One week passed by and Aeron started the next stage of the hunt. Arthur had also mapped almost 50 kilometers of the surrounding forest. Arthur had also discovered another High-Grade Beast 50 kilometer south of their base.
"Arthur, you know the drill, disable the beasts and let me have the last hit, it'll be us Lancelot and Gwaine, as well as the remaining black monkeys, the rest will keep watch of the base. We'll clear the surrounding area of beasts."
Aeron ordered, it was time for him to concentrate on his level.
"Yes master!"
Arthur answered, Aeron had already instructed him which route to use, they'll first clear the western part of the forest.
"Alright, let's go."
Aeron and the group left the base to start their operation. The first beast they encountered was a Jungle Cat.
Xing!
Metal blades shot out as Arthur attacked the Jungle Cat, Arthur showcased the speed of his metal blades as he decapitated the legs of the Jungle Cat without it being able to react.
Grar! Twang!
The Jungle Cat made its last roar as Aeron's arrow pierced its head. Aeron had Bruno pick up the arrow as they proceeded with their hunt. The second unlucky beast was a Fanged Boar, Arthur didn't even need to fight as Aeron easily disposed of it with a simple dodge and counter tactic. Different roars of despair sounded from the Endless Forest as Aeron and Arthur proceeded with their hunt, Arthur's metal blades did most of the work as Aeron took the last hit. This hunt had been the fastest hunt Aeron had ever been to.
"Master, there are Lykois ahead."
Arthur warned, Lykois were fast and hunted in packs, they were also skilled climbers thus the Endless Forest was a haven for these savage cats.
"Wolf Cats huh, I've never seen one personally."
Aeron spoke, Lykois were indeed rare, but they were very dangerous, fast, and smart, they would use the terrain to their advantage and hunt stronger beasts.
"They're bigger than I expected!"
Aeron whispered, he finally saw a Lykoi, each individual Lykoi was big, almost as tall as Aeron, their fur was gray unlike other cats, their fur was like those of a wolf, their eyes were yellow, and their faces had a mask-like pattern void of fur.
"How many are there?"
Aeron asked, he could only see three within the area, but just like Jungle Cats, Lykois were fast and experts at stealth.
"There are a total of five Lykois master, two of them are hiding behind those two trees."
Arthur answered as he pointed at two massive trees flanking the exposed Lykoi den.
"Rambo and Bruno, handle the two on the trees, Arthur, Lancelot, and Gwaine handle the three on the ground."
Aeron ordered, he didn't want to fight the Lykois as it was too dangerous. Lykois were team players, not only that, they could make use of poisonous beasts to dab poison on their claws, none of the poison they use was fatal but could paralyze or weaken the enemy. It was an innate skill that Lykois possessed.
Arthur nodded as they took action, Rambo and Bruno separated to handle the hiding Lykois while Arthur, Lancelot, and Gwaine would fight the Lykois on the ground. Arthur was the main force while Lancelot and Gwaine would occupy the other Lykois. It wasn't that Lancelot and Gwaine couldn't handle their oppositions, they could probably kill it if they fought on, but Lykois were fast and agile, they also had impressive senses and reflexes which would drag out the fight. It was a good thing that the Lykois were on the lower ground and even the two hidden Lykois were positioned on the lower area of the trees, else the Lykois would've noticed Lancelot and Gwaine as both monkeys weren't masters of stealth.
Aeron saw the black monkeys disappear as they sneaked above the guarding Lykois. They slowly went nearer, and when they were near enough, both the Rambo and Bruno used [Dark Shift] and blended on the darkness, both monkeys reappeared above the clueless Lykois, their daggers flashed as they held the Lykois head before slitting both throats with their dagger. Just as Rambo and Bruno approached the guarding Lykois, Arthur, Lancelot, and Gwaine had already descended from the tree, they used the Lykois blind spot to go unnoticed as they descended. Aeron observed the Black Monkeys movement and when they were poised to strike, Aeron sent Arthur a signal.
"Kiii!"
