In the dark quiet night, several people were sitting around a fire pit in the Village Chief's house. Not far from them, dozens of villagers and soldiers from Angelo's team were chatting and enjoyed eating dinner.
After the catwoman woke up, the whole village erupted into cheers and were grateful for the strangers. As a reward for waking the Village Chief's granddaughter and killing the wolf pack that haunts the village for a week, the villagers offered their best meal to the soldiers who had helped their village.
The family members of the Village Chief and some villagers were busy preparing supper in the kitchen. These weary soldiers, who had traveled a long distance, had not had a hot meal yet.
Although the soldiers had intended to refuse, they could not resist the villagers' hospitality.
Not to mention, one of their comrades was the one who awakened the Village Chief's granddaughter and cured her from the venom.
The villagers were extremely grateful for this, and even brought out meat that they had prepared for them.
"Holy shit, it's been so long since I ever tasted meat!" one soldier cried in joy as he hungrily ate the meal in front of him.
"Yeah, I'm tired of eating seafood. This is heaven," said another soldier, munching the piece of meat he and the others ate.
At this moment, an extremely beautiful girl with long black hair tied into a ponytail and cat-like ears happened to be sitting beside the fire. Her eyes were very clear and pure, without the trace of any impurities, they resembled two pools of autumn water.
She was the Village Chief's second granddaughter.
She was the sleeping beauty who had been sleeping for a long time, refusing to wake up. However, just now, she woke up after one soldier named Nathan helped her.
"Thank the gods you're awake," the Village Chief said, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye as he looked at his little granddaughter sitting not far away with a dotting expression.
She was his last hope. It was already a huge blessing that she had woken up.
"I'm fine, grandpa," she replied with a reassuring smile.
Meanwhile, Nathan, who was also sitting by the fire, looked at the young girl.
'I don't know if it's me, but she does have similar characteristics to my girlfriend back on Earth.'
As if sensing his gaze, the catwoman looked at Nathan, who startled slightly and averted his gaze.
"Thank you for saving my life, mister," she said.
"Oh, it's nothing really, haha," he chuckled nervously.
'Damn, I feel like a virgin again,' he thought.
"But I like to ask, why are you here?" asked the young girl sitting by the side with an innocent look in her eyes.
"What else could bring us here apart from the rampaging Magic Beast? We are here to gather information," Nathan replied with a smile, nonchalantly waving his hand.
He quite liked this young girl named Lyzbeth. So, when she asked, he naturally started talking.
"Oh…" she said, drawing out her voice as if pondering.
After a moment, the girl proactively asked as if she thought of something, "By the way, I heard you and your team were able to find the Magic Beast very quickly. How did you do it though?"
"Well…" Nathan's lips parted, but no words came out, seemingly hesitating to reply. But the next moment, he decisively shut his mouth after glancing around. Although it was not classified information, he felt that the villagers still should not know about it.
"Is it something you can't say?" The cat girl lowered her head as her voice became softer.
"Haha," Nathan chuckled and shook his head before affectionately glanced at the girl and smiled, "No, it's not like that."
Saying so, he then pointed at the sky.
"We have detected abnormal fluctuations there with the help of something in the sky. That's why we are able to find them easily."
"Oh, so you were helped by a deity or something? You're religious?"
"Oh… haha, you could say that," he said sheepishly. Even though he is Christian, their success was actually due to the technological power of the Mana-Monitoring Satellite.
"Interesting," Lyzbeth said, shifting her gaze from the forest back to Nathan. "By the way, I have something to show you."
"What is it?"
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Watching as his squadmate, Nathan, and the cat girl rushed out into the forest, Angelo frowned and looked at the Village Chief.
"Is it unsafe for one of my men and your granddaughter to leave this late?"
"Don't worry, lad. She is taking your men to the lake she and her sister always like to play at," the Village Chief assured him, "It has strange magic that keeps lesser Magic Beasts away."
"Interesting, I should research that later," Angelo mumbled, "Anyways, thank you for the information you gave me, old man."
The Village Chief nodded. "It's my pleasure."
Staring at the night sky, Angelo went deep in thought. According to the Village Chief, during the past month, the people here had heard the news from the Kingdom that the Queen was dead.
And her brother, the new king, had caused much suffering to many people in the kingdom, mostly on the manaless and humans in small towns and villages. This village, however, hadn't been affected much because they were far and isolated from any major cities of the kingdom and their politics, which was good to hear.
Still, he needed more information to gather.
