CHAPTER 332: SURVIVAL MODE

Victor’s head snapped toward the sound. "And there it is... the chaos I can never seem to avoid," he muttered while rolling his eyes and breaking into a light sprint.

He dashed through the frost-laden ruins, weaving between cracked concrete and icy boulders until he reached a ridge overlooking the commotion.

What he saw made him pause.

Three enormous beasts were locked in combat, thrashing amid a field of glittering ice spikes.

The ground itself was shattered from their struggle as every blow sent tremors through the frost.

Two of these beasts were identical in appearance. They were large quadrupedal creatures coated in dense white fur that looked as smooth as polished snow. Each had a head resembling a lion’s, but with curling ram-like horns and serrated tusks protruding from their lower jaws.

Their tails ended in spiked clubs of bone and ice. The air around them emitted raw icy mana. Each breath they exhaled painted the air with a freezing mist that could turn stone brittle.

However, the third beast they were in a fight with, was different.

It was taller and thinner with longer limbs and more agile movements. It had snow-white feathers that coated its entire body like moonlit blades.Two massive wings spread from its back with each feather tipped with faint blue lightning.

Its eyes burned an eerie gold and everytime it flapped its wings a — bzzzzt — would always ring out, sending arcs of electricity crawling through the air and melting the snow beneath it.

"Thunder wings?" Victor whispered. "I’m not well versed with magical beasts but all the books I read at the academy never listed any that looked like this... come to think of it, the terrain and every single creature I have come across since I got lost... never seen any of them in the academy catalogue that lists information on things outside domed cities..."

Granted that Victor didn’t read much and he still blamed himself for that... he did dabble into consuming info every now and then.

Especially when they were given an assignment that made him vow to visit the libraries every weekend and read at least one book during such visits.

Although, he was very inconsistent in that aspect, he made sure to read every now and then so he wasn’t completely clueless about the outside world. Nonetheless, he didn’t really find it suspicious that he hadn’t come into contact with things he read about. Everything he had seen so far, were things he was completely clueless about so he just felt that he didn’t read enough.

The battle raged on.

One of the horned beasts lunged with its claws carving a deep trench into the ice, trying to pin the thunder winged beast. The other came from the flank, ramming its tusked head straight at its opponent.

The thunder wings beast screeched in pain, and with a single flap of its wings, sent an electric shockwave forth that split the ground open while it lifted off into the sky.

Kyrrrchhhh~

The shockwave paralyzed both of the horned beasts for a heartbeat.

The thunder winged beast didn’t waste this opportunity. It tucked its wings and dived downward.

SHRAAK!

Its beak which glowed faintly with lightning, drove clean through the chest of one of the beasts. Blue blood sprayed out in steaming arcs as the creature roared while thrashing before collapsing into the frost.

Victor’s eyes widened. "Did... did that flying beast just one-shot it?"

The remaining beast howled in rage and its fur stood upright as mana flared around it.

Shards of ice spun around its body before launching toward the Thunder winged beast like a storm of daggers.

The winged beast countered by flicking its wing, sending a flare of lightning outward.

The blades of ice shattered against its electric wave before it swooped low, slamming one claw straight into the beast’s face. The ground exploded under the impact. When the dust settled, only the Thunder winged beast remained standing.

It had small cuts on parts of its body with blue fluid seeping out as its chest heaved up and down due to heavy breathing.

However, it had done it. A two-versus-one... and it still won.

"Alright," Victor muttered while crouching behind a block of ice, "note to self: don’t mess with the big shiny bird."

As the beast stretched its wings and let out a victorious screech, Victor accidentally stepped on a piece of brittle frost.

CRUNCH!

The sound was small but in this dead-silent tundra, it might as well have been thunder.

The thunder winged beast’s head whipped in his direction. Those golden eyes locked onto his position immediately.

Victor froze. "Ah... perfect. I just had to jinx myself."

He slowly, very slowly, crouched lower behind the ice. The beast’s talons scraped against the ground, sending faint vibrations through the frost. It was approaching.

