Chapter 3: Attack of Minotours
Within the council chamber of the king's palace, a group of people can be seen, sitting at the round table
"Damn it!" He slammed his fist against the table, "They are becoming more and more arrogant. Those damn animals, I'll have no choice but to declare war if they keep pushing us"
Everyone in the room remained quiet, afraid they might provoke the King with their words
Then, "If I may, your majesty" a soothing voice spoke out, "From what I can see, I think that you're working too hard, dealing with too many matters alone. If you'll allow me, I would like to recommend myself for taking care of this border affair"
The king closed his eyes, thinking for a moment.
Then he spoke out, "Prime Minister Zhao, you're right, as the brightest mind of this Kingdom, I should leave this matter to you. I know you're capable of resolving this issue.
But, I cannot allow you to face this burden alone. Counselor!"
"Yes, my lord"
"Would you assist Prime Minister Zhao on this matter?"
"Anything you command my lord"
"Prime Minister Zhao and Counsellor Song will be responsible for any matter related to the Kingdom's border, this concludes our meeting"
As everyone began leaving the room, Counsellor Song approached Prime Minister Zhao, "Your timing was perfect indeed, Prime Minister"
"Oh, if it's not my dear friend Song, but what timing could you be talking about? I was simply trying my best to alleviate the King's trouble"
Counsellor Song smiled, "My apologies, I must be reading into it. Well then Prime Minister Zhao, I hope we have a great time working together"
They shook hands and went their separate ways, but both understood the true battle had only just begun
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AETHER'S POV:
I looked around me, even the sun had completely escaped the horizon, it was almost as if I had travelled through time.
"M-My arm is burning up, what the hell happened—"
I saw them, they were the runes… The runes that were engraved on the beast's body, were now carved all over my left arm
"What…What the hell happened to me"
"Sighs. Calm down boy"
"You again. Why don't you start talking and tell me what you are doing inside my body"
"The runes on your left arm, I upgraded it and placed it there while I took over your body. They will protect you when you are in danger"
"I am asking you a question, answer me!"
"Listen here boy—"
"Stop calling me boy, and start calling me by my name you ghost"
"...Well then, listen here, 'Boy', you're a Paragon—a vessel for us Divine Emperors"
Damn ghost—he's still calling me ghost, he must be a stubborn, egotistic type
"Right now, I am caged inside you by a seal, and that seal greatly restricts me from helping you out with my true power. Release the seal, and I shall give you power and strength that are beyond your imagination, I will make you the strongest magician to ever walk this world"
His offer was… completely suspicious!! Who in their right mind would accept such a generous and perfect deal. He was clearly trying to take over my body for himself
"Listen here, 'Ghost', I don't plan on playing your games. You might be a Divine Emperor or whatever, but let me tell you one thing—I am not an ordinary kid either"
He stopped talking, and just like that, our conversation ended.
The sun had already set, so I knew I did not have much time left. I stuffed the beast's head into my leather sack and went back to the village immediately.
On the outskirts of the village, Aria and the others already gathered, "Heyyyy, here Aetherr!" She shouted. They were still lighting up the torches so I was not too late for the beast submission
I looked around the field and saw that all the other hunters had already submitted their beast.
"You're late Aether, what happened?" Aria asked me
"It's nothing Aria, only minor problems. Let me submit my beast too" I walked towards Oloris who was receiving the beasts
From the sides, people were talking, "Look at him, he came last even though he was chosen by the Lake of Makdoral. If it was me, I would've easily come first"
"That's exactly what I told the others, such a waste that the pool chose him, I would've finished in a blink" They murmured thinking I could not hear them talking, but I simply ignored them, because the voice of jealousy only brings satisfaction to the heart of the unyielding
Finally reached the submission table where Oloris was busy writing the list, "Oh Aether, so you finally arrived. You're almost late but it's fine. Well then, show me the beast that you caught"
I pulled out the beast's head from the leather sack, and showed it to Oloris
"T-This is!" He exclaimed
"It's a C-Grade Mana beast, a 'Lycanvor'"
Everyone immediately rushed towards us, "It really is a lycanvor" They shouted
"Where, let me see it"
"A lycanvor? How is that possible? Where is it?"
They pushed and yelled at each other, all rushing to see the C-Grade beast. Maybe because it was a festival, but everyone seemed a bit more rough than usual.
"Stop!" The chief of the village shouted, "Behave yourself everyone, we're not some mindless animals. The head is not going anywhere, take your turns and wait patiently"
At that moment I could see the respect everyone had for Fenris, they listened and immediately fell into silence.
"I will announce the winner of the Beast hunting festival when I check the details myself, and then we will celebrate by feasting on the hunted.
Everyone should gather to the bonfire and enjoy the festival before I made announcement" and so everyone head towards the bonfire
"Old man Oloris, everyone really respects Lord Fenris, is there any particular reason for it?
"Well, my son has always been a righteous person since he was a little boy. He is both strong and smart, and everyone admires him for it. It's not a stretch to say he's a better leader than I ever was.
