Beastforged World - B1 Chapter 16

If the impending sense of death hadn’t been enough to attract my attention, Aureus’ scream certainly would have been.

Our bond rippled as the little glutton pulled my attention to the shade of a tall oak tree, and my eyes landed on a set of piercing yellow eyes. I pulled ether from my core and pushed it through my lower body. Kicking the ground while releasing a burst of ether strained my muscles, but it was supposed to increase the distance between me and the threat beside me.

However, as it turned out, my proficiency with the movement arts was not high enough to move explosively. I was faster than usual, but the shadow that emerged from the tree's shade was even faster. It barreled forward, revealing the slender body of a feline. Pitch-black fur and vibrant, vicious eyes greeted me—preyed on me.

The feline closed the distance swiftly and pounced. I barely managed to lift the silvernit sword in time as the beast’s sharp, curved claws threatened to rip me to shreds. It landed softly and dashed forward again, this time clawing at my legs. Its strikes might have hit true if I hadn’t been retreating all along.

There were no other Blessed nearby, nor had I seen any other predators in the past few minutes. I was also too far from the Bastion to make it back alive.

My heart pounded so loud it drowned out the sounds of the world, while my mind conjured up one grim scenario after another—each one worse than the last. Discarding the dark thoughts, I focused on the battle ahead.

The feline was even smaller than the mature Bloodbath Deer, but it was just as strong—and faster. Deflecting a single deadly strike was already difficult, and I would have been long dead if not for weeks of combat training, both simulated and real... or the demoness’ daily bashing.

As much as I hated those beatings… I love you, you ol’ demoness, I screamed inwardly.

Death loomed overhead, but it wasn’t the first time. I’d been exposed to it for weeks. While it wasn’t the same as facing it in the wild, the demoness hiding in human skin had been stronger, faster, and scarier than this feline.

I continued to retreat, eyes flicking left and right as the beast shifted direction. It pushed left and disappeared into the thickets, only to leap at me in a burst of speed. Its claws shredded my shirt and left behind a red streak of pain. The wound wasn’t deep, but it made the danger real. Maybe, if I hadn’t endured worse beatings recently, I would have broken already.

But things were different now. Aureus stabilized my mind and materialized in my chest pocket.

He yipped, sharing images of a plan I would have dismissed under normal circumstances. But this was far from normal.

Will this work on a 4-Star Wild? I wondered, nibbling my lower lip until I tasted iron.

Is this even a 4-Star Wild?

One mistake and I’d die.

Taking a deep breath, I evaded several incoming attacks. Another red mark cut across my left arm, and it took everything I had to stop the beast from ramming its razor-sharp fangs into my calf. The worst part, though, was the beast’s growing momentum.

It seemed to grow stronger with every passing moment, and I found myself steadily losing ground. Slowly, uncertainty crept into the back of my mind. It took everything I had to refocus on the demoness’s movements, the arts I had practiced for weeks, and the ether I’d learned to control with precision.

Since my life was on the line no matter what I did, I expelled the ether from my core and circulated it through my body.

If this doesn’t work—No, it will work. It has to work! I gritted my teeth and shoved the fear of death aside. I wasn’t allowed to die after coming this far. Not when my life had finally begun to improve.

For the first time since the beast had leapt at me, I pressed my feet into the ground and surged forward. I brandished my sword and felt a familiar tug on Aureus’ bond. The beast roared in defiance and charged—but it froze for a quarter of a second and stumbled. The momentary loss of control shattered its momentum.

That quarter-second was all I needed. I gathered momentum and arrived in front of the beast, ramming my blade toward its throat. The feline sprang back to its paws and would have evaded the blow—if it didn’t freeze a second time. This time, the effect was even briefer, but my blade was already in motion, piercing through fur and flesh.

The beast thrashed and tried to retreat once it regained control, but I wasn’t about to surrender my only shot at victory. The ether coursing through my body disappeared into Aureus’ bond. My Soulkin had already retreated into the World to recover faster—but Aureus had done more than I expected. And for that, I was eternally grateful.

Angst and despair replaced the viciousness in the feline beast’s eyes, yet I couldn’t bring myself to pity it. The beast had preyed on me. It attacked me first, and it would have killed me if I had been any weaker. Staring into the eyes of the thrashing beast, I pushed the blade deeper and twisted it. I watched with growing horror as the ferocious predator transformed into a scared kitten. The life in the beast’s eyes faded, and the strength in its formidable body diminished.

