Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] Chapter 167: Book 3: Chapter 22: Manticore

Read chapter 167 of Aetherios System [Slow Build OP MC, Isekai LitRPG/Cultivation] by TTReynolds on NovelPedia.

Book 3: Chapter 22: Manticore Chapter 22: Manticore They were all miles deep into the forest within an hour after separating from the caravan. The merchants and wagons all continued on without them. Only Ghrukk and his team stayed with the worldstriders on their crazy mission. Possibly a mission with no real reward waiting for them at the end. They had all spread out, “covering as much ground as possible” being the main theory for best practices. It also meant Alex was near the forefront of the pack as he scanned the area. It was Tom-Tom who padded at the very front of the search line, though, hackles raised and ears twitching as the little kobold gave a low growl that rumbled through his chest. The sound wasn’t loud, but Alex had learned enough about the little lizard to know it meant trouble. “Tom-Tom doesn’t like this, smells wrong,” the kobold finally muttered, tightening his grip on his shield as he raised his gaze ahead of them and scanned the trees. Alex’s eyes shifted to his own energy sight. The world shown in various hues, existence peeled back in shades of blue, green, white and silver. [Aether Sight] opened, and immediately the "wrongness" which Tom-Tom mentioned made itself known. The ambient energy wasn’t drifting and flowing naturally as he was used to seeing in the world. It pulsed and moved in ordered ways, almost artificially instead. The ambient aether was beating like a drum in the air, under the soil and bark, too patterned to be anything nature had shaped. “Yeah,” Alex said quietly. “I see it too.” The group slowed their march, each of them spreading wider and wider as they crept deeper into the pines. The ground grew rockier as well, roots like black veins threading over densely packed dirt and brush. The mountain loomed above them, shrouded in gray mist, and with each step forward the rhythm that Alex saw in the air only grew stronger. A shout suddenly rang out. It wasn’t terribly close by, but it carried surprisingly well in the mountain air. Alex’s head whipped to his left up at the sound, his heartbeat spiking instantly. “That’s Selka,” Sarson barked out, worry written across his face. The group moved as one, feet and weapons hammering through undergrowth and foliage. Branches snapped and leaves whipped past as Alex broke into a run, following the echo of another cry. They burst into a clearing just in time to see the fight that had obviously broken out. Doran stood braced, his hammer half-raised, with blood soaking down his leg where a long black barb jutted cruelly from his thigh. Selka danced around him, her blade flashing silver as she deflected a swipe from something massive, a creature of some kind. The beast crouched low, its muscles rippling beneath a hide of bristling fur. It had a lion’s body, oversized and sleek, but with cow-like hooves instead of paws on its back legs. Its tail curled high above its back, thick and segmented like a scorpion’s, and was tipped with a wicked looking barb surrounded by a nest of writhing smaller needles that shimmered with venom. Obby clicked in Alex’s skull sharply. “ Manticore. Adept-tier, early stage. Ugly bastard, too. ” Alex’s breath caught as he saw the beast, his eyes drinking in the thing’s bulk. It snarled, its yellow irisis narrowing, and with a crack like a bowstring, its tail flicked. A needle hissed through the air and buried itself deeper into Doran’s thigh sinking in right next to the previous one. The dwarf roared, dropping to a knee for half a breath before shoving himself upright again. Selka tried to press in, her blade angled for the creature’s ribs, but the Manticore’s paws lashed out in a blur, claws scraping sparks from her dagger as it forced her back step by step. Holly appeared bursting into the fight with a gust of air swirling at her heels. She darted in at the beast’s flank, her blade whistling with a gale’s edge, and struck hard into its exposed side. The impact barely cut through its hide. She only left shallow line of blood, b