Crisp! a small row of angular teeth cut through leaves quite easily. Although the surrounding seemed quite peaceful the ground crackled with sparks energy from time to time. In the middle of all this was a deer standing majestically in the center while grazing quite peacefully. It"s white coat glistening in the sunlight.This was an almost fully fledged Thunder Dropper, the horns which usually contained tens of lightning b.a.l.l.s now had only 5 that were almost fully fledged. Compared to the youths whose horns just sparked from time to time, a string of lightning continued to flow in between.
When they were young, almost all the energies in their bodies were used to charge the sapphire b.a.l.l.s hanging from their horns. But as they matured and the b.a.l.l.s fell off, more of this energy was stored for itself, to nurture it"s body making it more powerful and often more ferocious.
In fact as they grew they began to yearn for their own herds. If there were more two males in a herd, they"d have a brutal fight which often led to either one or both males badly mutilated. If there were more than two, it would turn into a full on battle royale .The winner would stay in the current grazing ground, while the losers would use their remaining lightning b.a.l.l.s to expand the grazing ground and make s.p.a.ce for itself and make it"s own herd.
Judging by the fact that it was alone, this one had lost. Luckily for it, it had survived the ordeal with lighter injuries than most. Both compet.i.tors probably competed while they were younger and their aggressive nature hadn"t reached the peak and had been quite lenient in their fights.
Unluckily for it, it was currently being watched. In a bush just less than 500 meters away was Zhao Wei and Panda. Today"s hunt wasn"t like any other hunt, usually although Zhao Wei was familiar with many beasts and their grounds he"d pick any of them randomly. This time however, the hunt had come to him as it was encroaching on his territory near the hill.
The younger the Thunder Droppers were, the further they"d expand the grazing grounds, with 5 more lightning b.a.l.l.s set to drop, it would end right under where he usually climbed down. Obviously climbing down to a sea of lightning wouldn"t be good for anybody so Zhao Wei immediately started tracking it to take action.
He"d followed it for at least 2 kilometers which was about two lightning b.a.l.l.s ago, spending almost 10 hours just watching it"s habits and preparing his plans. Now it came for the Thunder Dropper to be executed.
Zhao Wei readied his staff to full length on his right while Panda faced him. Taking two breathes suddenly she dashed at him at full speed becoming almost invisible. At the same time Zhao Wei had begun his swing, the air roared as the wooden rod pa.s.sed through it making ripples in the wind behind it and causing dead leaves to fly up as if they were suddenly breathed with life.
As his swing was half finished, Panda reached it. Pivoting a full 180 degrees Panda landed on the tip of the staff itself and kicked off just when the momentum was the strongest.
In a split second She had reached the Thunder Dropper, flying above the lightning field and barely dodging strings of lightning that rose up. And in another, her horn had embedded itself into the eye of the lightning deer and pierced through it"s brain.
As it fell the lightning field vanished with it. This was why one male stayed while the other males left. As Thunder Droppers died, the lightning b.a.l.l.s died with them, once the old ones died, the younger ones would have to generate a new field of lightning in the uncovered areas while the other expanded it.
Things shouldn"t have happened this way for the Thunder Dropper. With the rustle of leaves generated by the swing"s force, the Thunder Dropper had already noticed both of them before Panda was launched by Zhao Wei. With it"s power now, it would be enough to discharge lightning to kill both of them at once. But somehow, it felt like it"s body didn"t want to listen to it and could only watch as it the small beast barreled towards it.
The fact was that it had lost the moment it was seen by Zhao Wei and had settled it"s fate the moment it ate the leaves just now. Zhao Wei had followed it meticulously and noticed everything about it. He knew the exact plant it was going to eat from the minute it stepped into his area.
The tree was known as Honey Locust. Even before the world changed, these trees grew sweet seed pods which were delicacies that were irresistible to deer, however they were only available in winter and fall. In the new world, these were available all year round and grew seeds which animals would eat and grow out when the animals took a dump.
Zhao Wei had laced these seeds with Death Wish venom which he"d extracted from the glands of those he killed. By the time it had eaten 3 seeds, it was enough for any animal to come by and kill it lazily if not for the fact that it was protected by the lightning field. Zhao Wei and Panda"s maneuver made up for it.
Zhao Wei, had grown accustomed to hunting with Panda as much as she grew to understand him. Zhao Wei would always be prepared to support her while she always led the fights into Zhao Wei"s hunting area.
Through their sparring they grew synchronized in close combat so much so that they would be able to take down enemies much stronger than themselves while covering the weaknesses in each other"s abilities. Panda would always strike at the perfect openings Zhao Wei made, while Zhao Wei would take the brunt of heavy hits when it came their way.
In reality, this maneuver was discovered when Panda"s donkey kick and Zhao Wei"s staff clashed and she was launched off. The end result was that she was stuck to a tree quite far away. Both had a long quarrel with each other before they turned over for the day hours to rest and continued this quarrel into the night hours when they woke up until Panda sufficiently beat up Zhao Wei in more of their spars.