Bear School Astartes

The power that swept straight across the lush mountain, leaving terrifying and terrifying marks, was so violent and wild.

It’s almost like a ’natural disaster’, filled with primal fury.

Just looking at those jagged and terrifying tree roots and trunks makes one involuntarily shiver, hating the associative ability of intelligent beings.

After truly seeing the traces of this destruction, Lann immediately understood.

Why did the mountain dwellers who escaped not dare to go in and check out their ruined village just a few hundred meters away, but turned and fled after a few words from the hunters?

This destruction, even if it’s just traces, is residual. But it is enough to make one empathize with a terrifying sense of life-threatening fear.

The adrenaline level is so high that the lips go numb, the body trembles, and the cold sweat flows like a shower...

It’s completely normal for people to lose their rationality in such situations.

But...

That’s just mere mortals.

The thick leather soles of his boots crushed the scattered wood chips on the ground, and Lann calmly walked into this area filled with the remnants of terrifying destructive power.

Although Lann is usually approachable and can chat a bit with people without malice.

But his body and hormone levels have been surgically enhanced by the Interstellar Empire, and he has memories of grand wars in the star sea.

And he himself has crossed several worlds and made his own choices in these worlds, bearing the consequences and rewards.

Whether it’s his physical form or mind, he’s no longer what one would call a ’mortal’.

In terms of the Interstellar Warriors’ concept, he’s an undeniable ’superhuman’.

The sense of fear still exists, but the heavy weight pressing on Lann’s nerves is not unbearable.

"I-I’m here too, meow!"

Rong Buqiu, initially with its small mouth agape, was staring blankly at this vast landscape resembling a natural disaster.

But when Lann took the lead and walked in, the Elu Cat clenched its small paws to cheer itself on and followed suit.

"The cuts were crushed, the wood structure of the trunk shattered into threads under sudden pressure. This was pure and powerful physical force. But why?"

Lann crouched down, lightly running the padded fingers of his leather gloves over the tree break.

First, he rubbed his fingers to confirm the texture, then gently sniffed near his nose, finally furrowing his brow.

"Why is there not a single trace left on it?"

Breaking trees with physical force must produce contact.

And under a Demon Hunter’s keen senses, such contact should inevitably carry information about the target.

Ordinarily, it would be a scent or something of that kind left behind.

But after Lann sniffed...he smelled nothing at all.

Lann glanced at the Roaring Bear Head Pendant, which had been gently shaking ever since entering this region.

The necklace shook because of the large amount of unstable Chaos Magic Power scattered in this area, and the shaking didn’t intensify near the tree breaks.

This indicates that the force which shattered these trees was not a magical physical impact.

Moreover, he could confirm from the feel of the breaks that the thing which crushed and fragmented these trees must have tough and coarse skin, almost like parchment.

Yet, even after such direct and intense contact, he still didn’t catch any scent.

Lann opened his [Spiritual Vision] and scanned the area. But the chaotic Chaos Magic Power in the field was like a painter’s palette used for too long.

Apart from confirming a large amount of chaotic magic power had passed through, it provided no useful information.

Lann furrowed his brow and slowly stood up from the side of the broken stump, with the trace of pressure and annihilation stretching to the other side of the mountain.

In the dense forest, it was like a line gnawed by a dog on a large cake.

"This thing is some kind of creature."

While surveying around, Lann muttered the known information in a low voice according to the habits of a Demon Hunter.

"But with such a large size and strong force...it didn’t leave a single footprint? How did it accomplish that?"

Did it fly with magic?

Then why crash through the forest to open a path?

Moreover, if it could fly, why did its territorial range expand explosively only today?

After a brief reflection and silence, Lann called out: "Rong Buqiu."

"I-I’m here, meow!"

The Three-Floral Elu Cat carefully skipped over the scattered wood splinters and shavings, occasionally kicking its legs to shake off wood bits clinging to its fur.

Lann turned to look at it: "Can you adapt?"

The little cat clenched its paws. Although the traces of brutality here still made it a little nervous, it persisted in saying,

"N-No problem! I just need to adapt, meow! It’s just an unfamiliar monster!"

It seemed to bolster its courage by thrusting its chest forward, and the small triangle ears on its head perked up.

"Then help me out. This place strikes me as very suspicious." Lann didn’t waste words, patting Rong Buqiu’s head before starting to allocate tasks.

"You’re an Elu Cat from the Valley Raider Race, skilled in finding monster materials and traces, right?"

