Boom!
The ground near the place where the punch had been landed quaked and created a suppressed sound. The suppressed sound traveled with the quake and spread in every direction.
The tremor became more violent and intense. It took a while for the place to return to its peaceful state.
At a distance, a tree's shadow that had been cast on the ground got stretched and a person popped out of it coated in shadow-element mana from head to toe. This person immediately dispelled the black-as-ink mana over his body and crashed to the ground because his legs suddenly turned limp.
Drin Dawn was out of breath. He had used his spell Shadow Switch to escape from his near-death situation. And that had landed him at a distance from where he was just a few moments ago.
Drin wiped the sweat off his forehead with the back of his right hand and looked in the direction of the impact. He had information on Bigua that was provided with the mission. He knew that the monster was the one who used such attacks.
"Damn. I would have died if I had stayed there any longer."
Drin mumbled to himself while looking exhausted. In the next moment, however, he regretted speaking so soon. Because the monster he had run away from caught up with him just as quickly.
The monster had maintained a safe distance from Drin for some reason when he showed up. This quasi-Monster Overlord had an intimidating physique.
He was 14 feet tall, which made him taller than Hiram. Every muscle in his body had been chiseled to perfection. His bronze-colored skin had a peculiar luster to it that bounced the evening rays off of him.
This luster had come from the monster's exceptional mastery of the water element. It was as if the fundamentals of the water element had been integrated into his existence.
Drin had thought that his Shadow Switch spell had improved beyond his imagination because of the distance it allowed him to travel in one shadow jump. He was at a sufficient distance from his previous position.
Plus, Drin's shadow element made him difficult to track. He was counting on these two aspects when he ran away from the monster. But turns out he was naive in thinking he could get away from such an existence after he had attempted to kill him once and failed.
Still, Drin didn't want to give up just yet. He knew he couldn't fight the monster head-on. His only chance to live lay in his ability to use Shadow Switch to his maximum potential.
Drin sent his mana circuits into overdrive. He was thinking about using the forbidden technique to enhance the effects of the spell at the cost of facing negative consequences. He could deal with them later on. He just needed to get away from the place first.
But Drin heard Bigua speak when he was about to use the technique.
"Boy… stop. I am not trying to kill you. At least not anymore."
Bigua said in human tongue and looked at Drin intently. This was the first time the monster was seeing someone with the shadow element.
At his level, Bigua wanted to learn more about a variety of elements to enhance his elemental understanding of water. And he was especially interested in the shadow element since it could mimic various elements.
It could be said that the shadow element didn't exist on its own. It always needed something to base its characteristics on. Just like a shadow's existence was dependent on the light as well as the object it belonged to, the shadow element needed the characteristics of another element to manifest.
Bigua had been watching Drin and Hiram fight for quite some time. He also came to realize that if the shadow element could mimic the characteristics of other elements, the process could be reversed. He could use the shadow element as a medium to gain the elemental effects of other elements while still using his water element mana and water elemental attainment.
After all, Bigua's clarity had allowed him to accomplish something special in his tribe. It was based on water's nature. To be precise, a water surface's nature reflects when it is calm and collected.
Bigua could use someone like Drin to carry out a few experiments for himself. This could allow him to progress to his next evolution and become a real Ogre Overlord. But alas, the monster knew taking Drin into his custody was out of the question.
They had arrived.
Drin stopped casting the forbidden technique when he heard Bigua speak. Simply because he had no reason to lie. He was already aware that Bigua wouldn't have shown himself openly if he wanted to kill him in the first place.
Bigua stared at Drin for a moment before asking him his next question.
"Why did you attack Hiram?"
Drin heard Bigua's question and frowned. He didn't want to offend the monster of his level but he also didn't want to admit that whatever he had done was a mistake. Therefore, he cleared his mind before speaking in a cold tone.
"That man attacked me first. Besides, we had a mission to kill him anyway."
Drin said, looking at Bigua before narrating the events that had taken place ever since his separation from his team. When he was finished, Bigua asked him the next question.
"Hiram is dead. I killed him and you confirmed it. What business do you have with my tribe now?"
Drin felt weird that a quasi-Monster Overlord was chatting with him so casually. He also didn't understand what he was trying to say. So he asked to confirm.
"I am sorry. But I don't understand what you are trying…"
Drin was about to complete his words when Bigua made a face of displeasure before interrupting him.
"Tch! I am not asking you, boy. Keep quiet now. The spectators of this entire show haven't yet shown up. They know that I'm asking them.
Are you too afraid to show your ugly old faces? Answer me!"
