Just as Erin declared those words, she heard the sounds of leaves rustling and twigs, indicating that something was moving towards her from within the forest.
Erin had purposefully gone a bit further away from the shelter so that she could vent out her anger in peace and have no one disturbing her. She had a general sense of the time that was remaining before the next wave arrives, but it turned out that she was so focused on stabbing that tree that she completely forgot about the time.
Additionally, there was also the question of where the 4th wave would come from. The first wave of Silver Wolves had attacked from the west, from directly behind the shelter, which was why they had caught them by surprise. The second wave came from the south while the third wave came from the north. This left only the east side and Erin had a hunch that this is where the beasts would attack from this time, and she was right.
'That brat still hasn't shown up! Guess I really have to face them by myself...' Erin thought to herself as she backed away a bit into a clearing so that she could easily fight without the trees getting in her way.
Although she was angry and saying all kinds of things for Leon, she secretly still held out hope for him to show up in time for battle, but it didn't seem likely anymore, and Erin couldn't stall out the battle in any way because then it would leave them less time to prepare for the final horde.
The sounds were quite weird as there were no individual thump sounds that one would hear if one heard footsteps. The sounds of the beasts that were approaching Erin were continuous and quiet with Erin only able to hear them because they were rustling the leaves as they moved closer towards her.
At this point, Erin had no idea about what kind of beast she was about to face and she admittedly was feeling a bit nervous facing them alone. Nevertheless, she kept a brave face as she clutched onto the combat knife and activated her aura. Her eyes also began to glow again as she was ready to face them all.
*************
The entire forest went silent as soon as Erin began releasing her aura as not a single sound was heard. It felt a bit eerie as the rustling of the leaves had also stopped and she had no idea where the enemy position was anymore.
However, she remained vigilant and on guard as she still anticipated the beast to jump out at her from the shadows at any moment. She waited and waited but a full minute had gone by and she still couldn't hear or see anything move. She was getting a bit weirded out by this considering that the enemy was almost in front of her, last she heard its sound.
Thinking that maybe they were just staying idle in order to confuse her and make her drop her guard, Erin decided to attack the spot from where she last heard the beasts approaching.
She dropped down to one knee and used her water ability to bring out 10 small blobs of water from her bottle. She then used her ice ability to turn them into bullets and loaded them across her arm to make the preparation of the ice gun skill complete. She aimed her arm toward the shadow from where she last heard the sounds and fired the first ice bullet.
Surprisingly, Erin didn't hear the whooshing sound of her bullet cutting through the air as it reached its target nor did she hear the small mini-ice explosion that happens after the bullet comes into contact with an object.
By the time, she realized that something was seriously wrong, it was already too late as unbeknownst to her, A silver and blue colored snake had jumped from the tree to her right with its mouth wide open and were inches away from biting Erin's face which Erin still had no clue about.
Erin loaded her second round towards her fingertips, still creeped out by the fact that she didn't hear any sound but had nothing else to do other than to just keep firing in the dark, completely oblivious to the fact that a beast snake was literally moments away from biting her face off.
*Bang!*
For the first time in two minutes, Erin was finally able to hear something, and the sound was actually quite loud as if it was emitting right next to her. She turned right to see a leg clad in armor that had bits of fur attached to it, kicking a blue snake with full force that was centimeters away from biting her face.
The kick was powerful enough for the snake to be launched back into the forest at high speeds with a strong thud confirming it hitting a rock or tree and finally stopping.
Erin was completely traumatized as she remembered the previous few moments of her life where she was staring right into the open mouth of a giant snake that was about to eat her and was only stopped by the kick.
The remaining ice bullets dropped on the ground and melted back into plain water as Erin suffered a serious shock. Her eyes widened and her breathing was rapid as she processed what had just happened in front of her.
The leg that had kicked away the snake continued to move forward and circle the perimeter once before stopping right in front of Erin. Erin looked up with trembling eyes and witnessed the person who had just saved her from certain death.
"Leon?" Erin said in confusion and shock as she identified the person who had just saved her.
**************
[5 minutes earlier]
"Alright, that should be the last one," Mako said to Leon.
Leon was feeling more powerful than ever before and he still couldn't believe that Mako had such an ace hidden in his sleeves.
Even though he was filled with determination after he received the scolding of a lifetime from Mako, he was even more confident in his skills and ability and was more determined to defeat the 4th wave, now that he had gained something that he didn't think was possible.
"It's almost time for the 4th wave. Do me a favor and move me just outside the shelter so I can observe the 4th wave beasts and see if I can learn anything of importance from their appearance." Mako instructed Leon so that he could use his Analyze skill and figure out a winning strategy to hand over to Leon.
They both moved outside and coincidently, at that time, they heard a tree fall at a distance. They looked over and saw the small figure of Erin all by herself who was the reason for the collapsed tree.
"I should call her back," Leon said while gulping as he was still a bit afraid to face her after what he had done, but he knew it had to be done.
However, before he could move, Mako who had already activated Analyze noticed something that was moving just on the outskirts of the forest and moving toward Erin.
Mako immediately used Analyze on it to confirm whether or not what he thought was true.
[Analyze]
[High-level Frost Cobra]
[Ability: Ice (Level 3), Sound (Level 2)]
[Description: The High-level Frost Cobra is a majestic creature that possesses a unique skin that is very similar to the ice itself as it leaves a trail of ice wherever it goes and chills anything that comes into contact with it. Similar to ice crystals, it has a crystal-like pattern on its scales which are super tough and hard to penetrate.
Similar to many normal snake species, Frost Cobras possess terrible eyesight and can only navigate expertly using their great sense of smell and Sound ability which is tuned to be quite sensitive making them able to hear even the slightest of sounds.
Additionally, Frost Cobras have a unique grip over the sense of hearing using their Sound ability which they exploit while hunting for food. Using their sound ability, they can not only heighten their own sense of hearing but can also dull the hearing of the prey they are aiming to kill by making them almost deaf.
At its early stages, the Frost Cobra starts as a small and agile reptile, with sleek scales adorned in shades of deep blue and silver, reminiscent of icy glaciers. As it advances in its evolution, it grows significantly in size, eventually reaching lengths of up to thirty feet.
The Frost Cobra's most prominent ability is its Ice Manipulation ability, which it has honed to Level 3. It can summon mini blizzards, create sharp ice projectiles, and even raise sharp icy pillars from the ground with a mere flick of its tail. The serpent's icy breath can freeze anything in its path, leaving its prey vulnerable and immobilized.
The Frost Cobras are extremely sensitive to any fire-related skill and ability. If any open flame or heated object was to make contact with the flesh of the Frost Cobra, it would incinerate it on the spot, killing it and leaving only the crystal behind. Which is why the Frost Cobra is encased in hardened scales that are resistant to flames and help lower the effectiveness of any fire-related attack.]
[Weakness: Fire]
"Leon! They're here!" Mako shouted toward Leon who was about to start walking over to Erin.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel