Chapter 298: Digging Is An Exercise [200 PS Bonus - (2)]

Chapter 298: Digging Is An Exercise [200 PS Bonus Chapter (2)]

A small, octopus-like creature half the size of a finger crawled out from the man’s mouth.

Exposed to the open air, it shivered, then turned to Leon and Selene. It had no eyes, but they could feel its attention on them.

Leon took a cautious step back, followed by Selene.

Before it could start moving, Selene raised her hand toward it.

The creature stiffened, then froze up.

Crack-!

Like a fragile mirror falling from above, it shattered into pieces.

Selene shook her head. "No message, but it’s probably dead."

Leon agreed with her, remembering Thyra’s words. Parasites weren’t a recognized race, so the Star Stream didn’t count them as one if they didn’t have a host.

"Huh..."

A tired sigh escaped his lips, only for him to tense again. The cat on his head also snarled again, looking around warily.

Leon and Selene saw them a few seconds later. Several Vaelari stepped out from their hiding places, looking towards the two humans with weird smiles and waving at them. There were teenagers, elderly people, and even children.

They all looked like friendly villagers.

’Yeah, right. Parasite villagers.’ Leon rolled his eyes.

Selene’s blue eyes turned cold, and she snapped her fingers.

Ten ice spikes appeared around her, sharp and lethal. With a flick of her wrist, the spikes shot towards the parasitized people.

Six of them were pierced, while the others managed to dodge. One picked up a log of wood from the ground and rushed towards her. Before it could even cross the distance, its shadow rose and bound its legs.

The creature fell forward, right onto a shadow spear jutting out from the ground. With its head crushed, it twitched and died.

A little boy stepped over the dead man’s corpse, rushing towards Selene while carrying a wooden stool. He had barely moved past the dead man when an ice spike pierced his head, and he died.

Selene easily handled them with the ice projectiles, while Leon made them trip and fall onto his shadow spears.

None moved from their positions, using their ranged abilities appropriately. In less than two minutes, they had killed all the parasitized Vaelari that had shown up.

None of them was particularly strong, as it seemed they were all just civilians. There wasn’t even a single Tier One Evolver among them.

"Hmm..." Leon rubbed his chin and looked at the corpses.

There were about five hundred corpses, nothing compared to the number that would have once populated a large city like that.

"Do we check around?" Selene asked, turning to him.

Leon hesitated slightly, then nodded. "Let’s stick together. I’m also curious about their civilization."

The ruined city had been emptied out since they cleared the last parasitized inhabitants, so they were free to tour the place.

There wasn’t much left to tour there, though. Most of the buildings had been ransacked, with the major items taken away.

Leon found several empty rooms that should have contained furniture and other belongings. Disappointed, he returned outside with Selene.

"Looks like a waste. Someone clearly carried away everything here."

The young lady nodded, though she looked unconcerned. "We might find more places like this out there. So, don’t think much of it."

Leon couldn’t have agreed more. With the large settlement containing nothing but parasitized people, they left it behind and continued north.

By the time the sky darkened, they hadn’t encountered any other settlement—ruined or not.

Looking at the open space around them, Leon rubbed his nose.

"Where are we supposed to stay now?"

Selene followed his gaze and shook her head in disappointment. "Nowhere available."

Leon’s lips twitched. "Can’t you construct an ice house or something?"

She stared at him, then considered it. "I could... but you’d risk catching cold and it might suddenly collapse on your head."

He immediately abandoned the idea. "I guess we should continue our journey, then. It’s not like I can’t see in the dark."

Selene frowned slightly. "Although my hearing is good, my vision will be limited. We have to be careful."

Leon nodded, already missing the caves they had stayed in yesterday. Even though the mountain was teeming with parasites, they still had a proper shelter.

’I could try constructing a shadow house too, but it might collapse even faster.’

With him leading the way, they continued north. The little cat had closed its eyes and was resting comfortably on Leon’s hair. It had abandoned Selene’s soft embrace, choosing what felt like a nest instead.

Although dissatisfied, Selene didn’t show it in her expression. She only shot it a few occasional glances, hoping it would come back to her.

Sadly, the cat didn’t.

"Wait."

Leon’s voice brought her out of her thoughts, and she stopped beside him. "What is it?"

The young man looked toward the sky with a troubled expression. "Is it me, or the moon is dimming?"

Selene also took a look, and only then did she notice. The moonlight that gently illuminated their surroundings was gradually fading.

It was barely noticeable, but once Leon pointed it out, she noticed.

’Why would the moon suddenly grow dim? If the light goes out completely, I won’t be able to see anything at all.’

Leon glanced at her, catching her contemplative expression.

"I would have suggested using a torch, but..." He shook his head. "That would only serve as a beacon for other creatures. Besides, a torch is unreliable. It could get spoilt in a fight."

Selene exhaled, then said, "We dig."

"Dig?" Leon blinked and looked at the ground. "That could work, but still the same problem. What would be the roof?"

Shaking her head, she explained, "We don’t dig it like a normal hole. We’re going to make it a kind of rat hole."

"Ah... that makes sense." He nodded, then took out a shovel from his storage ring.

Selene stared at him in disbelief. "Why do you have that in your storage ring?"

Shrugging, he stabbed it into the ground. "You never know what you need. I even have a cutlass and some other basic tools here."

Concentrating, he created more shovels using shadows, then handed the original one to Selene.

She stared at him, confused. "What?"

Giving her a blank stare, he said, "Wasn’t digging your idea? Dig with me."