Chapter 312: Rocks...?

Mahir stared at the injured beast in shock. He had never thought in his whole life that he would see a Tier Three beast this injured.

A surge of excitement coursed through him, and he immediately raised his bow and nocked an ethereal arrow.

If they could kill it, then even its bones alone would sell for a high price in the market. The mutated buffalo glared at Leon and Selene, then turned around and bolted.

"Huh?"

The two humans watched it go, stunned. Selene reacted immediately, shooting an ice spike at it. The attack struck the beast’s rear, but it barely slowed.

"Should we chase it?" She asked, glancing at Leon.

The young man kept his spear and shook his head. "No. I have a feeling that it’s more dangerous than that. Getting it off our backs is enough. And if it comes back..."

His eyes flashed with killing intent.

Selene nodded, and they got back onto the unicorn with the cat between them.

Although Mahir felt it was a shame to let it escape, he didn’t complain. After all, it wasn’t like he could really kill it.

"Let’s go."

They immediately resumed their journey, with the Vaelari leading the way. They encountered a few stray, parasitized zombies, but Selene easily finished them off without having to get down from the mount.

By the time the sun was starting to dip into the horizon, they finally saw the old city in the distance.

Just as Mahir had said, the place was completely abandoned and devoid of parasites. Instead of going deep, they settled for one of the houses closer to the walls.

"We’ll be staying here tonight," Mahir said to them, then left shortly after.

Just like yesterday, Sara lit up the fireplace in the house, illuminating the living room.

Merlin cleaned the room, clearing the dust and spider webs away. Meanwhile, Leon, Selene, and the cat sat on a nearby bench that creaked beneath them.

Feeling curious, Leon asked, "Does every Vaelari in the world live in the Dome, or are there some others scattered all around the world?"

Sara froze, then shook her head. "We all live in the Dome. However, some people still go out to explore the Central Continent. After all, we still need to kill mutated beasts—parasitized or not—to feed ourselves."

Turning to Leon, Merlin asked with a curious grin, "What about your world? Do you guys also have a Dome?"

Leon shook his head. "No. We’re scattered all over the world. Though there are so many of us, so we don’t really feel scattered."

"Oh..." The boy blinked. "Then how do you guys communicate with each other? Communication Radios?"

Leon nodded. "We do call it a radio. It’s called phone over there. Pretty good. Can I see your radio?"

Merlin glanced at his mother, then shrugged. "It’s not with me. It’s with my parents. After all, it’s very hard to get a radio for yourself."

Going to clean the other rooms, he said. "I’ll show you around when we reach the Dome. There are so many interesting things there."

Leon smiled and nodded, though he didn’t think they’d actually have the chance to do all that.

An hour later, Mahir returned with the headless corpse of a Tier One beast. They quickly dissected it and prepared everyone’s dinner from it.

After dinner, they all went to their respective rooms. Leon and Selene stayed together in the same room. After all, they couldn’t afford to be separated carelessly.

Just like the other day, morning came peacefully and without any disturbance. They all packed their bags and ate the leftover meat from the previous night for breakfast before leaving the city and continued their journey.

At this point, Selene had gotten used to sitting behind Leon so she didn’t feel uncomfortable. Instead, she focused most of her attention on the cat sitting between them.

Unlike the other days, their journey today wasn’t exactly peaceful. They met quite a lot of parasites on their way, slaughtering their way throu them. Thankfully, it was nothing too serious and no one got injured.

Glancing at the corpses of the creatures behind them, Leon asked, "Are there usually parasites along this route?"

Mahir hesitated, then shook his head. "Not really. They do migrate, though. So it might be that they’re passing through the area."

Sara agreed with him. "Parasites rarely stay in one place. They imitate travelers too, moving around the world. Thankfully, they don’t know how to make boats and cross over from the other continents."

Leon hummed and fell silent, his curiosity sated. An hour later, they stopped encountering the parasites and could finally see three small cities built relatively close to each other.

Merlin’s eyes lit up. "Those are the Three Ancient Cities of the Dome Defenders! According to what was written in our history book, the main defenders of the Dome originated from these three cities, and they held the line against the parasites here while others migrated to the Dome."

He looked really excited to share the tales of his homeworld, and seeing Leon’s surprised expression, he felt pleased.

Mahir chuckled lightly, then led them through the space between the three cities. Suddenly, he slowed down a little, eventually coming to a stop.

Leon also made the unicorn stop beside them, puzzled.

"Dad? Why did we stop?" Merlin asked, confused.

Glancing around, Mahir frowned. "Hmm. There were supposed to be some rocks here. We kept a few bags under them."

Turning to Leon, he said, "Give us a moment to check around."

He tapped the unicorn, guiding it around as he checked their surroundings.

Leon and Selene stayed in the same spot, watching them go around in search for the rock.

"A rock...?"

Selene’s eyes narrowed, and she suddenly activated the Ice Mirror skill.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Four arrows came at them from all sides and impacted the mirror. The black arrows halted for a moment, but instead of being redirected, they continued forward, cracking the reflective shield.

To Selene’s shock, the Ice Mirror was shattered and the arrows continued towards them.

BANG!