Kane and Noah were staring at each other to figure it out when suddenly Kane felt a tremor. Kane signaled Noah to quiet down and look at the mound. They instantly fixed their gaze on the mound and saw it move a bit. While it shed some dust, some black marks became visible.

“It is not a mound of land...” whispered a wary Kane.

“I was wondering why there are no wild beasts around the area.”

“Why? What is that? What are you talking about?” said a clueless Noah.

“It is the king of this area…” replied Kane.

The mound moved again and this time all the dust fell off its body.

“Saw-Scaled Viper…” Kane spoke from experience in the wilderness. “A short thin tail, a pear-shaped head that is distinct from the neck, brown and black stripes. Furthermore, this is an evolved one, judging by its evolved scales.

While Kane was explaining its vivid characteristics, the viper had opened its large eyes with elliptical pupils and bright reddish irises. It's as if the viper has noticed an intrusion in its area.

“Fetching the crystal just became tougher. Beware of its bite. It's venomous...” mentioned Kane.

Noah was neither too nervous nor too calm. He had promised Kane to get the crystal in accordance with their deal. He aims to stand by his promise. So he kept thinking of a way.

“So what can I use…” Noah continued racking his brain. “The drone is not there. I cannot project another animal to distract it. So we have to do it ourselves. But where will we lead it? The fog? It can’t see but it can sense heat. So it will find us in a matter of moments. Then what?” Noah kept on thinking.

“Let me lead it away. You grab the crystal and run...” said Kane.

“No...let me do it”, replied Noah.

“This is not the time to show off your skills. Our lives depend on it.”

“Trust me. I have an idea.” Noah suddenly thought of something. “Let me distract it. You will get the meteor and wait for me here, ” said Noah pointing to a place on the Holo map. Then he shared his plan with Kane.

“Are you sure?” queried Kane who seemed troubled to let Noah be the distraction but that was so far the best plan they had. Kane slowly moved to the far side of the crater behind the viper and waited in the fog.

Noah strengthened his resolve and took a deep breath. “There is only a 12% chance of success but I will have to make it enough for Kane to retrieve it.”

Noah took out his grappling hook and aimed at the meteor. It was stuck but he applied pressure and pulled it. As soon as it was moved from its position, the viper sprung from its position and displayed its fang. Noah could clearly notice that it was angry.

With a shrill hiss, it attacked the thief trying to take its property. Noah threw the meteor at its head to show as if he was fighting back in despair. The viper dodged it easily. But that made it angrier. It coiled backward and sprung itself towards Noah.

Noah ran towards the fog. The viper followed him. The first part was a success as Kane walked out of the fog slowly and retrieved the meteor which Noah deliberately threw.

“Hope you know what you are doing kid...” uttered a worried Kane. He then quickly slipped back into the fog.

Noah climbed up a tree and checked his proximity sensor. The sensor was alarming.

“Uh..oh..” spelled Noah as he looked behind. The viper has climbed on his back. Without wasting a breath, Noah used his grappling hook to fly off to another tree. The viper followed him.

From a distance, it looked like a normal viper, but as it came close Noah could see that with evolution this viper has grown quite large in size. It can climb a tree very quickly and even shake a tree with its head.

The cat and mouse game continued for a while as they came out of the fog area. But the viper was gaining on Noah every time he tried to trick it. Still, it was not a loss for Noah, his training was paying off. He could feel his hands and legs moving with instinct and his reflexes had become quite sharp. Also by training in 2X gravity his agility has increased. He can swing from a branch to another with ease now.

His speed of running has increased quite a bit as well. He grew some confidence in his plan.

“I can make it out alive”, he thought. But he had underestimated the viper. The viper coiled around 3-4 trees and trapped Noah. It shook the trees and a lot of branches fell on him.

Noah tried to avoid most of them but not all. He got hit by some and ultimately got buried under it. The viper was monitoring the branches quietly to identify any heat signature but there was none. It concluded that the thief had perished under the branches.

This is what Noah had planned from the beginning, not an exact scenario but something like this. Ohh if you are thinking about death, how can the main character die so easily?

Noah learned a technique from one of Kane’s earlier stories. Thermal Crossover.

