Once they were finished with breakfast and Karl’s inventory was loaded with as much stuff as he could possibly hold, which appeared to be a normal situation for the locals when they headed out on an extended trip, he prepared to get on his way.
He would be headed away from the road, following the directions from the quest reward. The fact that there were supposed to be no villages at all for the entire northern region of the nation next to them seemed very odd to Karl.
Perhaps they meant no Elven or Human villages, but the complete absence just didn’t seem like the sort of thing that would normally happen.
There wasn’t anything that Karl could do about that, though. The supposedly perfect beast was in that direction, and he wasn’t about to pass that up.
He had a space ready, and they were just waiting on Remi to pick an evolution direction so she could break through to the Royal Rank. Then they would be able to continue progressing, hopefully with a powerful new friend.
Everyone in the group was excited about that. They had become a close family, and the process of adopting a new family member was the greatest group activity that they could think of right now.
They were all present, there was no particular pressure, and no restrictions on what they could look for. There might never be a better chance to find a new friend.
The first few hours in the forest were calm ones. There weren’t many strong monsters near the village, the dragon chased them away or convinced them not to bother her, but as Karl got further from civilization, he began to see signs that there were monsters in the area.
The most obvious were the claw marks five metres up the bark of a tree. It might have been a full-grown Dire Bear, or something the same shape, or it might have been a shorter creature that normally stood upright.
Karl didn’t want to call anyone out and risk attracting more attention, so he just focused on not being ambushed with his aura turned inward, the way he had seen others do it to hide their power level.
Thor would be ready instantly with the barriers, and Karl had Royal Rank armour on, so he wasn’t exactly vulnerable, but it was an extreme change from his usual “Always ready” travel method.
[Watch your step and protect your neck.] Rae sang in his mind as they passed through a dark section of the forest where Karl could feel that something was watching them, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
[You’re in a good mood today.] Karl noted.
Rae nodded happily as she swung in a hammock in her space.
[This place feels like home. This is where a Bloodbath Spider belongs, not in those wimpy forests back home. These forests are ancient, and they’re just leaking power. It just feels like home.]
Remi looked around. [It isn’t bad, but it’s too dry. These trees though, I like the trees.]
As they continued, the sense that they were being stalked became undeniable.
[Does anyone have eyes on the target?] Karl asked, knowing they could look out of their spaces directly and not just through his eyes.
[Whatever it is, it is hidden too well.] Rae complained.
Then Karl saw a shimmer headed their way through the trees and turned to face it, hoping that just proving he could see it would scare it off.
The creature seemed to pause for a few seconds, then Karl realized that it wasn’t alone. There were other shimmers in his peripheral vision.
One of them launched itself at him, and Karl sidestepped, bringing up [Eternal Lightning]. The moment that he used a skill, the shimmers scattered, running off into the woods. But he could feel attention from something stronger in the distance.
As a precaution, he stopped using the barrier and returned to as close to stealth as he could manage.
That stopped the stronger creature from caring that he was nearby.
[The beasts here feel strange. They’re not particularly powerful, not more powerful than me, but they don’t feel the same.] Rae explained.
They would have to wait on that, as the arrow that led them towards their new partner hadn’t changed directions at all, so it probably wasn’t close yet.
They could all feel when they passed between the territories of two powerful beasts, and the team began to realize what the difference in feeling was. Certain portions of the woods were claimed by the beasts. They had imbued their power and essence all through them for years, and that gave the beasts’ territories a distinctive feeling.
But now that they knew what it was, they could also use that feeling to skirt along the edges of a monster’s claimed territory.
That made things a little easier for Karl. The monsters that avoided the territories of other beasts were generally not strong, and would avoid him as well, thinking that he was a wandering predator.
That allowed him to make decent progress during the daylight hours, but as the sky began to darken, Karl had to make a decision.
Where would they sleep for the evening?
The obvious answer was in a fort that Rae made, but the issue was finding a spot where they could put it that would actually be safe enough to let him sleep, and not attract monsters to his location.
The best that Karl could come up with was further up in the trees, but even that was a risk, as there were monsters that lived above the ground as well as on it.
[Do we think it’s safer up high or down low?] Karl asked, hoping for useful input.
[High is always better.] Hawk replied.
Rae made an agreeable noise. [Smaller branches support smaller predators.]
[Yeah, the good snack sized things should be in the small branches.] Remi added.
That settled it. They would go all the way up a tree and deal with whatever they found up there, which hopefully wouldn’t be a whole flock of flying monsters.
[There, that tree looks good. There is some noise, but no sense of strong monsters, so there shouldn’t be anything hiding in it. It’s outside a major territory, so we should be safe to settle in for the night.] Rae suggested.
[Alright, lead the way. You can keep watch from in the fort, or in your space, if it is less likely to cause trouble. We will fight if we have to, but I don’t want to start something big.]
Hawk and Rae both happily agreed to those terms. They wouldn’t start anything big, but there were new types of monsters in the area, ones that were much weaker than they were, and they might be tasty.
It wasn’t much, but they hadn’t gotten a chance to properly hunt in quite a while, so they were looking forward to taking the chances that they could get and replenish their supplies.
Even Remi sensed some possibilities, but it would be better if she had Hawk or Rae get the food for her. Biting and squishing it might ruin the flavour and texture. Being a snake had serious downfalls. All the best food was ruined when you had to catch it yourself.
