Intrinsically, they had no need to approach the creature, for it was already wounded and slowly dying.
In all honesty, it did not even register their presence, its senses dulled and drifting away.
In theory, Na-Ri could have leapt in and claimed the kill herself, or Kyle might have attempted the same.
Such a possibility existed and yet remained unattainable, for the creature had cast a small domain around itself, a protective field intended to ward off threats while it attempted to regenerate.
Even so, the injury it had sustained showed no sign of recovery, as though the damage lay beyond the limits of natural healing.
Its scales had been shattered to the core, and half of its body appeared blasted apart as if struck by a cannon, while the scars of other battles were carved across its remaining form.
Kyle could only imagine what manner of beast had inflicted such devastation upon a Stage Three, Brutal-ranked creature.
To face something capable of that would be nothing short of a death sentence.
For a fleeting moment, he muttered a hollow prayer to the dead gods, hoping the creature would perish before nightfall, when more predators would emerge or when some environmental calamity might descend.
At least then he might... oh. Na-Ri was here as well, and she had been the first to discover the creature, arriving at this very spot before him. Considering that, what if the striking stranger had been the one to deliver such injuries, but had simply failed to finish the beast entirely?
'No...? That seemed almost plausible.'
He reasoned with himself as his gaze settled on Na-Ri, who was gathering dry wood left to rot.
With that, she could start a fire, provided she found a way to ignite it.
Dismissing the absurd notion, he accepted that there was no possibility she could have done it.
The Glacial Skyscander and Na-Ri might have shared the same elemental ability, and she had indeed shown considerable mastery over hers.
Judging from what she could construct with it, and the precision with which she could dismantle her creations without leaving a trace, her control was undeniable.
Be that as it may, there was no conceivable way she could have inflicted such devastation upon the creature without sustaining grievous harm herself. In every respect, the beast was superior to her, not least because it possessed the capacity to cast a Domain.
A Domain was a controlled environment of Qi projection, within which the user could manipulate reality to their will. It could also be reduced to a smaller field, a mini domain, but in either case the effect was the same: any opponent who entered became prey, regardless of their own strength.
Such an ability could only be attained by cultivators or beasts at Stage Three and above, and it demanded a perilous expenditure of Spiritual energy to sustain.
The mutated creature was struggling desperately to cling to life in a brutal world where it had once reigned as a predator. Now, hunted and crippled, likely by one of its own kind, it had become prey itself, forced to confront the savagery of the realm it inhabited.
That was the realisation that struck most after acquiring power: the moment they fell from it, betrayed or destroyed by their own kind, they were consumed by an agony so profound it made them... burst.
'What a pitiful creature,' Kyle thought. 'A waste. I only hope you die quickly, because I need your essence core.'
He turned his gaze away from the howling beast writhing in unbearable pain.
With a sigh of relief, his eyes drifted to the striking stranger, who had already gathered a bundle of dry wood and set it before them.
Kyle asked in a flat tone, "What do you plan to use all this wood for?"
He wondered whether she intended to cook meat, though a glance confirmed neither of them had any.
Na-Ri placed the wood neatly in order and replied curtly, "For the night. We will need this to stay awake, since we cannot afford to sleep. If we do, those volant creatures of the ruin may well make a meal of us."
'That's reasonable,' Kyle thought, nodding slightly in agreement with Na-Ri's claim.
All the same, another thought followed: setting up a fire like a miniature camp would almost certainly draw more beasts to them.
The height of the dam offered some protection, since most land-dwelling creatures would neither see them nor attempt the climb, but flying predators remained a danger.
The counterpoint, however, carried greater weight when considered carefully.
Predators in the skies did not hurl themselves at every spark, for flame to them was often a symbol of danger.
Wildfire meant smoke, heat, and unstable air, conditions that volant beasts instinctively avoided.
A controlled blaze upon the crest of the dam imitated that same threat. It was not an invitation but a deterrent. The glow that Kyle had first imagined as a beacon might instead serve as a ward, persuading sharp-eyed hunters to veer away rather than draw closer.
Even the smoke carried its own utility.
While it revealed their presence, it also distorted scent trails, veiling the smell of prey beneath the blanket of burning wood.
Ultimately, the fire carried advantages of its own.
***
Once the camp was arranged and their quiet maintained so the dying creature below would not sense them, Kyle and the stranger sat opposite one another with the unlit pile of wood between them.
For a long while, silence and awkwardness held between them until the beautiful stranger chose to break it, as though answering Kyle's unspoken prayer.
"So, hey... are you not curious about this realm called a Trial Zone? Why all of this exists without a single human living here, though it has stood long enough for one to have built it?" she said without inflection, her eyes drifting across the broad stone of the dam.
The question caught Kyle's mind at once.
Indeed, he had wondered how a human structure could exist in this land, and she seemed the sort who might possess that knowledge and overturn the mistaken notions he had carried all this while.
"Yeah, I am curious about that," he answered plainly, looking back at her.
Na-Ri gave a solemn smile and then let a soft chuckle escape, gratified to find him truly interested.
Perhaps he was not quite the withdrawn sadist she had assumed.
Kyle made no reaction, which was unusual for him, though a part of him was unsettled by her smile and laugh. It was the second time she had done so, and perhaps it meant she was beginning to loosen from her own thoughts.
Slowly, Na-Ri began to explain what she knew and had been told about a Trial Zone.
"This is the past world. This Trial Zone is an alternate version of the past world, and I mean the medieval age. It is an example of what the world might have looked like if the calamity that struck us had come earlier..."
Kyle's eyes widened, and bewilderment sparked like a flame at her words.