บท 5: Rebirth (5)
After getting out of the city, Neon started running. With light steps, he became a shadow and rushed toward the forest.
After an hour, he was breathing roughly as he came to a stop at the entrance of the forest. After regaining his breath, he walked in casually, without any wariness. He knew that in this part he would only meet weak beasts. He came to hunt in this forest because of money.
To his despair, he noticed that only working as a squire wouldn't allow him to save enough for his objective. Furthermore, if he depended on the accumulation, he would have a breakthrough to the grandmaster level long before reuniting the necessary gold. So he decided to go hunting.
It was a fairly usual occupation, even a Guild of hunters. He could exchange everything he hunted for money there, so it was convenient.
The walk in the forest was peaceful, he didn't meet any beasts. He was awed by the beauty of the place, the trees were tall and full of vitality, and even the air was purer. Everything in this world seemed more beautiful, especially nature which hadn't been destroyed by technology.
Five kilometers deeper in the forest, he met his first prey. It was a big bull-like creature, at least 4m tall. It didn't notice him at first as it was savoring a delicious meal judging by its enthusiasm.
Neon used his silent steps, making no noise as he rapidly closed in on the bull, it was one of his assassination techniques when he was still in the organization, he had learned it from an old master instructor. One needed great control over one's muscles to use this art.
When he was within 2 m of the beast, he unsheathed the bloodthirsty sword given to him by Nick. Instantly he felt himself swell with power, without taking the time to appreciate the boost, he flicked his wrist. The sword drew a beautiful arc toward the bull's neck.
The sword was so fast it seemed to disappear in the air, only the sound of wind being cut apart could be heard. The bull finally noticed an irregularity but before it could react the sword had seamlessly separated its head from its body. Crimson blood gushed out of the headless body painting a gory picture. Thankfully, Neon had already retreated 5 m avoiding the blood. He was a little shocked at how easily he dispatched it. Normally with his strength, it would have taken at least a moment. With the bloodthirsty sword, it was over in an instant.
He took his sword and made a hole in the center of the bull's head. Inside its forehead, he could see a shining bead with a murky blue substance swirling. He knew what it was, a beast core.
'I am lucky, it had already started condensing its core.'
Beasts were not like humans who had to dig their mana pool before becoming a grade one magician, they only needed to absorb the ambient mana continuously. After condensing it to a certain stage they would automatically form their beast core ascending to a level one magical beast. The difference between a normal or level zero beast and a level one magical one was huge. It was like the difference between heaven and earth.
'This can at least fetch 50 gold. It seems I was right in coming here if I kill enough beast, I can gather the necessary funds faster.' Neon smiled at the thought.
Currently, even with the Bloodthirsty sword, he couldn't confront a level one magical beast, let alone kill it. But this level zero was still within his capacity. So he decided to only limit his hunt to this zone of the forest, he knew that if he went deeper he would encounter level one or two beasts, the thought alone made him shudder.
'Well let's continue.' He put the bead in his leather bag and went looking for another prey.
A few minutes later he encountered another beast, he smiled and sped up, hand already on his sword ready to draw. As he got near he noticed flame burning on the feet of this beast. It emitted powerful fluctuation. Crouching in front of a cave it gave a menacing air even while asleep. Neon startled and hid behind a big rock. He calmed his breathing and erased his presence.
'Fuck to think I would meet a level one creature just after having decided to stick to weaker ones. My luck is shitty. Thankfully, I realized what I was up against before attacking. I didn't know there would be one in these parts. It seems that the line between the outer and inner region is a bit blurred.'
Observing more closely, the beast looked like a cross between a tiger and a lion, except it was bigger, standing at 5m tall. Flickers of flame could be seen all over its red fur. Beside it, there was a single flower. The flower petals were glowing a bright crimson and heat could be felt even from Neon's position.
'I don't recognize it but it should be a magical herb, judging by this phenomenon and the level-one beast standing guard beside it.'
Neon was excited, a magical herb! Even the lowest-grade magical herb could fetch hundreds of gold. He truly stumbled into a big opportunity. But he calmed down very quickly as he knew that every opportunity came with danger.
He was in a dilemma, attack or not? He knew that the sanest thing to do for someone his level was to run away but this flower was truly too tempting. After agonizing over it for a few minutes, he steeled himself and decided to give it a shot. After all, he was SHADOW in his past life. He lived unafraid of ghosts or gods as one of the most powerful men on earth. What was a little life-or-death situation?
After pumping himself for this endeavor. He stopped hiding and walked toward the beast. When he was ten meters away from it. One of its eyes opened, and seeing a human in front of it, the beast was startled then infuriated. It could guess that the human had nefarious intentions toward its treasure. Beast at its stage already had a level of intelligence almost comparable to a human. It stood up and let out a roar.
*ROARRRR*
The roar shook the forest, startling birds and other animals who fled in panic. The beast was looking at Neon with a ferocious glare as if they could not coexist under the same sky.
Neon too was observing the beast, he had long since entered a combative state. He would only get like this when he was facing a life-threatening danger. His eyes were void of any emotions and cold, so cold. He was like a death god that awakened.
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