60th of Season of Fire, 57th year of the 32nd cycle

Am I cursed? Newt almost started muttering obscenities as he searched his ninth fourth realm manabeast and found its core had shattered. Both Dandelion and the books said it's one in ten, one in five if you kill the manabeast before it uses significant amounts of mana. So why zero in nine?

Ever since realizing how to find and approach manabeasts in the Valley of the Lost, Newt realized it was infested with them. The sole reason students wandered so much without encountering them was that the beasts were just as lost as they were. The visibility was meager, and without it, the odds of them crossing each other's paths were negligible.

Dumb spiky. Newt sliced a thick strip of pure muscle from the dead saurian's tail. His stomach had started complaining shortly before dawn, and Newt had decided he would take a pound of flesh from his kill to sate his hunger.

Spiketail tail was all meat and no fat, a delicacy. The only problem was that Newt lacked the grilling mesh that Obi carried around on his person. Who in their right mind carries a portable grilling kit into a danger zone, and why don't I have one? But I guess roasting is pretty good too.

An hour later, Newt had a chunk of meat skewered on his glaive's head, cutting off a bite-sized chunk with his short-sword. The surreality of the scene drew a smile.

This time two years ago, I was in a mine, no hope, no future. This time last year, I was in that same mine, shaping my realm and searching for manarium crystals to advance. Now, I'm sitting in a danger zone for fourth realm awakened, eating fourth realm manabeast roast, prepared on my fourth realm weapon, cut by my other fourth realm weapon, all of it while I'm still in the third realm. And the best part, my head doesn't even hurt!

Over the course of the previous day's trial and error, Newt eliminated the feeling of wrongness, or at least reduced it to levels he no longer noticed. He was still mindful, in case the minor damage accumulated into something noticeable, but otherwise his mood was great. As great as it could be, considering he was lost inside a danger zone beyond his realm.

I can do this. I just have to find the exit. I have the means, the brains, and if I got out of that damned mine, I can get out of anything.

Newt finished his breakfast and started moving. He had rested the previous evening, he was alone, and despite his newfound sense, wandering in the dark was ill advised. The manabeasts active in the dark could see in the dark, and no matter how elated with his success, Newt had no intention of fighting his equals or superiors while blind. Stalking and ambushing them from behind was much more sensible.

There. Another hour passed before he sensed an island of safety within the sea of danger he navigated. He turned and followed the sensation to its source.

Another helmhead? I guess this one's getting away too.

Newt just thought that when he sensed another island of safety appear straight to the left of the helmeted saurian. It moved slowly for a second, then zipped through Newt's perception, careening straight at the helmhead. A white blur smashed into the startled saurian and knocked it down before it could gather its bearings.

The shroud ultraraptor clamped its jaws around the other saurian's neck, sinking its teeth into the scaly flesh. Hardly any blood escaped the predator's maw before the helmhead started thrashing.

The moment the helmhead offered resistance, the ultraraptor snapped its head back, tearing a mouthful of its victim's throat. The helmhead jumped to its feet, bleeding profusely. It sprinted through the fog, disappearing from Newt's sight, but the ultraraptor shot right after it. The two spots of safety joined, and Newt imagined the ultraraptor smashing into the herbivore's back, taking another bite, as he sprinted after them.

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While his body was the equivalent of a fourth realm mageknight, probably a bit beyond the third layer, Newt was chasing after two air-attributed manabeasts, and the distance they covered in a blink took him a whole ten seconds to cross.

Just as he expected, the ultraraptor stood atop the helmhead, its thick, curved leg talons stabbed into the helmhead's back. The ultraraptor had its jaw clamped around its victim's neck, shaking its head left and right. The helmhead whined and groaned, then the whining sounds died with a bony pop, as the ultraraptor broke its neck.

There was no triumphant roar. Instead, the ultraraptor turned around, its eyes trained on Newt. Mana surged through Newt's body, and Granite Crust covered his skin a moment before the white blur smashed bodily into him. Had Newt's element been earth alone, that would have been the end of the exchange, but flames burst out of the grayish black scales covering Newt's body.

Salamandra's Skin erupted and fire swallowed Newt's surroundings, but the agile ultraraptor jumped away, leaving the blast unscathed. The beast was air-attributed, adapted to life in the Valley of the Lost, and it used its tactics for preying on dangerous hard-shelled prey. It retreated into the mist and vanished.

Newt could sense safety in the sea of danger sail to his left, circling around him. He was about to turn around when he stopped himself.

Fourth realm manabeasts are intelligent. If it sees me tracking it in the myst, it may retreat, maybe even wait and ambush me at night, if it has some kind of night vision.

Newt found it more prudent to play dumb and keep his shell active. Instead of tracking the ultraraptor, Newt slowly turned rightwards, searching for an invisible enemy, despite knowing where the ultraraptor was. Newt spun a full circle and stopped. The ultraraptor waited.

While its element was poor at standing still, the manabeast proved patient, observing Newt for minutes as he slowly advanced towards the helmhead's corpse. With Granite Crust in place, Newt butchered the saurian, but found no cores.

Again! That's zero out of ten, and I didn't even kill this one. Newt let go of the ribs he had been holding and glanced towards the shroud ultraraptor. Why aren't you attacking? Is it because of Granite Crust? You know you can't beat it, so you're waiting for me to drop it and take me by surprise?

Newt had to admit, it was a sound tactic, and if he left the corpse alone, the ultraraptor might choose to feast first and track him later. Leaving a capable enemy on your back was not an option.

Newt dropped Granite Crust, sending a new surge of mana, ready to activate it. The ultraraptor held. Newt harnessed the energy, forming a trace ending just a step away from Granite Crust activating, ready to summon it at a moment's thought.

The ultraraptor still remained in place, waiting, observing, unaware that Newt was observing it.

Wait, if it can't see me, how does it know whether Granite Crust is active or not? Does it know? What is it waiting for if it doesn't?

Newt looked at the dead helmhead before him turned into a slab of meat.

That's it. It thinks I'm feasting on its prey. It didn't know whether I was turning around, it can't tell whether I'm looking at it. It can estimate my orientation only when I'm moving. And the only reason it has to attack me immediately instead of leaving me for later is if I deny it its meal.

Newt looked at the meat before him and started cutting it into ribbons so he could carry it more easily.

An hour later, the provocation failed. The ultraraptor still hadn't made its move, and Newt had turned the dead helmhead into scrap bones, leaving nothing for his prey. He made for a grim, but comical sight, a man wrapped in hundreds of strips of meat. He was a living lure for the carnivorous saurians. That lure, however, concealed a granite hook.

Finally, with no other choice, Newt moved in a random direction. The ultraraptor waited, then moved behind Newt, probably going to check its catch. The ultraraptor found itself disappointed. It abandoned Newt's leftovers and sailed through the mists of danger, moving to Newt's left.

Why left? Is there a specific reason? Newt wondered, then the safe area grew at incredible speed before the ultraraptor appeared and jumped on top of him.

No, it's not jumping, it's flying.

Newt turned, and the ultraraptor smashed into his chest rather than side. Newt fell on his back, feeling the thick, sharp talons stab into the strips of meat decorating his torso.

Gotcha! Newt snatched the agile saurian's legs and immolated himself, smelling grilled meat. The ultraraptor snapped its legs away, but with bodies in the similar realm, Newt's earthen physique based on resilience overpowered one made from speed and evasion.

The ultraraptor shrieked as it burned. Mana swirled around it, and Newt felt a powerful tug upwards, strong enough to lift him off the ground for a moment before he came crashing back down.

I'm not letting go until I roast you alive.

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