Chapter 99: Ichid


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    6 A.M.


    24861 Essence harvested.


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    [Ahh, screw it..! Lee, just take out those eyes. It''s starting to piss me off!]


    ''....okay!''


    The de disappeared from Lee''s hand and the bow appeared. He did not dy to pull the bow string with lightning sizzling over it. Rather than a direct shot, Lee aimed straight into the sky. D advised to let the gravity do the rest.


    *Whish*


    The arrow ascended into the air and came down like lightning. The floating eyes felt a sense of danger and went underwater the very moment. Secondster, the arrow touched down on the surface of the river. The vigers on the other side had retreated long before.


    *Zzz*


    A short moment of electric discharge was followed by silence. But it too was short-lived as the beast inside the water pounced out in pain.


    Arge snout that resembles thebination of a wolf and a crocodile came up. The skin colour ranged from deep green to ck. The almost cylindrical shape of the being with unknown length was at least six timesrger than a giant crocodile. The eyes were over its rough skinned head that had a rugged texture. The slit shaped pupils can now be seen clearly. It had a pair of flippers that helped it in lotion. It sure has a body, but the force with which it came up was not enough topletely throw itself into the air.


    *Gurr...*


    The creature made a weird sound and stared at Lee pratively. Lee wanted to present the next lightning arrow, but the beast opened its mouth and shot out a stream of water.


    [Just water, not dangerous.]


    Lee stood there without moving a muscle as the water shot at him. The slimy water sshed all over Lee and sttered over the surroundings. Fero jumped backward and escaped from this attack.


    ''Are you sure this is water? It is so sticky!''


    The creature slowly floated towards the river bank and stared at Lee, who was drenched in a slightly slimy water. He wiped it off of his body. Fero came and peered at him, and then sniffed the substance.


    *sniff sniff*


    The smell was a delicate bnce between stink and aroma. One moment, it can be recognised as fragrant. The next moment, it may feel slightly repulsive.


    "It feels odd!"


    Lee made a remark as he was soaked in water. What he felt was slimy, but the actual property of this water, which is abination of the beast''s saliva and river water, is to make the opponent less agile. The sticky and dampening nature of the slimy water was easily overpowered by the supernatural strength of Lee. Seeing him move so easy and free, despite being drenched in the water attack, made the beast to be wary of him.


    The vigers on the other side saw this and were astonished. There has never been an instance where the beast retreated after its signature water attack. As soon as the beast dived deep into the water, they signalled at Lee to stay put. Lee noticed that the vige did not have any functional boat. All they had was a rear part of a boat, torn and capsized, and resting on the shore, near the vige.


    "This is slimy water. Don''t touch."


    Lee turned around and told An, as she came near to touch his soaked and torn clothes. She immediately retracted her hands.


    ''D, how do I get this slimy water off me?''


    [Very simple. You previously created a fireball with Mana. But this time, spread the Mana all over your body and imagine it getting heated up with fire. Make sure you don''t toast yourself!]


    Lee turned away thedies and walked a few steps from them. He stood there like a statue for a minute and steam began to rise from his body. Faint me like patterns were witnessed by hispanions. Fero giggled as he saw his buddy heating up like a saiyan!


    [Okay, that should be enough. Any more, and you will overcook yourself.]


    ''Okay.''


    Lee promptly cut the Mana input, by halting his thought processes. The aura around him faded away, and he was dry.


    "Can you teach me how you do that?"


    Rue asked from where she stood. Lee smiled at her as he replied-


    "I will teach youter."


    In actuality, Lee was merely repeating what D said. Lee barely had an idea about what she spoke.


    ''You sure? I just repeated what you said. I don''t know how to teach controlling Mana!''


    [I got this. All you have to do is y along!]


    Lee walked back to An, who was staring at the river. Mia tried throwing stones into the river, and the beast came up. When she threw a stone again, another one came up.


    "Brother, I think there are two or more Ichids in the river."


    Mia notified Lee in an alert tone. Lee, who was a stranger to the name, almost replied to her with a question, but D interrupted.


    [That water beast is called Ichid. They are territorial predators. Any fish or marine organism is their food. They tend to live in groups of even numbers. What we saw is an average adult Ichid.


    But, they are native to oceans alone, and live in saltwater. They aremonly used as mounts by waterfolks. No matter what the circumstances are, they do not travel into ind water bodies. Wonder why they got here?]


    "Ohh."


    Lee made a soft response in wonder. Mia took it as an acknowledgement to her finding. Lee patted her head for the information.


    The vigers on the other side had gone back to their daily lives. Only a 7 year old boy stood there, staring at the other side.


    Lee had to look for an alternative. He peeked at the Map and saw that the vige across the river had a well, and a pond! He shared his findings to An, Mia and Rue. Even Fero was excited to hear about the pond.


    "But how do we cross the river?!"