However, I didn’t withdraw the blade until the beast stopped moving. I twisted it once more and ripped downward, half-expecting the feline to trick me into thinking it was dead. But that wasn’t the case.

It was dead, and I had survived.

Looking down at my body, I realized that the fight might have been a lot closer than I had expected. There were more claw marks spread across my body—I counted seven—and I hadn’t known about three of them until now. The cuts were also deeper than they had felt earlier.

My clothes were torn and drenched in blood, while the wounds had become raging pits of pain as the adrenaline faded. The wounds stung badly, and the bleeding only seemed to worsen.

At least I wasn’t fighting a Bloodbath Deer. I shuddered and cursed my core for being empty.

If I had some ether left, I’d circulate it through the wounded areas to accelerate the natural healing process. Fortunately, I had prepared for a situation like this and purchased a good supply of bandages and a tube of blood-clogging salve. While not as effective as the serums made from Bloodbath Deer antlers, it worked—and was affordable.

I’d purchased the bandages and salve to ensure my mother wouldn’t see my injuries if I got wounded outside, but I could hardly hide my torn clothes from her.

“There’s nothing I can do about that,” I snickered, pulling my backpack aside to retrieve a large bag.

Lifting the dead beast pulled at my wounds, but it had to be stored one way or another. There was no way I would leave such a precious body behind!

As I shoved the corpse into the bag, I came to realize that it was a Prouncer—a 4-Star Wild beast considered the king of assassins. A nimble and silent hunter that, while not incredibly physically strong or durable, had the means to hunt unaware 4-Star and even 5-Star Wilds. Ether altered its body to merge more easily with the surrounding shadows while also silencing its steps.

I shuddered, realizing I could have easily died to the Prouncer if Aureus and I hadn’t noticed it in time.

To calm my nerves, I tended to my wounds. I covered the claw marks generously with the blood-clogging salve and used most of my bandages—though I had probably used way too much. Regardless, I felt a lot better once I had finished tending to myself. I picked up the backpack and corpse bag, slung them across my shoulder, and reached for the silvernit sword with my other hand.

“Erm… good thing nobody attacked me,” I muttered, catching myself acting like a stupid fool. Why in the Rulers’ names had I lowered my guard in the Windbloom Forest? The Prouncer’s death didn’t mean I was out of danger. I was still in a 5-Star Wild zone!

Tending to my wounds and ignoring the forest’s dangers had been incredibly stupid and reckless. It was most definitely not something I’d recommend. I was lucky my stupidity hadn’t been immediately punished.

A heavy sigh escaped my lips. I was exhausted, out of ether, and wounded. Aureus was also out of combat and wouldn’t be able to help me in an emergency.

It was time to leave the forest—and this time, I paid more attention to my surroundings.

***

“I didn’t expect to see you again,” the familiar face of the skinny merchant popped up from behind the counter.

He smiled vibrantly at me, but I could only grimace back.

“Not so soon, at least. Or at all, after I shouted at you.” The licensed merchant looked ashamed, but that could have also been a charade. “I shouldn’t have done that. Not every rookie has the equipment it takes to store infused herbs properly. Or beast parts, for that matter.”

He sounded genuine, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

“To be honest, I like your honesty. Sure, getting shouted at for something I can’t change doesn’t feel great, but a heated lecture is still better than getting scammed.” I shrugged lightly, and the corners of my lips tugged into a thin smile. “You could have lied to me, knowing I’m a rookie and know nothing about bartering. For someone like you, it would surely have been easy to convince me that the Herula Beetle parts and Starstripes were worth less than you offered.”

I’d researched the prices of several infused herbs and beast parts after I left the merchant’s shop the first time, and that was also why I returned: his first offer had already been fair. Sure, I could have negotiated—and I probably should have—but I’d wanted the money and forgot about negotiating.

The merchant’s smile cracked slightly, and he snorted. “I am a licensed merchant. Isn’t it only obvious that I am not going to lie to you?”

I highly doubted other licensed merchants would care about that. Sure, they had some rules to follow to keep their license, but they could tweak those rules and ride along the grey line that ensured their work was barely legal.

“That’s why I like you,” I said, retrieving the corpse bag and placing it before the skinny merchant on the counter.

