The forest was tranquil and silent, the scent of humid poison in the air and poison plants on the ground was unlike anywhere else in the world. But even in a place as dangerous like this, a predator still stalked his prey, his every move silent as he observed the prime rules of hunting, it didn"t matter what such of terrain he found himself he was still able to bring out the beast in him. He kept himself low to the ground, a deep rumble dancing behind his throat as he felt the soft earth beneath his paws, his claws glinting under the canopy of poison trees. His prey or rather preys were all gathered around a small pond drinking to their fill, not at all worried about the danger that slowly stalked them.
There were right of them, with skin as red as blood, bodies as big as an ice cream cart, with taught and tightly pulled muscles capable of calling and crushing into the strongest person or objects possible. Their ivory tusks glinted and promised death in whichever way or manner possible.
They released low grunts, lost in the revelry and refreshment of such cool water, and then the direction of the wind changed. They noticed it too, and while they weren"t really worried about it, their hunger knew what it entailed. This was the chance he has been waiting for all this while, this was the time to prove to these lowly creatures how much of a danger he was, because whether they would like to admit it, there was another top dog within the embrace of this forest, he moved, his black form rushing out of the underbrush he had been hiding.
He was Practically a streak of black light crossing a ten meter distance in less than a second. His arrival brought with it wind and a blackness unlike anything they"ve ever faced. His claws flashed, and a throat was sliced open, what quickly followed was a ramming of his well muscled shoulder into the belly of another one of his prey, sending it flying across the pond, into an outstretched silver spear that was just conveniently placed there.
His preys were slow to react as his claws flashed one more time and he leaped into the air, crashing into the form of the biggest prey yet. His claws dug into it"s sides, refusing to let go as the prey ran around trying to smash it"s body into trees in an attempt to dislodge this predator of wind and darkness, but there was no chance afforded to it.
One wrong step sent both prey and predator tumbling into the pond, highlighting the preys first mistake as his predators jaws and sharp teeth found purchase around it"s thick neck.
The st.u.r.dy hide that this prey has been all but proud off, gave way beneath the ferocious penetrating power of his predators fangs. But not just the fangs, but the power behind the jaws that held them was unlike anything the prey had ever experienced. It was helpless as the predator moved it"s head left and right, wrenching at it"s wound, making it bigger and wider as it"s life blood gushed out in soft rivulets into the mouth of the predator.
This was euphoric, the predator relished the feeling of life escaping and ending, of blood gushing down his throat to slake and sate a thirst and hunger that never seems to end.
For the predator it would be an incredibly easy thing for it to just snap the neck in half, but there was a darkness in it that wouldn"t let it give the pleasure of a merciful death. So it watched in life goes as light faded from the eyes of the beast, watched in happiness as it"s spirit and soul quickly found purchase within it"s body, giving it even more strength and power than before. The predator couldn"t help it, this forest had to know who was it"s king, it had to know who was the ALPHA!
*AWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!*
Alex rolled his eyes as he dragged the dead carca.s.s of the Orcon Red Herd Boar, placing it into his storage ring along with the fifteen others, before gather the three dead, including a herd leader, bring all of it to nineteen. All he had needed was 1, but the Red Herd Boar was an expensive commodity, and it was currently in high demand. He was getting paid 20 thousand good just for a single one, though they"re easy to kill, the fact that they"re in a herd makes it incredibly difficult to hunt them. Also people who hunt boars like this are normal students in need of money, the commissioner of this mission, Emil"s Combat restaurant was so rich they could afford to buy a single one for 50 thousand, which was fine. A plate of it was sold for 10 thousand good, and a single boar could feed a hundred people, not to mention there those who preferred the guts and organs which go for a much higher price than it"s flesh.
So when you think about it, the price for hunting it was just ten if not river percent of the entire profit made. But with nineteen boars, a single one going for 20 thousand good, then he would be earning 380 thousand gold. Enough to get cultivation resources for everyone in the tower for a good two weeks, though it might be a bit hard if he had to consider Miranda, she was in the earth gate after all, which means she needed more resources than everyone else, and hers is sure to be a lot more expensive.
