Chapter 44 Invisible or Teleportation ?

44 Invisible or Teleportation ?

The blood-sucking root wasn't idle as Ikem prepared his meal. It voraciously absorbed every drop of blood from the prey. With the meat finally ready to cook, Ikem secured it on a branch over the fire, the savory aroma quickly filling the forest air.

Observing that their aid wasn't required, the two treants transformed into flowers, their roots delving into the earth. As the meat finished cooking, Ikem, ravenous, dove into the meal. The hunger was unlike anything he'd experienced before. In his father's company, he'd never faced such extreme deprivation. With a wild hunger in his eyes, he devoured the meat until he was satiated and full.

A peculiar expression soon crossed Ikem's face as he eyed the remaining meat. When he caught the prey and saw its size, he was expecting for it to be not enough to fill him but only curb the hunger, but no he was already full and there was still some meat left. He could have eaten more, but it lacked the flavor of his father's prepared meals, missing the seasoning his father magically conjured—salt.

Puzzled about what to do with the leftovers and unable to fathom eating more, Ikem left the remaining meat beside the dying fire, preparing for rest. Yet as he laid down, sleep eluded him. The discomfort of the hard ground combined with the cacophony of the forest's night sounds made rest impossible. He also was lacking something comfortable to rest his head upon.

Glancing at the treants, now in their floral form, Ikem wished to seek their aid but remembered their warning. Frustrated, all he could do was sigh, resigned to reclining on the unforgiving ground.

As Ikem lay beneath the star-studded sky, he marveled at the beauty above. Contemplating the toll his journey was taking on him, he realized its taxing nature despite being merely at its beginning. Lost in these thoughts, he eventually succumbed to a deep slumber.

Near Ikem's campsite, hidden within the forest's cover, a black, four-legged beast blended seamlessly with its surroundings. Observing the extinguished camp light in the vicinity, the creature remained still, scenting the air.

It was familiar with hunting prey that emitted such similar light in their surroundings, it was familiar with and anticipated the prey's behavior after the light's disappearance. The beast's ears perked up, and an odd expression filled its yellow eyes as it rose from its hiding spot, taking a cautious step backward.

Sensing the prey's unusual wakefulness this long after the light disappeared, the creature's keen hearing detected the restlessness of the target. Puzzled by this deviation from the usual behavior, the beast hesitated, attentive to the sound. It awaited and soon it came, a signal of vulnerability, the creature recognized the familiar cue.

The prey's behavior struck the beast as unusual, not just in action but also in the inexplicable attraction it seemed to hold toward the predator. Its instinct tells it that there will be a reward from hunting this prey, the creature lingered before advancing toward the camp, vanishing from its spot as if it had never been there at all.

Ikem while in a deep sleep was not having so good sleep, He was haunted by not being able to fulfill his father's expectation for him, he was full of worry if he would last long in his journey. The tension in Ikem's troubled sleep soon escalated as his instincts jolted him awake. This time, the blood root, responsive to his distress, swelled in size, hurling him away from his resting spot. Instinctively, Ikem's mana surged, encasing him in a protective green armor, just in time to witness a dark paw, adorned with ominous purple claws, slice through the ground where he had lain moments ago.

Regaining his stance, the blood root retreated to its place in his hair, reducing in size. Ikem's expression turned grave as a creature materialized, shrouded in darkness. Standing face to face, he struggled to discern the form of the creature, which, if not for its immediate presence, might have remained an enigma. If Ikenga were present, he'd have recognized the creature as an oversized Black Panther.

Ikem's heart raced with a fear of the impending danger he was just in. The blood root had shielded him, saving him from a grievous injury. Taking a deep breath, he expelled green mana from his hand, forming a long spear.

Both Ikem and the enigmatic creature assessed each other, tension thick in the air. Abruptly, Ikem ducked as three energy claws surged over his head, tearing through the forest. From his crouched position, he lunged towards the panther, thrusting the spear as he closed in.

The panther, clearly taken aback by Ikem's agility, let out a resounding roar as the spear grazed its chin. In an instant, it vanished, leaving Ikem bewildered. Regaining composure from the slight of display, he looked around the forest floor to see if the creature would expose its steps but nothing was found, so he focused on sensing the creature's mana, but his attempts also proved futile.

Out of nowhere, a huge paw appeared in front of his eyes. He could clearly see the hairs on the dark paw as it closed in on his head. Knowing he couldn't defend with his hands, a green construct formed in his head, taking the shape of a helm, the only protection his mind could conjure at that moment.

Ikem sat in silence as he heard two footsteps. Looking back, he saw the two treants walking toward him, the water treant raising its hand as water appeared in thin air, falling on him, washing away the blood spilled from the dead panther.

The stone treant went to the panther to take a look at the beast and then asked, "Where did you disappear to with the beast?"

Hearing the question, Ikem perked up. "You also noticed me disappearing?"

"Yes, we did, and that got us worried because we couldn't sense you anywhere," the water treant answered while drying off the water that fell on Ikem.

"I noticed the same thing too when the monster disappeared the first time. I couldn't sense it anywhere, like it was no longer in this world. The only time my senses picked it up was when it attacked," Ikem said, rubbing his chin.

"I decided on grabbing the monster in hope to interrupt its disappearance, since it always escapes when I am so close to killing it. The monster then teleported us both to a weird place, not really a place. I was still at the same place of the disappearance, but it was like another layer on top of the real world."

"Hmm, that's interesting. I believe the creator would be greatly interested in that since this hasn't happened before," the stone treant answered.

"How did you get back then?" the water treant asked him.

Hearing the question, Ikem shivered but soon took a deep breath. "The moment the beast teleported me to that weird place, my whole instinct went off that the longer I stayed there, the more likely I was to die or something bad happening. So, I did the only thing I thought was best to survive: force the beast to use its ability again to teleport me away from that place."

All three were silent after hearing that. "Young master, I would advise you to run whenever you meet any creature whose ability you don't understand. You were lucky this time," the stone treant advised.

"I already thought of that. As soon as I killed the creature, it was foolish of me to jump in without having enough information," Ikem said with a sigh as he stood up.

He was about to walk back to the camp when he halted, picking up on multiple life forces and mana signatures in the dark forest around them. Two life forces were equal to the panther he just killed.

A frustrated but suppressed sound came from Ikem's mouth, sitting back down near the panther corpse, Ikem looked at the two treants. "It seems there will be no sleep for me tonight."

Creation is hard, cheer me up!

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