“One corpse. Not dissected. I didn’t want to damage the best parts by accident.”

The merchant raised an eyebrow, opened the corpse bag, looked inside, then glanced at me and sealed the bag again.

“You killed a Prouncer? Alone?”

There was a hint of disbelief in his voice. I smiled back at the merchant and nodded, trying to hide the excitement bubbling in my chest.

“Good job.” The merchant regarded me for a moment and grimaced. “Though looking at those bandages, I don’t know if I should be praising you.”

A faint sigh resounded, and he mumbled something I didn’t quite catch. His eyes darted back to the corpse bag, which was suddenly surrounded by glimmering particles. They appeared out of nowhere and coated the corpse bag as it began to move.

One moment, the corpse bag was on the counter, and in the next it levitated before my eyes, scaring the living shit out of me. I gasped and pulled back, only to catch the merchant grinning at me.

“Follow me.” He waved at me, his sly grin etched into my mind.

What a jerk. He’s playing with me!

That being said, I followed the merchant and the levitating corpse bag into a small room in the back of the shop. The room didn’t appear special at first glance, but the low temperature caught me by surprise. Most winters were already relatively cold, but this room was even colder. I shuddered and had to refrain from complaining out loud as the merchant approached a large table placed in the middle of the room, looking unbothered by the bone-deep cold.

The merchant retrieved the Prouncer from the corpse bag and placed it on the table as if he were lifting a feather. It was vastly different from the effort it took me to lift and carry the Prouncer until I finally reached the merchant’s shop. However, I was not given any time for self-pity as a small, blue-skinned humanoid materialized beside the merchant.

The humanoid had elongated arms covered in small, overlapping scales. It was smaller than me but much bulkier, with short ears and a hairless, massive head that fit oddly well with the humanoid’s singular, gargantuan eyeball.

Is that a beast? A… Soulkin? I nearly blurted aloud, my words swallowed as I watched the humanoid put on a monocle etched with intricate, golden lines.

“The Prouncer was killed with a piercing wound to its throat.” The merchant looked at me, yet his eyes were blank as he added more information, all while the humanoid beast bent over to study the carcass.

More words reached my ears, but I barely registered them as I stared at the Soulkin. I had no idea what kind of beast it was, but it was humanoid, and that was more than enough to pull my attention. Humanoid beasts were relatively rare, and it was even rarer to find humanoid Soulkins. In fact, this was the first I’d seen. Maybe it was nothing special for others, but seeing the intelligence in its massive eyeball was enticing.

“First time seeing a humanoid Soulkin? Don’t worry, your reaction is rather normal. Everyone reacts similar,” the merchant said loud enough for me to hear, his voice laced with joy. “He is my pride and the best friend I could have hoped for.”

I turned back to the merchant and grinned at the vibrant smile lingering on his lips. The merchant genuinely meant what he said.

He shook his head after a moment and cleared his throat.

“But let’s get back to business. That is what you are here for, right?” A light laugh escaped his lips, and he pointed back to the beast carcass.

“This is the corpse of a recently matured 4-Star Wild. Recently because it only barely reached the threshold of a 4-Star, whereas the racial limit of a Prouncer is at the higher ends of the fourth Star. It is also a little skinny, though that hardly affects the beast’s valuables.”

The merchant didn’t go into detail after that, and it wasn’t like I wanted to know which body parts were valuable. It did not really matter.

“I can offer you 780 Credits for the carcass. That is above the market rate considering the corpse will have to be dissected and—”

“I agree.” I accepted without hesitation. There was no need to listen any further.

The merchant scoffed and muttered something about ‘rookies’ again, but there was a hint of a smile on his lips.

“780 Credits it is.” He nodded and regarded me for a second. “You should consider purchasing a storage unit. You can also rent one. They’re more affordable and preserve infused herbs and beast carcasses for extended periods. Depending on the storage type and other factors, of course.”

Was that the merchant’s spiel? A scheme to ensure I’d lose the Credits even before they hit my bank account?

Unfortunately, as obvious as the spiel was, the merchant’s words caught my attention as a holographic screen—a catalogue of rentable storage units—materialized before me.

“What in the Rulers…” I sealed my lips, but my body language had to be speaking volumes.

“Do you think they’re expensive?”

Was that even a question? Even the cheapest storage unit to rent was priced at 1,000 Credits per day. The day’s haul would have barely been enough to cover the cost of a single day.

