Rastel narrowed his eyes as he stared at the forest edge on the other side of the stream.
He could see movement from what could only be a large group and suddenly went on alert.
'What are those?' he stood up immediately and got ready to toss a fire ball at a moment's notice.
Amba noticed his worry and also got up and stared across the stream with him. They watched with tensed minds as the movements got closer and closer. None of the people in the camp seemed to notice the problem.
The few shrubbery nearby suddenly rustled before a huge form emerged from it. The majestic form of a large horned beast gracefully walked out.
Rastel stared in awe at the majestic creature. It was standing on four legs and was over 6 ft tall, the closest animal Rastel could compare it too was a moose but this creature was clearly far more magnificent.
Its body was covered up with thick luscious brown fur and it had a large flowing red mane. It had large pointed antlers that gleamed with a metallic sheen. They twisted and turned before pointing sharply into the air.
The creature's short tail flicked lazily and its gait was composed but its eyes gleamed with a powerful and imposing aura that seemed filled with intelligence.
"A bulee?" a voice called out behind him.
He turned and realized that the entire camp was quiet as they all looked across the stream at the beast.
Myra ran up to him for a closer look but stood at his back just in case, Lana followed quickly.
The old man also walked closer with shining eyes. The entire camp was excited to see the beast who was now walking closer to the stream.
It stared at the group of humans across the stream before looking around carefully. Sensing no form of danger, it softly pawed the ground with its front hoof and suddenly, more figures came out of the forest.
There were roughly 30 of them and varied between males and females with the population having more females. More bulees burst out of the thicket to drink from the stream and the children frolicked happily in the water.
The males all had long manes and were also horned but their stature was much smaller and their horns were considerably shorter than the head male. The females on the other hand were considerably smaller in size and possessed neither horns nor manes.
The head male stood behind them as he watched his herd drink their fill of the refreshing liquid while keeping a wary eye on the humans across the stream. His tail flicked slowly behind him as he glanced at a group of young ones running between his legs.
Rastel looked at the scene with deep appreciation. These were the kind of things he was seeking in his adventure through the game. Such fantasy elements were his weak points.
'I should really start exploring around soon, there would definitely be similar beasts like these roaming the world of AOM.'
He silently renewed his vow to explore the game to his heart's content, as soon as he completed his mission to deliver Myra to her kingdom.
Looking down at the girl, he saw her blue eyes staring wide open at the beasts with fascination. Lana was similarly excited to see them.
"You've never seen one before?" he asked a bit curious.
He was not sure about Myra but he felt that Lana should have at least seen them a few times considering it was around their vicinity.
Myra and Lana shook their heads vigorously to say 'no' but kept on looking across the stream in awe.
'Really?' Rastel showed a confused face.
"Hmph! Stupid kid, what nonsense are yer asking looking all confused about. Don't yer know that bulees are not easily seen?"
Rastel's still confused face showed he had no idea.
The old man snorted before pointing aggressively at the large bulee at the back.
"Look at that big one over there. Tell me, what is different about it?"
Rastel looked at the beast before narrowing his eyes. As the beast looked far more majestic that the rest of its race, there was really much difference about it to point out but he was sure that wasn't what the old man was talking about.
He looked thoughtfully at it for a moment before saying.
"It has a sort of powerful aura around it. It also seems intelligent perhaps?" he said inquisitively.
The old man nodded his head before continuing.
"That is because it is a magic beast"
"Fuck, what?" Rastel turned his head to now pay attention to the beast.
This was the first magic beast he had seen since he started playing and he was impressed. But also, a bit of fear went through his body.
Remembering the rumors he had heard about magic beasts, he knew. If this bulee decided to attack them now, they would most definitely all die here.
It could be seen by how the bulee didn't deem them a threat and allowed its herd to drink and relax by the stream side.
It would take a large well balanced group of high level players to take down a magic beast as they were faster and stronger than most people and they wielded different powerful magics that were very hard to deal with.
Even with Amba and his other golems at his disposal, Rastel was sure that this was a fight he would loose.
Looking at his apprehensive face, the old man nodded his head once again.
"Yer are right to be wary. These beasts are very powerful and cunning and they usually pass their herd through places where other races wont easily spot them. Anything that comes as a threat is easily disposed of by that large one's big antlers."
The old man's voice also trembled with awe as he explained. Myra and the rest of the settlers also listened attentively as for most of them, this was their first time seeing the beast.
"Although you can meet herds of bulees if you went around enough, even an old man like me has only seen them twice before this!"
Rastel nodded his head thoughtfully as he now realized, he was actually quite lucky!
"Did you also know…:" the old man continued.
"This forest is also part of the great Ludos forest range that spans the entire continent. Bulees have an inborn affinity with nature so the forest itself protects them from any harm."
"It is hard to explain but I have once seen a group of people trying to hunt down a bulee and they succeeded in taking it down with a mortal injury. But before they could close in for the kill, the beast suddenly sprang up full of vitality and the wound was completely healed!"
Rastel was shocked at this before suddenly looking carefully around his surroundings.
The forest healed the bulee? Forests are alive?
'Is this the legendary world tree? There's a world tree in AOM?! I want to see it!'
He suddenly felt more excited!
