Chapter 79 79 Battles II

Chapter 79 Chapter 79 Battles II

Nexus frowned- pretending to be fully invested;

"She? What do you mean she?"

"It was a she-wolf newbie. Trust me on that. I slid under it at some point, and there weren't any foul smelling balls. It was at that moment I understood why it was so violent. It literally upgraded to beast mode because it was trying to protect its children. . ."

She continued narratively;

". . .of course, I could have very easily blown the bitch to pieces, but I didn't want to do that, so, we tussled a bit, and at the end of the day, it couldn't stand going toe to toe with me. Wolves, especially alphas are astute at sniffing out weakness–"

Pause.

"–that was why it simply backed off after locking eyes with me. It sensed I was also an alpha."

Allowed himself to be entertained by her half-truths, Nexus grinned as he pulled himself to the top.

Monica began to circumvent the span of the battleground. Creeping across the den in a low crouch, she kept her sharp eyes on the look out for teeth and claws as evidence of her victories- evidence she needed to collect the money.

Calibrating his patronizing tone, Nexus' words showered her with flowery compliments;

"Well, I can tell you firsthand that that was definitely something. It's not everyday one gets to witness something so exhilarating- truly. But you have a very dangerous power Mon, I don't get why you didn't just blo-"

"Because there would be no corpse to take back to the guild. . ." she answered; "How then would I claim my prize huh?"

Feet clattering harshly against the rock filled terrain, she scampered over to him, and flashed him her ring;

"Oi, look alive newb, this is what we call a spatial ring in the hunting profession.."

Of course Nexus knew what it was.

He had just never seen one up close before.

Angling his head till it was completely bent forward, and with eyes squinted, he peered at it inquisitively. Truthfully, it bore no semblance to the over exaggerated descriptions in the novels. It was black- jet black. Under the moonlight, the markings on it glowed like neon. There were no diamonds, no sparkling jewels, no glitter- nothing at all to make it look fancy.

"How did you get one of those? Isn't it like fiercely expensive?" He asked dumbfoundedly- like a real fan boy that he was;

She rolled her eyes, obviously unimpressed; "You're asking the wrong question bro. Its price isn't the issue here."

She was right.

"Well, what does it do?" he asked in a faux-interested tone; "I've heard stories, but I've never really seen any one up close like this."

"Just watch. . ." was all she said.

In the horizon, the low grumbling of thunder suddenly rippled through, brining with it a series of wicked streaks of lightning- suddenly flashing in the sky like it was the fourth of July.

It came at the perfect moment.

Nexus' eyes tried to follow the spatial ring.

Faster than the human eye can registed, a blur of blackness, like a living shadow, suddenly whizzed through. Its outline was faint, and unflatteringly quick. It popped out like a silhouette at a shadow master's puppet show- and shot upwards into the air.

The lightning streaks made it look like a nightmare that had come alive.

Nexus gasped. The redhead sneered.

Having escaped the realm outside time and space, the silhouette exploded as soon as it hit the air, gradually taking on the form of a prism- a triangular prism. Its rectangular base was as big as two SUV's parked side by side. Its height was roughly six foot- tall enough for a human.

Like a black ops parachuter landing on the beach in the darkness, the tent came floating down from the air, and landed on the clearing..

"Shit," was all he could say.

She chuckled; "Don't be such a local boy, it's nothing. You'll cream your pants if you see the stack of decapitated wolves' heads I have stored away in this thing. . ."

Strutting forward, in her velvet colored outfit, she spoke as she walked straight to the tent;

"Given our present situation, setting a campfire would be really foolish. I don't know what's out there in the darkness, and I'm certainly not looking to find out. . .or do you have any intentions of trying to find out?"

She asked as she stood at the entrance.

"Of course not," he replied in a low growl; "Even falling asleep out in the open like this would be reckless- maybe even dangerous. If you ask me, I think we should take turns keeping watch tonight."

Her right eyebrow shot up theatrically.

He moved to defend himself; "Come on, relax okay. I'm not a perv. I'm not gonna watch you in your sleep or something. l'll take the first watch, and I promise I'll be outside the whole time duri–"

She held up her hand;

"Don't tell me what to do newbie. . ." she paused momentarily; ". . .but that isn't the worst idea. But I'm in a much better shape than you, so obviously I'll be first to watch. Your weak ass can take the first sleep shift. I'll stay awake."

Nexus hadn't heard any words more beautiful than this in a while. He was glad it was night time, because his over eagerness was imprinted on his face- as it was in his mind. He was so fucking tired, he could sleep for a whole week.

"What do we do about dinner?" he asked;

"Well, I got some raisin cakes. But no water. Want some?"

Nexus politely accepted;

"Yes please."

As she rummaged through her hunter's bag, Nexus took his seat on the clearing, right in front of the tent, and crossed his legs before him like some desert nomad.

Overhead, a handful of stars dotted the night sky. The crescent moon hung majestically in the east, gloriously outshining the rest of the heavenly bodies. Nexus noticed how cloudless the clear summer sky was, and he was thankful for it.

It meant he could look forward to a peaceful night, without having to worry about any surprise storms. Although, to the south, there was a faint rumbling of thunder, and the occasional flashes of lightning. He cast a quick glance over the landscape before him, and noticed just how black, and ominous, the terrain looked.

Without the flattering golden rays of the sun, the meadows looked like a cemetery. The few towering trees loomed like deathless, sentient beings- swaying ever so lightly, in deference to the inescapable impact of the southern wind.

If they hadn't just faced off a pack of black, shaggy wind wolves, if they weren't at risk of exposure, this might just have been a perfect romantic camping trip.

Nexus allowed himself slip into the cushy daydream- a little campfire, some marsh mellows roasting by the flames, some root beer. . .it would have been perfect. . .it might even–

The rustling stopped.

Beside him, Monica also dropped down with a light thud- to a sitting position.

Cross-legged, she whipped out a fist sized package. It looked like it was wrapped tightly in yards of cloth. As she began to undo the folds, the fruity smell hit his nostrils, prompting his stomach to gurgle aloud- embarrassing Nexus to helplessness.