Several days passed since their encounter with Rothwind, and Alex and Mira now found themselves deep in the wilderness of the Primordial Expanse once more.
The tall trees loomed overhead, their gnarled branches casting long shadows across the jungle floor.
Despite the beauty of their surroundings, the atmosphere felt heavy with tension — the kind that came with uncertainty of what was ahead.
After leaving Rothwind's smithy, the duo had gone straight back to the mission hall. The thought of waiting around for a month for Rothwind to craft them their armours wasn't even considered.
They decided to use their limited time more effectively, and get right to searching for some beasts to further Mira's progress on her requirements.
Alex's advancement was still out of the question for the time being, but Mira could still complete her requirements in a relatively short time.
She only needed two more higher ranked Variant class beasts to kill before she would rank up.
Their first stop had been the hunting grounds where they had previously encountered the Black Leopard, the Variant beast that Mira took down with some relatively hard work.
They had hoped that lightning would strike twice, perhaps finding another beast of similar calibre to help Mira.
Unfortunately, the area had been eerily quiet this time around.
They'd spent hours combing through the dense forest, their eyes scanning for any sign of movement, but nothing appeared — not even a hint of the usual weaker beasts that typically roamed the region.
It was as if the beasts had simply vanished ever since Mira took down that Black Leopard.
'Felt like the whole place was deserted, weird...'
They had eventually given up on that area and had returned to the mission hall for another set of options.
After some debate and thoroughly studying the board's available missions, they'd decided to try somewhere new — a region that although it was much further away, over 20,000 kilometres away, had been rumoured to be seeing a recent uptick in activity from Variant class beasts.
That was where they found themselves now, venturing deeper into a more rugged and unfamiliar part of the Expanse.
The terrain here was rougher, with jagged rocks jutting out of the ground and thick, twisted vegetation making the going tough.
After a moment, she gestured with her head.
"Movement, about 50 metres ahead. Something big."
Alex's interest picked up. "Could be what we're looking for."
Although it wasn't always the case, the size of a beast usually determined their strength among their peers, so the sight of something large moving up ahead was a good sign for them.
The pair moved cautiously, using the cover of the thick foliage to stay hidden as they crept forward.
The sounds of heavy breathing and the rustle of the disturbed leaves grew louder the closer they got.
Whatever was ahead, it wasn't small, and judging by the sound of its movements, it was either eating or resting.
They finally reached a small vantage point, crouching behind a large boulder. Mira peered around the edge, her eyes narrowing as she took in the sight before them.
There, in a small clearing, was a massive creature — easily twice the size of the Black Leopard they had encountered before.
Its scales gleamed in a dark, iridescent green, and it had the body of a large reptile with a long tail that thrashed lazily behind it.
It was unmistakably a Variant class beast, and from the way its muscles rippled with each subtle movement, it was clear that this one would not go down easily.
Mira glanced back at Alex, her expression serious. "This could take my tally down to one!"
The excitement of only being one more beast away from leaving this godforsaken place only made her heart pump more ferociously.
Alex nodded, adrenaline also pumping through his system. "We'll have to be smart about this. Think about what happened last time, we were confident about stalking that Black Leopard, then it caught us off guard by catching our scent."
Mira smirked, drawing her dagger as her eyes flashed with anticipation.
"Then let's make sure it doesn't get the chance to."