Chapter 111 Azure Plains

A blinding flash of light painted the surrounding plains in golden warmth for a split second, before disappearing, leaving the plains dark and under the twinkling light of the stars and twin moons of the world.

Leon looked around in appreciation as he stared up at the dark sky. The forest from before had made it impossible to look up at the night sky without being hindered. He summoned Nedra, as she was already complaining about not being able to see the night sky.

"Beautiful." She whispered, her red eyes twinkling as she gazed at the stars.

But their stargazing was fated to be interrupted, it seemed.

Grrrr...

A low growl reached their ears and they simultaneously spun around to face that direction. Glowing azure grass that reached Leon's knees caught their eyes, but they were not distracted from the source of the growl.

A long, glowing tail whipped about, higher than the grass level, and connected to a thick, robust feline body. Some kind of blue furred tiger had its eyes pinned on the duo, and the pressure it gave off was most certainly B rank.

"Careful." Leon warned Nedra as her little white Kamas appeared in her hands. They did not know what creature this was, or its abilities, so he quickly consulted Joseph, but did not summon the man, as any sudden movement might set the beast off.

"That is a Torch Tiger. It is famed for its high affinity toward light and fire. Be careful." Joseph advised within Leon's mind, and Leon thought up a strategy to take down the tiger.

"Torch, eh? Let's see if you can- Hey!" He suddenly froze mid-sentence when Nedra dashed forward, her long white hair swaying behind her. She ignored Leon and sped up, turning into a white blur as she shot straight at the tiger that had already reacted to her sudden move.

Even though Nedra moved like a blur, the tiger was also a B rank being, and it was able to track her movements. It deftly jumped to the side and out of her downwards slash of her Kamas, its tail whipping back and snagging her in the center, forcing her to stop and recuperate.

That pause was all that was needed for this powerful hunter to turn around and pounce on Nedra, but before it could, a sharp claw stabbed out from Nedra's side, drawing a line of blood across its belly as it hastily dodged.

Whoosh!

A ball of yellow fire was blown from its open maw as it landed a distance, and its eyes suddenly shone with a bright light, making it more difficult for Nedra to see straight ahead, while also giving a little cover for the exact location of the fire ball.

But Nedra's senses were very sharp. She threw herself out of the place her intuition told her to be wary of and dashed forward, squinting against the blinding light projected by the Torch Tiger.

Boom!

Wind and heat kissed her nape as the explosion rocked the ground behind her. Strange enough, not a single blade of grass was damaged despite the ferocity of the explosion. Only heat and wind had been expelled from the zone, but Nedra knew it deep in her gut that she would have been hurt a lot if that attack had hit her.

In a flash, she appeared before the tiger, her Kamas driving upwards into its jaw, before snapping to the side, destroying the jaw, and allowing for blood to baptize the azure grass that still glowed with mana.

A pain cry left the tiger's mouth as it stumbled back. Its eyes widened in horror as Nedra's Kamas sunk into its skull, slicing through its brain, and killing it, all in one fell swoop. Just like that, a strong B rank creature was dead.

Nedra let out a deep breath and pushed her hair back. Then she realized that she was in her human form. She had been in such a hurry to see the sky that she just hopped out in any form that she felt like, and then after that, the tiger had attacked them.

"Nice going." Leon complimented as he arrived beside the corpse of the tiger. He waved his hand and black smoke emerged, swallowing up the corpse and providing a loyal summon only moments later.

"Um, thanks." Nedra said and morphed back into her Millipede Queen form. She only took a moment before shrinking herself and climbing around Leon's neck, the white of her exoskeleton a stark contrast against the pitch, abyssal black of Leon's armor. He was not wearing the Abyss set, but rather, the armor that had come with his Race Advancement this time. He wanted to keep the Abyss set for his other form.

He turned around to look at the new summon that was standing beside him and grinned. "As my first summon in this zone, I think you deserve a name. How about Torch?" He patted the tiger's head before pulling it into his body. He did not pull it into his Spirit Container, but rather the Dark Abyss Spider Dungeon.

After he exited the dungeon, the dungeon did not remain fixed in that space that was connected to the archway under the waterfall. The dungeon had been pulled into his body, and was now a part of himself. Of course, he could give it a fixed location if he wished, but he chose not to.

Looking around, Leon thought of what to do next. He turned his attention to the glowing grass around him and rubbed his chin.

"This grass is full of mana. Surely, there must be many more creatures around here. I should be able to find a few and kill them to gain some levels." He spoke to himself under his breath before turning in a random direction and summoning Torch once more. He examined Torch's proportions for a few moments before nodding.

"You'll have to do." He muttered before hopping onto Torch's back. "Off we go!"