Leaving the narrow crevice, Zoe felt the mana inside his body.
Although it was only a clone, it could still use all the skills of his main body.
The effectiveness was definitely reduced, but with these powerful skills, dealing with Low-tier Monsters would certainly not be a problem.
Hidden in the shadows, Zoe searched for prey.
It was currently daytime, which wasn't considered a very good time for hunting in the Death Swamp.
Most denizens of the Death Swamp slept during the day and came out at night, maintaining quite healthy daily routines.
“Huh? What's that?”
Zoe's vision pierced through the mist, catching sight of an upright silhouette.
Was it a semi-humanoid, intelligent monster?
Zoe crept closer, revealing the full appearance of the figure.
It was a lizardman covered in black scales. He wore leather armor, his exposed scales coarse and hard. In his left hand, he held an iron-reinforced wooden buckler, while his right gripped a fine bone spear that looked to be about two meters long.
“A black-scaled lizardman.”
There were also lizardmen in the Great Hera Forest; Zoe had a lizardman tribe in his territory during his previous life.
However, those were mostly green-scaled and brown-scaled lizardmen; there were almost none with black scales.
Zoe activated his appraisal talent.
[Lizardman Lv. 16]
[Mana] 741/777
Lizardmen did indeed live in the Death Swamp. Under the Black Dragon King's command, there had always been a large number of black-scaled lizardmen swearing allegiance.
“And there's more than one black-scaled lizardman.”
Zoe's gaze pierced deeper through the mist, making out several other wandering figures.
It was as if these lizardmen were searching for something.
“Uniform gear, standardized spears... These aren't wild lizardmen of the Swamp.”
“This is a regular army. Minions of the Black Dragon King?”
The Death Swamp could even be considered the Black Dragon King's back garden. What did he send lizardmen to search for in his own backyard?
“It couldn't be me, could it?”
Although the probability was very low, Zoe couldn't help but consider the possibility.
Therefore, he chose to tail them quietly.
In any case, this was just a clone. If an accident occurred, he could just detonate it.
Melding into the shadows, Zoe followed behind the lizardmen.
On the other end, his main body ceased training and began digesting the remaining food in the Shadow Pool with all its might, recovering the mana consumed by the training.
“Halt, damned human!”
“We have already surrounded the path ahead! Stand still and return with us, or we'll eat you alive!”
The strangely accented, hoarse voice of a black-scaled lizardman echoed through the mist ahead.
Zoe peeked out from the darkness and found well-equipped lizardmen surrounding a human in the depths of the foggy dark forest.
The human's hair and beard were completely white, yet he possessed a robust, muscular build, standing well over 1.9 meters tall.
He was wearing simple, light clothing. In his left hand, he held a blade; his right arm had been severed and only roughly bandaged. His entire body was covered in wounds.
Even when surrounded by dozens, perhaps nearly a hundred lizardmen, the man still did not give up. Swinging his blade, carrying a shield on his back, and braving the rain of arrows and crossbow bolts, he resolutely fought his way forward.
In the darkness, he moved like an agile leopard, precisely dodging the arrows aimed at him as he threaded through the barrage.
As the man slightly tilted his head, Zoe noticed that the iris of his right eye was a pure gold with no visible pupil, reflecting a faint golden light in the darkness.
Having seen Evelyn awaken her Golden Eye at the very end of his previous life, how could Zoe possibly fail to recognize what this was?
The Golden Race, Golden Eye!
No, wait... In his first life of twenty years, he had only ever heard of the lost Golden Race in legends, and the existence of the Golden Eye only in fairy tales.
How on earth had he managed to encounter the Golden Eye of the Golden Race in two consecutive lifetimes?
Zoe cast appraisal on the man.
[Human Weapon Master Lv. 40]
[Mana] 4231/18011
Weapon Master—to think it was this class.
To obtain the Weapon Master class, one had to be expert in at least eight different types of weapons and familiar with the structure of those weapons. It was an exceptionally rare profession.
Furthermore, many who possessed this class were highly skilled blacksmiths.
“Stubborn fool!”
Seeing that the Weapon Master was still resisting, a lizardman who was visibly larger than the rest cursed, brandishing a bone spear as he lunged forward.
His speed was like a phantom. The spear stirred the dense fog, transforming into an illusory snake's head that snapped toward the Weapon Master.
To counter the Golden Eye, this pursuit party was not equipped with any metal gear.
Even the arrows they shot had tips crafted from polished animal teeth and bone.
A golden light flashed in the Weapon Master's right eye. Even though his right arm had been severed, the metal shield on his back still moved under his control, shifting to his severed arm. Holding the shield in place with his stump, he blocked the blow.
The immense impact from the spear tip sent the Weapon Master flying backward.
Forcing down the agonizing pain from his severed arm, the Weapon Master flung out a grappling hook from his left arm midair, skillfully pulling his body toward a thick, sturdy tree.
Deep within the lizardmen's ranks, a lizardman shaman raised his wand, aiming it at the Weapon Master.
He also threw a green gemstone, using it as a sacrifice to shorten his incantation.
“As the oak leaves decay upon this ground, Curse of Weakening.”
The heavily injured Weapon Master stumbled, nearly falling from the tree.
Yet even so, cold sweat drenched his body, and his vision grew blurry.
The pursuing lizardman spearman sneered as he seized the opportunity, lunging forward with his spear pointed straight at the Weapon Master's back.
Sustaining his weak body, the Weapon Master spun around and activated his Golden Eye.
The deployed, unretrieved grappling chain seemed to come alive. Under the control of the Golden Eye, it coiled around the lizardman multiple times, binding him in midair.
This was the power of the Seventh Force. That which reigned supreme over the six main elements was the Seventh Force.
At the same tier, the six magical elements could not exert any influence on the Seventh Force.
Even though he had been hit by a magical weakening curse, the Seventh Force of the Golden Eye—metal manipulation—remained entirely unaffected by the weakening effect or the magic of the six elements.
However, the drain and burden of the Golden Eye were also massive, especially given his current physical state.
Covering his right eye, the Weapon Master endured the stinging ache in his eye as he continued fleeing deeper into the forest.
Squeezing every drop of strength from his body along the way, he managed to burst through the blockade of several lower-ranking lizardmen.
“Damn it!”
The lizardman struggled violently to break free from the chains, his agile form bounding across the swamp.
“That's...”
Zoe's attention, however, fell upon the Weapon Master's waist.
Tucked there was a gold mask.
Zoe was extremely familiar with that gold mask. Although its design differed slightly, the style was identical to the gold mask Evelyn wore.
“One of Evelyn's people?”
Zoe quickly followed.
Right after, a Corrosive Gas Slash erupted from the darkness, striking toward the pursuing lizardmen.
“Who's there??”
The pursuing lizardman was thoroughly shocked. It seemed he had never expected anyone to dare attack him under such circumstances.
He hastily halted his pursuit, swinging his bone spear to block the incoming Corrosive Gas Slash, before glaring into the shadows.
However, Zoe had no intention of lingering in battle. Having unleashed a single distant strike to delay the lizardman's pursuit, he immediately activated Stealth and vanished back into the shadows.
Fleeing ahead, the Weapon Master was also deeply surprised. It seemed he had never imagined that someone would actually lend him a hand in a place like the Death Swamp.
But he did not dwell on it, swiftly seizing the opportunity to widen the distance.
“Keep chasing! He is afflicted by my curse; he won't be able to run much further.”
The lizardman shaman, catching up to the spearman, barked out the order.
Rate on N.U.
