Hellbents
Chapter 38: In the Shadow

Somehow the man thought that sneaking behind someone when a strange situation was happening was a good idea. But Ava did not say her complaint, this quiet and horrified atmosphere set off alarms of danger in her brain, she needed a source of strength to take advantage of if Ava and her group could not afford it, so he refrained from antagonizing the ranker.

"Black storm?" Ava has not heard about this, she focuses more on collecting information about culture and history, maybe she will add her reading rations with newspapers after anchoring.

"When a ship is hit by a storm in the middle of a dark sea, he said all passengers will disappear mysteriously. A week ago there was a stranded passenger ship, although there was no damage but the ship was empty with no signs of life, only the remaining belongings were left.30 staff of the ship, 40 commoners passengers, were left, and the 3 nobles to date have not been found."

"How's the investigation?"

"Since the 3 nobles are involved, the royal party hastily wants to settle the matter, but still there is no definitive proof."

Because important people are disappearing, they're trying so hard, huh? Very typical. "Isn't this usually done by monsters?"

Because of the experience he accumulated to reach level 100, Ib knew many things, "Monsters with dark attributes and like to kidnap humans are usually called banderhobbs, but their habitat is usually in the lake, but the lake, rivers, or swamps, bodies of fresh water, not oceans, salt water."

"The higher the level of a monster, the more complex their evolution will be. It could be that these banderhobbs are fully adaptable in both fresh and salt water," Ava's knowledge is still minimal, so she just states the hypothesis. But looking at Ib who was nodding, he felt his theory was not entirely wrong. Ava continued, "But that means, we'll be dealing with a high-level monster." Bad news, of course, is that their lives are in danger.

"Moreover, though banderhobbs are like frogs three and a half meters tall that walk like humans. Their bodies were made of shadows and mushy meat, physical attacks would decrease in effectiveness. Plus, their very smart abilities sneak in or hide in the shadows" Ib added, seriously.

As Ib explained, Ava also read in the encyclopedia of monsters that banderhobbs like to kidnap when it rains, so even though the monster is amphibious, its presence is greatly influenced by the availability of water.

Just then, a pair of yellow eyes that were burning in the darkness moved swiftly towards where the two of them were. Ava and Ib had been on standby to hear the light but agile steps, but what appeared was a familiar monster. Ako, River's primordial cat, is meowing in panic.

Ava ran straight away, back to her room. Ako as a tame monster is unlikely to roam around on her own, unless River himself commands the cat.

That is, something has happened.

But when they arrived, Ava's room fell open, with the room only illuminated with a line of blue moonlight. Ib had taken a swing with a cold, shiny iron sword, one step behind Ava who was grasping a dagger that had been covered with poison.

A croak is heard.

That fucking frog inside.

What about River, Dom and Lorah? But looking at Ako who hissed defensively, meaning that the River summon was uncanceled, she was still alive, most likely along with the other two.

I'll make a firmer sound this time from Ava's dark room whose door slammed open. Ava fully focused on the slimy steps that were getting closer, though once she could still feel the warm air on her right side, Ib let out his fire magic.

And when a strange silhouetted creature appeared illuminated by the dim light of the moon, its green distended stomach instantly became the target of Ib's fire and Ava's poisonous dagger.

A roar that was more like the sound of people gargling boomed. Suddenly the silhouette of the monster disappeared.

"Hurry up" Ava commented.

"No, he's just good at hiding in the shadows. They have Shadow Stealth skill."

That is, the sense of sight is unreliable.

A kiss? Ava sniffed the air, the smell of rain still dominates, accompanied by a cursory aroma of moss and .. carnations and charred meat.

Who's hurt? The fucking frog?

Perhaps that is why the creature chose to hide rather than fight, due to the wounds of Ava and Ib's impromptu ambush.

Suddenly, Ako growled furiously and then snorted high. As Ava turned her head, the cat dripped blood from a scratch on her stomach.

The frog attacked silently.

A dark place, an enemy blending in the shadows, what an unfortunate situation to fight against.

How many status points does Ava still not use?

Without thinking any longer, Ava instantly shed all her points to the status of the senses, which upon completion of the process instantly made the girl staggered, overwhelmed. Ava was able to see the wood fibers in the light-minimized hallway, even though her eyes were throbbing pain. He also heard his own heartbeat that seemed to bang on the eardrum, while dampening the next buzz coming. The feather stood up, suddenly very aware of the cold night after the rain in the middle of the ocean, should Ava dress thicker. And lastly, the stench of a dead body pierced his nose.

From behind.

The dagger Ava threw was swallowed by the shadow. But the frog squawked, making Ava's ears buzz.

On target.

Banderhobbs came out of hiding, had made the floor vibrate with muddy heavy steps. Ib mercilessly showered the creature with a ball of fire. "Get down! The skill mumpungnya still cooldown!"

"Don't-don't! Argh!" Ava was hurt by her own voice, too tight for her suddenly sensitive sense of hearing. "Don't yell near me" Ava said at last after calmer. He also attacked, leaving a knife still in his inventory. It wasn't in vain that he bought a dozen knives from the iron shop's clearance yesterday. Although only made of ordinary iron, but its sharpness is enough to injure the thin skin of frogs. Banderhobbs are basically troublesome just because they are good at hiding in the dark.

People with high levels are most likely to have high class skills as well. Skills with a high grade had many advantages, such as a wider area and less cooldown time. Looking at Ib who was without pause bombarding the frog monster with fireballs, that hypothesis seemed to be correct.

The fire attribute is also the weakness of monsters that live in water bodies like this amphibian.

Slowly but surely, the previous burn was only as big as our palms covering half the face of the monster that was actually already ugly.

Not long after, the three-and-a-half-meter-high banderhobbs fell with a loud ringing of the wooden floor. His originally moist skin is now dry and charred, there are also purple veins because the poison given Ava finally spread.

But seeing all the passengers missing from this huge ship, it was likely that there was not only one monster roaming around.