Chapter 822: Against predators
[Eon's POV: ]
The trial that I received was pretty simple.
I just had to lead a few Gazelles to a certain place in the darkness.
'There was a mother in this small group and there was a child, along with two fathers that did not seem to like each other much.'
They did not fight with one another but they still weren't on best terms with one another… and it was pretty understandable since no one liked sharing their mates.
But, this situation was different.
'Anyone who did not know about these creatures would think that they were some normal beasts that were at odds with one another.'
But that was not the case.
'They were called (Curved horned Trimates) and it was actually a funny name.
'The females of this kind find two mates and even though they aren't necessarily the dominant ones in their small families, they have a strong grasp on their families.'
The two mates that they find learn how to cohabitate after a certain time, but, just like the pack that I was given, these ones also seemed to be a new family.
'They just had to follow the lights that were appearing in the darkness, but since there was a conflict between two males, the female was ill, and the child was a little too energetic, they couldn't follow the lights as they were supposed to.'
The female couldn't handle the males properly since she was ill, and so the males ended up continuously yelling at one another.
But, since she was still there and the child that belonged to one of them was running all around where the lights were appearing, they had no choice but to look after both of them.
'My task was simply to lead them where they were supposed to be.'
But with a hyperactive child and a polyandrous family, it was no simple task to accomplish. At least, not from a general perspective.
'These creatures were genuine (Purple) ranked creatures as well so even as illusions that looked like normal creatures, they were still strong enough to crush me to death with their tall physiques.'
They were also creatures of nature so, they were a rare species that not that many people in this world knew much about.
'Thankfully, I knew well about their kind, and their unique behaviour patterns.'
It didn't take me long to make the females's condition even worse, to restrict the movements of the young child with illusion magic, and to get the males on better terms.
'They cared about the female so they had no choice but to listen to the third party present if the person that was supposed to be the main decision maker wasn't in any condition to do anything.'
The males of this kind were pretty dumb muscle heads that only showed off their physiques to impress the females.
The females mostly made the decisions among them, or the young ones that were still not hit by the air of puberty.
They were strong creatures but that strength was of no help when their loved one was in trouble.
The young one had already gone far ahead of them thanks to my illusions, so they were even more worried and this made it easier to control them.
'It was an easy trial to pass… that's why when I asked for the next one, I was looking forward to a harder one that would be more challenging and interesting.'
I was trying to understand the processing powers of the Lord of these mountains and see just how they calculated the things, made decisions, and thought about things through this, but…
"Haaa."
To give me such a trail right after an easy one was pretty unfair of that 'wise' being. Discover tales on m_vl_em_p_yr
-Booooooooooom!
The first test was about helping a bunch of beasts, while on the other had, the second one was about defeating a kind of best that even the ruler of the place should have known was a too much for a little human boy like me.
"GURAAAHHHHHHH…!"
A (Black tooth Sabre).
A jaguar like species that was strong enough to be ranked (Purple) in their adult primes. They were creatures of great strengths and in the places where there are no tigers or mountain rulers, their families tend to be the rulers that rule over a vast forest region.
'They were strong creatures.'
And the one that I was fighting right now was no illusion or anything.
'The creature wasn't part of this special space but was summoned here specifically to deal with me.'
Or, to test me.
They were strong creatures that chased their prey to hell once they had found their targets.
They were predators that were prideful of their special light attribute movement skills made them one of the most dangerous predators of the wild.
'But, thankfully, the one that I was facing wasn't an experienced adult.'
It wasn't an adult but it also wasn't a child.
It was fairly older to have learned how to hunt and had developed senses of a predator, but even if it had the superior instincts of the hunter, it lacked the experience that made them what they were famous for.
-Swish! Swish! Swish!
I used my close range archery to deal with this one, and since there was no one looking, I was also using my magic.
-Ooooooooooooong!
It made things pretty easier, and since there was a good space to move around, with my new skills and the understanding of this creature, the fight until now had went well.
