With revamped equipment along with confidence in our strength, we spent a few days preparing supplies before leaving Neyla's lair. Neyla said she'd accompany us until we got close to the Center ring, she didn't say why, but I could tell there was some reason she wouldn't enter the Center ring. I didn't pry as she'd been more accommodating and helpful than anything I had expected from the Forest of Darkness, and I wasn't going to force her to say something she didn't want to.
Arya and Renae rode on Neyla, Arya keeping a lookout with her Skill as we began to push into the Inner ring. I rode Steria and was acting as a scout, keeping in constant contact with Arya and Neyla to understand and ensure the path we were taking was clear. Neyla said we probably wouldn't run into any of the more ancient monsters, and if we were really lucky we could get through the Inner ring without conflict. While a small part of me wanted to test my prowess against a monster from the Inner ring, I wasn't so arrogant to think that I would be able to not only fight it, but keep the others safe while I did so as well.
While the Forest of Darkness had always been gloomy, it wasn't until we began crossing into the Inner ring that I began to feel a strange oppressiveness in the air, and I realized that the two outer rings were far safer in comparison. Even to my untrained eyes I could see the passage marks of monsters that were massive, thick trees that had snapped like twigs with deep claw marks, a depression in the ground I'd thought was a dried riverbed, only to realize it was the aftermath of a passing serpent, among other signs that the creatures in this area were far more deadly than what we'd encountered in the Lesser ring.
Between me and Arya, we were able to avoid most of the monsters that would have waylaid us, and Neyla's familiarity with the creatures steered us clear of spots that may have been ambushes. However, it wasn't like we were able to make it across the entire Inner ring without running into anything. Most encounters were with other creatures that were also intruding into the Inner ring, however, several times our fighting had caught the attention of the bigger fish. Fortunately, it wasn't as if we had to outrun the native monster, only the other intruders, something rather simple as with me riding Steria, our speed was basically unparalleled on land, and Neyla being an Arachne had superior mobility to most other creatures.
Our luck did not hold out forever however. While stalking through the trees we'd run into a wolf-like creature that had inky black fur that seemed to become waving smoke at its tips, making the monster's actual position difficult to determine through normal means. The monster was wily and had so far managed to evade any strikes made at it, in addition, neither Neyla nor Seshat's Library brought any information forward on the creature, a concerning fact but one that would need to wait.
Riding atop Steria, a naginata brandished, Yinfire fluttering from the speed I took a swing at an empty spot next to where the creature appeared to be, causing it to recoil as the inky wisps shifted to reveal the same creature, only with a light wound on its body, the Yinfire slowly trying to burn and devour any lifeforce the creature had. I launched a quick thrust while it was still visible only for my strike to pass through the body as it seemed to vanish in smoke and reappear not too far away.
I'd tried everything I could think of to try and counter its short range teleport, yet no matter what I did it was always able to teleport as freely as it desired. I was increasingly frustrated with the stalemate of neither of us being able to deal a decisive blow, but that soon changed as the ground shook and the sound of snapping wood echoed, an Inner ring monster had caught wind of the battle and was approaching. Wisely both my group and the strange monster decided to flee, knowing that the slower party would be left to deal with the monster.
To my despair, the shadowy monster's teleportation was far stronger than I'd initially thought as it suddenly began to blink in and out about a thousand feet from its last position away from us. If I wanted to, Steria could probably surpass such a speed, but doing so would leave us both tired and there was no way Neyla would be able to keep up. Without another choice we could only stand our ground and prepare to fight whatever it was that was coming our way.
Arya took to the sky, the boots I'd made her were enchanted to place hardlight under her when she channeled mana into them, allowing her to step wherever there was any light. Unfortunately, the enchantment was mana intensive so unless she anchored herself to an existing object, she could only use them for about a minute. Thankfully we were in a forest and the treetops provided plentiful and high support that she could anchor to.
Neyla would retreat with Renae, keeping her safe while Steria, Arya, and I handled whatever was making its way towards us, only joining if it seemed her support would turn the tide of the battle. I dismounted Steria and began to run towards the sound dodging past thick trees and pushing through smaller debris that blocked my path, naginata at the ready. My job was to draw the attention and if possible, restrain whatever we were fighting while Arya and Steria were responsible for dealing most of the damage. Steria had run around to hopefully flank whatever we would run into using the cover of the trees to attack from its blind spots and utilizing her mobility to stay out of sight hopefully.
It had only been a matter of seconds before I heard Arya report what she saw. "I've never seen a monster like this one, it's similar to the Lightning Lizards that can be found in the Outer ring, but much larger and more legs."
I was having a hard time picturing what she meant until I saw a glance of blue scaled hide through the trees. The Lightning Lizard wasn't too different from a Komodo Dragon from Velen's world, but they were much larger, had hides that came in various shades of blue, and could spit lightning like a Dragon's breath attack. This creature however, was several magnitudes larger. It was perhaps around 20 ft (6m) long and was maybe around half that in height, though it could raise its body or neck to look larger. Instead of the normal four legs expected of such a creature, there were instead six, thick and powerful legs that pushed the monster forwards and trampled the trees it pushed underfoot.
The blue hide seemed to vary in intensity depending on where it was viewed from, and I was almost certain I saw little bolts of electricity fly from its body and into the ground, like a static shock, only on a much larger scale. While I was concerned with the size and clear power of the monster, I was actually quite glad that it had turned out to be this monster instead of something else. Even if we couldn't defeat it, lightning was Yang in nature which meant at the worst I should be able to stall it for a decent amount of time if everyone needed to retreat.
However, I'd rather not get lost in the Inner ring and end up in a situation like with the Lesser Alraune, so I could only hope that the three of us would be able to, at the very least, drive it off, or have another Inner monster take notice and have them both be distracted with each other so we could escape.
But for now I could only take a deep breath and rush forward, several spells being constructed while purple-black fire coated the blade of my naginata, while tendrils of dark purple electricity began to cover my left arm, I could only hope to land a deep wound with my first blow.
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