Mark looked at the lake in the front of him, then down at the compass in his hand.
He shifted left and right to check if it again.
Yet no matter what he tried the compass always pointed toward the direction of the lake.
'Damn it.'
After breaking through to (B+)-rank, Mark took out [the golden compass] and wished for a way out.
It been four hours since he started to follow the direction of the compass.
And now he was standing in the front of the lake.
The same lake that took Leo, Mark didn't dare even dare to go near it.
He just kept observing it for aleast a mile distance.
He poured some mana in compass to check if it was pointed in the right direction.
But the needle just kept pointing toward the lake.
'Was I alway this unlucky?'
Mark didn't know what to say, but one thing was certain, his way out lay beyond the lake.
He searched for an alternate path around the lake, but all he found were crystal peaks rising in a jagged wall around it.
So if he wanted to cross the lake he had to climb the mountains battle whatever horror is up there and then find his way down.
'Perfect...just perfect.'
Mark looked up as if complaining to sun, except there was no sun.
Another thing he had learned about this place was that it had neither sun nor moon.
The entire region glowed endlessly, lit by the radiant peaks of the surrounding mountains, shining day and night without rest.
And that made him even more reluctant to climb this peaks.
_Kreeee!
Disturbing him out of his thoughts was the cry of the bird, he muttered a curse and quickly found a slope to hide under.
Over the past week, Mark had been observing the bird monster. He had studied its timing carefully and chosen a slope to hide behind, where he could finally see its form without being noticed.
What he saw was breathtaking, a peacock, a giant peacock, its entire body sculpted from gleaming blue crystals.
That was the most beautiful monster he had ever seen in his life.
Its feathers glittered like shards of glass, and when it spread its tail, the light scattered in every direction. Beautiful to look at, yet dangerous to face.
Mark looked for only a few seconds before he forced himself to turn away.
'Mental hex. It was a mental hex.'
That creature was also a [Mind] category monster, the glass peacock.
An (A+)-rank elite monster.
He had only ever heard rumors about it, who would have thought he would one day see it with his own eyes.
After that single observation, Mark never dared to look at it again.
Soon, the glow of the crystals dimmed, fading back to their normal, dull state.
He stepped out of his hiding and glanced at the sky.
'If only I could fly over the lake.'
While looking at the sky a crazy idea struck him.
'No no! this is crazy. I would die.'
Mark surveyed the area once more but couldn't find any way.
Dejected he returned to his hideout.
After a while he sat by the fire, a fish sizzling over the flames. He leaned back against a rock, poking at the embers with a stick.
"And that's the situation," he muttered.
"No way to cross the lake, and I sure as hell won't be sailing over it."
Across from him there were two circles above a crescent smile, craved into the face of stone.
Little crude, but it was the best he could draw using the edge of his blade.
He smirked.
"You know, Smiley, it's not too bad here. Living with you, eating grilled fish every day, going out once in a while for some exercise."
No rely came.
"Sometimes I wonder what I'd even do if I went back,"
he continued, voice low. "Most of my friends are gone. The ones left, we're not that close anymore.
Even if I returned, it'd just be the same, hunting day and night. No dream. No purpose. And I sure as hell don't have a girlfriend waiting for me either."
Mark chuckled, raising a finger to point at the rock. "But you, Smiley, judging by that handsome face, I bet you've got plenty of girls, huh?"
The stone stared back, silent and grinning.
He tilted his head, squinting at it.
"What, none? Hah. Now that I look closer, you're not that handsome after all. Guess us lonely souls just have to stick together."
The fire crackled, filling the quiet that followed.