Arthur roared towards the three Lykois to catch their attention. But as Arthur roared, two metal blades targeted the Lykois on the flanks, both Lykois were able to notice the attack and dodged swiftly but the Lykoi at the center wasn't able to react as the metal blades cut off its hind legs. The two Lykois that dodged the attack was blocked by Lancelot and Gwaine, Arthur attacked the Lykois with his metal blades and disabled them quickly. Aeron had already moved towards the hiding Lykoi's positions to make the last hit, he was able to kill Rambo's target as it was nearer, but Bruno's target died before he could arrive. Fortunately, the three Lykois on the ground were still alive as Aeron descended and finished them off.
"Good work!"
Aeron commended, Arthur and the other monkeys had trained their skills and teamwork for the whole year. And the result was amazing, these were just five monkeys working together, the third Black Monkey Richie was designated as Aeron's secret guard. None of the Lykois were Mid-Grade so Aeron just left the corpses and continued with the hunt. They had also encountered a couple of Vine Snakes which were very easy prey as they pretended to be unmoving vines, Aeron just shot them through their heads, collected the arrows before leaving.
After half a day of hunting with the help of Arthur and the group, Aeron had finally reached his limit for the day, if he were to hunt more then he wouldn't be able to purify the mana he had acquired properly which would cause problems for him.
"Alright Arthur, this is enough for today, let's go back."
Aeron said as they started their journey back to the base, this time Aeron climbed on Arthur's back, he was already exhausted and full of unpurified mana so it was much better for them to arrive earlier. Arthur sped up followed by the other monkeys, it was a good thing that the neighboring High-Grade Beast wasn't interested with Arthur's area, which made Aeron comfortable enough to start the hunt.
"Thanks Arthur."
Aeron said as he alighted from Arthur's back, he quickly found a place and started to meditate. They've already killed a lot of beasts which were mostly level 4 or 5, killing level 3 beasts wasn't as helpful so Aeron just left most of them be.
'This should be about 3% of what I need to reach the peak of level 5.'
Aeron thought as he felt the mana flowing through his body, unlike reaching the levels below level 5, the upper levels were exponentially harder to breakthrough. And even reaching the peak was a huge endeavor, it was no wonder humans would still make parties to hunt, even if they could not power level like Aeron with the help of his pets, the efficiency of hunting with a group to guard you in the fight was much better than doing so alone.
"Huuu"
Aeron breathed out in delight as he finished purifying the gathered mana, but when he opened his eyes it was already dark, he had even missed eating lunch, which wasn't really much of a problem especially with his body's state.
"1 month should be enough for me to reach the peak of level 5."
Aeron smiled as he spoke to himself, this was a good speed, no, an outstanding speed. If the people back in the Ironbull Family heard the news of him reaching level 5 in no more than a year, then they would've interrogated him already. This was also the reason why Aeron didn't try and find ways to contact the family, not even his parents. Proud parents were very boastful of their children, of course, he also knew that his parents were smart enough to keep it a secret, but he was more assured not sending the news to them. There was Gerard, but Aeron couldn't keep his level a secret against someone of a higher level, or possibly a higher stage when he was face to face with the latter. Aeron didn't know how old Gerard was, but he should be no more than 10 years older than Aeron, Aeron could even be wrong and Gerard's age was much lower than 26. But Aeron was sure that Gerard was either the peak of Mortal Stage or even at the low-level Earth Stage.
'But I should be able to catch up with most geniuses at this pace.'
Aeron thought, this leveling speed was truly unordinary, if it wasn't his Grade-4 Affinity holding Aeron back, then he would've been at a higher level right now with his [Level Up (Anomalous)] skill. Aeron suddenly felt something nudging his leg.
"Oh Terra."
Aeron smiled as he picked up the little turtle, the other turtles were already resting in their shells. Terra on the other hand would not sleep unless Aeron did, or until its mana bath was done.
"You want a mana bath, right?"
Aeron asked, he was trying to see whether the smart little turtle would nod, but Terra only stared cutely back at him. The reaction he got made Aeron smile as he started to let his mana surround Terra, Aeron walked towards his mobile bed, Ursa, as he was getting ready to sleep, meditation could never replace a proper sleep. Arthur was sitting beside Ursa, this was the area where Arthur usually slept, he would sleep cross-legged while leaning on Ursa. Agila had her nest made of vines and bearskin near Ursa. Agila was still awake at the moment, while Arthur had his eyes closed though he was probably half-awake as he opened his eyes when he felt Aeron go near.
