Revenge of the Serpent

Chapter 15.5

'It's like being sent to die...' Merlin sighed tiredly as he stuffed as many arrows into his quiver as he possibly could.

The Forest Trolls had an arsenal somewhere near the secluded area of the town, it was filled to the brim with weapons, all blessed by the sage's magic.

'I really wish I was stronger.'

He was happy that his friend had come back stronger than before, this meant that he wouldn't need to see him die again like last time. That incident had haunted his dreams and plagued him with unimaginable guilt and he constantly blamed himself for it.

It'd become difficult for him to maintain a positive attitude, and at some point, he'd even given up on trying to resist the Griffins' authority.

'Is this my punishment?' Merlin slung the full quiver around his shoulder and summoned his bow.

When he'd walked out of the building, Theodore was already there waiting for him. "Ah, you're done? Shamba had just come back too so I'll go check what she's got first."

"Okay." The ginger nodded and watched as his friend slithered away.

He quietly stared at the snake leaving as an unknown and uneasy feeling rose in his chest.

Merlin pursed his lips nervously while slightly frowning. 'I'm sorry...I should've been stronger than this.'

'Rustle!'

He immediately turned around in reflex at the sudden noise.

'!?'

It came from the bushes behind him, and even as he was staring at it, the tall grass continued to move, like something was traversing inside of it.

His hand reached for an arrow in his quiver and he knocked one on his bow, prepared to shoot at any incoming enemy.

"Come out." His voice went uncharacteristically low as his eyes narrowed. The two dark orbs suddenly glowed yellow when he activated the 'Eagle Eye' skill.

As if responding to his call, a black shadow emerged from the woods.

.
.
.

Theodore stopped at the town square, where a Forest Troll had come to tell him where Shamba was.

He perked his head up and stared at a tied-up creature in front of him.

'Wow, I didn't think they could actually do it.'

Chains shining a bright red color wrapped tightly around the monster's entire figure, hindering its movements and getting rid of any chance for it to struggle out of the bindings.

He was amazed at not just the trolls' prowess, but also at how fast they'd delivered the prey to him.

'It'd only been a few hours.'

Shamba was down on one knee while her hand and staff rested on her other thigh. She'd come alone since the rest of her supposed 'team' was nowhere in sight. "Oh, Great Serpent! We have delivered you the strongest beast we could find in this area!"

<<Golden-Scaled Dragon

Lvl: 92
Rank: A+
Rarity: Very Rare
Age: Mature (1,000-3,000 years old.)
Yield: 2.5 Million EXP.

[You've already met with this type of creature. Other information is temporarily hidden.]>>

It was truly a mesmerizing specimen; Its beautiful gold scales nicely overlapped each other while some of the spots on its body were riddled with cuts and stab wounds, where blood continued to flow from them. Its claws were seemingly made from silver and its fierce blue eyes stared at Theodore with a look of contempt.