Chapter 230 - A Sizable Threat

"God, damn it!"

Rynold had dodged the bird's initial charge forward. Rynold managed to get out of the bird's way but still suffered some damage from the wind. The sharp winds slashed a small part of his Protecting Light, making him fully acknowledge how powerful this creature was.

'What the hell was that?' Rynold asked himself as he pushed himself off the ground, 'I'm sure it wasn't fast enough for the slipstream to hurt me like that. Maybe aura-type damage?'

As much as Rynold wanted to figure out what had just happened then, he couldn't. The bird realized it had missed its target and soon charged at Rynold once again.

The battle soon turned to a back-and-forth one. Of which, Rynold was losing. Badly.

There was no opening in the bird's defenses that Rynold could take advantage of, and, more importantly, Rynold couldn't get away. This type of battle was unfamiliar to him as Rynold could only read his opponent's behavior and fight pattern.

'This thing is just using its brute strength to its advantage. I can't get close to it.'

That said, Rynold could only stand his ground and wait until an opening revealed itself. However, that was easier said than done as his Mana Defense couldn't keep up at all.

Rynold knew he couldn't just passively fight this thing for any longer. He had to take action. He had to do something to shift the odds in his favor. And, at this point, Rynold was only getting more desperate by the second.

Which, in the next few moments, made Rynold do something risky.

When Rynold realized the white-colored bird was going to charge at him again, he got to work.

Immediately shooting his grapple before the bird could move, Rynold aimed to wrap the bird's legs. He stood his ground and pulled with every ounce of his strength. Rynold wanted to cripple the damned thing and stop it from moving. But, even with all his might, the bird's legs won't budge. It did, however, slightly impair its movement.

The first plan didn't work, making Rynold take on a different approach. With his left arm pulled back, Rynold grabbed [True Caliber] with his right hand from his inventory and shot at the damned bird.

Each shot Rynold fired carried the intent of his will, immediately freezing the target on contact. The ice-powered bullets made their marks on the bird, but the ice didn't encase the creature's sizable body. Rynold saw his efforts turn futile at the threat before him.

'Ice resistance. Of course. Why the fuck not?'

Rynold clicked his tongue as he hid [True Caliber] back to his inventory. Instead of shying away now, Rynold threw himself at the bird, drill fully extended.

He whirred the drill to life and engulfed it with a bright orange flame. Rynold charged forward with no regard to his safety whatsoever. If his opponent had some form of resistance to ice-based attacks, Rynold would have to find a way to circumvent that.

And, quite brashly, this attack was Rynold's way of doing it.

Rynold got close to his opponent in a matter of moments. But the bird wasn't so stupid as to stand there and take it. It was a creature of instinct, not so much of planning and thinking.

As Rynold launched himself forward, the string around the bird's legs loosened. There was no counteracting force anymore that stopped the bird from moving, regaining its mobility. The same mobility Rynold tried so hard to stop.

That said, the bird charged forward at Rynold once again. It didn't seem to care that Rynold was charging at it all the same.

They both threw caution to the wind, with the bird believing in its strength and Rynold relying on his ingenuity. It was hard to tell who would win, but neither side would back down.

The size of the bird was an undeniable advantage. It barrelled forward at a pace Rynold could keep up with, but the size of the thing made it seem like Rynold was running straight into a wall — a wall that he would soon tear down.

Using the bird's size to his advantage, Rynold anticipated the attack. The bird's elongated beak was the first to make contact; therefore, Rynold knew just what he needed to do to run up it.

He jumped at the precise moment and landed on the bird's beak. From there, Rynold continuously ran until he reached the bird's head, then jumped. Now mid-air, Rynold did a frontflip while lashing his drill out on the bird's massive body. He tried to aim for the creature's heart but missed. Instead, Rynold hit the area where the bird's wing and abdomen met.

A loud, shrill cry came from the bird as it crashed down on its face. Rynold landed not far away and fell to his knees as well, tired. It was clear that one had dealt a blow on the other.

The accumulated damage on Rynold has brought him to his knees. And, as far as he could tell, the main reason for his exhaustion was that his Mana Core had yet to recover to its full strength. That meant that if this fight were to continue, Rynold would undoubtedly lose.

Although, Rynold was glad that things had turned out this way.

Rynold did his best. He was far from winning, but he did what he could. He didn't mind being eliminated like this and got sent back to the main hall. A part of him wished that he could have done more, of course, but going out like this wasn't so bad either.

"Damn it."

Planting his drill on the ground, Rynold used the weapon as leverage to stand back up. He then slowly moved towards the snow bird, opting to finish it off while he still could.

But, as if aware of Rynold's approach, the bird suddenly loudly cawed. Rynold stopped in his tracks as he watched the bird stand back up.