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The shimmering radiance of the starry sky once enveloped the night, blending seamlessly with the distant darkness under nature's guidance. As the clouds slowly dissipated, they exposed the two bright lustrous red and blue moons that illuminated the land from above like heterochromia eyes, making this beautiful paradise even more beautiful.
At this moment, Nathan and the catwoman named Lyzbeth sat around their own campfire, slowly enjoying the grilled fishes they caught in the huge lake.
"My sister and I used to swim in this lake every day," Lyzbeth said while looking at the moon's reflection on the lake's surface.
Nathan nodded. The two moons above, larger and colorful than Earth's, seemed to magnify the splendor of this place.
"Speaking of swimming, I used to compete with my girlfriend whenever we swam together," Nathan said, finishing his grilled fish coated with butter.
"You mentioned that your girlfriend is now out of this world. I'm sorry for your loss," Lyzbeth said sympathetically.
Nathan chuckled inwardly, thinking, 'I meant that literally.'
"Well, we've all faced our share of hardships and adventures. We need to move on, or we risk becoming burdens," he said, meeting Lyzbeth's golden gaze.
She smiled. "I hope you're fine."
"Don't worry, I already am," Nathan replied.
Suddenly, an idea struck Lyzbeth. Smiling, she declared, "Well, Nathan, you did say you're a master at swimming. Let's have a bet!"
"Oh? I'm curious." Nathan smiled, focusing his eyes on Lyzbeth, who pointed her finger at the lake in the distance and announced the condition of the bet.
"A swimming contest. The winner will be the king for one hour, and the winner's orders are absolute."
"Wow! I'm in." Nathan's eyes sparkled with a dark luster as he stood up. He was confident in his swimming skills as he is an athlete at swimming during his College days, so he believed he wouldn't lose.
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"So, are you sure there aren't any sea monsters in there?" Nathan asked.
"My sister and I have swum in this lake our entire lives, so no," Lyzbeth replied.
Later, Nathan looked at Lyzbeth, who wore a swimsuit that looked like a part of the Racer Back swimming costumes collection.
'How the heck does she have something like that??'
He had expected her to swim naked, never imagining she would wear something so modern. Nonetheless, the swimsuit highlighted her beautiful form. She tied her hair into a ponytail with an elastic and started stretching. She had that Cheshire grin that seemed to announce that she was sure of her victory.
Nathan could easily imagine what her orders would be if she won. Maybe she would ask him to catch a hundred more fishes in the lake.
'I mean, holy hell. I managed to catch dozens of them and she ate most of them hungrily. Probably it's her cat side,' he thought.
Shaking his head, Nathan positioned himself. Right now, he was only wearing a pair of trousers, the gray trouser made a great contrast with the silver moonlight.
"Are you sure you have any second thoughts about this bet?" Lyzbeth asked smugly, "You might lose."
"Nah, I'd win."
Nathan flipped a coin into the air, and when it landed on the ground precisely on a stone producing a sound, both of them leaped into the lake. The race distance was thirty meters, marked by a tree at the far end.
Just after they jumped into the water, Nathan was the fastest to move as he had started with the butterfly stroke, making him move so fast that he quickly put some distance between them, and he seemed like a professional swimmer, no calling him a mermaid would be an understatement.
In life people have hobbies, especially rich people, who have even more. Some of the richest people have a collection of supercars, yachts, and watches. Nathan had one hobby added to all those things.
He loves swimming. All his residences had the largest pools, one of which almost matched the length as the largest pool in the world, the pool at San Alfonso del Mar, a resort outside of Santiago, Chile.
Every night, he would swim in his pools to relax and enjoy the feeling of water caressing his body. Thanks to this hobby of his, his swimming skills were unmatched, well, when compared to his other friends and normal friends.
Truth be told, Nathan could be considered having the best swimming skill he ever encountered except that one guy, but if he thinks that he would win with this, then it was a huge mistake.
Because all of a sudden, a faint glow began to envelope Lyzbeth's body, and before Nathan realized, the catwoman moved and her speed increased drastically to the point where she caught up with Nathan two meters ahead.
Now shoulder to shoulder, the two looked at each other. Nathan was dumbfounded but Lyzbeth smiled. With all his might, Nathan launched his body forward like a fish that took a jump outside of the water surface. He could see the goal ahead, he became more sure of his victory as he swam forward, everything disappeared, his mind was clear like never, the only focus in his mind was that tree ahead. He saw victory. However, the reality is harsh as it slaps you when you're less expecting it.
