Chapter 317

So far, two days had passed since the group decided to traverse Bone Ridge and get to the next region, where they hoped that Caster and Felix still were.

And so far, they had been lucky to always find a cave in time before the skeletons began rising.

Throughout the past two days—just the previous day, in fact—they had also been lucky enough to find a small pond surrounded by bones, filled with clean water that was completely harmless to their bodies.

And this time, they weren’t about to act foolishly.

Kai and Trisha quickly got down to work, creating two dozen ice and crystal bottles using their respective abilities, which they utilized to store the liquid.

The bottles were filled to the brim with the clean water.

The containers were also large enough to satisfy a person’s thirst three times over before running dry.

Faced with the dilemma of how to carry the bottles, Ray presented an option, claiming he possessed a ’Werewolf’ skill that allowed him to store anything in a void.

Akin to a storage ring.

Whereas, in reality, it was simply his system inventory.

Anyway, the others believed him since they knew next to nothing about werewolf biology.

Only Chloe remained suspicious, because she had practically learned everything she could about werewolves and had even fantasized about becoming one before, yet she had never heard of such a supernatural ability.

Left with no other viable choice, they handed Ray the bottles and he stored them safely in his inventory, thereby allowing them to move with maximum efficiency.

Now, they possessed water. But they still had no food.

Hopefully, they would be lucky again and stumble upon something edible somewhere on the barren land.

Unfortunately, they hadn’t seen an ounce of flesh they could roast and eat.

However, this lack of sustenance did nothing to derail or even slow them down.

They just continued forward with full momentum and force, refusing to be stopped by anything at all.

After a three-day streak of good fortune, their luck had finally run out.

They had a mere five minutes left before sunset, yet they hadn’t spotted nor located a new shelter where they could hide before the avalanche of skeletons triggered.

Time was practically running out at full speed, and yet they hadn’t found a single hiding spot.

They knew that if the five-minute countdown ended, it wouldn’t take more than a second before they would be utterly surrounded by the undead.

The entire area was basically a vast, open plain with no structural shelter in sight.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck. Why is this place so barren?!" Van shouted in sheer panic as he kept rushing forward on foot.

After the first day, he didn’t bother wasting his precious cores on something as temporary as speed.

If his meta-force ran out, he would simply run on foot until he recovered it, even if it was just half—enough to activate his thrusters again.

"I knew it. I fucking knew that my lucky streak would end sooner or later," Ray growled silently as he maintained his grueling pace.

"Ray... haaa.... haaaa.... Ray, how many more minutes do we have left?" Chloe asked amidst her shaky breaths.

Ray didn’t reply for several seconds, as he was busy consulting his system user interface quietly.

Then, the definitive answer came.

"Less than one minute."

"Well, I give up," Kai halted in his tracks immediately.

The others kept running for a few more moments until they likewise halted, turning back to face Kai with deep frowns on their faces.

"What are you doing? Why did you stop?" Van questioned with a raised brow.

The legacy heir had his hands on his knees as he was panting, gasping for air.

Since the day they had begun their travels, they had never bothered to pause even for a single moment—running for eighteen hours straight with barely any rest in between.

Hence, it was understandable that Kai was more than exhausted.

"Come on. It’s basically useless at this point. We wouldn’t be able to find a cave in time. It’s better we pause and recover our stamina and breath right now so we can face the wave of skeletons."

The others looked at each other for a moment.

They hated to admit it, but he was completely right.

With less than a minute left, they couldn’t possibly locate a cave in time.

So, it was better they rested before their enemies rose up.

"Guess you are right," Van sighed, dropping to his knees and panting hard.

The girls did the same.

Only Ray didn’t look that exhausted, though his face darkened with worry as the seconds ticked down with crazy speed.

’Man. We are going to have to fight all through the night again. Oh, damn this nightmare.’

Holding his waist with a grim expression, he watched as the seconds ran out and the sun completely vanished from view.

Immediately, the rumbling began.

Everyone paused mid-pant as they stared at the ground, watching the bones rise with astonishing speed.

Van quickly shot to his feet as his mechanical spiders began rushing across his forearms, and when they were done, his eyes flashed a bright blue.

A translucent blue energy blade shot out from his mechanical gauntlets.

"Come on. We shouldn’t let ourselves get surrounded," Trisha called out.

Instantly, everyone rushed into a tight formation, quickly backing into a defensive circle.

Kai shifted into a combat stance as purple crystal began running through his fingers, and within mere moments, a pair of gleaming daggers appeared in his grasp.

Trisha pulled out her weapon hilt, frost creeping up it with sharp speed until a gleaming ice sword appeared in the guard.

Ray immediately equipped his gauntlets, while Chloe lifted her bow in front of her face, watching as the skeletons assembled quickly.

They all readied themselves, swallowing hard as the tension mounted.

A minute later, the first wave of skeletons finished assembling and, without hesitation whatsoever, lunged at their targets.

Brandishing bone spears, swords, and shields, a few dozen skeletons were ready to wreak havoc on the teens while thousands more were still being awakened.

With the land completely bare and open, there was no escaping for the group, and now, they would be forced to fight overnight.

And so, the battle began!