Chapter 15 : Level 10 Beast
Jackal the Hunter had a solemn last moment of life.
"I can now die in peace," he said with a sigh, letting go of life as his breathing slowly ceased.
Jackal's figure dispersed into tiny particles of white light.
Before his death, however, Jackal had given Axton everything he was to receive from completing the quest of killing the Great Wolf.
Currently, Axton was going through a letter that was inside the parcel that Jackal had given him.
"To the one who receives this…
Head west of the hunter's shack, about forty kilometres from there is an egg. The beast tag inside this parcel can contract the egg and eventually mature it into a beast."
Axton did not know how to feel about this.
He did not know what to predict about it.
Was the egg going to be easy to acquire?
Was it going to be tedious, or even more hectic than the pack of wolves?
What was it going to cost him to achieve this?
Axton was not comfortable with the uncertainties that were attached to this particular letter and the red beast tag that came with it.
He exhaled, deciding to cross that bridge when he gets there but first, Axton was going to find some monsters to kill and level up.
Axton wanted to level up a bit more, so he could grow his confidence before venturing to acquire this mysterious Grade 5 beast.
******
Much to his disappointment, things did not go as well as he planned.
Axton returned to where he fought the pack of wolves, hoping to run into their large numbers like last time.
However, that was not the case as he was left with dealing with individual wild wolves.
This was easy and he did not gain any reasonable experience points from it.
He didn't even need to use his [Battle God] talent.
Frustrated, Axton finally decided to just wing it and go for the beast egg regardless of the outcome or what he would run into.
If it was too difficult for him to handle even with his critical hit bonus and [Battle God] talent, he would just retreat.
Arriving at the location that was west of Jackal's shack, Axton came to a river.
He stood at the bank of the river, observing the environment for a while and noticed the creatures that swam inside this body of water.
He could see different species of beasts as he stared at the body of water, species that he did not know could even live together.
*Splurt*
Axton stepped back and threw a moderately sized rock into the river, creating a distortion that forced different beasts to spring up to the surface.
*Splash*
The first set of creatures that came up to the surface were shaped like turtles that were made entirely of rock.
Axton was surprised as to how the turtles were even alive and breathing if they were absolutely rock solid.
He pushed the thought to the back of his mind, recalling to himself that this was a fantasy game and that anything was possible as long as it was properly programmed by the game developers.
…
[Rock Turtles]
Grade : Common
Level : 4
Attack : 29
Defense : 25
Health : 60
Skills : [Rock Shell] [Turtle Charge]
Note : Rock turtles may be clumsy creatures but they have very high defensive capabilities.
…
From their stat panel, the rock turtles had high base defense and a skill like [Rock Shell] was already self-explanatory enough for anyone who reads the name to know that it would add to the defense of the rock turtles as well.
Axton was forced to move backwards even more, creating a distance between himself and the river just in case he would need to run or act otherwise to protect himself.
*Hiss*
A loud and bone-chilling hiss resonated in the atmosphere, keeping Axton on his toes immediately he heard it.
The hissing sound echoed and a large snake, with a similar rock body as the turtles, raised its head.
"What… the… fuck?!"
Axton swallowed a lump in his throat as he felt an eerie cringe move through his whole body.
…
[Verdant Rock Serpent]
Grade : 3
Level : 10
Attack : 78
Defense : 53
Health : 200
Skills : [Whipping Tail] [Rock Shell] [Poisonous Fang Attack]
Note : The verdant rock serpent is entering the next stage of its natural evolution after it had swallowed a grade 5 beast egg. Its attributes have reduced significantly.
…
'Level 10?!'
Axton did not dare voice out his thoughts to avoid causing his own death.
The snake was many times stronger than the rock turtles that burst out earlier.
It was even more shocking that this was the snake's power after it had significantly reduced, thanks to his ongoing evolution.
What if it was not evolving and Axton was meeting it at full strength?
Axton swallowed hard and loud again.
This time, he carefully hid himself and watched from a distance.
'I have to kill the snake.'
It was an obvious line of action.
The content of the extra note on the snake's profile panel matched perfectly with the content of Jackal's letter.
The snake had indeed swallowed the beast egg he came to acquire and the only way to get it back…
…Was to slay the Verdant Rock Serpent!
Axton raised his eyebrows as he monitored his target.
His strategy was simple on paper: corner the snake, kill it and cut the belly open, acquire the beast egg.
Simple and short, and he wins!
However, that was not the same in the reality he was facing.
Axton had to also account for the fact that the snake had already swallowed the egg, meaning that absorption of the egg had started.
If he wasted more time than necessary, the egg would be gone for good even if he eventually succeeds in killing the verdant rock serpent.
Now that he understood the situation of things, he couldn't even go, farm monster kills to grow stronger and come back.
Axton had to figure out how to handle the situation in the best way possible.
'This grade 5 beast better be worth it.'
Axton was almost starting to second-guess his decision.