Arthur was fully intent on hunting down the Ember Bellow Lizard and had come here exactly for that.
He was also prepared for a potentially tough fight, even if he had the advantage due to his class. But what he didn't expect was for the Ember Bellow Lizard to simply run away.
And not just run away, but to an area, he couldn't exactly cross over to yet.
"What the hell?" Arthur felt confused at that moment.
He watched as the Ember Bellow Lizard continued to get farther and farther away. A minute later, Arthur couldn't really see it anymore.
'It left the Ballard cliffs?' Arthur wondered just what had happened here.
He remembered that this wasn't something that had happened in his last life.
'The Ember Bellow Lizard was still here for players to hunt. That means this should be a temporary thing.' Arthur thought before checking the quest which was still there. "The quest is still the same, which means the Ember Bellow Lizard hasn't left permanently." He muttered in relief.
Usually, if a major change happened with the quest target, the quest would also change. This helped players understand and calculate what to do next.
"Sigh~ Guess I need to cross over already…" Arthur knew that he would have to do it eventually but he thought it would be after killing the Ember Bellow Lizard. "Come on, Brambles we gotta find a way across."
andasnovel.com "Krrr~" Brambles responded to Arthur making him pause.
"Hmm? You can fly over yes." Arthur nodded knowing that the beetle could do it with ease. "But even if you fly, you can't carry me." He added.
"Krrrr~" The beetle responded again, this time telling Arthur about something he had entirely missed.
"Wait, a second… that… might just work!" Arthur was astonished. 'I guess The Blessing of Understanding is a lot better than I thought…'
What Brambles had just done was give Arthur a rather simple but good idea.
The beetle might not be able to fly Arthur across, but it could very well carry items across.
"While we might not be able to build an entire bridge, simply connecting the two ends with rope shouldn't be an issue." Arthur said, to which the Beetle responded with a chirp.
Now the only thing left for Arthur to do was to find something he could use as a rope.
Which didn't turn out to be that difficult.
"At least there are Vines growing here." Arthur went to gather some nearby.
Being a barren area, there weren't many plants that could grow other than the hardy ones. This also included a few thick vines that were rather tough looking.
Arthur simply cut the ones that were growing around dead trees and measured them for the approximate length he would need.
>Player Arzhur has obtained Crag Reach Vine x 15<
"This much should be enough." Arthur reckoned before starting to tie them together.
A single vine was definitely not enough to reach the other side, but once he tied several of them together, the length was more than enough.
>Player Arzhur has made a Low Quality Vine Rope<
'Though I'll have to be careful with it… if there's too much strain, it might just break.' Arthur thought before attempting something.
>Dragon's Insight has been successfully activated!<
~DING~
——
Target: Low Quality Vine Rope
Info: A crude rope made from Crag Reach vines.
Durability: 100/100
——
"Perfect! It can check the durability for items like this with it too." Arthur was pleased.
With the assurance of knowing when the rope would be beyond the limit, Arthur got to work.
"Brambles, hold this end and fly to the other side." Arthur ordered.
"Kree~" The beetle held the rope in its mouth before flying off.
The Dragon Horn Beetle's wings whipped up a gust as it flew across the crevice, going from one cliff to the other. And once it was there, Arthur was ready for the next part.
"Alright, just wait there," Arthur said to the beast.
Even though the two were apart and his voice wouldn't reach it easily, the blessing helped them communicate without any issues.
Next, Arthur tied the rope on his end to a large rock. He could've tied it to the old posts, but he didn't trust them to hold up for too long. And once it was tied, Arthur tugged on it to check if the knot held up.
"There we go." Having confirmed it, Arthur walked to the cliff edge. "Hold it tight, Brambles! I'll cross over now." He said before holding onto the rope tightly.
Brambles wouldn't have been able to tie the rope on the other end, due to the lack of appropriate appendages, but it didn't exactly need to do that. With just its strength and weight, the beetle would be able to hold it in place regardless.I think you should take a look at
Arthur first leaned over the edge of the cliff and slowly lowered himself while holding the rope tightly.
"Hoo… hoo… okay… it's holding up." Arthur now freely hung from the rope, his legs dangling in midair.
[Durability: 100/100]
He kept the durability window in front of him to make sure he would know when the rope was at its limit.
Then, he wrapped his legs around the rope and started to cross the crevice.
"No wonder the adventure sports industry fell hard… Why to spend on it when you can do the same in game…" Arthur chuckled to himself while continuing to move.
Most players would have shuddered doing this and perhaps even frozen in fear. Arthur was the same too, but having experience from his past life helped.
That and falling straight to his death had also helped a bit with heights, perhaps.
~TWEAK~
"That doesn't sound good…" After a minute or so, Arthur heard the rope make a sound.
[Durability: 95/100]
"I should speed up…" Arthur looked at the distance he had covered and knew that if he kept this pace, he might not have enough durability to return on the same rope.
He did his best to speed up, while also trying to avoid making the rope sway too much as it would add more strain which could reduce the durability faster.
By the time he had crossed the crevice, the durability of the rope had considerably fallen.
[Durability: 53/100]
"That's cutting close for sure… I might just have to look for more vines here." Arthur muttered.
~thud~
He got down from the rope and took it from Bramble's mouth.
"Thanks for the help Brambles," Arthur said, making the beetle chitter in happiness.
"Let's tie this here for now." Arthur secured the rope around another rock and was now ready to pursue the Ember Bellow Lizard.
'At least it won't be hard to track it down.' Arthur thought looking at the tracks it had left behind.
Due to its weight and strong claws, the beast had left marks on the ground as well as any rocks that were in its path.
It made it easier for Arthur to follow after it.
"Let's catch up to the lizard." Arthur said to Brambles.
The two followed the tracks, running nearly a kilometer before they felt the area change.
From the previous barren and rocky terrain, it was now a lot more moist and muddy. There was a lot more soil and bigger plants also started to appear.
This made the tracks of The Ember Bellow lizard even more apparent, showing that the beast was certainly in some kind of a hurry.
'Where is it rushing to?' Arthur was confused as to why the beasts be acting like this.
Even if it was hunting, it wouldn't just be sprinting right from the start. It would first seek out the prey before attacking it.
'It's almost… like it is running from something.' Arthur thought.
He had to travel for nearly another kilometer before he finally saw more signs of the Ember Bellow Lizard. There were scorch marks on the trees around as well on the ground.
The soil was burned on some parts while deep claw imprints were left on it.
"This seems strange…" Arthur muttered.
"Kreeriri~" Brambles also seemed to sense something and alerted Arthur.
"You smell them? Wait, them!?" Arthur asked in surprise. "There are two of them?"
The Beetle chittered in confirmation, that he smelled not one but two Ember Bellow Lizards.
"If they were fighting here…" Arthur thought of something. "Were they fighting for Territory?" he wondered.
~SAAAAAAAA~
And sure enough, Arthur didn't have to wait much to get his answer.
A plume of red embers could be seen a short distance away along with the cry of a lizard.
"There they are, let's go!" Arthur said before rushing ahead.
Normally he would be concerned about fighting two of them, but since they were already embroiled in a fight, Arthur reckoned it would only make things easier for him.
'Not only would I be able to finish the bounty, I'll also be able to obtain more stats and experience from them both!' Arthur thought with excitement.
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