125 Chapter 125 Loot and Retreat
(Third person POV)
There was something very strange about the scene in front of Desmond at this moment, curious enough it was not the giant metal-clad snake that puzzled him but instead was the huge crater where the snake was located; one has to know that Desmond was still a long way from being able to make such a show of power.
In reality, most of them would be very happy with the results of said attack and couldn’t help but grow a bit arrogant thinking that they had been the cause of said destruction. . . but Desmond was a little bit different, he was much more aware of himself and his own capabilities; as well as the simple truth that everything has a price.
So seeing the steel emperor serpent with its neck almost shattered lying dead in a crater, instead of emotion; Desmond was concerned. For some reason, he felt that the overwhelming exhaustion he felt recently was not the worst of the side effects of using his bow special ability.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtNot wanting to be left with the unknown, Desmond decided to check his status in the notebook just in case, and seeing what it said there he could only feel bitter inside at how capricious fate was.
′′ It seems that it will be another short day ′′
It had only been a couple of hours since Desmond and Sasha had entered the forest so they had not made any significant finds before they encountered the steel emperor serpent and Desmond ended up in his current state.
Of course, that might not be entirely true, since the simple fact of having witnessed the corrupted beasts hunt another beast of the forest could be considered a discovery in itself; even more so if one took into account what the notebook had revealed to Desmond about these beasts.
If there was only one thing to be happy about, it would be the changes that had occurred in Desmond’s skills section where not only many showed an improvement in their mastery, but even a new skill that Desmond had developed unexpectedly when he fights the dark-edged creeper tiger was shown; the Water Whirlwind Barrier
.....
Looking at the unknown next to the mana burst skill, Desmond did not seem at all taken aback and quite the contrary a small smile emerged from him as he realized that his earlier ideas were bearing fruit.
′′ Sasha do you have another stamina potion and maybe a mana replenishing potion? ′′ Desmond asked a little reluctant to withdraw having made so little progress concerning what he had planned.
′′ I have, but I do not recommend that if you think about depending on them to continue exploring this place, the potions will only help you regain some of your stamina and mana but they will not undo all the stress that your body has just undergone; if we go through another battle you might not be able to give even 50% of your strength. ′′ Even knowing that Desmond would not like her answer, Sasha still decided to tell the hunter the nature of his current situation; Of course, with her gentle and caring personality, Sasha still passed the requested potions to Desmond.
Desmond only nodded to show that he understood and proceeded to drink both potions, he closed his eyes as he felt the effects of him and when he finished he gestured for Sasha to accompany him in the direction of the corpse of the steel emperor serpent; when Sasha pass by Desmond side, he takes the chance and kisses her quickly in the forehead and whisper to Sasha′s ear: ¨Thank you¨
Sasha being taken by surprise by Desmond’s intimate gesture was only able to blush herself until the red color in her skin covers almost all her pretty face, Desmond seeing the poor girl like that chooses to continue his way to the snake corpse and start talking about what to do next.
′′ how about this? Since we are here and I managed to kill this big man here by chance, why don’t we collect some valuable materials from him such as his scales or that liquid metal that he spits; I’ll rest a bit in the meantime and then we’ll continue exploring a bit more. ′′ Say Desmond once they arrive at the steel emperor snake corpse.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmAs soon as he finished speaking, Desmond could see that Sasha was attracted to the idea of ??collecting materials from such a rare and powerful beast as the Steel Emperor Serpent, but she was not so fond of the idea of ??continuing to investigate the forest when one of them was in a weakened state and she only had combat skills that would end up burning half the forest if they got into a serious fight; so Desmond ended up adding another condition.
′′ If we see that things start to get difficult we will immediately withdraw, what do you think? ′′
Sasha pondered for a few seconds as she alternated her gaze between Desmond whom she cared for and the serpentine emperor of steel whose incredibly valuable metallic materials were quite adjusted to the needs of her current research; the silence lasted for almost a full minute until Sasha agreed to do what Desmond proposed.
Having come to terms with Sasha took out her gathering tools and spent the next half hour looting the corpse of the unfortunate snake, it had to be said that the young alchemist was certainly skilled not only at creating all kinds of potions and compounds through the materials that she obtained in the forest but also had great skill in gathering them; Of course, considering the time she had spent living in the forest it would be strange if in her place she was the kind of girl who does not know how to handle a knife.
As the half-hour passed she had gathered a considerable amount of incredibly strong and flexible metal scales, she had also extracted both fangs from the snake and the organ where it still had a large amount of mana-rich liquid metal stored in it.
Meanwhile, Desmond had been resting while observing the surroundings alert for anything unforeseen, by the time Sasha had finished collecting materials, Desmond felt only a little better but seeing the huge pile of materials collected by Sasha; He had understood that even if he tried to force himself they would not advance much while carrying said cargo so it would be best to simply give the surrounding area a quick check and then proceed to retreat.
′′ Fate is capricious ′′