Kael went back the following day after recuperating from his injuries. He passed by where he had left the snake corpse, but it was gone. 'I guess the other beast devoured it all,' He thought. He had four more days before they left, so he was in a hurry. He still hadn't found the grimeback, and he was starting to get anxious.
'Maybe I should head deeper,' he thought. So far, he had not met any real danger, only some feral beasts that ran away immediately after they saw him. It was now high noon under the shrouded swamp. 'Still no sign of the grimeback, did it suddenly become a rare species, or is my luck that bad?' Kael thought as he grabbed one of the vines to pull himself up from the wet ground. Just as he was about to start complaining, he sensed a high concentration of essence ahead of him. 'Could it be some kind of treasure?' He thought as he picked up the pace.
He stopped walking and began using Shadow Step. He found a small clearing that wasn't surrounded by fog. In the middle of it all, there was a single flower. It had ethereal red petals with black tips, with fine vines intertwined on its stalk. Kael took rapid breaths, heart pounding in excitement. 'The gods of luck have not forsaken me,' He said as he approached the flower. The closer he got, the more excited he got. 'It really is the Velshade blossom, one of he ingredients needed to upgrade my fire to nether fire, I didn't expect to find one so soon,' He thought.
He was about to deactivate Shadow Step when, from the corner of his eyes, he spotted a massive beast. It looked like a crocodile from Earth. It was about four meters long, and it had green scales that were covered by what looked like moss and algae. It lay there motionless that one might mistake it for a fallen tree.
'So this is where you've been hiding this whole time,' Kael thought as he looked at the sleeping grimeback. 'Was it waiting for the Velshade blossom?' He wondered as he got closer, but the beast suddenly opened its yellow eyes and looked in his direction. Kael froze for a minute, 'Can it see me in the shadow?' He thought, but the grimeback turned it's head and looked in another direction. 'The instincts of these beasts are truly terrifying,' He thought as he watched the grimeback fully alert grimeback checking its surroundings. After seeing no threat, it didn't relax and went closer to the Velshade blossom.
In the shadows, Kael sighed, 'It looks like I have to deal with the grimeback first before I get the flower. But if we fight here, we might accidentally destroy the flower,' Kael thought as he retreated. 'I have to lure the grimeback away,' He thought as he deactivated shadow step and emerged from the shadows. The grimeback immediately locked onto his location and roared at him, but it didn't move. 'Don't want to leave huh?' Kael thought as a flame orb appeared on his hand, he smiled at it, then threw the flame orb at it. The flame orb exploded on impact and caused a huge explosion.
The grimeback now enraged, charged at him. Kael turned the other way and ran. The grimeback was slower than him, so he had to reduce his speed just enough not to be caught. This should be far enough, he thought as he disappeared into the shadows. The grimeback came to a halt as it watched its surroundings. Kael emerged behind it and threw a flame orb at it, before using moonfade stance to close the distance. The flame orb struck the beast, but before the smoke cleared, Kael appeared before the beast, sword in hand, ready to strike.
Didn't waste time and lunged at him intending to bite him in half. Kael used moonfade stance once again to disappear from the beast's sight and strike its leg. The beast roared in pain as a wound appeared where the blade struck. 'So its scales are not as tough as the miretongue's.' Kael thought as he continued to attack. The grimeback used its tail to try and hit him, but this time he was alert and dodged it, even landing a hit. The grimeback now looked at him with a weary gaze, but Kale didn't care and unleashed a barrage of flame orbs. Each with enough power to level a house.
The grimeback was forced back by the barrage. A cloud of smoke had enveloped it when Kael stopped. 'Is it dead?' He wondered as he looked at the cloud of smoke from a distance. He was about to go and take a closer look when the grimeback charged madly at him. Its speed was unlike any it had displayed before. Kael didn't have time to react and was struck by its claws on his chest with so much force that his mind went back for a moment. He was sent flying into a tree, landing with so much force that he left a dent in the tree's stem. He struggles to get up as he holds the gaping wound on his chest. 'What happened? Why did its strength and speed increase so much all of a sudden?' He thought as he winced in pain. He managed to stand up and look at the beast. Its yellow eyes had now turned red, and a green light covered its whole body. It opened its mouth and released its toxic breath, which quickly covered the area. Every plant that it touched withered and died within seconds.
It's wounds were also starting to heal under the green gas. Kael felt a sense of urgency, 'Shit, it's healing itself, I have to finish this quickly before the odds are against me.' He though as he picked up his sword. The beast saw this and charged at him, but he activated shadow step and quickly disappeared. He appeared a few meters away and threw more flame orbs at the beast, but it just tanked them like it was nothing, heading straight for him. "Its defenses have also improved." He said as he sank into the shadows. He had already noticed that the broken scales were starting to regenerate. 'I have to use the first form of the heaven cleaving sword path if I want to kill it,' He thought as he appeared on top of a tree and jumped down. He lifted his sword up and activated a skill he hadn't used in a long while.
He activated time stop. Everything within a five meter radius from him came to a stop. Time was a supreme force in the universe, and right now it displayed its might. The Grimeback below was frozen still, suspended in time. Time stop lasted only three seconds, so Kale didn't waste time and used the first form. A huge sword phantom appeared above him, and he swung it down, aiming for the beast's neck.
The first form once again displayed its destructive capabilities as it slammed down on the beast, slicing its head clean from its body. Just as it did, the duration for time stop ended, and everything went back to normal. Only this time, the beast's body was separated from its neck.
Kael tumbled down, weak from exhaustion and his injury, which was still bleeding. He weakly got up and walked to the fallen beast's corpse. With his sword, he worked on the corpse until he found its gull. He took out the container prepared for this and stored it. Then he slowly walked to the Velshade blossom and carefully picked it, I'll have to buy one of this containers to store the flower,' He thought. Just then, the book suddenly opened and flipped through some pages. Kael put his attention on the book and saw it settle on a blank page, with only one word, 'Storage', on it. Then information about it appeared in his mind. "So it's a separate dimension within the book, it says that I can place items and plants inside and their value wont deteriorate." He said as he willed it, and the flower disappeared. He then sent his consciousness into the book, and a large open space appeared, it seemed to have no end in sight. After marveling at it, he looked around and found the flower. "Hahaha, this is awesome. This will make things much easier." He laughed as he retracted his consciousness and put the contents of his bag inside. He then looked for a tall tree and climbed it. Once he was settled, he took out a pill he had bought from the apothecary and swallowed it.
'This fight was much harder than the one with the snake. But it also had the most rewards. Risk and reward are opposite sides of the same coin after all.' He thought as he closed his eyes and started cultivating as the medicine did its work.