“The storage units I rent out are rather large and have been upgraded with perfect preservation. So, even if you focus on hunting 1-Star Wilds, you’d make profit as long as–...” The merchant looked at me and noticed the deadly glare. He stopped, let out an awkward laugh, and waved his hand dismissively. “Forget what I said. Just keep in mind that you could potentially rent a storage unit. As long as you don’t break or lose it, you can easily make some good money with maximum comfort.”

I could only force a smile and wait until I received a bank transfer notification on my phone. Once the Credits had been added to my bank account, I left the shop in a hurry, my eyes lingering on my ID and the Credits showing four lovely digits.

Finances: 1044 Credits

It was a lot more money than I dreamed of owning before my father returned with Aureus’ egg. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t last much longer. My clothes were torn, and I needed a new set to wear—hiding the deep claw marks from my parents—and Aureus would be hungry once he’d wake up.

Thus, I ordered another kilogram of Gaia’s kibble and several kilograms of Wagur meat to be delivered home. I found a cheap set of clothes that looked somewhat similar to my old, torn clothes, and purchased the whole set for six Credits. My heart tightened with every purchase, but I continued, and logged into the website where all of our monthly bills and loans were listed.

Searching through the catalogue of bills that should have been paid several months ago, I felt even worse, and by the time I returned to the Ninth Sector, I had fully paid one of the smaller loans set at 539 Credits.

It didn’t leave me with many Credits to spare—too few to repay another loan, yet too much to leave as is—but I didn’t spend them yet. I had the means to earn a lot more Credits in the next few weeks, and I’d be a fool not to use them.

As my feet dragged me through my home sector, I toyed with the idea of going out to hunt again. Worse still, I reconsidered renting a storage unit. Maybe I could negotiate a deal with the merchant and rent it for cheap if I sell everything I collect from outside to him. Exclusivity warranted a better deal, just like renting a storage unit for a week or a month would.

But it was not like I wanted to fight beasts like the Prouncer every day. I’d focus on 1-Star Wilds—2-Star if they attacked in small groups of two, three at most. That’d make earning several hundred Credits to pay for the storage unit a struggle and a push toward bankruptcy if anything went wrong.

Back in the house, I found my parents with a drone carrying packages. They accepted the packages—probably the meat and kibble I’d purchased less than an hour ago—and greeted me with curious looks. Did they notice my new clothes, or did they see any bandages?

My heart skipped a beat, but nobody mentioned anything. I safely maneuvered through their questions and returned to my room, my eyes lingering on a new notification—a message from Daniel.

[Chatterbox D: Dude! I didn’t see your message until just now! Teach has been terrorizing me for the last few days. He had me brew a bunch of evolution serums, and took away my access to ethernet. I couldn’t do anything about it, dude! Teach is demon. He really is! Can you imagine…]

I skipped through the rest of his message until I landed on the last few sentences.

[I am rambling too much, aren’t I? Whatever, do you want to go for a hunt now? We haven’t been out for a while now and there’s still one or two hours of sunlight left. Or we can go tomorrow at dawn. I will have to talk to Teach and reschedule a few things but I can make it!]

The threat of the 4-Star Wild was still hanging in the air, leeching on my confidence, but my mind cleared up as I typed a response.

[It’s fine. You’re already busy as is. Don’t stress yourself with my problems. I’ll just train a little bit more.]

As long as I paid enough attention to my surroundings, I shouldn’t have any problems finding weaker beasts. Avoiding the strongest Wilds should be no problem either. The 4-Star Prouncer was an exception, as 4-Star and 5-Star Wilds rarely left the forest’s center.

I… didn’t need Daniel to earn money. No, that wasn’t entirely true. I was unwilling to bother Daniel more than I already did. There was no need to bore him to death with my problems. Daniel had already helped me a lot more than I deserved. Asking him for even more when he was busy and covered in heaps of work was not okay.

Daniel didn’t respond right away. It took him much longer than usual to type a message, and it was also a lot shorter than expected when it finally popped up on my screen.

[Chatterbox D: If you say so…]

I raised an eyebrow at the phone, only to narrow them as a second message popped up.

[Chatterbox D: Do you have time on the 15th? Even if you don’t, change your schedule and keep the 15th open. Come to the estate – it’s important.]

What was that?

That was a weird message, even for Daniel.