He instinctively stood back and prepared for the worst. A second round was plausible now that the bird recovered and pulled itself up. The bird then turned its head sideways, eyes on the side of its head, staring at Rynold.

Swallowing a mouthful of dry air, Rynold clenched his fist. Rynold focused on the opponent he would soon face.

However, contrary to his expectations, nothing happened. The bird turned its head away from him and just..., left. The only thing Rynold could think of now was how anti-climactic the ending was as he watched the bird slowly disappear off into the distance.

That said, Rynold actually felt quite relieved. He returned his Mana Gauntlets to Speed-form as he sat on the snow pile behind him. He could feel the cold seeping through his clothes, but he didn't really care. No, Rynold was too tired to care.

'What the hell was that..?'

After taking a deep breath, only now did Rynold process the strange turn of events. While the appearance of a 'guardian' creature wasn't anything Rynold expected, that wasn't the most shocking thing yet.

By Rynold's estimates, dealing with the snow-colored bird should've proved to be quite the challenge. So much so that the fight just before didn't begin to cover the bird's true power.

With that in mind, Rynold wondered why did it hold back?

The creature was one of instinct. While intelligence was few and far between for monsters, it wasn't surprising for a 'guardian' creature to possess some of it. That said, it still shouldn't have held back by such a degree. Rynold instinctively knew that he was dead the moment he saw it.

Rynold knew that he should be glad that he survived. He probably shouldn't be overthinking things and let his paranoia and anxiety take over.

But, he couldn't ignore the fact that there might be something bigger at play here.

Processing what had happened turned out to be troublesome. Rynold didn't move from his one spot in the snow until he recovered, during which he decidedly tried to draw up some conclusions in the situation at hand. But, as it stands, there was no way to confirm any of them.

The most reasonable explanation Rynold could think of was that the bird was under the command of the Mech God. Whether that be true or not, it still didn't explain why the creature didn't finish him off. Suffice it to say: there were a lot of gaps in the story — gaps that Rynold couldn't fill without asking.

A few minutes later, Rynold let out a deep breath as he stood up.

Throughout the process of figuring things out, Rynold recovered in just a few minutes. His strength that waned earlier had returned to him. He patted the back of his pants to remove some of the snow as he turned to the gaping hole in the mountain wall soon after.

"I still need to find a way down."

After being distracted by that gigantic bird, Rynold finally returned to the task at hand.

But then again, Rynold didn't know where to start. He made a gaping hole in the mountain. The consequences thereof made a gigantic bird swoop in and nearly kill him. At this point, anything Rynold might do would bear similar consequences.

'Nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess.'

Rynold loosened his left shoulder as he prepared to descend the mountain from the inside. He shot his grapple just outside the hole, securing it in place. The line would be his way out, well, so long as nothing trapped him there.

'Down we go.'

Jumping into the hole, Rynold could feel the strain on his shoulder already. But, doing it like this was still a lot better than jumping down without a lifeline. That said, Rynold descended by slowly rappelling down. With masterful control of his grapple, Rynold safely went down.

'So far, so good.'

With Axiom in play, Rynold was able to scan his surroundings for any threats. That said, he also activated [Protecting Light], just in case. Since it was dark all around him, it was better to be safe than sorry.

Thankfully, nothing interesting happened on the way down. There was no jump scares or anything scary that came out from the dark as Rynold landed gently on the ground below.

'An entire hollow mountain,' Rynold thought to himself as he looked around the dark ceiling, 'It's nothing short of amazing.'

After a few short seconds of awe, Rynold turned his focus on the things around him. It was the reason why he went down here, after all, and he'd be a fool to look over his goal now. He had finally reached the bottom of the mountain.

'That's unexpected,' Rynold thought, 'I didn't expect to see an entire forest down here.'

Having landed in the small clearing of snow-like grass, Rynold took in a miraculous sight. It was a white forest, with the trees to its branches completely colored in white. It was as if the plant life grew that way.

'Huh.'

Rynold took the first few steps forward, taking in the immediate surroundings. It felt overwhelming, to say the least, and Rynold fully acknowledged that. His awe nearly reached a point where he would have forgotten why he came down here.

'The guy said something about materials, right? I wonder which ones did he mean..?'

In terms of resources, Rynold wasn't sure which one he should grab. He could ransack the entire forest, that much was certain, but he didn't want to grab anything he wouldn't need. He had to prioritize.

That said, there wasn't anything that stood out from the white forest. If this forest were smack dab in the middle of a jungle, it would've been out of place. But, here, the white forest didn't seem to have anything out of the ordinary.

As Rynold reached the end of the clearing, he inspected a nearby white tree. At first, he just looked at it and deemed it harmless after his initial inspection.

That was until he touched it.