Thermal vision does not perform well twice a day at specific times, soon after dawn and again after sunset. This time of the day is referred to as Thermal Crossover. It may last for seconds or minutes but the infrared signatures of two different objects are indistinguishable to thermal vision at this time. Hence one can mask their heat signature during a Thermal Crossover.

The fallen branches created a shade over Noah who stayed still under the branches. All things added, there was no heat signature and enough proof for the viper to believe in its win.

Noah stayed there for some time and waited for the Viper to leave. Finally, he moved the branches and came out. The viper was gone. Noah sighed a relief and moved towards the rendezvous point.

The sun was down. Though it was not totally dark, Noah was still carefully treading his path. Suddenly his instinct gave him an alarm. But there was nothing in his proximity sensor.

“I am panicking for nothing. The viper is long gone...” he thought to himself.

But vipers are intelligent even within their species. It had coiled up a tree and waited to confirm its kill. Then it saw Noah coming out. But it did not strike. It followed for quite a while maintaining a distance so as to not alert its prey. They are especially good hunters. At the perfect time, it would strike and leave no hope for its prey.

Noah’s instinct kept on telling him about the danger. But he ignored it. He was almost to the meeting place as he came out of the forest into a clearing that he heard a whoosh sound. He jumped out of the way as the viper attacked him. It was a close one.

The viper coiled around preparing the next attack. This one will be faster, Noah could anticipate that. They were staring at each other as if reading each other's minds. Noah slowly took out a sphere from his pocket and tied it to a branch from the side. He was still looking at the viper and keeping the branch behind his back.

The viper attacked faster than the last time, but Noah was ready. He dodged it with swift feet movement and lunged the branch into its left eye. In pain, it swung its tail heavily and hit Noah hard. Noah flew and hit a tree trunk. The broken ribs hurt badly now.

The sphere was a smoke bomb attached to the branch. The branch affected its left eye and the smoke disrupted vision in the right one. But the viper could still feel the lying Noah who wreathed in pain and could not move. It prepared for a final attack to finish its prey. Noah was now helpless. He could not move anymore. “Is this it? So many things left to do…” Noah felt sorry for his state. He thought how foolish he was to think of besting a viper, that too an evolved one.

The viper leaped towards its prey for the final strike. After a long battle, it has got him within its grasp. Time to finish the hunt.

Noah closed his eyes and waited patiently for his end. But what he heard was a whoosh sound. He opened his eyes to find a head rolling towards him. It was the viper.

The head was cleanly chopped off in a swing. “But how?” Noah tried to figure out what happened.

“You did good kid.” Noah held his head up and found Kane holding his katana. He approached the viper from the left side where it was blinded by the branch. His speed was so fast, the viper’s head fell off before it noticed.

A clean strike. One that you can expect from a master swordsman. This was the first time Noah was experiencing such a level of swordsmanship from Kane. He was speechless. But the pain made him groan.

Kane patched him up. “It’s not a major injury. You will be fine soon but it will hurt somewhat.”

“The meteor?” Noah enquired.

“Right here...” as Kane opened his backpack.

After a breath of time, they started returning to their place.

“It’s almost night. We should head back fast. Not that Lucy would worry but …” Kane could not finish his words when the alarm sounded. Someone or something has destroyed his signal dampener. Now anyone can find his place. Lucy was in trouble.

Kane almost carried Noah and ran back home as fast as he could. When he reached the perimeter he saw the broken devices. “Whatever it was, it went in. We have to hurry.”

“Carrying me will only delay it. Lucy’s safety comes first. Leave me. I can walk there. You should head first...” said a worried Noah.

Without delay, Kane headed out first. Him not arguing with Noah meant he felt the graveness of the situation.

Noah slowly walked his way in. It took him another quarter of an hour to reach there.

Everything was broken, things were spread here and there. The crops were all wasted. Noah was about to enter the house when someone walked out of the shadows.

“Ahh, there you are...What took you so long?” sounded a voice in the dark.

Noah gazed at the voice to find it was one of the Masked Jackals, A1. Lucy was being held up. Kane surrendered to protect Lucy. Trouble found Noah once again.

…