Chapter 125: The calm before the storm
Still standing in the middle of the slaughter that they just concluded a while ago, Julian felt his brain throbbing painfully with a splitting headache.
Even as a C Rank Mage now, he didn’t have endless stamina.
Spending the entire past night awake and hunting tens of thousands of Qi Beasts for 90% of the day had its toll on him. It was not even the physical weakness, but the mental drain that bothered him.
Though Theodore was trying hard not to show any weakness, which was likely due to her past traumas, Julian could tell that she was also tired.
This was why he made the decision to rest and prepare properly to challenge the 50th realm of Dragon’s Tooth.
He wasn’t bluffing when he told Theodore that he felt that the 50th realm was going to be different, he just had a hunch that they were going to face a surprise.
Also, there was another worry. ’Will the remaining Qi Beasts in this level of the mountain who survived the slaughter target us in our sleep when we’re vulnerable?’
His crimson eyes gleamed with a ruthless light as he looked into the horizon.
After a few seconds of thinking, Julian inclined his head and looked at Theodore. "That Cursed Object Creation skill of yours, tell me exactly how it works".
Theodore didn’t try to understand why Lord Zaratul asked the question, she simply answered. "With it, I can turn any object that I touch into a curse-carrying artifact with different curse effects".
"Unlike normal artifacts though, a Witch’s cursed artifact has a time limit".
"At my current level, my cursed artifacts can only last 3 days".
"That’s more than enough". Julian’s eyes gleamed as he asked again. "Is there a limit to the definition of curse and the type of cursed artifacts that you can create?"
Theodore nodded immediately. "A cursed artifact that I create can’t hold a curse that’s more potent than my current level as a Witch".
Julian nodded. "Can you create a cursed object that can act as a sentry to watch over us while we sleep? And if possible, wake up us in the case of a threat?"
Theodore finally understood exactly what Lord Zaratul meant.
She rubbed her chin in thought, then she answered. "I can’t create a cursed object with such autonomy to act as a sentry yet, but I can create a cursed object with a curse that’ll enable it to passively sense any hostile intent towards us".
"It will alert me immediately if any hostile intent is directed towards u".
Julian looked at her and immediately grinned with approval. "That’s exactly what I want, work on it".
"Yes, Lord Zaratul". Theodore bowed respectfully.
After that, Theodore went to work immediately while Julian accessed his System Inventory, accessing 2 tent materials and quickly setting them up.
Cursed Object Creation!
A few minutes later, a white paper figurine stood just outside the 2 tents like a scarecrow. This paper figurine was Theodore’s cursed object.
It could passively sense hostile intent.
The mountain should have been screaming by now, nocturnal predators who dwelled, thrived, and hunted in the dark should have been going about their night, hunting in droves and keeping the realm active at night.
Every night before this one, it had. But not tonight.
The wind that usually howled through the jagged passes like something alive and hungry was unusually docile this night, and the Qi Beasts mirrored it. There were no distant roars rolling like thunder, no shrill hunting cries slicing through the dark, and no crack of bone.
The mountain usually breathed violence after sundown, but tonight in the 49th realm of Dragon’s Tooth, there was nothing.
No noise, no disturbance, just a silence that was as still as night itself.
Around them, the forest stretched into darkness and quietly, the corpse of the dead Qi Beasts were already dwindling.
It almost felt like ghosts were the ones dragging them away for food because where there should have been shifting, there was only stillness. No branches snapped, no shapes moved. It was just quiet.
Hours passed as the moon climbed gradually, pale and indifferent as it washed the mountainside in silver.
It revealed the aftermath of what happened during the day.
It revealed unmoving carcasses that tangled high in barely standing trees, it revealed a trail of dark stains cutting through the rocks, leading nowhere because the Qi Beast corpses that left them were already stolen.
The aftermath of the day clung to everything.
Julian and Theodore had not just fought, they had erased almost the entire jungle of Qi Beasts.
Unlike Lord Zaratul who slept confidently, asleep in just a few minutes, Theodore couldn’t sleep fully as she kept on waking at intervals.
This was because she could feel the hostile energy in the realm.
None of the Qi Beasts had grown the guts to attack them yet, but a lot of them watched them from the dark with sinister intent.
At some point, Lord Zaratul woke up at the heart of the night and looked at her tent. "You don’t have to pay attention to them, this is just the eye of the storm. This is the calm before the storm, you have to use it properly to rest".
"Only then will you be able to fight at your best tomorrow".
Theodore thought for a moment before she nodded. "Yes, Lord Zaratul".
Just as they finished the conversation...
Creak!
A rock shifted somewhere below them and just like that, a sound that would have barely made a commotion in another night echoed through the night like thunder, jolting all the slumbering Qi Beasts awake.
It also jolted Julian and Theodore fully awake as both of them turned in that direction not with panic, but with the tight precision of hunters.
Qi Sight!
Bzzz!
Julian’s qi flared slightly as he stared at the distant rock that made a sound, and instantly he saw a massive Black Panther prowling in the dark.
The moment the Black Panther felt his stare, it took a step back in total silence as its emerald eyes constricted slightly, but it didn’t retreat.
This told Julian that this Qi Beast was confident in its strength.
’Confident huh?’
His qi flared.
Aether Bolt! ×50!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Julian was unhinged as he twisted the script completely, breaking the silence of the night as he rained hell on the Black Panther that initially tried to sneak on them before it hesitated.
Just a few seconds later, the Black Panther was impaled to death.
DING!
~----~
[Congratulations! You have killed a Level 47 Night Rakshasha Panther!]
[You have gained EXP...!]
~----~
After that commotion, seeing the manner in which the formidable Night Rakshasha Panther died, all the bold Qi Beasts among the survivors that had plans of taking the risk to attack the oppressors immediately gave up the thought.
They all escaped into the night as silently as ghosts, disappearing into the veil of the night as the tension in the realm became even more palpable.
No Qi Beast dared sleep anymore.
As for Julian?
He simply looked at Theodore and said. "They won’t have the guts to try again for a few hours, and if we’re lucky they won’t have the guts at all".
After that, he slept peacefully.
Seeing just how nonchalant he was about the whole situation, Theodore had no choice but to sleep too.
And just like that, midnight came and went unnoticed.
Time seemed to stretch differently in this realm as without noise and without any movement from the Qi Beasts, Julian and Theodore felt like they were sleeping in an undisturbed space and it actually aided their sleep.
Around 3 in the morning, Theodore woke up again and unsheathed her dagger. "They should have attacked by now," she muttered in confusion.
Julian roused awake and paid attention to her tent.
He shook his head. "No, not anymore. We taught them something worse than fear yesterday, and my ruthless act at night deterred them completely".
"If they didn’t attack by midnight, they won’t attack again".
After that, Theodore slept peacefully.
The hours before dawn were the heaviest, thick with tension even as the moon seemed to hesitate before sinking, dragging its light slowly down the jagged peaks. The shadows thickened, swallowing valleys whole.
Somewhere in the distance, a Qi Beast almost made a sound, but it was just almost as it choked it back.
And that was the moment the tension broke and they both felt it even in their peace. This wasn’t peace, it was acknowledgement.
The mountain had recognized them and it surrendered, then...
Light.
It rose from the east as a thin, unnatural line of gold bled upward against the horizon as if the world itself had been turned around without warning.
The first ray cut across the peaks, slow and deliberate, touching stone, then bone, and then the tents.
For a moment, the entire mountain seemed to flinch.
And with that, sound returned.
DING!
The Debauchery System lit up with a new notification.