We stopped several times on our way to the city. I took the time to examine the surrounding terrain carefully. My reason being that there could be plenty of tasty creatures that I haven't eaten yet. If there are, I want their abilities, simple as that.
The first creature we came across was a Boruforu, a mixed creature that seemed to be the love child of a Rhino, Buffalo and a Wild Boar. The next creature was a Turtle Snake, a roughly 2 meter long snake with thirty centimeter long red plates along its body. There was also the Blade Rabbit, a simple Horn Rabbit that had a beard of sharp blades and a blade on its forehead. The last creature was called a Harpy, it was a quite human-like, but with bird features and a large set of wings.
While all those encountered yielded no abilities, hunting them still was enjoyable to break up the drawl of the trip.
This trip has so far been pretty peaceful. Unlike the forest, where enemies who hide their presence could strike out of nowhere, there are no blind spots for enemies to approach us in these wide open plains. I spotted a Blade Rabbit in the corner of my eye and instantly launched an attack at it. At Redhead's current level, she still has a bit of trouble with these, so I gave the motion for Dhammi-chan to distract it with magic while Redhead went in for the kill. Since both of my familiars have Ranked-up, they are both very daunting for most opponents.
Since we left Dhammi-chan's triple horn horse <
When we came across a herd of a few dozen Boruforu I decided to stop the convoy for a hunt. I threw some camouflage on the Skeleton Horses using one of my abilities. I've practiced with my camouflage abilities a little bit since the village. I want to avoid the same surprise that resulted when we pulled in with a convoy pulled by Skeleton Horses. For the hunt I let Kumajirou and Kurosaburou take care of most of the work, they had been quite idle since departing from our settlement. Because both of them are natural hunters the hunt was done in a quick and effective fashion. After that was the collecting and processing of the materials.
Long story short, Redhead informed me that Boruforu materials are actually an expensive commodity that is used for tools and medicine.
Even though I heard that, I still ate five of them myself. It was about the same as I would normally eat for breakfast anyway.
Ability [Rhinoceros Bone Body Armor] learned
Ability [Desensitizing] learned
Damn. I ate quite a large amount, but I still only gained two abilities from them because of our power difference. Oh well, I shouldn't let it bother me that much, it's not like the two abilities I got were inadequate or anything. Though I don't think I'll be needing either of them anytime soon.
Well, even if I hadn't gotten any abilities from them, the meat was still some of the best I've had to date. We roasted it. The meat instantaneously melted in my mouth, the texture was so amazing and the taste of the meat was incredible. Comparing the taste to the appearance would be the same as fraud. Needless to say, Boruforu meat is now one of my favorite meals.
After a while, we came across another Blade Rabbit. When you think about it, it's small prey for Dhammi-chan and I, but it's still good practice for Redhead. While she fought the rabbit, I gathered two more for her to fight. While this was going on, I brewed up a little of the tea Father Elf had passed onto me during the day before our departure. I pulled out some rice crackers and took a slight break. After all of that roasted meat the tea was a nice touch.
With the blood of the first Blade Rabbit, Redhead's eyes glowed a deeper red, and her power increased. This fact has everything to do with her job [Noir Soldier], which allows her to grow stronger with each monster she consumes. While she fought, I sat down next to Alchemist-san, and we shared a cup of tea. I mentioned that Redhead now requires to consume monsters at regular intervals or else her body would decay. She was still surprised at Redhead's sudden burst of strength and speed.
I offered Redhead some praise after she had finished her kills. I healed her wounds while stroking her deep red hair. After her wounds were taken care of, I provided her a shower with [Hydro Hand]. The reasoning is because she went a little overboard and tore the rabbits apart, drenching herself in blood. After she cleaned up, I quickly did the same for her clothes and she got dressed.
By noon, we had come across a lair of Turtle Snakes. Apparently, Turtle Snakes dig a dense nest of interlocking tunnels like ants. It's pretty bizarre though I didn't get frustrated over it. I used [Echolocation] to find them and gathered them all together in one swoop.
Using my ability [Earth Control], I pushed them all to the surface without actually disturbing them. During the day, they sleep so this hunt should be easy. Since they were asleep, we took our time to carefully slay each one without damaging any materials that could be worth quite a bit of money later. Unfortunately, during the process they began to wake up, and I had to call several members over to help deal with them. Afterwards, a battle ensued as the remaining snakes of the initial eighty-eight snakes woke up in a startled fashion and began attacking. Since they were pretty low level compared to us, we were able to take our time to kill each one without damaging the valuable shells.
I personally killed thirty-eight of them in an instant. Even Redhead managed to slay a dozen of them. Blacksmith-san and the sisters prepared a meal with some of the meat. It was pretty good, better than a Night Viper. With some Elven liquor, the meal was outstanding.
Ability [Shell Retreat] learned
Ability [Dormant] learned
The taste was good, but since it will sell well, I'll hold off on eating anymore.
Although I also wanted to have some more Harpy, there weren't any in the sky, and the constant hunting and bloodshed was playing havoc with Blacksmith-san's health. For these reasons, I cut the hunting short and decided to continue moving towards our destination.
Up ahead, I saw a mountain path. I decided to take it. I wonder if there are any monsters along the mountain path...