It was close to noon when I woke up, and I immediately reached for my phone.
“No response.”
Daniel hadn’t responded. That could only mean one thing for a chatterbox like him: Daniel was busy. Maybe he pulled an all-nighter with his teacher and fell asleep without looking at our chat, or he was outside hunting beasts and plucking infused herbs. It could be anything, really.
One way or another, Daniel was busy.
My heart skipped a beat at that. What did that mean for me? If Daniel left the Bastion for an expedition with his teacher, he wouldn’t be back for several days. Days I didn’t have.
“I’m such an idiot.” I cursed myself for devising such stupid plans, and for discarding them to come up with an even worse one. Why did I wait so long to go back outside?
“Calm down and take a deep breath,” I cooled my heart and mind alongside Aureus, whose emotions filled me, dispelling worries and anxiety. The Soulkin went one step ahead and forwarded images of Wagur and countless frames of the simulated beasts I’d killed as well.
“That’s a good point. Hunting 1-Star and 2-Star Wilds should be possible. As long as they’re alone, or in smaller groups of less than five mature beasts, it should be fine. Or, let’s be safe and say groups of three. Fighting simulated beasts is different from the real deal,” I told Aureus as the Soilback manifested on my shoulder.
The glutton had grown considerably in the last few weeks. It was still surprising how much the Soilback ate, especially with a body that didn’t exceed 20 centimeters in length, but Aureus was growing. Fast.
As long as nothing went wrong, Aureus would reach the standards of a regular 3-Star Wild in a few days—maybe another week or two if things slowed down. Though, the only standard Aureus would meet was the amount of soul energy the Soulkin required to maintain our bond. His physical strength was still weak, almost nonexistent, and our soulshare did not provide me with many benefits. At least, I couldn’t feel much yet.
Aureus must have sensed my thoughts because he replied with a wave of displeasure and memories of his hard work, and how he’d frozen the Bloodbath Deer on our first hunt.
“Yes, you are the best.” My fingers caressed across the matte, black scales of the little glutton. “You’re stronger than your brethren. While they use brute strength like barbarians, you use your intelligence and trait to paralyze them. No matter how strong someone is, if they’re paralyzed, their strength is useless.”
If everything turned out for the best, our soulshare would grow formidable enough to reach the next stage soon—ish. Strong enough so that I could access Aureus’ special trait as well. It was already exciting to think Aureus could paralyze our enemies, but what would happen once I could do that too?
I shuddered in excitement and prepared to head out.
My parents’ financial situation was bad, and I was not going to be a burden for them. Not anymore. Not after becoming a Blessed to help them out. I made a mistake by ignoring my parents' needs, so I had to carry the burden and get my damned act together.
I would leave the Bastion and go hunt—alone.
***
It took me eons to reach the dome. Thinking about everything that could go wrong outside was depressing, but I couldn’t turn my mind off.
However, all worries dispersed as I stepped outside the dome. My mind blanked and I walked through the nearest outpost, my eyes flicking to the Blessed and their Soulkin.
There were fewer Awakened Soulkin among the Blessed resting in the outpost than expected, and it was surprising how young some Blessed looked. They were around my age. Some younger, though most were slightly older. Yet, as far as I could tell, only one out of five Blessed had an Awakened Soulkin.
They could be stored in their Worlds.
My feet carried me through the outpost, and I tensed visibly as the outskirts of the Windbloom Forest came into view. Yet, as my body tensed up, my hand pulled to the silvernit sword. I pulled it out and felt a flood of calm rush through my veins.
Compared to the middle-aged woman in the gym, this was nothing!
“You are familiar with the Windbloom Forest. You studied them, and you fought all of them in the combat simulation room,” I reminded myself, my empty hand fidgeting with the backpack I’d found at home. It was not a spatial unit, nor did it have any weight-reduction engravings, but it fulfilled its designated task.
Closing in on the Windbloom Forest, I was greeted with a flowery scent and a group of tense pre-teens staring into the forest, tightly clutching swords and spears until the white of their knuckles was clearly visible. Not too far from me was a brunette woman with long hair cascading her back. She smiled wryly at the teens and spoke calmly and reassuringly, but her words seemed to do little to alleviate the pre-teens’ worries as another woman with short black hair emerged from the forest’s undergrowth.
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“Incoming,” she uttered calmly, her eyes clad in a faint, silver halo. “A group of 18 Herula Beetles.”
The teens tensed up as they heard Shorty’s call, but she only rolled her eyes and looked at Longhair.
“Although only 1-Star Wilds, their carapaces are highly durable. It protects them from most sharp weapons and reinforces their defense greatly. However, their durability is not their most dangerous trait. Ether allows Herula Beetles to grow in size and drastically augment their physical strength. Herula Beetles may be slow, but they’re durable, and their mandibles are as long as daggers and just as sharp. Pay attention or you’ll miss a foot once we’re done here.” Longhair spoke like a lecturer, but she sounded almost as bored as Shorty looked. There was not even a trace of the calm and reassuring voice she’d used before.
I was eavesdropping, which was rude enough, yet I still felt compelled to offer her some advice.
