Laden Burrows, Laden Region:
The region got its name from 'gravity'.
Relative to others, at least visually, it looked 'normal'.
It had plains, plateaus, hills, rivers and of course, burrows.
But taking the region at face value would be a big mistake. Adhering to its name, the gravity here fluctuated wildly and varied from place to place and even from time to time.
There were some places were you would just float while others where even a level 3 body awakener couldn't crawl.
Space Awakeners had a slightly advantage here, but it wasn't much.
Because of the different gravities, fighting here was usually harder than other places.
Boom!
Sarah kicked the ground and barely dodged the jaws of a Pterosaur like monster.
With huge wings, sleek green body and a unhinged mouth, the creature flew over Sarah and just by its moment, it went a few miles away.
Sarah panted slightly and looked at her hands. Clenching and relaxing them, she felt the difference of this place.
She felt like she was dragged down by the ground. Like there were huge chains to her hands and feet.
Her speed was curtailed and she felt like she was back to the days when she was still a level 4 or level 5.
"Hmph!" Sarah channeled the chi in her body.
"Screech!" The Pterosaur dived down again and as it did, Sarah felt like her entire body was rooted to the ground.
This feeling was different from space block.
During space block, you would feel like they were surrounded by a thick metal wall from all sides that just wouldn't break.
But during this gravity exertion, your entire body turns heavy. The force enough to jump into the air wouldn't be enough to lift your foot. It would feel like someone was dragging you down, into the ground.
Sarah raised her head and locked her sight on the predator that dived down towards her with an open mouth.
If a prey fell into its mouth, it'd use gravity to crush the prey to pieces and swallow it gleefully.
The Pterosaur used gravity on itself and flew down at the speed of level 6s.
Her current speed was far from enough.
"Argh!" Sarah channeled the chi in her body and exerted her strength.
Kacha!
She heard the sounds of invisible chains breaking, and felt like her body was light again.
"Screech!" The Pterosaur screamed in surprise and was about to defend itself when an ice spear pierced its eye and froze its brain.
Thud!
The huge creature collapsed in front of her, allowing Sarah to heave a sigh of relief.
In the distance, William and Philia also finished killing their prey. Soon, the duel appeared in front of her.
William looked at her solemn expression and asked. "What happened?"
"They contacted me." Sarah said and the two stiffened up.
"F-Fine. We need to fight it out anyway." William waved his hand like it was a no big deal.
'Then why is your body shaking?' Sarah chose not to say it out loud.
"For the beast tide, we'll take revenge on Xavier Team." She said, causing William to pump his fist into the air. Even Philia's cold expression melted a little as she showed excitement.
"But—" She said in a tone that accepted no objection. "Preferably after we get the flag. If we and Xavier Team fight, then who will benefit?"
"Ahri and Ashtarh team." Philia said.
"Exactly. So, it's best to get it done in the end." Sarah paused and glanced at her teammates. "I won't attack you guys until our team gets the six flags. Until then, I expect the same from you."
"Of course. Even if you don't trust me on anything, trust me on trusting me, eh…whatever you call it. In short, you can rest assured."
"I disdain backstabbing." Philia said and then thinking of the beast tide, she added. "Of course, if it's attacking Xavier team out of the blue, I'm all in."
Despite her cold face, she sounded very vengeful.
"Alright. I hope our team is the last one standing." Sarah said with a smile and her chi exploded.
Cracks appeared on the ground she stood on and she was gone like the wind, blasting air in the process.
Clearly, she was now able to maintain her speed despite the gravity. Of course, it was because she wasn't fighting a gravity awakener. She was only traveling in a region with high gravity.
Or it wouldn't be so easy.
William increased the mental power around him and nodded at Philia. Soon, their figures blurred and followed Sarah.
*** *** *** *** *** ***
In the center of the Laden Burrows Area were the Laden Burrows from which the area derived its name.
The burrows were the handiwork of a species native to the region called 'Khanak'.
These four legged creatures had a crystalline armor covering all their body, including their eyes.
This crystalline material was incredibly dense and could last for hours without being broken by opponents of the same level.
That is, if a mid Level 5 Khanak activated its armor and kept it on, any mid level 5 would find it hard to break.
Of course, this didn't come for free.
Khanaks weren't born with this crystalline body armor, they would collect the materials, then crush them into an incredible dense alloy and cover their body.
The only reason Khanaks could bear such a heavy weight on their body all the time was their gravity powers.
In other words, they use their gravity power to reduce the weight they feel from the crystalline body armor all the time.
But overtime, they managed to make it an effective practice mechanism for them. Thus, a Khanak was practicing all the time, even during sleep.
The only way to win them was to make a quick and effective blow, breaking open a small part of their armor and destroying their rather fragile bodies.
This was possible, but needs immense combat skills and focus.
In front of the Laden Burrows, nine lights flashed and the three teams appeared.
Sarah's eyes fell on Xavier, Xavier looked at Ashtarh and Ashtarh glared at Sarah.
As a stifling silence filled the air, William and Maissa said at the same time.
"Are we going to wait all day?"
*** *** ***
300 chapters! (I kinda forgot to put this when I wrote, so adding now. It won't cost extra btw.)
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