"Not only that, there is also the presence of the Wood elf queendom. Under the rule of that mad queen, those elven extremists would ruthlessly hunt down anyone rumored to hunt down magic beasts under the protection of the forest. Most people don't consider it worth the trouble because of this, those elves are truly relentless!"
The old man seemed to be in full flow, he didn't seem as cranky since he was telling people of his knowledge and experiences.
'But….' A thought suddenly crossed Rastel's mind.
"But considering they are so powerful and protected, why do they hide so much? There should be a relatively small amount of people who can kill a magic beast in the first place right?"
Rastel was curious about this.
Some other people in the camp nodded their heads at this as they were also curious.
"That is true" the old man sighed.
"But although the head of the herd is a magic beast, he is just one bulee. Becoming a magic beast is normally hard for beasts and it is usually something passed on through offspring so their fighting power as a whole is limited."
Looking across the stream, Rastel felt like the magic beast was paying attention to their conversation. Its eyes twinkled with intelligence as it kept gazing at them while the rest of the herd relaxed.
"Bulees are also naturally peaceful beasts with a neutral disposition towards others. What do you think it would do when it meets a magic beast that is naturally a hunter? Or maybe a group of magic beasts, it would find it hard to defend the itself and the herd!"
Rastel couldn't help but agree with this.
"There are also people who manage to successfully hunt down magic beasts without the knowledge of the hunters from the elven queendom. Even if the news eventually gets out, as long as they effectively cover their tracks, it might be hard for even those powerful hunters to track them down."
The old man said with a note of finality.
The camp suddenly got noisy as the listeners murmured to themselves discussing what the old man told them.
Rastel was now interested in the elven queendom. The figure known as the Mad queen and the relentless hunters under her command seemed to tickle his adventure sense seductively.
'This is the kind of stuff I have been waiting to hear! Fucking hell, feed me more of this stuff!' he wanted to yell out and break into a song but he composed himself.
He settled with smiling and humming a popular catchy EDM song from earth as he marveled at the beasts again.
With a sudden burst of inspiration, he sat down beside the rock where Amba was quietly leaning on all this while.
Once the golem determined there was no threat, it had returned to lazing about without a care in the world.
Rastel looked at the magic beast carefully before bringing out an iron ingot and the immortal's blade from his inventory.
He immediately started shaving off pieces of the metal with the first strike of the carving series. He wouldn't feel satisfied if he didn't get a nice sculpture of this bulee before it left!
The bulee seemed to notice him but just snorted before turning back to look over the herd.
As the last red rays of sunset cut across the vast sky, Rastel quietly worked on a sculpture with a totally focused expression.
He was currently working on his 8th piece. He had previously made a lot of failed specimens that he wasn't satisfied with.
Those pieces were now in the hands of Myra and the other children who found them fascinating enough to play with them.
It was at this point that the head of the bulee herd suddenly made a low pitched noise from its mouth. It stared at the setting sun warily before putting the herd back together as they prepared to leave.
Rastel looked up regretfully as he saw the target of his work moving away.
He stood up in frustration and yelled across the stream.
"Hey big guy! Can't you stay for a few more minutes? I promise I would get it with this one, just a few more minutes please!"
The bulee actually turned in surprise and stared back at the muan while its herd members walked past it.
The members of the camp were also surprised and the old man looked like he was nearly shocked to death!
"Yer bastard! Are you trying to hasten our deaths!"
He whispered fiercely.
Rastel was not much disturbed though. The bulee had noticed him making sculptures out of it previously and it hadn't seemed to mind. Rastel took that as a nod of appreciation for his art as far as he was concerned.
The bulee only looked shocked for a moment before a glint of amusement appeared in its eyes. It ignored the muan and turned around to slowly follow behind its herd leaving a crestfallen Rastel behind.
After walking a few steps, the bulee turned back and using its head, it gestured at the setting sun with what could only be described as a solemn gaze before turning to vanish into the foliage.
Rastel followed its gesture to look at the setting sun and for some reason, he felt that there could only be one thing the beast could have meant.
'The sun is setting, he is also wary of the blood moon?'
After that, the next thought was.
"He actually cared! How nice! Was he moved by my dedication to capture his image?" he said this part out loud while smiling happily.
"OF COURSE NOT! YOU IDIOT!!!" the old man smacked him heavily at the back of his head!
Rastel continued trying at the sculpture even with the bulee gone. he felt that with his previous trials and the fact that he had a good long look at it, he would be able to pull it off.
The orange-red sky caused by the setting sun seemed to deepen as time passed. And as the sun finally set, Rastel finally experienced the phenomenon known as the blood moon.
It felt surreal at first, he almost didn't notice it as he was focused on his work and most of the camp had turned in early as they were tired from the long trek through the forest. Even Myra was sound asleep with the other children in the cart.
As he slowly chipped at the iron sculpture with only Amba as company, he started feeling uncomfortable about the seemingly unceasing blood red light covering everything within his sight.
He raised his head up to look around and everything was covered in a blood red hue. From the trees to the soil and even the stream looked like it was flowing with blood.
It felt so unnatural to him that it felt like his brain was trying so hard to reject the concept of it.
He slowly turned his head to look up into the sky and he finally saw it. The blood red satellite was shining down in its full glory like an ominous omen upon the world.
"Ah... the blood moon."