Chapter 103: Demonic Beasts.
Chapter 103: Demonic Beasts.
The next moment, the boar began lowering its head.
Osborne’s eyes narrowed.
’Guess it’s unavoidable... a beast is a beast after all.’
The next moment, the boar rushed forward.
Its large body shook the ground as it charged directly toward him.
Osborne didn’t bother drawing his sword.
He simply waited.
The boar continued to charge, its hooves digging up dirt as it ran.
Growing closer and closer, until—
It was a known fact that a human’s body could never compare to a beast of the same level. Just as humans had levels, so did beasts.
Osborne clenched his gauntlet and punched forward in a split second.
BOOM!
His fist slammed directly into the boar’s skull.
A sharp cracking sound came from its head.
While it was said a human’s body couldn’t compare to a beast of the same level, Osborne wasn’t exactly a human anymore, now was he?
The force of the blow completely stopped the creature’s charge.
Its body stumbled forward before collapsing onto the ground.
Osborne looked down at it.
The boar was dead, blood spraying from its skull, drenching its fur.
He stared at the corpse for a moment.
’That was easier than expected.’ He crouched down and placed one hand against the body.
The corpse disappeared into his sub-space.
Osborne stood again and continued walking.
He didn’t know exactly how useful the wild boar would be, but there was no reason to leave perfectly good meat lying around.
As he continued following the scent, more wild beasts began appearing.
The first was a large rabbit with sharp teeth.
It attempted to bite him before Osborne kicked it aside and stored the body.
A short while later, he encountered several large birds.
They attacked him from above, forcing Osborne to use his sword to cut them down.
Later, a pair of wild dogs appeared between the trees.
They were much larger than normal dogs, with sharp claws and red eyes.
Osborne killed both without much trouble.
The strange part was that the number of beasts seemed to increase the deeper he went.
At first, he had encountered only one every few minutes.
Then they began appearing more frequently.
Osborne stopped briefly and looked around.
The scent of the Moonlight Grass had become stronger.
At this point, the number of beasts was becoming a nuisance.
’...All this for five silvers a piece.’ Osborne felt annoyed, thinking to himself that he found another rip-off quest.
Recalling back, the mission request looked a bit worn out then.
Could it be that he grabbed a mission that was posted before the price of Moonlight Herbs skyrocketed?
Cause, if not, he found it hard to believe that any normal adventurer would choose such a quest, when the market price for the herb was five silver a piece.
Five silver for each piece wasn’t bad on its own, but considering how deep into the forest he had already traveled and the number of beasts he had killed along the way, the reward suddenly felt much less impressive.
Nevertheless, none of the beasts were strong enough to pose a real threat to him, but their numbers were beginning to become troublesome.
Osborne killed them one after another before storing their bodies inside his sub-space.
He didn’t waste anything.
The meat could be eaten later or even sold, including the hides and bones. Thinking about it this way, perhaps this wasn’t a total waste at all.
There was no reason to leave resources behind.
Eventually, Osborne stopped.
He looked around at the forest.
The scent of Moonlight Grass was much stronger now.
It was no longer faint.
He could clearly detect it.
Osborne frowned slightly.
"Perhaps they see the herb as a precious treasure." He had been wondering why so many beasts were gathering in the same area.
Now, he was beginning to understand.
If Moonlight Grass had some kind of special effect on beasts, then it made sense that they would stay near it.
The thought made Osborne even more curious.
’What exactly does this herb do?’ He didn’t know.
The merchant hadn’t told him much, and the quest description had only mentioned that alchemists valued it.
There could be more to it.
Osborne continued forward before stopping all of a sudden at a point.
His enhanced hearing had picked something up.
𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖
Growling.
Several low growls came from somewhere ahead.
Osborne’s hand moved toward his sword.
He didn’t draw it.
Instead, he stood still and waited.
Several shapes slowly emerged from between the trees.
Timber wolves.
Osborne narrowed his eyes.
There were several of them.
One.
Two.
Three.
Then more appeared behind them, an entire pack revealing themselves.
Normally he wouldn’t react like this if there wasn’t something special about them.
Their bodies were considerably larger than the timber wolves Osborne had expected to encounter.
They were almost twice the size of ordinary wolves, with thick muscles visible beneath their fur.
However, that wasn’t what caught Osborne’s attention.
What made him vigilant were streaks of silver running along their spines.
"...Demonic Beasts." Osborne thought to himself.
To think he’d see one here, and not just one but an entire pack.
Demonic beasts were beasts that had mutated far above the natural order. Normally they were known to be far stronger than normal beasts, and could be identified at a glance due to their obvious peculiarities.
But what really made people so wary of them were their abilities.
Unlike normal beasts, demonic beasts each possessed abilities of their own.
The atmosphere became tense.
The wolves stared back.
Their teeth were exposed as they continued growling.
They didn’t attack immediately.
Instead, they surrounded him from several directions, trying to gauge the creature before them.
It also wasn’t strange for demonic beasts to show some levels of intelligence. Some would even say that this trait was more frightening than their own abilities.
Osborne remained completely still.
’Just what is this herb to do something like this...’ His gaze remained fixed on the silver streaks along their spines.
The wolves slowly lowered their bodies.
They were preparing to attack.
Osborne’s hand tightened around the handle of his sword.
He still wasn’t certain what their abilities were, so he decided it was best to be cautious.
Blatant arrogance would only get him killed.