Like a hurricane, Lyzbeth bypassed him and arrived at their destination just before he could. The speed which she passed was godly, and to make matters worse, she winked at him before using the Butterfly stroke when she passed him as if to say…
'I had this in the bag from the start.'
"No fair! You used your magic or whatever!" Nathan protested.
"Didn't I say mana wasn't allowed?" Lyzbeth replied with a wink. "But I did try to ask if you had second thoughts about this."
Nathan could only sigh. Well, she does have a point. He should have clarified the rules before accepting so readily.
Looking at Lyzbeth, who was smiling as she stared at him, Nathan sighed for the second time. Shrugging his shoulders, he swam forward and stopped right in front of her.
"What are your orders, ô mine, Queen!" he asked theatrically.
Lyzbeth's lips twitched at Nathan's tone. She chuckled and ordered, "Close your eyes!"
Nathan was surprised by this order. His mind raced, and he thought of a certain possibility, but he didn't dare to believe it. But he closed his eyes anyway, hoping that it was just a misconception he had, however, Lyzbeth's next gesture proved to him that it wasn't the cause.
"What are y-?"
Just as he was about to question, Lyzbeth stole his lips. Nathan's eyes enlarged due to how shocked he was as he hadn't seen this attack coming, so he was completely caught off guard.
The kiss was sweet, unlike any he had experienced on Earth.
This woman's kiss was not the same as those of his previous girlfriend, but was instead stepped in a passion that ignited something within him. Magical was a perfect word to describe it.
Wait a minute…
"Are you sure you're not a monster that kills their prey by seducing?" Nathan asked with suspicion.
Lyzbeth seemed genuinely offended, "Why do you think about that?"
"Nevermind, I'm going to continue even if you're definitely going to kill me," Nathan laughed as he reciprocated.
The kiss turned heated as they explored each other's mouths, trying to learn more about one another.
As the two became lost in the kiss, they seemed to be in each other's protective cocoons on their own world. Their faces flushed red as their kiss grew hot, passion was ignited as their hands started roaming on each other's naked bodies.
Just as things were about to escalate, both sensed something wrong.
Nathan frowned. He could sense an ominous feeling and a shadow not far from them. Holding Lyzbeth by the waist, he quickly pushed her behind a tree while grabbing their stuff and his weapon, which was an AA12 Shotgun.
They both hastily dress while Nathan inserts the disc-like magazine filled with shotgun shells into his weapon.
He crouched low, moving steadily crept forward to observe the terrain ahead. Once they were under the cover of a tree root, Nathan slowly removed his motion detector and scanned the surroundings, but there were no return signals on his scanners except for the movement of the small bird above.
"Did you sense something?" Nathan whispered.
Lyzbeth nodded. "Yeah."
Same as Nathan, Lyzbeth's sixth sense was telling her something is wrong ahead. The forest was too eerily quiet, like it was holding its breath, waiting for something.
That was when they both heard a soft hissing from the trees. The two froze and only moved their eyes upwards to see a large coiled creature in the trees, several tens of meters away.
"Hissssss~..."
The two stared at the snake, none of them dared to look directly at the eyes for fear as it might sense them, so they both used the corner of their eyes to carefully observe it.
A trickle of sweat slowly rolled down Nathan's eye. Ignoring the stinging sensation of his eye, he softly touched his mike key and radioed his captain.
"Contact, big snake on a tree in my location, over." He whispered softly.
But all he got was static.
"What the…?"
'Please don't tell me something bad happened to the village, or it's just some magic interference bullshit,' he thought.
Grumbling under his breath, Nathan looked at Lyzbeth and told her, "Head back to the village and warn everyone."
"What about you?" she asked worriedly.
"You're faster, and I'm more of a slow runner, so I might slow you down. But don't worry, my stealth is so good that even my sergeant yelled, 'Where the hell were you, Private?' during stealth training," he joked.
Lyzbeth chuckled at his words, then nodded and skillfully moved through the forest obstacles like an Olympic champion.
"Huh, so that's what they mean by cat-like reflexes," Nathan mused.
As Lyzbeth rushed off, Nathan slowly readied his shotgun as he waited for the others to come and kept watch on the snake. Suddenly, the giant snake jerked its massive diamond-shaped head up in the village's direction and gave a low hiss.
Not only that, its brown scales briefly changed to blue before reverting back to brown.
"Oh, shit," Nathan cursed softly, trying to calm his beating heart, "It's coming to the village… and it can camouflage."