LONE: The Journey Beyond

The next day.

Reven and Co. began their journey.

They started from the coastal areas near Port Elizabeth of South Africa. Their destination lay near a place called De Aar which was a canyon range[1].

Currently, the problem in front of them was that Africa was densely covered in forests. This happened because of Ardor, which caused the plants to mutate and accelerated their growth.

Another thing which annoyed them was the number of monsters they were facing. It was way beyond normal scale!

These two factors together made their journey extremely arduous.

SPLAT!

Reven could be seen slaying a monster using a large blade which almost made him look like a butcher.

At the same time, Aleena was using her ability, [Echolocation], to locate the positions of the monsters and informed the team about it.

Meanwhile, Talos was completely overpowering the monsters he faced as he kept on manoeuvring his sword using [Weapon Control] and killed the monsters.

The rest of them were also focused on different tasks each!

Felix was surveying the area with his [Shadow Walk] ability with Jun supporting him. Parth was at the back looking out for any potential surprise attacks with Ronny.

Ken, on the other hand, was free and relaxing his body after cutting down hundreds of monsters.

Overall, the team had already progressed about 8km and it hasn't even been 2 hours since they started.

They used guerrilla tactics to their advantage! It not only allowed them to move securely but also allowed them to take rest in between.

They obviously didn't want a battle where all of them were tired. It would become dangerous if they become that vulnerable.

They continued to proceed and soon it was the evening. The sun was going down so they decided to find a place to settle down and rest for the day.

"Aleena, what do you think? Are these monsters edible?" Reven asked Aleena.

"Yes, they are. I have even consulted about it with Empress, she says, there is no harm in eating them, rather, it's beneficial to us.

But, there are indeed some species we should not eat, like- goblins and ogres."

"Okay then, let's eat some Racoon-type monsters today!"

With that, they began their monster meat feast! Honestly, the meat was really tasty as the monsters were enhanced with Ardor.

"Now that we have had our dinner, jt's time for mission report. Let's call the HQ." Geena said.

"You are right. We should call our families too, they will be worried. But first, lemme give the reports for the day." Reven said, agreeing to Geena.

He proceeded to call the HQ and gave the mission report for the day.

Today, they had covered a distance of 31km. Their speed decreased as they entered deeper into the region. This also meant that the monsters they faced now were even stronger.

"Tomorrow is where the real challenge begins! The monsters we faced by the evening were a lot stronger than we initially thought which means the deeper we go the harder it becomes." It was Felix who spoke in a grave tone.

"Don't worry, we will just have to be more careful and decisive." Ken said while polishing his katana.

"Felix what Ken said is right, we can't be pessimistic here or else we will never reach the destination." Talos supported Ken.

"Alright guys, let's sleep. Also, one of us needs to stay up and act as guard from tonight. We will take turns and change every 1 hour." Reven said.

Finally, the day came to an end for them.

-----

2 days passed.

Reven and his team crossed a total of 67km, including the distance they travelled on the first day.

Their speed was much slower compared to the first day.

Right now, their group could be seen fighting with a giant monster which looked much like Vilgax from the Ben 10 cartoon[2].

BOOM! BAM!

"Talos, NOW!" Ken shouted.

Talos came running towards the giant and used [Weapon Control] to cut the tentacles coming out of its body.

At the same time, Ken used his ability, [Radiant Sword], to sever its head apart. The monster sensed grave danger from Ken's attack, so it used its hands to shield its neck.

Reven used this opportunity and reached the monster to touch its body and used [Transmutation] on it! This made its one leg to start to melt and forced it to come to its knees.

"Ronny, shoot this motherfu*ker!"

Ronny, who was eagerly waiting for his order, heard this and said excitingly "Hell yeah!"

He used his deadly ability, [Hyper Precision], and also cast his second ability, [Heart's Bullet], to shoot the monster's brain.

He locked on to its brain and...

BOOOOOM!

Fired!

Finally, killing it.

The monster had finally died but no one looked happy, rather everyone had darkened expressions.

This fight lasted for 6 hours straight!

There was no way this would make any of them happy.

They were rather feeling...

FRUSTRATED!

How could they not be frustrated and angry? Heck, they even felt fear from the tenacity of these monsters.

"Captain, are the monsters we are going to face next also this powerful?" Jun looked at Reven as he questioned with a bitter expression.

Geena also looked at Reven and said "Tell me something, captain. The superiors knew about this, didn't they? And... Since they knew about it, that means you also got your hands on the correct information."

A suffocating silence descended.

"What are you trying to say, Geena? If the captain knew, he wouldn't have agreed to come here in the first place. So, stop spouting bullsh*t." Ronny rebuked her.

"Calm down for a moment guys. Let's ask the captain himself, he will clarify." Parth tried to calm down everyone.

"Captain, what do you wish to say?" Geena looked at Reven with scrutiny.

Reven was staring at the dead body of the monster, completely ignoring everyone.

He looked as if he was reminiscing something.

SIGH!

He suddenly looked up at the sky and said...

-----

A week before Reven's awakening.

Reven met with someone.

The guy was wearing a mask so his face was not visible.

Reven said "I need information."

"About what?"

"Africa. Specifically, South African lands."

The man didn't say anything as he put his right hand forward and showed his Wrist-Band. Reven also moved his Wrist-Band and touched it.

[Ding!]

[Transaction taking place.]

[Server used is personal.]

[Medium of transaction recorded is physical touch.]

[Transferring CPs for the purchase.]

[Transfer completed.]

"Now then, Empress send file SAL005 to Reven Greh."

[Order received sending files.]

[Sent.]

At the same time, on Reven's Wrist-Band.

[Ding!]

[File received.]

"Thank you for the purchase, old friend." The man said to Reven.

"No, thank you. I was in urgent need of that information." Reven replied.

"I don't know why you asked for that information but be careful because it's not really something good that's going on there.

I seriously advice not to pull some shit there. Since you are asking about this information, it means that the army is really thinking of pulling something big. Still, I advise you to stay away."

With that, the masked man left the place, leaving Reven alone.

Reven looked at the file to see the information and what he saw…

…..

Author's Notes:

[1] Port Elizabeth is an actual port in the country of South Africa and De Aar is also an actual place that exists but it is to be noted that these places which are mentioned here simply have a common name. Everything else described is totally based on the author's imagination.

The names of the places are taken common to establish some sort of connection with the readers.

[2] Who else watched Ben 10 cartoon when they were little kids. It was one of my favourite cartoons.

*****