'If I were to say so myself, this creature was only around mid (Indigo) rank so it wasn't that difficult to deal with.'
Certainly not with all my bows, arrows, and the artifacts helping me.
'This trial was aimed to test what cards I was hidings and how far I could go, and, since I was the one that asked for it, I knew well how this one creature was not going to be the last one.'
This was just the start…
"GURAHHHHHH…!"
As soon as the wild creature was in no position to fight anymore, as I knew, it vanished from its place.
-Ooooooooong.
A moment of silence passed as I waited with my senses sharpened, and then…
"GHUAAAWWW…!"
The next creature jumped at me from the shadows.
-Swish.
This time, it was a (Three tailed Liger), another rare beast that one doesn't see in the wild often.
'In the empire, they were even protected species and hunting them was prohibited.'
They were a unique species born from the mating between a High Mountain Tigre and a Hirarchal grassland Lion… something that possessed powers of two highly ferocious species, and an opponent even the highest ranking adventurers don't want to cross paths with.
'At least not when these beasts had not had anything to eat for a few days.'
They were picky eaters and ate only something that was as strong as them, or sometimes, something that was stronger than them.
"GHUAAAAA…!"
Sadly, from the looks of it, this one had not had anything to eat for a few days and since it was also a young one, I was actually stronger than it in its eyes.
'They were one of the upper Purple ranking creatures in their adult states and just like the Mountain ruling tigers, some of them also have a possibility to evolve into a higher being that is beyond the simple limits of a purple ranked creature.
-Swiiiiiiiiiiiiish~!
-Booooooooooooom!
Thankfully, even though they possessed strength and stamina of the tigers and Pride, endurance, and sharpness of the Lions, they had many weaknesses that they only managed to get rid of after many years of battle experience.
'They were battle crazy creatures so even after being rare and having a great natural lifespan, most of them died even before reaching adulthood.'
Most of them couldn't see just what they were capable of due to their innate instincts to dominate and win.
The one I fought was the same…
-Oooooooooooong.
It was defeated before even the previous opponent, and, in no time at all, the next opponent jumped up from the shadows once again.
"Looking back, I fought nine creatures in that short time."
A jaguar, then that Liger, then a panther that was stronger than either of the creatures I have faced before.
'It could jump into the shadows since it was a darkness attributed (White-spotted Nightmare panther).'
It had good skills, it was an adult and, it was in a near complete state of its kind…
Sadly, this one was under the influence of some fatal poison and was dying after it fought me.
'It was dangerous and made the creature more ferocious than it was supposed to be.'
So, instead of fighting and defeating this one, I focused on first subduing it, and after hours long struggle, when I finally got it under control, I gave it an antidote before releasing it from the binds.
No one had said that the trial was about fighting and defeating the creatures that were appearing before me, so I didn't need to follow the usual rules of a trial from some higher being.
'A life was more important than my own gains if its loss didn't help me or the world in any way.'
It was a rare creature and it was real.
It deserved to live. So, I left it after curing.
And, after it was fine, it had lost all motivation to fight its saviour and went back on its own.
Then I fought three more creatures, played chess with one, and made cookies with the last one.
Which was a pretty fun experience~.
Though, half of my friends here didn't believe me when I told them how I made cookies with a (Maned bear), an extremely rare being that most definitely should not have existed on this sky island.
"I'm not going to buy that last part, but the rest seems pretty believable… even though all of it is actually absurd."
Right now, we were standing before our destination, the place that even I had only ever read about…
"Still, I can't believe what I'm seeing even though it's right before me."
The reward located at the end of a cave of trials… We were standing before the reward that was more precious than any kind of treasure or artifact.
"This… this really IS a paradise."
This was the place I wanted to see with all of them.
'And now that we are here and I'm looking at this place… I want nothing more than to enter the astral realm so that I can take a look at the true interpretation of this paradise.'
Not all of them will be able to see it, but… I'm sure all that do see it, will like it as much as us.