And for you, Aether, you really exceeded my expectations—to think you would bring back a C-Grade beast on your first hunt"
"Is it really that special?"
"Of course it is. I know I haven't taught you about the core stages, but a C-Grade Mana Beasts are as strong as the people at the Blue stage.
And let me ask you this, how did you even kill it?"
"I uh, laid a trap—and the beast fell for it. It was really difficult to lure it, but I managed to succeed in the end" I left out the part where the Divine Emperor, Void Arthagas helped me out. And you know what, I am calling him Ghost from now on, he deserve it
***
30 minutes later
Fenris stood before the bonfire, "I will now announce the top hunters of today's Beast Hunting Festival.
Are you all excited?!"
"Yeaaahhhh!!" The crowd cheered
"Well then, for the first place, the winner of this year's Beast Hunting Festival is… Uzui!!"
"Oooohhhhhhh!!" The crowd roared and cheered even louder
"He caught a D-Grade mana beast, and was the first to return to the village. He got both speed and strength, truly the best hunter of our village.
And now, in second place we have the boy genius… Aether!!"
"Yeeeaahhhhhh!!"
I was quite happy to hear so many people cheering for me, something I never experienced in my previous life
"Aether is the youngest second place holder in the history of our festival, truly a genius among geniuses. Even though he returned at the last minute, he still caught a C-Grade mana beast, so second place is a well deserved rank for the boy genius!"
"THAT'S RIGHTTTT!!"
Fenris continued his announcement.
Kentaki placed third and the ranks of the others were also revealed.
We feasted and celebrated the whole night, and just like that, the Beast Hunting Festival was over.
***
The next day
I thought everyone would be tired because of last night. But no—All the villagers were sober and energetic, they were fully functional and went on the day as usual.
"Good morning Aether, so you're finally training with Lord Oloris today"
"Oh it's you Uzui, good morning to you too. And yes, today is the day. I have many things to learn so I want to start as early as possible"
"Good, the earlier you train, the faster you will be able to—"
"ROARR!!" A loud roar covered the whole area while we were talking
Uzui immediately went on his guard, "Aether, go to the Main house immediately and don't come out!"
"Wait what's goin—"
"Go!!"
I ran towards the Main house, "I don't know what's happening right now, but listening to Uzui should be the best option"
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UZUI'S POV:
Lord Fenris and 20 of us gathered at the gate, preparing for battle.
The chief shouted, "We shall go towards the Roar of the Minotours, and remember, do not initiate the first move, that is an order!"
We roared in unison, "Yes Lord Fenris!"
After the preparations were done, we leapt onto the branches of the tall trees, and started heading towards the roar of the minotaurs.
We arrived at a barren field. And there, we saw a group of minotaurs, probably around 30 of them gathered together. Among them was one of our men, Poro, he was lying facedown on the ground—a rope strangling his whole body.
The lord of the Minotours, Thrax, roared out, "Lord Fenris! I have one of your scouts right here on the ground" He stomped Poro with his foot as he bragged
Our bodies froze at the sight, then we bursted out in rage and anger, "That's Poro lord Fenris, we need to rescue him. Give us the order so we can kill those ugly cows"
"Silence!
Don't you remember my order, we do not initiate the first move"
The chief yelled back at Thrax, "Lord Thrax! You've kept him alive till now, and there must be a reason for that, what is it you want in exchange?"
"I do not need or want anything Lord Fenris, I wanted to kill him right in front of your eyes, this is what you suffer for messing with us Minotours"
"Wait don't—"
"SPRRLLTCHHH!!"
Thrax smashed Poro's head with his giant hammer. Then he lifted him up, and started pulling Poro's body apart limb by limb.
"You piece of filthy cows, I'll rip you to shreds!" we exploded in anger
"Lord Fenris please allow us to avenge our fallen comrade right here!"
But the chief remained silent
"Lord Fenris, why aren't you answeri—"
The moment we stared into the chief's eyes, we all fell into silence too. Because we realized that the one hurting the most was him—his eyes were burning with anger, and his killing intent flooded the whole battlefield.
"Let's retreat for now!" He announced
"But Lord Fenris, we can't just—"
The chief glared at him with his sharp eyes, then the man immediately stepped back.
"We're out numbered, falling back is the best option right now"
Thrax yelled out from a distance, "I can see the werewolves are a bunch of cowards who can't even save or avenge their fallen comrade right before their eyes!"
Lord Fenris stayed quiet, then he spoke, "I'll remember this Lord Thrax, your death will be far worse than any death you have seen or will ever see, that is a promise"
Thrax and his men just stared as we left, and I could faintly hear what they were saying, "Lord Thrax, we outnumbered them, why didn't we attack."
"You fool, had we attacked, we would all be wiped out. Right now we're at a neutral zone, but once we chase them and enter their territory, we'll get out numbered, and none of us would see tomorrow"
Without even recovering Poro's body, we went back to Wolfvillage.
"Raise the Village security level to Maximum!" Lord Fenris announced just as we reached the village, "And call back all the scouts right now, we're having a meeting tonight!"
End of Chapter 3.