

This would ultimately lead to the depletion of the foe's mana due to which he wouldn't be able to use any more skills or magic that require mana.

Of course, this was thanks to the 'no pain' effect of the skill. This meant that, when the foe was attacked by this skill, he would feel no pain due to which, the attack might even go undetected.

It was a thread with mouth after all so it could attach itself to the host.

The wolf noticed that his mana was being sucked out due to which, he decided to do something different.

Shin was still under the effect of Shadow Restraint. He hadn't moved a single step since he was attacked. He has yet to escape from the restraint.

This was the sole reason why the shadow wolf was confidently facing Shin.

However, it soon realized that relying on restraint alone was foolishness.

'I was right, not only does he resemble master he is also as strong as him...'

'I would never be able to face him...'

Right after he said this, he decided to run away despite the Devour skill in effect.

Yes, he discarded the fear which he had for the moment. It would be better to say that he started to escape only because of fear.

Of course, Shin was not going to let this happen if it was any other circumstance, but at the moment, he thought that it was for the best that he escaped after all he had something else to do.

Shin didn't move from the place and waited for the effect of shadow restraint to get over. He could use some skill to get rid of it or turn it into darkness and get rid of it but thought that it would suffice to just wait since it would also help him regain the MP that he lost.

However, he had forgotten that he had used the skill devour earlier. The skill was efficient in not only depleting the MP of the foe but eating the entire mana, to begin with.

So a bunch of threads was actually trying to devour the shadow restraint that was used and in no time Shin was freed.

'Well, this is for the good...', he nodded his head.

He started to run without transforming back. He was already at the edge and not much distance was left so he thought that he could cover that distance in the current form.

*sniff sniff*

Yes, he could detect a faint scent that belonged to Aella. He was satisfied with the fact that he was heading in the right direction and expected to meet her soon enough.

'First of all, I will apologize and ask forgiveness for my blunder...'

He blamed himself for everything that Aella underwent.

'Ding'

[ You have exited the forest of Thuren ]

"Finally!", he raised his voice.

It was morning and finally, almost the entirety of the sunlight was flashing on his body. After all, there was a huge grassland in front of him, though, he could see the end of it which marked the beginning of a kingdom.

When Shin turned his head towards his east, actually west, he found a bunch of rocky areas. His sixth sense was saying that there was something there and he had to go there!

'I wonder why, but I think I should head there...', he said to himself.

Of course, the system said the same thing too. It was pointing towards the rocky areas.

Shin didn't hesitate and started walking that way, but he was afraid of a thing, he might end up making the beasts living there scared.

Yes, he knew not who lived in the rocky areas, but he felt that the goblins might have formed a village or something. If he were to go with the warding effect then they would be alarmed after all only after feeling the effect would they start running away.

'Well, I think it's better to just turn it off...', he thought this and almost immediately turned the warding power off temporarily.

After this, he started walking slowly towards the rocky areas when he decided that it was better to go in disguise while hiding constantly.

If he were to transform back to his original form, he would be quite small and would be able to hide efficiently, however, the problem was that the fur was white due to which he would be easily exposed in the dark.

'Yes, I think it's better to transform back.'

'Even if I am detected, I can always use the Dark manipulation to escape.', he said to himself.

That didn't mean that he couldn't use dark manipulation in the current form, he could definitely use it even now but getting bigger felt a little inconvenient.

'Ding'

[ You have used the skill transform to regain the original state ]

No light flashed this time and he just turned back normal.

He then just started to walk again and soon arrived near the rocky areas. While he thought that the goblins might be near the rocky areas, he was actually surprised to find a settlement!

'I see, the goblins are indeed here...'

Not one nor two, there were many goblins near the rocky terrain. Shin hid behind a rocky thanks to which he wasn't discovered but there were goblins who were looking here and there and were trying to guard their village.

Yes, the level at which Shin was standing was a bit high. The land went down a bit only to lead to many caves.

'Caves...?'

'Ah, goblins also live in caves after all.'

"..."

To be continued...