— “3…”
— “2…”
As the numbers on the red light gradually decreased, Tyler immediately realized that it was a warning from the Divine Eye of Transcendence, detecting an imminent attack.
Though unsure of the source of the attack, Tyler had only one option at the moment: to take cover!
In the blink of an eye, Tyler sprinted forward and escaped the range of the red light. The next second, a colossal boulder fell from above and crashed onto the spot where he had just stood, shattering into countless pieces.
But the danger wasn’t over. Looking up in the direction of the falling boulder, Tyler discovered numerous rolling stones cascading down from the top of the canyon—a landslide!
“Mr. Marik! Retreat quickly! It’s a landslide!!!”
As Tyler shouted loudly, Marik and the others also realized the impending disaster.
Tyler continued to evade, while Marik and his team hurriedly retreated with the carriage.
A multitude of boulders mixed with debris kept rolling down. After a mere ten minutes, the previously unobstructed path at the bottom of the valley was completely blocked by a heap of rocks.
Gazing at the towering pile of stones, reaching a height of twenty to thirty meters, Tyler sighed, knowing that the traveling merchant caravan would never be able to pass through.
“Mr. Marik! Is everyone alright?!”
Across the wall of debris, Tyler shouted loudly.
“We’re all fine! Banning, are you injured?!”
Then, Marik’s voice came from the other side.
“I’m fine too!”
“The pile of stones is too high! The carriage won’t be able to cross!”
“Yes! We’ll have to think of another solution!”
Separated by the wall of debris, Tyler and the traveling merchant caravan communicated through shouts.
In the midst of their conversation, Tyler could hear Tocchini sobbing. The girl was undoubtedly worried about him. However, given the circumstances, Tyler couldn’t climb over the heap of rocks to reunite with the traveling merchant caravan.
“T—o—c—c—h—i—n—i! I’m really fine! Don’t cry!!”
Shouting loudly was the only comfort Tyler could offer Tocchini.
Afterward, once Tyler and Marik exchanged their thoughts, they reached a unanimous conclusion: 𝗈𝚟ℯ𝒍xt.𝕔𝑜𝐌
The traveling caravan would return along the same route and take a detour to Ira Village.
Meanwhile, Tyler would continue along the canyon’s path, heading south to exit and make his way to Ira Village. Along the way, he needed to find the sandrift flowers.
·
(Can’t believe I would travel alone again in this way… ）
Tyler is presently gratified by the fact that he carries all his equipment, but as for sustenance, he can only devise a solution within this gorge.
Upon careful recollection of the recent landslide, Tyler discerns its peculiarities.
The precise description of the new ability of the Divine Eye of Transcendence is as follows:
“Discern the offensive intent of entities below combat occupation level Lv150 within a 3-second timeframe.”
However, shouldn’t a landslide be considered a natural calamity? Why would it be detected as an offensive intent by the Divine Eye of Transcendence?
Could it be that the landslide was not a result of natural causes, but rather intentionally caused by a certain “individual”?
(Apart from this, there seems to be no other plausible explanation.)
Tyler can only surmise that someone did indeed intend to kill him during the recent incident, otherwise the Divine Eye of Transcendence would not have reacted.
Moreover, this “individual” deliberately targeted Tyler instead of attacking the sizable objective of the Traveling Merchant Caravan, indicating a clear objective directed at him.
(Could it be the rumored “Rock Shadow Demon”… but why?)
·
Meanwhile, on the other side of the gorge, the Traveling Merchant Caravan begins its retreat, reversing its direction.
Tocchini weeps as she wanted to continue listening to Banning’s stories and have him give her a massage.
“Don’t worry, Tocchini. We will soon meet Banning again in Ira Village.”
“Is that true… Granny Kasi… sob…”
“Of course it is true. When has Granny Kasi ever deceived you?”
Granny Kasi caresses Tocchini’s rabbit ears, seemingly comforting her. However, in reality, Granny Kasi’s thoughts are:
(I’m sorry, Tocchini, but it seems that Granny Kasi’s words this time might not come true.)
The carriage races forward, and as she gazes at the receding cliffs on either side, Granny Kasi harbors disdain for Swarerock.
(This Swarerock… every few years, he insists on these futile acts of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs…)
(Once a truly formidable individual is lured here, that will be his demise…)
Then, she thinks of Banning, and Granny Kasi feels a hint of regret.
(Oh, Banning, that lad will suffer greatly if its true race is revealed…)
(…Strive to escape this gorge alive, even though it is as difficult as ascending to the heavens.)
·
Tyler’s walking pace slowed down significantly, but it also gave him more opportunities to interact with the ecology of the gorge.
Tyler had been told by Marik that the sandrift flowers he was looking for grew in places with a water source. According to him, there was an underground river in the middle of the Sandrift Gorge, and the sandrift flowers should be found nearby.
As he walked, Tyler occasionally heard faint footsteps behind him. When he turned around, he was surprised to find seven or eight spotted hyenas following him.
These hyenas were the most troublesome predators in the gorge.
Tyler was well aware that once they targeted him, even if he managed to temporarily escape, they would track him down again using his scent.
(Only by fighting back can he reduce their numbers before they get too close.)
-“Combat Occupation skill ‘Heart of Focus – Lv1’ has been activated and remains in effect…”
Without hesitation, Tyler immediately bent his bow and released an arrow with a swift motion, hitting one of the hyenas in the torso.
The hyena pack was startled by this sudden attack, causing their fan-shaped formation to temporarily scatter. Tyler didn’t miss this opportunity and quickly shot two more arrows, hitting another hyena in the leg and the other in the head!
-Successfully killed a hyena, occupation experience +100, current experience 200/1000.
(So, a headshot is an instant kill.)
The remaining five hyenas became somewhat panicked. At this moment, the leader of the pack issued a command.
“Woof, woof, woof!!!” (Everyone, attack! Bite this human to death!)
The hyenas no longer hesitated and spread out, charging towards Tyler from all sides.
Unfazed, Tyler continued to shoot arrows at the closer ones on his left. In an instant, he eliminated two more hyenas.
Then, before the remaining hyenas could get close, Tyler leaped onto the nearby cliff, swiftly climbed up, and seized the advantageous terrain. At this moment, one of the hyenas lunged at him, but Tyler immediately struck it down with his round shield and swiftly followed up with another arrow before it could get back up!
By now, there were only two hyenas left that could still move freely.
“What’s the matter? Aren’t you coming at me?”
Tyler taunted them by striking his shield with his sword, but the hyenas had lost their will to fight and began to tuck their tails, preparing to flee.
However, Tyler wouldn’t allow them to come and go as they pleased.
Without mercy, he shot two more arrows, ensuring that these two hyenas would meet their demise.
-“Combat occupation skill ‘Heart of Focus – Lv1’ has been deactivated.”
-Meeting the level-up requirements, ‘Heart of Focus – Lv1’ automatically upgraded to ‘Heart of Focus – Lv2’.
Along with the skill upgrade, Tyler noticed that his Dexterity attribute had increased by 10 points, and correspondingly, his Endurance had also increased by 10 points.