Chapter 106. Forest
What Aiden saw left him shocked. It was not a beast.
The ocean floor had several large volcanic pits sizzling with hot steam. Occasionally, volcanic meteorites would shoot out of the volcanic pits randomly towards different directions.
Although Aiden had discovered them through his scan, the volcanic meteorites moved with so much speed that he suddenly saw one in his line of vision. They were so fast that even with his ability to scan ahead and see them shoot out of the volcanic pits, it was almost too late for him to react. He was caught off guard.
He suddenly reacted with quick instinct.
Blobs of blood appeared before him and turned into a crimson shield.
The crimson shield crushed into the volcanic meteorite. Aiden used that split second of reduced acceleration of the meteorite to swerve a bit sideways.
The crimson shield broke into crimson fragments. The volcanic meteorite streaked across his cheek and went past him. However, the meteorite was covered in volcanic flames. Coupled with the kinetic energy it moved with, Aiden still suffered, even though the meteorite graced past his cheek.
His crimson armor around his right cheek broke apart. Pain shot through his skull. The sound of sizzling and burning flesh wafted through the vicinity.
If not for his monstrous regeneration that kicked in, he would have probably died.
He gritted his teeth.
"Shit. These things will kill me if I don’t think of something fast. It’s too late to retreat too," he thought.
Aiden felt pain like never before.
Thousands of thousands of blobs of blood appeared before him and shot towards his crimson armor and reinforced it.
More blobs of blood appeared.
The blobs of blood transformed into large crimson floating shields. The ocean had turned crimson because of how many the floating crimson shields were.
They had blanketed the ocean.
"My reaction speed to the meteorites is poor because of their speed. Dodging them quickly is out of the picture. These shields can lessen their speed and impact for a few seconds, giving me enough time to react and dodge them. If any of them manage to make a direct impact with me, I will die," Aiden thought.
He flapped his wings forward as the floating crimson shields covered the perimeter ahead and across him.
Because of his enhanced sight, his vision was not compromised. He could still see ahead.
However, his crimson eyes were very focused at the moment.
The volcanic meteorites blasted through the crimson shields with otherworldly ferocity. Most of the crimson shields broke apart. The speed of the volcanic meteorites were reduced for a few seconds before they kept moving in the direction they were headed.
But those few seconds of speed reduction was enough for Aiden to react and dodge the ones headed towards him better this time.
He flapped his crimson wings and moved with uncanny dexterity. Aiden moved with calm, precise reaction speed that bordered on the preternatural. He had to. If a single one of the volcanic bombs or meteorites hit him, he would die before his regeneration kicked in.
He kept evading the meteorites. At the same time, he reassembled the broken crimson shields again. The volcanic meteorites kept coming. They would hit the crimson shields, break them apart and advance. Aiden would use the split moments where the speed of the meteorites were reduced for a few seconds to evade them narrowly.
The cycle continued for an extended period of time.
Aiden was thankful he was not a traditional cultivator. If not, he’d run out of worldly energy by now and would probably be dead.
Aiden’s eyes were calm. He could not afford to lose focus.
Very soon, the volcanic meteorites stopped shooting out of the volcanic pits.
Aiden knew it was only for a few moments. Soon, the meteorites would resume their shooting again.
He used this moment to flap his wings with extreme speed and bolted ahead.
"The skeletons I saw on my way here did not die as a result of some monstrous creature. These volcanic meteorites killed them," Aiden thought in realization.
Very soon, he passed the region where the volcanic beds and the volcanic meteorites were.
The moment he passed the region, the volcanic meteorites started to shoot again.
Aiden sighed in relief.
The crimson shields turned into blobs of blood and melded together. They transformed into large crimson arrows and floated around him.
Aiden’s advanced vision had picked up the region ahead.
Spread out ahead was a massive underwater forest.
Giant, tree-like seaweed plants grew straight up from the ocean floor. They reached dozens of meters into the ocean bed horizon.
There were thick, woody trunk-like stalks. At the same time, soft glowing moss covered the ground and lit up the area.
It wasn’t an open sea anymore. It looked like a dense jungle under the water.
The thick seaweed stalks were arranged close to each other and made long-distance swimming almost impossible. The forest was like a maze.
The ground was covered in massive roots and fallen plant stems.
There were advanced rank 2 chaotic beasts that looked like cheetahs.
The posterior half of their bodies were fish-like. They had fins. But their anterior half looked no different from cheetahs.
Their fish tails gave them speed in the water, while their front legs and sharp claws allowed them to launch water blades to cut down some trunks and move. But the trunks would regrow several moments later.
A glint flashed through Aiden’s eyes. This would be his next hunting ground.
The crimson arrows transformed into a large crimson sword. The crimson sword was an ultra greatsword. In a place like this, arrows won’t be a better hunting option.
Also, it had been a while since he used a greatsword. During the time instructors gruesomely drilled him in the Vhorn estate, greatswords were among the variety of different weapons’ combat training.
Aiden remembered how he would be starved for weeks on the orders of Falan and Williams if the instructor found any flaws in his movements.
The memory did not evoke hatred or emotions of any kind. It was as if he was simply remembering something random that happened in the past.
"Let’s see how good I am with a greatsword," Aiden said as he dove towards the underwater forest.