"Why is it always me?" he whispered, shaking his head. "I could’ve been in my room right now. Cozy bed, warm tea, maybe a movie or playing Ascendant realms. But no, I’m out here about to get roasted by a mutant chicken with built-in tasers."

He felt the thunder winged beast closing in with his spiritual sense. Even though it was injured, Victor could tell that the beast still had enough strength and energy to give him a run for his money.

He clenched his fists, feeling his qi stir. He could sense every heartbeat of the creature drawing closer with a fizzle of lightning faintly sweeping through the air.

But fighting it now wasn’t wise... not with his qi reserves running low and his frost bloom still barely holding up against this climate.

"Alright," he eyes narrowed as he whispered, "let’s hope it’s as dumb as it looks."

The thunder winged beast’s silhouette appeared over the ridge with its head tilting as if sniffing the air. Its breath came out in bursts of white mist as its golden eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Victor didn’t so much as twitch for ten long seconds...

He held his breath as the world stood still with only the wind whistling between them.

Then, with a rumbling growl, the thunder winged beast turned its head away.

It reached out for the carcasses of the two it just killed, grabbed them with its talons, spread its wings and with two flaps, it lifted off into the stormy skies, turning into a white line that streaked across the sky.

If Victor could sweat, he would right now.

However, the cold was too excessive right now... even if he ran a hundred marathons, he wouldn’t manage to break out a single drop of sweat.

He waited until the sound faded before exhaling in relief.

"...Why is my life like this?" he muttered while getting up. "Before I got here, there were barely any dangerous creatures... and now.... not only is the cold trying to kill me, I already witnessed a bloodbath between monsters. It’s almost like jumping from frying pan to fire."

Still, he couldn’t deny there was a bit of excitement. There was always a part of him that longed for some sort of adventure in reality that only game worlds had managed to grant him so far.

The only difference was... he didn’t have a health bar. There was no respawn either...

So if he died out here... he’d die for real.

Which meant, he had to be extra careful. He still had a mother, a siblings and friends to get back to...

Victor began walking again till his figure was slowly swallowed by the swirling white mist.

...

...

~ (( Wasteland ))Unknown Region ~

Ash still hung in the air. Even after an entire month, the stench of blood, charred stone, and mana decay refused to fade.

The wastelands that had once been one of the Drakenar’s fortified strongholds now looked like a scene torn out of an apocalypse.

Craters marred the earth with blackened spikes of melted stone jutting from the ground like crooked teeth.

The sky occasionally twisted due to traces of volatile residual mana.

A dozen Mana Defense Officers in reinforced arcane armor trudged cautiously through the ruins with their enchanted scanners beeping with fluctuating readings.

The red glow from mana residue throbbed under the soil like dying embers.

And at their head, draped in a long midnight-blue cloak that fluttered despite the stagnant air and green battle armor, was Legendary Mage Cecilia Thorn.

Her long, jet-black hair swayed while her glowing emerald eyes narrowed at the surroundings.

"Confirm the readings," she ordered calmly with an authoritative tone of someone whose words could level cities.

A young officer knelt beside a cracked darkened slab riddled with claw marks. "Ma’am, this entire stretch has high-tier mana contamination. Dark-element residue, corrupted fire traces, and... something else. Spatial dissonance."

"Spatial dissonance?" Cecilia’s brow creased.

"Yes, ma’am. The readings suggest that large-scale rift activity occurred here. Multiple layers of space were distorted. It matches reports of a dimensional tear."

Another officer whistled lowly while glancing up at the twisted fortress ruins that loomed ahead. "No wonder the students who survived called this ’hell incarnate’... Holy shit, those kids weren’t exaggerating."

A third officer stepped out of a collapsed tunnel with his boots crunching on bones that no longer looked human. "Ma’am, we found remains—hundreds of them. Drakenar corpses, most at advanced stages of decay. Whatever hit them... wasn’t ordinary magic."