Chapter 238: A message from Tessi.

Zyra blinked, caught off guard by his words. In two lifetimes, he was the first person ever to tell her that she would do great things. Even before the failed bloodline awakening saga, nobody had said this to her. They certainly didn’t think she would be greater than her mother. Did he believe that, or was he blowing smoke up her ass for the sake of using Beauty and all the other advantages she had brought to their team?

Their eyes locked for a long, quiet second, the sound of falling rain fading into the background. For a moment, Hunter reached out as if to brush a wet strand of hair from her forehead, but he awkwardly pulled his hand back, coughing into his fist.

"R-Right! We should_ keep moving," Hunter stammered, his ears turning bright red.

"Yeah. Moving. Good idea," Zyra muttered, her chest thumping way faster than it did during the wolf fight. She took her nervousness out on any beast they came across. Once upon a time, she would shiver if she entered this jungle alone, but now, she had no fear.

They pushed into a foggy, swampy ravine. The air grew thick with a putrid, fishy stench.

[Warning! Host, extreme high-energy beast signatures ahead,] Beauty chimed in. [Two King-Rank Beasts detected.]

"King beasts." She hissed.

They sent their beasts into the beast pockets and crouched behind a giant rock, peeking over the top. In the middle of a muddy pool were two behemoth beasts. They looked like alike: like a terrifying crossover between a shark and a toad_ warty green skin, big toad legs, but with rows of razor-sharp shark teeth and a thick, armored fish tail. To make matters stranger_ they were currently tangled together in a bizarre, energetic mating ritual, croaking loud enough to vibrate the ground.

"Gross," Hunter whispered, pulling a face. "What on earth are those?"

[Beasts Identified: Twin Amphibian Frosharks king beast level.[Weakness: Their hides are nearly impenetrable, but during their passive mode, the glowing glowing pearls under their chins are exposed. Striking both pearls simultaneously will disrupt their internal energy flow and cause severe pain.

Strengths; Emits sonic croaks capable of bursting human veins.]

Zyra whispered the strategy to Hunter. "Their skin is too thick for normal attacks and their croaks are practically explosions. We need to strike the glowing blue pearls under their chins at the exact same time." She reached into her pocket, pulled out two pairs of noise cancelling ear buds and gave him one.

"Simultaneous strike? Sounds like a date." Hunter smirked, trying to mask his nerves with humor.

"Don’t get cocky," Zyra grinned back, her pulse racing with excitement as she put her ear buds in place. Then she raised her hand, counting down from three.

They burst from behind the rock like two streaks of light!

The female Froshark saw them first let out a furious croak and slammed her huge tail down, sending a wave of toxic mud flying toward them.

Hunter leapt into the air, slicing through the incoming wave with a fiery knife arc. "Your breath stinks." Hunter taunted.

The male beast lunged, its huge jaws snapping shut just inches from Hunter’s feet. Hunter flipped backward off a tree branch, landing gracefully and thrusting his blade straight into the soft glowing bulb beneath the beast’s chin!

At the exact same time, Zyra vaulted over the female beast’s snapping jaws, spinning mid-air, and plunged the spear tip directly into the second chin pearl!

A blinding flash of blue energy erupted as both pearls shattered at the exact same moment. The violent energy backlash rippled through both beasts, causing them to collapse into the swamp with a loud, squelching thud, completely incapacitated.

Zyra landed neatly on her feet, panting lightly. Right next to the fallen beasts, two sparkling, fist-sized resonance stones floated up from the mud, radiating pure, dense energy.

"Resonance Stones!" Hunter smiled taking out his ear buds. He walked over, picked them up and wiped the dirt off one. Handing it to her, he said smugly, "Your pay for our hard work."

As he handed it over, his fingers brushed against hers. A small spark of static zapped between them, and both of them pulled back slightly, blushing.

"Thanks," Zyra murmured, holding the glowing stone close.

Hunter rubbed the back of his neck with a grin. "Not a bad team, huh? Now, come on we should find Etania’s next clue."

*****

Meanwhile, within the jungle canopy, near the edge leading to some habitable land, a group of Soul maidens sat crouched among the thick tree shadows, peering down at a bustling valley below.

"Twigs Blue Crossing," Etania read aloud, squinting at a weather-beaten wooden sign half-buried in the mud near the town entrance.

"What a ridiculous name," Claudia muttered, wiping dirt off her cheek.

The maidens had been hiding in the foliage for a few hours, carefully watching the town. The recent disaster had clearly done a absolute number on the place. Mud was plastered everywhere, wooden roofs were caved in, and townsfolk were scrambling around like ants, trying to haul heavy timber and drain flooded alleyways.

"It looks like a trading town," Claudia observed, resting her chin on her hands as she tracked the movement of merchants trying to dry out soaked bags of grain. "It doesn’t look dangerous at all. No high-level guards, suspicious cameras, just exhausted, hungry people. If they were cannibals, they would be killing each other already."

Etania nodded slowly, her tense shoulders finally relaxing a bit. "Yeah. We’ve been watching them for a good while, and I haven’t seen a single sign of hostile or shady activity. Just regular people trying to put their lives back together."

Claudia glanced down at their own torn, mud-stained clothes and sighed loudly. "And looking at them_ well, they look like they could really use a couple of strong hands to help rebuild."

"Or a couple of strong soul maidens to lift heavy logs in exchange for a warm meal and a dry bed," Etania smiled, a light glimmer of hope back in her eyes.

"Deal," Claudia grinned, adjusting her grip on her sidearm. "Let’s go make some friends."

With a soft rustle of leaves, the maidens dropped down from the high branches and began walking down the hill toward the settlement of Twigs Blue Crossing.

Before they could go far, Etania’s chest tingled. Her eyes went wide as a faint; humming vibration rattled her teeth. A soul message connection!

It was Tessi! The connection had finally gone through!

"Tessi?!" Etania gasped out loud, clutching her chest to calm her heart that was threatening to escape in joy.