CHAPTER 80: CHAPTER 80 - THE SNOW PANTHER THAT KILLED ITS OWN

Unbeknownst to both Livia and Logan, Derek had quietly picked up the small floating recorder behind them and disconnected a few wires while neither of them were paying attention.

His eyes narrowed, staring at both Livia and Logan as he let go of the device again, letting it float behind him as it had been before.

They walked for another mile before Livia halted and turned to both of them.

’’We’ll take a break to regain our energy here,’’ she said, sitting down under a tall tree with white leaves on it. ’’We’ll start with the first C-rank once we have all recovered.’’

"Agreed," Logan said, sitting down on a snow-covered rock.

They’d been walking for hours through snow that grew thicker and more exhausting, without taking a single break.

A few minutes into their rest, Logan noticed tiny snowflakes beginning to fall and frowned.

’’Shit,’’ Livia cursed, letting a few snowflakes fall on her hand.

Looking up at Logan and Derek, she had a dark expression on her face.

’’We might be heading into a snowstorm,’’ she said, clenching her fist.

’Not good,’ Logan thought, realizing what this meant. ’If a snowstorm really happens, we won’t be able to see in front of us.’

’’It’s just a little bit of snow,’’ Derek remarked expressionlessly, shaking his head. ’’Nothing to be afraid of.’’

Livia stood up, not even sparing Derek a glance as she looked up at the sky.

’’Have both of you regained your energy?’’ she asked, turning to them.

’’Not completely,’’ Logan said, shaking his head lightly. ’’But enough to continue.’’

Derek gave a small nod, his face unreadable as he glanced slowly between Logan and Livia without speaking.

’’Alright then, here’s the plan,’’ Livia said, opening her map. ’’We’ll go hunt immediately so we can leave before the snowfall grows thicker.’’

Logan stood up, putting his glaive on his back again.

They moved quickly, following Livia’s lead up a steep mountain path.

The snowfall was still gentle, but none of them found time to enjoy it. The snowflakes fell steadily now, building up on their shoulders and soaking their suits.

After twenty minutes, Livia raised her hand in the air, signaling for them to stop.

As Logan and Derek caught up to her, she spoke.

’’There’s mana signatures inside the cave in front of us,’’ she whispered, pointing towards a large hole inside the mountain wall with ice spikes hanging from it.

Activating his own Mana Sight, Logan noticed several mana signatures inside the cave.

Frowning, he counted one large mana signature and six smaller ones.

’’One C-rank,’’ Logan whispered seriously. ’’And around 6 other E-rank, likely cubs.’’

’’Cubs?’’ Livia repeated silently. ’’We shouldn’t be at their breeding grounds yet...’’

Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked around and at her map.

’’They’re supposed to nest around a large frozen lake inside the mountain—this should be far from there.’’

Derek glanced into the distance before speaking. ’’Might just be some which got cast out by their group,’’ he said, coldly. ’’We should check around and kill them if there isn’t anything else.’’

Livia gave a nod in agreement, turning to Logan.

’’Sounds good to me,’’ Logan said, agreeing. ’’It being inside a cave might be better for us anyway.’’

Moving closer to the cave, Livia assessed the situation before making a plan.

’’We’ll fight it inside,’’ she said, eyes fixed on the entrance. "It won’t leave its cubs, which means we control the battlefield."

Turning to Derek, her voice went cold. "You’ll circle around it while Logan and I keep it busy."

"If the fight gets rough, draw her attention by grabbing one of its cubs.’’

Her tone hardened. "But no matter what, don’t hurt them. I’m not fighting a snow panther with nothing to lose."

Logan silently approved of Livia’s plan, pulling his glaive off his back.

At the same time, Derek remained silent, also taking his spear off his back.

’’Let’s go,’’ Livia said, giving a small nod as she took out her rapier.

They silently made their way over to the entrance of the cave with their weapons drawn, ready for anything unexpected to happen.

Logan kept his Mana Sight active, not wanting to be caught off guard by the panther.

The moment they stepped into the cave, the temperature dropped sharply, with frost coating the walls and massive glowing icicles hanging from the ceiling.

Hearing whimpering and what sounded like cries in the distance, Logan stared ahead with his Mana Sight active.

’’It’s crouched near the back,’’ he whispered, eyeing both Livia and Derek. ’’It still hasn’t moved.’’

Livia gave a small nod, gesturing for them to continue advancing.

As they got deeper, the cave widened and the cubs’ cries got louder.

But that wasn’t the only sound Logan noticed.

He picked up a slow, rhythmic sound that resembled chomping.

’It must’ve just caught something to eat,’ he thought as he shook his head, a growing sense of unease building inside him.

Following a slight curve, they reached the main chamber of the cave.

’’What?’’ Livia mumbled, her eyes widening as she stared inside.

Stepping beside her, Logan’s eyes also widened. ’’Is that...?’’

In the far corner lay the body of a snow panther, half-eaten, massive chunks torn out of its side.

An even larger panther stood over the corpse, blood dripping from its jaw as it tore into the flesh.

’The chomping noise...’

Logan’s gaze fell on the right side of the cave. In the shadows near the wall, six cubs huddled together—whimpering, shaking, eyes wide with terror.

’’It really was an outcast,’’ Derek remarked, sounding genuinely surprised.

The large snow panther’s ear twitched, slowly lifting its head before turning to look at them.

The panther’s body was covered in scars, the worst being a fresh wound above its eye, from which blood trickled down its face.

For a moment, it stood still, staring at them while growling.

Then it stepped off the panther’s corpse, releasing a deep roar that shook the crystals around them.