Don't Blindly Follow Cats: A Cliff and A Cave

The next few days, Loki's Inventory filled with meat strips, Xp already going up to 740/800, was tiring as hell. They survived on the meat strips, making camp along the way as the followed the river upstream. They didn't encounter any more monsters, at all. There weren't even any animals, like birds or fish or that sort of thing. It was sort of creepy, Saltavore pointed out, because there should be some sort of life out in the jungle apart from plants.

On the fifth day, they were trekking along the stream, Nishan complaining as usual. Loki drank some water, quenching his thirst and adding his Xp.

[750/800 Xp]

They were still walking when they saw something ahead of them dashed away.

"What's that?" Saltavore perked up at the sight of some other living organism. "Let's go after it!"

Loki didn't know why, but they all went after it, picking up speed as the thing ran faster.

After running for a distance, the thing stopped running.

"It's fast," Terrence panted. "What is it?"

"It looks like a cat," Daphne commented.

"Don't be silly, cats don't live in jungles like these, especially not in a world like Romania," Seraphine said.

Loki knew that even though Seraphine was right, the creature did look like a cat. It was furry, had a long tail and sharp claws. It's fur was white as snow, and its eyes were... Its eyes were black. Not just its pupils, but his entire eye was black.

"Guys?" Nishan seemed to have noticed the creature's eyes as well. "Is a cat's eye supposed to be like that?"

"Huh?" Daphne took a look and immediately shook her head. "No. Something is wrong with it. We should stay away from it- Saltavore?"

Saltavore didn't seem to hear her as he reached out slightly to pet the cat, as if in a trance.

[Name: Anthropophagos]

[Speed: 45/45]

[Strength: 25/25]

[It hides in jungles or forests]

[Its food is animals, humans, elves, halflings, ogres, or anything that has meat]

[It usually takes on the disguise of a normal cat, except for its eyes, which becomes entirely black when disguising itself]

[In its cat form, it can entrance one living organism by holding the living organism's stare]

[Once the living organism gets close, it transforms back to its true self and eats them up]

[The fastest way to hurt it is by cutting of its tongue, which is its greatest weapon]

[The fastest way to kill it is to severe its head, as it has more than one heart]

"Guys, get back!" Loki yelled as he pulled on Saltavore's arm, causing the two to stumble back just as the can grew bigger, until it was about half their size. The scariest part was its head. Its head was twice as large as his body, a long, serpentine tongue lashed out at where Saltavore was just standing.

"What the hell is that?!" Nishan yelled, quickly backing away.

"An Anthropophagos!" Loki yelled back. "They're basically carnivores who eat anything and everything meat! We need to cut of its tongue to hurt it, and create an opening for us to cut of its head!"

Saltavore had snapped out of the trance and pulled out Viribus. "I'll distract it!"

Daphne pulled out Elegans while Nishan brandished Victrix, both of them charging as well.

Between the three of them, Nishan conjured a fireball and threw it at the beast as Daphne threw an electro ball of her own, forcing the beast to take a step back. As it did that, Saltavore neatly sliced of the Athropophagos's tongue. The monster shrieked loudly, flicking what was left of its tongue wildly, trying to curl it around one of them. Seraphine and Terrence used their Earth Ability to trap the Anthropophagos's body. Nishan swung Victrix, but it bounced of its head, barely leaving a scratch.

"What the-" he started, but the monster broke out of its earth prison, forcing all of them to back away.

"Victrix just bounced of its head!" Saltavore exclaimed.

"I know," Nishan growled. "Let's just stab it."

"It has more than one heart," Loki warned. "And I don't know where the hearts are." He held his own sword. "Maybe a sword made from Ashel Silver would work?"

[Combat Quest: Kill the Anthropophagos: +Map]

Loki quickly told them what the system had said, and they all frowned slightly.

"A map?" Seraphine repeated. "For what?"

"No time to brood about that," Daphne told the rest of them. "We'll make an opening, Loki will kill it."

After that, it was all about teamwork. Summoning fire and electro balls, Daphne and Terrence kept the beast busy while Saltavore tried to get in a few hits, Seraphine and Terrence making sure that the monster couldn't run away.

Loki sneaked up on the monster, quietly raising his sword.

The Anthropophagos sensed him and turned around with a loud shriek, but it was too slow as Loki's sword connected with its neck.

For a moment, it seemed that the monster's skin was to strong, before the Ashel Silver sword broke the skin and severed the head of the monster, the Anthropophagos's head flying off.

As they all breathed hard, tired from the use of their Abilities and the monster, Loki's screen flashed.

[Combat Quest Completed: +Map]

[Would you like to use Map?]

'Yes," Loki thought.

A small star materialized in his hands.

"What's that?" Nishan asked. "And where's the map you're supposed to get for kill the beast?"

"I think that is the map," Daphne hummed. "I've heard of an Ability like that. When this person uses the Map Ability, a small glowing star appears to guide the person somewhere.

The star suddenly started to flow away, leaving the others to chase after the light.

"Where is it leading us?" Seraphine panted.

The star stopped when it reached a cliff. The star hovered over the edge, before disappearing in a small burst of light.

"Why would it lead you to a cliff?" Saltavore wondered. "Is there something special here?"

Loki shrugged, slowly leaning over the cliff. He saw that there was a small stone ledge where he could jump onto, so he told the rest, "I'm going to see if there's anything down there. If there's nothing, pull me up."

He jumped onto the ledge, landing safely. When he turned around, he saw an opening to a cave, and soft glows coming from inside.

Meanwhile, Daphne was starting to worry. "Do you think he's okay? He hasn't said anything so far."

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Terrence reassured her. "Loki is capable of defending himself, you know."

Just then, they heard a small whoop coming from... under them?

Once by one, they got onto the ledge to check if anything happened to Loki. Loki was standing near the cave entrance, beckoning to them. "Guys! Look!"

They all entered the small cave and gasped. On the cave walls, there were mana crystals! Nishan and Saltavore quickly started to mine the mana crystals as Daphne and Loki joined them, Terrence and Seraphine standing to a side.

When they had mined all the crystals, they quickly placed the mana crystals around them. There was just enough to open a portal.

"Well then, I guess it's time to get back to Earth, huh?" Saltavore said.

"Yup!" Seraphine bounced excitedly. "I wonder how long it has been on Earth."

Once ready, the six of them walked through the blue portal.