But if everything Alex was planning panned out, they should be able to grow or make their own cultivation resources without having to spend too much outside. They would be able to save more money and undertake more projects to raise more money, and it would leave Alex with enough time on his hands, enough time to study.
"Ahhh that was so much fun! Are we tracking down another herd?" Khan asked, his tail wagging a little too much in his excitement. Alex shook his head as he answered.
"Nothing like that, we have enough as it is, so let"s stop while we"re still ahead. We should head for the next target, and then maybe find a place to rest for the night." Alex said to Khan as they both made their way through the trees, until Alex came up to where the beast mount was tied. Alex stretched his hands to rub the body of the ma.s.sive and majestic beast, feeding it a couple of fruits he had bought back in the camp. Alex got on the back as Khan turned into a gust of wind that burrowed itself into Alex"s clothes.
"Go!"
"So what"s the next target?" Khan"s voice sounded in his ear, though it was a bit disembodied and freaky. It was basically his you would envision the wind to sound when it"s talking to you.
"Our final collection mission, the client had asked for a (Rock Poison Rose). It grows right at the top of a tall Rocky Hill some 6 kilometers from here, so we would probably be riding for a while as the area around is a little bit uneven.
There"s a swamp. Surrounding the entirety of that Rocky Hill, and the beasts there aren"t nice. We can just use that opportunity to kill them, everything in this forest is valuable Khan, so no death is in vain. Besides we have our own mission here too remember, so keep any eye open." Alex said to Khan as the beast move forwards, trees whipping Past Alex like he was in a fast moving car and not on deer back.
"Okay, but I just don"t get how a Rocky Hill would be right in the middle of a swamp, and let me guess, we have to climb it right?" Khan asked him.
"Well duh! The Rock Poison Rose grows right at the top of the rocky hill, and it"s about 90 feet tall, give or take a few feet. Is shouldn"t be too hard to climb for us, as long as we take care of whatever beasts are hanging around the hill." Alex answered as he ducked his head evading the leaping strike of finger sized poisonous snake. A gust of wind flew behind him and decapitated the snake in two.
"Why do I get the feeling you"re not telling me something!" Khan suddenly complained as a wisp of air came out of his clothes and coalesced into his head, hanging at Alex"s side and talking to him. If someone else was here, they would think Alex had grown a second demonic wolf, weasel like head.
"Well that"s because I"m not telling you something." Alex replied nonchalantly, as he stabbed his spear forwards, piercing it through the head of a ma.s.sive spider that was lying in wait for them on a web in front of them.
"Well then are you going to tell me what it is! Seriously you"re not supposed to keep secrets from me, you dirty old man!" Kahn complained as his jaws stretched forwards and bit a hawk like demonic Beast half the size of Alex"s body, Killing the creature and swallowing it in on ma.s.sive gulp.
"Well there"s a rumor about a wind attributed flower growing on top of that rock, but it only appears everyday at high noon, and for only 5 minutes. However a lot of people have been unable to get that plant because it"s being watched over by a 4th circle magical beasts, and a soul refining realm earth gate demonic beasts, not to mention the hundreds of other beasts that seem to follow their rules.
Apparently both beasts want the flower, but they"re equally matched in strength, so all they"ve been doing is watching the other and preventing anyone else from getting the flower. The Rock Poison Rose is a Catalyst, but that"s just it, without the humid poison of the forest all it is, is a pretty rose that some love strike fool wants to give a girl as a token of love. Which is why the fool is paying a 200k gold for it. Apart from the Demonic Arachnids nest clearing mission, it"s the highest paying mission I had taken. But that was just because the information about the location of the Rock Poison Rose had some of the things I needed for the soul enriching blood ritual. Killing a bunch of extra beasts is just more bonus cash. So. What do you think?" Alex asked Khan.
"I think you"re awesome Master! Let"s go kill stuff MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"