A week had passed by since Aeron's discovery of the injured woman, almost half of Aeron's mana stones had already been spent treating the woman.
"It's a good thing your showing signs of recovery, otherwise, all those mana stones would've been wasted."
Aeron said as he watched the injured woman, she was still unconscious but her body had already recovered some color and wasn't that pale anymore. The patches of missing skin had also started to recover, albeit she still looked disfigured, it was a big improvement from when Aeron saw her initially. Aeron had truly been impressed by the woman's will power, such severe injuries would've been enough for him to want to die quicker.
"Anyways, Arthur? Has there been any further movement in the forest?"
Aeron asked, throughout the week, he had continued on his hunt, but in a more subdued manner. Every time they went out, they would always double-check the area whether there were any other beasts around.
"We've seen more wolf packs roaming around the area master."
Arthur replied, the forest had been void of wolves since Aeron moved in, it was a good thing Arthur had declared this place his territory towards the neighboring High-Grade Beasts.
"Are there any High-Grade Beasts?"
Aeron asked, this was a piece of important information, once there was a High-Grade Beast leading a pack in the outer parts of the Endless Forest, then the situation would probably change and Aeron would have to warn Gerard immediately.
"None master, but there have been some Mid-Grade Wolf alphas."
Arthur answered. Aeron started to contemplate, he knew that the appearance of the Mid-Grade Wolves didn't automatically signify the wolf king's reemergence. Thus, the situation wasn't that severe, but it did mean that the wolves had started to return, one way or another he had to be careful.
"Then I'll have to hurry up. Arthur, we'll go faster today. Also, since I need to speed my leveling up, we'll try and hunt Mid-Grade Wolves if we meet one."
Aeron said as they started to get ready, the wolves might have returned, but there was a new predator in the forest. Mid-Grade Beast with Aeron's experience was more than enough to fill him for the day in the past, but if he hunted one in the morning, purify the excess mana, then hunt another in the afternoon, then he'll more than be able to speed up his pace.
"I'll have Erick and Richmond return, I'll just let fate decide when I meet a suitable beast."
Aeron said, the male panther was sticking with its family which Aeron didn't want to destroy, as for why he only wanted to tame the male panther. It was all because of physical differences, and the female panther was a size smaller than the male panther, this was an important aspect that Tamers considered. Just like humans, animals had differences within the different sexes, big cats like the panther would generally have males much larger than the females, but it wasn't a fixed trend with animals. Animals like sharks and eagles have females as the dominant sex, while other animals take it to an extreme point, like black widow spiders where the males aren't even a tenth of the females bulk. But Aeron didn't just base this on his old world's knowledge, it was also well documented within the family.
"Let the black monkeys scout the forest and find the wolves."
Aeron ordered after he summoned the black monkeys to him, the black monkeys were the best ones for the scouting job, of course, Arthur was the best at it, but it would be a waste to have Arthur do the scouting. Arthur nodded then started ordering the monkeys.
"Oh right, Tom, get my cloak."
Aeron ordered, he had been excited with his new armament. Sure, it wasn't the best-looking one as he had tried his best to make it look good, but unlike the woman's grey cloth which had already recovered to its undamaged state and looked well made which made Aeron's new cloak look crude, it was still something impressive, especially with the skill that came with it.
Aeron felt the Lykoi's fur on the cloak before wearing it, Lykois were truly unlike cats, cats had two layers of fur, but the Lykois only had one, which made it look puffier. He had also finished a set of clothing using the hyena hide he got from the Mid-Grade Hyena in the past. The new set of clothes at least offered better protection than vine weaved clothes.
The Lykoi Cloak as Aeron called it, was not as simple as it looked, its defensive properties were great so much so that Low-Grade Beasts wouldn't be able to penetrate through the cloak. Of course, the force transferred from the attack would still be there, which meant that the cloak was weak against blunt force attacks, it was still enough to give Aeron a sense of security. Especially when he thought about the defensive skill that came with it, one of the reasons why he didn't shorten the fur on the cloak, was because it would weaken the cloak's defensive skill.
