As both the fox and the bird stared at Liam and his calm face, the two became stupified and screeched even more loudly.
However, the next instant they completely quieted down as they saw something unbelievable.
A huge fireball appeared in front of Liam and was falling down along with the rest of them.
And as it was falling down, the fireball started gaining more momentum and began to grow bigger.
What the hell?
However, no one had any time to think as the ground beneath them was approaching.
Screee! Kyuuuu!
The two once again screamed in madness. This slow descent because of the cutting winds and the wait for their impending death was excruciatingly painful.
But… their time was finally here!
And just as they were about to land with their faces down on the dry barren rocky slope of a mountain… unexpectedly something else happened.
BOOM!
Their brains shook and the fox and the bird couldn't see anything except for the chunks of rocks flying at them and the loud sound of an explosion.
They also felt a massive albeit burning force pushing them from the other direction, in effect reducing their plummeting speed.
In the span of a second, their sure deaths somehow got flipped and they simply scattered and fell on the mountain slope with just grave injuries instead.
Liam flashed his eyes open and immediately emptied a bottle of health potion. He had taken the brunt of the explosion and only had a pathetic 50 health points left!
He then sprang up and dashed over to the fox first. She was also not doing well and barely had any health left.
He took another health potion and helped the beast recover as well, followed by the bird.
Only then did he sit down on the rough ground and catch his breath.
"FUCK!" Liam gritted his teeth and punched the rock next to him to shatter it into several tiny bits that fell alongside the other debris.
"Too close. I should have been more careful."
He took several breaths calming himself down, though his heart was still beating out of his chest.
He did not have a plan when they had first begun falling and only attempted this dangerous option because there was no other choice.
He knew of this method because it was one of the less popular ones to break a fall. There were other better ones but they all needed special times.
Even if he had any wind magic skills, things wouldn't have gone this far. Since he only had control over the fire element he had to try this self-destructive strategy.
Thankfully, somehow the force was enough and they had managed to scrape by with just a few injuries.
Liam let out a deep breath and stood up. He didn't dare to relax for long. After all, they hadn't even started the main course of the meal!
He activated [Stealth] and circled the spot to make sure that there weren't any other creatures around.
Liam then bent down and patted the wind ripper. "I am sorry for shocking you both like that. You should stay here for now. I will be back in a few hours."
"If something comes your way, fly away to that side and not this side. Even if by mistake you fly into that zone again, they would once again attack you both. Understood?"
The two pets dazedly nodded, looking at Liam with reverence. They had still not recovered from what had just occurred.
Everything had happened too fast!
One second, they were flying. The next they were being attacked and then they were falling to the ground, but now they were sitting leisurely as if nothing had taken place?
Their master was too good!
Liam did not forget to take out some food and give the two something to eat. This was not a low level zone. It would be impossible for them to hunt and eat anything on their own.
Since he had no idea when he would be able to return from this particular mission, he made sure to give them both adequate food beforehand.
Liam then activated his [Stealth] skill one more time and slowly maneuvered down the slope reaching the foot of the hill they had landed on.
He then paused for a moment to check his surroundings and once again began to move. Every step he took, he made sure to do it cautiously.
Even a single slip-up could cost him his life.
He slowly walked around, hiding his figure behind the tall rocks, and headed towards the small campsite that they had spotted from high up in the air.
There weren't any creatures in the vicinity so he didn't run into anything unexpectedly.
After several minutes, he finally arrived near the place, but he stopped himself and did not enter the valley.
He hid behind a rock first and carefully observed everything.
In front of him, there were several small things busily buzzing about, being very lively and active.
These were the black dots that they had seen from up above, now bigger in size. They were all constantly moving with purpose and urgency.
However, weirdly all of them lacked any sort of life.
They were simply metallic beings in the shape of rectangles and cylinders.
They had some humanoid features like limbs and faces, but they were full and full made of metal.
These robotic gnomes all glowed and buzzed as they wandered around the valley.
Liam took a look at the camp and immediately double-checked that his [Stealth] was still active. Otherwise, it would be instant death.
Even beasts could be tricked once aggroed but it was extremely difficult to trick these little buggers.
Every single one of them had automatic high technology sensors, not just simply sensing motion but also the presence of mana to some extent.
It was almost impossible to escape their detection.
Liam clenched his fist and mumbled to himself.
"Time to start."
"This is going to get ugly."