Moving through this mountains was not an easy task for Mark.
He was being careful as not to step on any of the sharp crystal shards on the way.
Not just because they were sharp enough to pierce the tough skin of expert like him, but also because they might be some kind of alarm for monster to detect intruders.
'This might explain how they are finding us so fast.'
Mark wasn't sure, as far as he knew the whole dead zone was a graveyard from where few ever came back alive.
_Kreee!
Suddenly, a sharp cry of a bird split the silence, echoing through the mountains
Mark checked the timer on his watch,
'Alright, 30 minutes up.'
Mark quickly hid deneath a sloped rock and activated his skill,
[stealth]
and just like that his form turn transparent, but in these mountain [stealth] might not work so well because of the light of crystals.
With a tired sigh, he slid down the sloped rock, sinking deeper into it's cold surface.
And right after few more minutes all the crystals within vicinity started to glow like coming to life.
This was something that he noticed a while ago, as he move closer into the depth of mountain strange things started to happen.
Whenever that cry rang out the crystal began to glow like they were reflecting the light.
Something in the sky was scanning the land and everything alive caught within it's range was turned into crystals.
Mark was terrified when the baby lizard he was planning to eat wandered into its range.
In an instant, jagged red crystals began sprouting across its body, and with a sharp clink, the creature shattered into countless glittering shards.
He was so shocked at the sight of poor lizard dying just like that, that he couldn't move for 5 whole minutes.
'My lunch.'
After the tragic death of the lizard Mark continued to move under the shadows of rocks never going too far from them.
He never dared to look up nor he was insterested in saying hello to whether thing is up there.
He noted its time interval, roughly thirty minutes, and prepared to hide accordingly.
That was why he was suspicious of the crystals and, even though he had been traveling for 6 hours he couldn't cover more then a mile.
Soon the glowing of the crystals stop and he moved out of the sloped rock and deactivated his skill.
'That thing is definitely an (S+) elite rank.'
If it had been an (SS)-rank Mark would have died long ago, anything above A rank is not just a monster anymore they were the forces of nature, they could reduce a town to dust within minutes.
Normally, it would take two or three S-rank awakeners, along with a master, to bring down an S+ rank elite monster.
'But If we all work together we would be able to take it on.'
Mark stood up and checked his status,
------------------------------
Name: Mark Ashford
Age: 28
Bloodline: --/--
Mana core: B
fragments: [5890/6000]
Combat level: Expert [Intermediate]
Battle arts: Dual sword art (Common) [90%]
Skills [1/5]: [stealth(C)],[Feather steps(D)]
Trait: [Hunter's pride]
Subspace: [Dawn and dusk (B)],[Ebonsteel sword (D)],[Veilweave spindle (C)], [First aid box(-)]
--------------------------
No a single thing in his possession could be of any help to him in this situation. All the potions and food were in Robert's subspace.
Mark sighed and then continued to follow in the direction pointed by the compass.
At this point he wasn't sure if it was working correctly because It was leading him past the mountains straight into the depth of dead zone.
But this was his only lifeline, if even this won't work then his life was pretty much done for.
Despite his heavy heart, Mark limped slowly and carefully.
After 3 hours of continues hiding and limping, Mark finally found what he was looking for.
He stood in front of Ashford mercenary group uniform ripped from inside by the jagged red crystals.
Nearby, a health potion laid half spilled, its contents seeping into the glittering shards.
Mark knew exactly who this uniform belonged to.
On this raid, only one other person besides him was from the Ashford Mercenary Group.
A chain tag dangled from a red crystal, catching the light just enough to reveal the name.
[Robert Ashford]
Mark's chest tightened, he just stood there staring at the red crystal.
He had wanted to say so many things to Robert, to curse him, to let out all his anger, but now, standing here, he found himself at a loss for words.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"Look at you all shiny and glitter now, seems like you finally made it in life."
But no response came.
Mark freed the chain tag from the grip of red crystal,
"Rest well, Robert Ashford."
Then he crouched down and picked the health potion.
"You will be remembered."