Aeron had tested it already and it was truly a great defensive skill, the furs would straighten up and harden, but the best aspect was that each fur would try to slow down the attacks by coiling around the object that got close to it, although the inactivated Lykoi cloak was weak against blunt force attacks, it was very effective in neutralizing blunt force attacks when the skill was activated, if weapons such as swords weren't sharp enough to cut the fur, then those type of attacks could even be stopped.
"Alright Arthur, let's go!"
Aeron said as they started the hunt, another bout of miserable cries haunted the Endless Forest as beasts were helpless against Arthur's onslaught. Aeron quickly filled up his maximum capacity of foreign mana, he returned to the base to start the purification process, the other time was an exception, meditating in the open was a dangerous thing to do. Unfortunately, they didn't find Mid-Grade Wolves in the morning, but it was still fine, wolves usually hunt in the afternoon till evening. Aeron took till early afternoon to finish the purification process when Erick arrived.
"Master, we have found a wolf pack with a Mid-Grade Wolf."
Arthur said what Erick beside him reported.
"Arthur, how many wolves are there?"
Aeron asked.
"20 wolves including the alpha master."
Arthur answered, twenty was a lot, but Aeron also had enough monkeys to match.
"Alright, I've already finished the purification process, bring Lancelot and Gwaine, and 10 other brown monkeys."
Aeron said, he still needed to leave some pets to guard the base. After all, Agila, the turtles, and now the unconscious woman was in the base. As for when the woman wakes up and discovers his secret, Aeron still didn't know what to do about that. The woman was severely injured, so if he tried to hide her somewhere else, then with the current uncertain situation, Aeron wouldn't be able to guarantee her safety.
This was the reason why Aeron had to quicken his level up further, when he reaches level six, he'll have enough ability to at the least protect himself without Arthur's help, as well as contain High-Grade Beasts inside his pet space, albeit he still needed to spend mana stone to stabilize it, he would only need to spend a few stones when the time came.
"Alright, let's depart immediately, Erick, lead the way!"
Aeron said, this wasn't the first time they faced the wolves, and with the terrain advantage, Aeron wouldn't miss the opportunity. He also needed to level up quick before returning to the city, sure he'd probably survive here with Arthur's help, and the city taking the brunt of the Wolf King's rage, but his conscience couldn't afford not helping. That wasn't to say that he would just charge headfirst without thinking. After all, bravery without thoughts was just plain foolishness, Aeron had even decided to only show a few pets while he was in the City. Erick quickly led them through the forest towards the wolf pack's location.
"The wolves are below us master."
Arthur whispered quietly, it was unfortunate that Arthur could only send simple signals through the soul and only Aeron could send mental messages or orders through their soul connection. That was only because of Aeron's current soul strength, if his soul improves, then Arthur and his other pets would gain the ability to send him mental messages. Wolves had a particularly sharp sense of hearing and smell, thus, Arthur could only whisper. It was a good thing they were on top of the tree which made hearing them talk harder from below.
"Arthur, go down first, we'll follow you down, if you can afford to strike the alpha wolf preemptively then send me a mental signal."
Aeron said, Arthur had to go down first as the Mid-Grade Wolf might detect them. Aeron had to do this to stop the wolves from fleeing. Arthur started to climb down and Aeron and the rest followed afterward. They already had their bows ready as they waited for Aeron's signal. The wolves were below them, if they moved further down then they would lose the covers of the tree branches. Arthur was already creeping towards the Mid-Grade Wolf's direction, he didn't bring any bow as he had his metal blades with him. Meanwhile, Aeron and the other monkeys already had their bows ready, arrows nocked and waiting to release.
"Fire!"
Aeron shouted but not before Arthur started his attack, it was at this moment that Arthur sent him the mental signal. Arthur threw two golden metal blades towards the Mid-Grade Wolf, the throw further sped up the metal blades velocity. Although the throw made the metal blades harder to control, the speed was worth the risk, the Mid-Grade Wolf only noticed when it was too late.
Siik! Siik! Howl!
