Chapter 83: I’m Fast, Not Stupid — Ron
Ron continued another fifty meters before finally turning around.
The cheetah was coming straight toward Cain.
Dark gray Ruin energy immediately circulated throughout his body.
Cain did not bother testing the animal as he wanted this finished quickly.
More Ruin Dragon Force poured into the sword until a thin layer of dark energy coated the blade.
The cheetah reached him.
Its body blurred as it suddenly changed direction, appearing near Cain’s right side before one enormous paw swept toward his chest.
The movement would have been difficult for most 1st Echelon Awakeners to follow.
However, Cain saw it clearly.
His sword moved first.
Shhk!
The cheetah’s raised forelimb separated at the joint.
Blood sprayed across the road.
The creature released a furious snarl as its body twisted from the sudden loss of balance, but Cain was already moving.
He stepped beside it, then swung his sword toward one of its rear legs.
Shhk!
Another limb fell.
The cheetah crashed against the pavement and rolled several times.
It tried to push itself upright using the two limbs remaining on the left side of its body, but Cain did not give it the opportunity.
Two quick flashes followed.
The remaining forelimb was severed together with the final rear leg that landed several meters away.
The entire exchange had lasted only seconds.
The Level 50 evolved cheetah lay helplessly on the road, growling while its body twisted uselessly.
Cain flicked blood from his sword.
"Ron."
Ron had already come back.
"I knew I could count on you."
"You were running away pretty confidently five seconds ago."
"That was strategic repositioning."
Cain looked at him.
"Just kill it."
Ron grinned as he approached the disabled cheetah with his spear.
The animal turned its head toward him and bared its teeth.
"Yeah, yeah."
Ron stepped outside the reach of its jaws.
"You were very impressive earlier."
The spear descended.
Puchi!
Its point entered through the cheetah’s eye and penetrated deeply into the skull.
The animal stopped moving.
Ron immediately froze as several notifications appeared before him.
Energy flowed through his body again and again.
Cain raised an eyebrow when he saw Ron’s Level changing.
Level 42.
Then 43.
Finally, it stopped at 44.
"You gained three Levels from that?"
Ron looked equally pleased.
"Looks like it."
He crouched beside the corpse, removed the Core, and absorbed it without hesitation.
Cain watched him.
"When I saw you running over here, you were already Level 41."
Ron nodded.
"So?"
"So how the hell did you reach Level 41 that quickly?" Cain looked at him with a curious expression.
Ron stood after absorbing the Core and shrugged.
"I copied what we did earlier."
Cain immediately understood.
"To the gorilla and hippo?"
"Exactly."
Ron rested the spear across one shoulder.
"Why fight something directly when I can make something else fight it for me?"
Cain stared at him.
Ron continued proudly.
"I find two evolved animals, piss them off, make sure they meet each other, then let them beat the shit out of each other."
"And then you steal the kill."
Ron pointed at him.
"See? You understand me."
Cain almost laughed.
"How many times did you do that?"
"A few."
Ron looked toward the dead cheetah.
"This bastard ruined my streak."
"You couldn’t find anything willing to fight it?"
"Yup."
Ron’s expression became slightly annoyed.
"Everything ran away before I could even bring it close."
Cain was not particularly surprised.
The cheetah had been Level 50.
Even among 1st Echelon evolved animals, that was extremely high.
Ron continued, "If I couldn’t find you, I would’ve gone all out and escaped."
"You weren’t confident in killing it?"
"Fuck no."
Ron looked at the severed limbs.
"I’m fast, not stupid."
He paused.
"Besides, you already promised to help me get stronger. Since I found you, why would I make things harder for myself?"
"Thank god, someone finally uses their brain cells to do things."
"Fuck off."
A soft laugh came from behind them.
Ron finally looked toward the source.
Sonya had walked closer while they talked.
Only now did Ron properly pay attention to her.
His gaze moved from her silver-white hair to her face, then briefly toward Cain.
He raised an eyebrow.
"Who’s this?"
"Sonya."
"That doesn’t answer my question."
Cain sheathed his sword as he gave a simple explanation, "I found a group of survivors earlier. She was being held hostage by them, so I saved her while I was there."
Sonya looked toward Cain.
Technically, that explanation skipped quite a lot.
Ron simply nodded.
"Oh."
That was apparently enough for him.
He immediately lost interest in asking further.
"So what now?"
"We need to find Alex first." Cain looked north, then glanced at Ron as he continued, "And while we’re searching, I’ll help you hunt higher-Level 1st Echelon creatures."
Ron’s eyes lit up.
"Now you’re speaking my language."
Cain walked toward Sonya and crouched slightly.
"Get on."
She climbed onto his back again, her arms wrapped naturally around his shoulders.
Cain supported her legs with both hands before starting north.
However, this time his left hand remained firmly around Sonya’s thigh rather than wandering anywhere else.
Ron looked at the sight in front of him with a meaningful smile.
Cain caught the expression from the corner of his eye.
"Say something and I’ll throw you at the next evolved animal."
"I didn’t say anything."
"Your face did."
Ron’s smile widened.
Sonya did not notice their exchange as her head had already settled against Cain’s shoulder again as the three moved through the district.
They searched north for several minutes.
Cain continued spreading his Sense ahead of them.
Alex was nowhere nearby.
Instead, another strong presence eventually entered his range.
Cain changed direction.
"Something is ahead of us."
Ron immediately became more attentive.
"What Level?"
"I don’t know yet."
They crossed through a damaged residential street and entered a broad green area separating several neighborhoods.
Cain finally saw the creature.
A huge deer stood near a row of broken trees.
Its antlers had grown into an enormous branching structure, with sharpened ends capable of easily piercing through a human body. The animal itself was almost twice the height of an ordinary deer.
Its powerful legs tensed when it noticed them.
[1st Echelon Evolved Deer | Level 46]