That, however, didn’t seem necessary as Shorty looked past Longhair and our eyes met.
“What’s your problem?” she asked with a glint in her eyes.
“I…”
Shorty didn’t give me any time to get my act together and continued, “You don’t belong to them, do you?”
Her tone was condescending, and I couldn’t help but feel sorry for these kids. Clearly, they hadn’t received the same education as Daniel or the young Blessed from the Academies. The trembling children looked more like young Blessed on their first outing. As for Shorty and Longhair, they were probably hired by their parents.
One way or another, Shorty was getting on my nerves.
“I do not belong to them, but I would like to fight the Herula Beetles as well.” I offered the best smile I could muster. “To prevent any accidents, you wouldn’t allow your clients to fight more than one Herula Beetle, right?”
There were only 13 Blessed in their group, and their condition did not improve much even after the dog-sized beetles emerged from the thicket. Somehow, seeing the group of Wilds and their Herula Beetles was perfect for me. I didn’t have too much space in my backpack, but there would still be some left after storing the mandibles and carapaces of five Herula Beetles. Everything else was of little value and could thus be discarded to make space for more valuable beast parts.
“We – they – will be fine without your help, so stop bothering–...” Shorty remarked snarkily, pointing fingers at me, but Longhair cut in. Her head turned to me momentarily and our eyes met.
I stared at her, trying to read her body language, yet I completely misread her. She shrugged and turned back to face the beasts. A strong gust swept through the vicinity, and the tightly-knit group of Herula Beetles was split up. The beasts didn’t seem to take note of anything and moved toward their targets.
“Get rid of five,” Longhair said in a light, monotonous tone. “But don’t expect any help. You should always analyse your surroundings to make use of every advantage you can grasp, but never expect handouts. And do not think everyone will treat you kindly if you eavesdrop on them.”
I grimaced but moved to the right where a group of five Herula Beetles moved in unison. My hands felt sweaty, and it was a little harder to control ether as tension returned to my body, yet knowing a pair of experienced Blessed was near me was enough to calm me. I had no reason to think they would protect me, but I could always retreat and force them to help—even if it was only to protect their clients.
If not for that, I wouldn’t have made the offer in the first place. Fighting five beasts simultaneously, even if they were only 1-Star Wilds, was not something I’d accounted for when I left for my second hunt. However, I felt better than expected. The Herula Beetles in the combat simulation had been more annoying to defeat than other simulated beasts as they did not appear in small groups, but all of that changed with the knowledge of their weakness.
The beetles moved slowly toward me, yet their mandibles snapped at me suddenly and with surprising velocity. Even though I’d learned all about the lethality of the Windbloom Forest’s beasts, I was surprised and side-stepped.
I moved around the first Herula Beetle and thrust forward, ramming my blade into the beast’s eye. Twisting the blade allowed me to push it a little bit deeper before I was forced to pull it out. The other Herula Beetles reached me and attacked, but I was no longer within their mandibles’ range.
I stepped back, took a deep breath, and released traces of ether from my World. I guided the ether through my body and pushed it into my sword arm before moving it along the silvernit sword. Both sword and ether resisted a little when I pushed the latter into the sword handle, but all resistance crumbled as I pressed further. A little willpower and decent control of ether was all it took to empower the silvernit sword momentarily.
I charged at the second Herula Beetle and evaded its pincer with a light step. Once the pincer snapped shut, I kicked the beast and gutted it. Following that, I pierced the third beetle’s eyeball and pushed the blade even deeper than before. The Herula Beetle twitched once before its movements ceased.
Using the last bits of ether residing in the silvernit sword, I pinpointed the Herula Beetles’ weak spot and slashed at it once, carving the seams that connected the two halves of the beast’s carapace.
Herula Beetles, as powerful as they were, carried an external carapace that functioned differently from a traditional exoskeleton. Unlike a traditional exoskeleton, this carapace resembled the shells of hermite beasts I had studied in Beastrology.
At the 1-Star Wild stage, the carapace was only loosely attached to their bodies—the connection brittle and easily severed with a simple sword stroke. Upon reaching the 2-Star Wild rank, more of the beast’s ether would seep into the carapace and bind it more securely to their soft inner bodies, granting them greater resilience. It wasn’t until they advanced to 3-Star Wild that the carapace fully merged with their bodies, creating a reinforced structure that significantly increased their strength and durability.
At 3-Star, they were much larger as well, adding weight to their raw strength and durability, but as 1-Star Wilds? They were easily manageable. The carapace of the fourth Herula Beetle fell apart. A follow-up strike was enough to cleave through the soft flesh beneath the firm carapace, and the beast collapsed dead to the ground.
The last beast fell victim to my glowing sword, carving through the carapace’s seams and soft flesh at once. Not even a full second later, the ether infused into the sword dissipated. I checked the battlefield and noticed that the beetle whose eye I’d poked first was still writhing. Its brain must have been damaged since it couldn’t move properly anymore, yet I’d failed to kill it with my initial attack.
A swift thrust was all it took to finish the job and remove the last threat.