One of the Mid-Grade Wolf's hind leg was cut off entirely while the other dangled in a gush of blood. The Mid-Grade Wolf howled to warn the others, but that had already been too late too.
Swee! Swee! Swee! Swee!
A rain of arrows hit the pack, furthermore, the other wolves had been distracted by their leader's howl. Whimpers resounded throughout the forest as the arrow after arrow accurately struck their intended targets, Aeron in this short amount of time fired 3 arrows with each of his arrows killing one wolf each.
Siik! Siik!
Another bout of metal blades shot out from Arthur as he weakened the Mid-Grade Wolf, with the exception of its head, its limbs were cut off, blood gushing from its wounds. Aeron who had been watching nearby shot an arrow to end the wolf's misery, unable to dodge the attack, the Mid-Grade Wolf finally died with an arrow through its head. The other wolves had already been decimated as the monkeys descended to retrieve the arrows from the wolves' bodies.
"Arthur, quick! Bring me back to the base!"
Aeron ordered as he endured the pain of containing the foreign mana from the Mid-Grade Wolf. Arthur picked him up and quickly returned to the base in record time. Arthur left the other monkeys behind, but not before ordering them to carry the Mid-Grade Wolf's carcass back to the base, the meat could be eaten while the wolf's hide might remain if the wolf had already developed a base core.
Aeron quickly closed his eyes and started to meditate as soon as they arrived in the base. He did his best to purify the excess mana as quickly as he could to not waste any of it. But throughout the process, Aeron's veins bulged as he endured the pain, the first time had been hard, but the second time was even more so, the Mid-Grade Wolf was probably a peak Mid-Grade Beast, unlike the Mid-Grade Vine Snake.
"Huuu!"
Aeron breathed out a long breath as he finished the torturous process that spanned through hours. He laid down on the floor to rest his nerves, they had been stretched tout throughout the whole ordeal.
"This amount of mana should be equal to two days worth of hunt! With the mana I got in the morning hunt, this should count as two and a half-day worth of mana!"
Aeron said happily, the pain was truly worth it if he could accelerate his already accelerated leveling by twice the speed. Terra was beside Aeron, looking curiously at the human's strange behavior.
"Terra? Have you been there this whole time?"
Aeron asked not expecting an answer as he lifted the little turtle before walking towards Agila, Agila's nest was big and wide, and with the Mid-Grade Bear's fur on it, it was the second-best bed inside the base, next to Ursa of course. As for Ursa, Aeron had already looked inside the pet space, and Ursa had noticeably become smaller, although it was only about a meter shorter, the difference was very obvious. Aeron had truly guessed right, Ursa took a more humanoid form rather than its default bear form.
It must be said that most beasts don't usually take a humanoid form because they see their original form as stronger. Beasts followed the rule of strength, thus only beasts who had seen the strength of the other humanoid races would have that sort of form imprinted to them as strength, otherwise, it was almost impossible for a beast to change its own evolutionary path.
"Oh right! I almost forgot!"
Aeron said as he carried Terra towards another direction.
"Tom get me some fruits."
Aeron ordered as he sat down beside the unconscious woman. Just like Terra's mana bath, Aeron had already made it a routine to feed the woman fruits. Of course, he could only liquefy the fruit's temporary core, he should've done so earlier but the hunt took longer than expected. As for why he didn't just let his pets do this task, it wasn't all that serious, it was more about Aeron's mentality really.
Other than Gerard, and Aeron's parents, this woman was officially the second person Aeron associated with the longest within Gaia. His parents weren't even first as he only stayed with them for a short amount of time. Gerard was the first in the list as he stayed with him for about a week in the City of Una, as well as his visits. Of course, two more days and she would steal the first place.
"Sigh, Am I really such a weirdo now?"
Aeron spoke while sighing, the loneliness of not having other humans around hit him hard. To the point where he would consider this woman company, he looked at the unconscious woman again.
"With your current condition, you really don't look attractive."
Aeron murmured, it seems he really was just yearning for another human company. Aeron started feeding the woman after thinking that his thoughts were becoming dumber and pointless.