Monster Integration

Nero entered the boiling tar cloud with Ashlyn, and soon he disappeared from my eyes and my sense.

I could feel him alive, but not his location or what he is thinking.

It couldn't help but make me worried.

I don't like it when I come across such things. Things I know nothing about. The only thing I know is that it somehow resembles nine-colored matter, but obviously more powerful than it.

It is safe, at least for them. Nero and Ashlyn are never wrong about such things. I hope they are not wrong about this thing too.

Seconds passed and there was no change in it, even when a minute passed. It was about a fourth minute when I noticed a slight change.

A small swirl had formed in the central; it is tiny, and if I had not been looking carefully. I wouldn't have spotted it.

The swirl had appeared, and I am sure Ashlyn and Nero are behind that.

A few more minutes have passed, and the swirl had become slightly bigger. Which made me even more sure that Ashlyn and Nero are causing it.

Ten more minutes later, it became even bigger, but only by a small margin. It is happening very slowly. I do not mind it as long as both of them are safe and get the benefits.

I watched it for an hour before deciding to explore this place.

Time is precious in this ruin, and it would be better if I spent it collecting the resources. This garden had a large number of resources and all of them were precious, with over 95% at Sovereign class.

I looked around before walking in the direction which felt safest.

As I was walking toward this garden, I felt danger from everything. I felt like these dangers were from the broken formations alone.

It felt kind of creepy, and I wanted to stay beside the boiling tar cloud, but that will be a waste of time.

I did not sense any monsters, but I have experienced enough things to know that it is not the only danger a place has.

Soon, I spotted the first resources and crouched down to harvest tallow flowered with brown crystalline edges covering them. This is a precious plant, mostly useful to those who have earth elemental powers.

I harvested all its flowers within seconds before moving toward the others.

Over six hours passed, and I collected thousands of resources. They are at every step. Even the grass I am stepping on is a precious resource and I had already collected some of it.

Hun!

I was collecting it when all the hair on my body stood up. I felt immense danger. I have only felt in the company Sovereigns showed a killing intent on me.

I did not think and reacted; full power burst out of me, and I burned my blood with the greatest intensity and jumped.

I jumped forward, not wasting even a moment to find an optimal direction. I jumped toward two broken formations, which are very close to each other.

There is enough space between them for someone like me to pass through. Though, will I be able to do that is in question? There is a high chance that these two formations would react when I am doing that.

I was thinking about that when I saw the threat.

It is a violet plant with a vine that had a mouth and bloody teeth. It is coming at me fast and would be able to catch me before I reach the broken formations.

I tried to harness more power and increase my speed, but I am already using everything I could.

It would take me some time to burst out with the peak power, but I do not have time.

I could not even use my sword by the time I spun in the air to clash against its mouth. I will be dead meat. So, all I could do is stay where I am and push, as hard as I could, as it is the only choice I have.

The second begin to feel like an hour as I reached the formation gap, while at the same time, the vine had reached me.

It is just an inch away from my legs. It had reached my leg as I finished the thoughts and now it had opened its mouth wider as my foot entered its mouth and brought those sharp teeth.

Hun!

I watched in horror as those teeth close it, when suddenly surprising happened.

The mouth froze, and it was not just its mouth, but the whole plant froze, stopping in its tracks.

It couldn't help but surprise me, but I did not have time to dwell on the surprise, as I begin to pass through the gap between the two broken formations. Which could react at any moment and vaporize me out of this place.

I watched with bated breath as I passed through the formation. It felt like hours, despite being a fraction of a second.

I appeared on the other side with a smile on my face, as I appeared near the tar cloud. This is the place where I sensed threats, in the least.

Thank god, I did not move far away from it, or I would have been dead meat right now.

Still, I am in danger; I might be temporarily safe right now, but what would happen when I tried to leave the garden.

I was not attacked when I had come here but might get attacked on the way out.

It took me a while to calm my nerves enough to think calmly. When I did, energy strings came out of my hands and move toward the garden.

I could not just stand here. I need to be productive. There are resources there and even if I could not be there personally, I could harness them with my strings.

These strings may not be as efficient as my original strings, but they do the job, while I can reside in relative safety.

Another six hours passed, and I continued to harvest the resources, while Ashlyn and Nero continued to consume a tar cloud-like boiling substance.

The swirl had become much bigger in these thirteen hours and even the size of the tar cloud had been reduced by 30%. It is going to take at least another day or more for them to consume it all.

They might come out before that, I don't know.

I tried to contact Nero before he had been silent. I could feel him and Ashlyn, but could not contact him.

I watched for a couple of minutes before starting harvesting and it is not the only thing I am doing. I am also examining the plants and even found seven of them that can pose dangers to me.

They are hiding very well, but I am finding them.

If I had a Sovereign with me, things would have been much easier, but there is not. I am on my own and I truly hope I will be able to get out of this place in one piece.

There are many things for me to do, to die so early.