"That’s right, meow!" Rong Buqiu, realizing the topic was within their expertise, felt a surge of confidence belonging to a professional.

"Let’s search together." Lann said seriously to Rong Buqiu, "Even if it’s just a scale or claw."

The Elu Cat obediently nodded, then scampered off on all fours to a farther spot.

Lann also began to continue the search.

He desperately hoped to find biological remnants of this unknown creature; otherwise, the whole affair seemed... a bit too unusual.

And in the various situations faced by the Demon Hunter and Interstellar Warrior, ’unusual’ was almost the worst omen.

However, luck did not befall Lann and Rong Buqiu.

The two of them searched for about half an hour, but still found no biological remnants.

Not only were there no traces of that terrifying creature, but even the traces of the animals that should have been in the mountains were absent.

Just like the previously gathered intelligence suggested — all living creatures within the range had died out.

And there was no body.

Lann’s brow furrowed deeper and deeper, but at this moment, the call of the Elu Cat came from Rong Buqiu’s side.

"Wait! It seems like there’s something here, meow!"

The Demon Hunter immediately dropped the piece of wood in his hand, which still had no scent, and walked over.

When he reached Rong Buqiu’s position, he saw the Elu Cat deftly moving human-sized splintered tree trunks aside.

Lann joined in to help, and they quickly cleared the area.

What lay exposed before them was...

"Armor?" Lann cautiously used [Spiritual Vision] to check and, confirming there was no danger, manipulated it a bit, "And it’s damaged."

It was an entire breastplate, somewhat deformed from impact.

If not for the leather straps remaining on the edges of the breastplate, it was almost hard to determine whether it was an iron plate or a crafted breastplate.

The damage to the hardest part of a set of armor, like this, might have been caused by a small catapult’s stone projectile at direct hit.

Yet this wasn’t what surprised Lann the most.

When he used his thumb to wipe away the grime solidified with blood and mud to reveal the small shield emblem on the breastplate’s chest, his gaze became perplexed.

"Golden-red mountain pattern on a black background?"

To ensure he was correct, Lann turned to ask Rong Buqiu for some water and wiped the small shield emblem on the breastplate.

"Yaden’s armor... how did it end up here?"

The Demon Hunter’s eyebrows slightly knitted as he murmured to himself.

Biological intelligence instantly searched and confirmed.

This emblem belonged to one of the Four Northern Countries, Yaden, separated from Temeria by the Mahakan Mountains, on opposite sides.

And judging by the manufacturing quality of this breastplate, one with a small shield emblem on the chest could only be outfitted for an officer ranked lieutenant or higher.

How could an officer’s breastplate from Yaden appear here?

This place was deep in the Mahakan Mountains, and in terms of territory, it was within Temeria.

It would take an entire afternoon to float downstream from Yaden’s closest Haji Fortress.

And that’s only the journey on the Ponta River; after landing, how long would it take to go deep into the mountains here?

If the breastplate lying here bore the Temerian White Lily emblem, Lann wouldn’t be as bewildered.

"Well done, Rong Buqiu."

Though puzzled, Lann still encouragingly patted the little head of the Elu Cat.

Information is information, whether it adds to the confusion or not, it is still a gain.

Rong Buqiu also squinted its eyes, appearing very pleased to be praised.

Then, Lann and Rong Buqiu began to especially inspect the surroundings of this area, and indeed found more.

Amidst a chaotic mess of wood splinters, they uncovered an arrowhead.

Now, there was no scent or trace in this place, only disorderly and brutal destruction.

And this arrowhead bore no magic, so it was only when Lann stepped into the pile of wood debris that he sensed something below.

A slight ’crack’ sounded, almost simultaneously, prompting Lann to immediately lift his foot.

Even with such acute reflexes, by the time Lann lifted his foot, a peculiar arrowhead had attached to the underside of his thick-soled boot, which was made from the tanned skin of a Petrifying Chicken Snake.

The arrowhead was in the shape of a three-sided pyramid, but upon physical impact or compression, each ridge of the pyramid would open up like a thin needle, unveiling slender barbed blades.

A treacherous yet intricate design.

Once lodged into a body, the best outcome was a mere shredding of muscle into tiny fragments.

The worst was if such a device unfolded near vital organs.

Thanks to Lann’s quick reaction and the sturdy leather of the boot’s sole, this mechanically triggered arrowhead was only lodged in the shallow layer of his boot sole.

Lann took it off, thoughtfully retracted the barbs on the arrowhead, and kept it.