"Don't worry Agila, wait for one more month, when the hunt is finished then I'll bring you out and Ursa too. Now sleep, it will allow you to get stronger faster."
Aeron knew that Agila was uncomfortable living inside the base however beautiful the base was, but he was currently focusing on his level. Agila didn't even need to hunt as much because of the anomaly of swallowing her mother's core was boosting her strength, it was only Ursa that Aeron had to focus more on.
'Still, the conditions for a level up is quite steep.'
Aeron thought, Ursa had been at the peak of Low-Grade when Aeron captured him which made Ursa's transition to Mid-Grade easier. But if Aeron wanted Ursa to evolve into a High-Grade Beast without waiting for the normal process, then the conditions were just like Arthur's. This was to kill a High-Grade Beast, of course, this wasn't an impossible task, but Aeron didn't know what would happen if he had Arthur hunt a High-Grade Beast inside the Endless Forest. This was also the reason why he wanted to do so, once he reached level 6, it was so he wouldn't be as helpless as he currently was when facing High-Grade Beasts.
"Good night."
Aeron spoke as he finished mana bathing Terra, who had retreated to its shell after nudging Aeron as thanks, Agila nodded before closing her eyes as well as Arthur, Ursa was already asleep, as a matter of fact, it was asleep for most of the day.
Aeron closed his eyes, there were still some thoughts lingering within his mind, but after a short amount of time, he started to drift off. Luckily, his weird nightmares didn't happen continuously. Aeron had observed a pattern with his nightmares, there would be at least 3 or 4 days interval before the dream happens, but no matter how ready he was, the sense of fear and helplessness was still overpowering.
Aeron woke up early in the morning, Arthur and the other beasts were already up.
"Is there any news about the panthers?"
Aeron asked Arthur, it was very rare for male panthers to be assistive when it comes to raising their young. If this panther was one of the rarer ones, then Aeron will probably have to give up on trying to tame it.
"Erick has returned to report master, but it seems that the male panther is adamant in staying."
Arthur replied. Aeron had actually thought about it more when he saw the images of the panther family in the mapping stone. Seeing that there were four panthers in the area, two of which were cubs, he had already accepted the possibility of the male panther being one of the rare and responsible sorts. After all, most male panthers, leopards, or jaguars go away before the cubs were born.
"Its fine Arthur, but let them stay there for at least a month, just to make sure."
Aeron said, he had actually tasked Arthur into finding all the beasts inside their chosen territory. If there was a beast that could fill the role of strength enhancement, then he wouldn't be too picky about it.
"Yes master."
Arthur replied, they would be continuing with their hunt today, they had covered almost 10 kilometers worth of territory yesterday. Even then, there were still a lot of beasts roaming around the are, but Aeron only agreed to hunt the beasts which were more helpful towards his level.
"Master, can you bring me meat today?"
Agila suddenly asked, she was a majestic eagle, eating fruits every day was already something she was uncomfortable with. The problem was that the meat that could be brought back to the base was either Mid-Grade ones or High-Grade ones.
"Arthur, are there any Mid-Grade Beasts in the area?"
Aeron asked Arthur, Aeron had the mapping stone to see the areas marked with beast images, but he could not judge whether any of them were Mid-Grade Beasts.
"I believe there is one Vine Snake far larger than the normal one's master."
Arthur answered, of course, he could be wrong and the Vine snake was just larger than the other snakes. It wasn't that the exterior part of the Endless Forest didn't have any Mid-Grade Beasts, but most Mid-Grade Beasts move deeper into the forest when they evolve into a Mid-Grade Beast.
"We'll bring you snake meat later when we return Agila, but you'll have to share it with Ursa and the wolves. We'll have to go deeper into the Endless Forest if we want more Mid-Grade Beasts so you'll have to wait for a bit more time till we could have a decent supply of them, until then, you'll have to eat fruits."
Aeron said to which Agila nodded happily, even Ursa seemed to open its eyes in interest, though it didn't understand Aeron's speech. Ursa still understood Agila's words and seeing Agila's happy reaction made it believe that they'll have meat later on.
"Alright then, we have to go. Arthur, which direction is the Vine Snake at?"
Aeron asked.
"It's about 30 kilometers east of here master."
Arthur answered.
"East it is then, east it is."
Aeron decided on their route for today.