Chapter 355: New Land

The white walls dissolved into particles of mana in mere seconds, leaving a slightly surprised Violet standing in an open clearing with the sun shining down on her.

She looked about, quickly taking in the details of her surroundings.

Violet stood in an open grassy field, a sandy beach a short distance behind her and sparse patches of forest decorated the simple field ahead. Yet this was no simple area, the grass and the trees were all equally massive, even to Violet in her full size.

The grass rose a good 5 meters tall, each stalk as thick as a humans thigh, each blade of this giant grass was sturdy enough to require a noticeable amount of force even from Violet to break.

She frowned at that, wondering how exactly something as simple as grass could grow to be so durable. It was only then that she realised the mana of the space she found herself in.

The ambient mana was incredibly dense, it was so thick she felt like it was almost a liquid that blanketed the entire world around her. Never had she felt such intense mana in nature, it was as if she was standing in someone’s domain it was so dense.

Her mind froze at that thought. Was she in a domain? She tentatively tried to expand her domain, to her relief it did work, yet she felt an uncomfortable pressure when she tried to extend it far from her body, as if something or, someone was resisting the expansion of the domain.

Yet the resistance was not absolute, she could still utilise her domain, yet only to an extent, only within the bounds allowed to her.

But Violet didn’t have time to worry about that just yet, no, for now she had something more important to worry about. Namely finding Luna.

She reached out with her bond and blinked when she felt the connection, yet it felt distant, incredibly distant at that.

The connection was not leading to her side but instead straight ahead, as if originating from the centre of the island she found herself within.

Yet that couldn’t be right, no, if anything it meant that Luna was on the entirely opposite side of the island from herself. Her mind went back to the projection of the island she had seen and a frown appeared on her face.

The island had been split up into several different sections, she remembered seeing the region she seemed to be in, it was located on the northern portion of the island. Then she remembered where the Arctic domain was, it was located on the exact opposite side of the landmass from herself.

Her frown deepened, she could in theory fly around the island until she reached Luna, yet equally she could just advance deeper into the island and eventually meet her in the centre.

Violet desperately wanted to simply rush around until she found Luna, yet she also knew that if she did that it could take her a long time, so long that she may not be able to reach the centre in time were she to do that.

She tried to reach out and communicate with Luna yet the distance was simply too far to do anything more that be able to know that she was alive and her general direction.

It was frustrating yet their was not a lot that she could do right now. With a heavy breath Violet decided that she would trust in Luna to be able to reach the center of the island with her own power.

Looking behind her Violet saw that the beach seemed to stretch on far into the distance to either side, slowly angling inwards as it followed the curvature of the massive island she found herself on.

Glancing back ahead she gazed at the massive trees that populated inland, they stood on small clusters dotted through the landscape.

With determined steps Violet began to walk forward through the giant sized grass.

However, it did not take long for Violet to spot movement in the grass off to her right, she saw as the stalks swayed unnaturally, as if something was rushing through the grass.

The movement was some distance away, so violet began to gracefully stalk forwards. Even with her massive size she moved silently, delicate manipulation of her domain around her limbs erased any trace of sound or reverberations allowing the massive dragon to effortlessly sneak forward.

The tall grass acted as camouflage, blocking the sky from any being hiding in its depths.

Her presence swept out, its signature hidden from others yet allowing her to sense everything around her with a clarity that she could never have imagined whilst still in tier 4.

Near instantly she identified the source of the movement in the grass, a faint smile adorned her face as nostalgia struck true.

For Violet recognised the creature ’sneaking’ through the grass, it was in fact the same species as the very first thing she encountered when she first awoke from her egg. It was a dire mouse, or at least the evolution of such a being when it was at tier 3.

She felt some pity for such a weak beast entering this trial, how did a beast in tier 3 have any hope of claiming the title of champion?

Still given how weak this beast was Violet felt no inclination to kill it, instead she would try to make it voluntarily surrender, she felt that would be the kinder option.

**

Bonty stalked silently through the tall grasses of this strange land. Ever since his farther and most of his family was wiped out around a year ago, Bonty had fought desperately for his remaining kin.

He had worked tirelessly to grow in strength, determined to one day avenge his kin against the horrible monster that had struck them all down and forced them to once more flee into the unknown.

He remembered witnessing the beast ruthlessly hunt down and slaughter his kin, the memories still fresh in his mind even after all this time.

It was during this desperate struggle for survival when he had encountered and bested a so called Chapion Beast and thusly gained its title, with that Bonty also gained intelligence at a rapid rate.

Still even with his improved mind he was determined to avenge his kin, he knew that beast was young when it slew his family. Yet even still how could any beats match the speed of his advancement, he was already approaching the peak of tier 3 at level 74.

This trial would prove to be the grindstone to help solidify his might, the world had told him he was a champion, so he would ensure that he claimed that title and the benefits associated with it.

His musings were interupted when he ran headfirst into a black pillar. His small frame bounced backwards and his face scrunched up in annoyance. ’Where did this thing come from? And why is in in the middle of a field of grass.’ He wondered to himself.

Then he felt a strong gust of wind, it was hot strangely enough and was accompanied by a darkening of the streams of sunlight that filtered through the tall grasses.

He backed up slightly and turned his head skyward, determined to see what it was that had halted his advance.

Bonty looked up, then continued to look up and up, his head staring near vertically upwards as he took in the gargantuan size of the object before him.

Yet Bonty could not see fully up, the grass still obscured his vision. So he then began to study the details of the pillar before him, only when he did a twinge of fear began to sprout in his heart.

For this was no simple pillar or tree, no, for this object was covered in scales. It was only then that he noticed the massive white claws that sprouted from the object which he only just realised was the leg of something.

Fear caused his entire being to still, desperately hoping that the being he ran into did not register his presence.

Yet just as he was thinking that he suddenly found himself moving upwards, he glanced down and saw a flat hexagon of utter nothingness beneath his paws. Then he broke past the grasses and he was able to take in the creature before him.

His fear turned into white hot rage as a spark of recognition lit up in his mind. He didn’t think to consider the fact that the beast before him was taller than any being he had ever seen before, he didn’t stop to consider how powerful a being of such size likely was.

No, Bonty only registered that this being before him was the same one that had slaughtered his kin oh so long ago. And so he attacked with his mightiest skill, a blade of terrible wind formed before him, he poured his entire mana pool into it, careless of the cost, only desiring the beasts death.

Then it shot forwards and clinked harmlessly off the thick not scales of the dragon before him.

Violet blinked in stupefaction at the beast she was holding on her void shield, utterly confused as to why it felt the need to try and attack her with such a pathetically weak wind blade.

She was going to try and play the peaceful route, yet seeing as the mouse before he showed such hostility she decided to respond appropriately.

Violet sent a singular void bolt at the beast held aloft by her skill, then blinked in slightly ashamed surprise when the head and entire torso of the small mouse was entirely erased.

She chuckled awkwardly when the system announced her victory.

[Congratulations, you have defeated Bonty Wind Song Mouse, level 74. Participant no 925,153 of the Champion Beast Protocall. A severe exp penalty is applied for killing a being under half your level.]