At 3 o'clock in the noon, after 45km of running, Alex decided to take a lunch break.
Lucky for Alex, Varis found a large meadow a few kilometers ahead. As expected, the territory was occupied by a group of powerful magical beasts - the white deers.
They were one of the powerful vegetarian beasts in the forest. Usually, they're not aggressive. So, Alex decided to take a break in their territory.
Both Alex and Varis sat on a branch overlooking the meadow far from the White deers and began eating.
Alex saw some White deer lazily grazing in the distance and some young deer playing in the grass. It was a pleasant encounter in this dark forest.
After a while, both of them once again resumed the journey. Alex kept a moderate running pace as he observed the surroundings for any dangers. He did not forget the Leaf snake from the morning.
After few hours of smooth journey, Alex heard Varis's voice in his head.
[We have a level three situation ahead.]
Alex immediately stopped and asked.
"What is it?"
[The left territory was occupied by the wild wolves, While the right territory was occupied by a great bear.] said Varis.
"Ok, what is the issue?" asked Alex.
[In the middle, there is a den of Crazy Hyenas.]
"Damn it!" Alex cursed.
'Crazy Hyenas.' Alex did not want to hear their name the most. Although, everyone looked down on the hyenas, not Alex. He believed that crazy hyenas were the most irritating animals on this magical planet.
Alex met a pair of hyenas in the morning wandering at the edge of the territories. He named them Crazy hyenas because of their weird nature.
The Crazy hyenas were not only crazy looking, but when they were stimulated, they go berserk, and their power improved dramatically. However, the problem was they also go crazy. They attack without any regard for their own safety. They also harm their own kind when they are crazy.
The only way to deal with them was through absolute deterrence. He had to use the burst state to give them a fatal blow make them feel pain.
Due to their weird ability, which may harm their own kind, Alex assumed them to be wandering beasts without a pack. But now, there was a group of these crazy beasts blocking his way. He did not want to clash with them if possible.
"Ok, how big is the Wind wolves' territory?"
[It's more than ten kilometers.]
"Ok. Please survey the layout of the surrounding territories," said Alex.
Varis obeyed and surveyed the surroundings. Seeing him do the work diligently, Alex was thankful.
If Varis had not accompanied him on this journey, Alex would be miserable. He vowed to take him to a nice restaurant after he reached the city.
Soon Varis provided the details of the territories surrounding the Crazy Hyenas. Long story short, it will waste a lot of time if he takes any other path.
Alex contemplated, weighing the pros and cons. In the end, Alex decided not to take the detour. As the night approached, Alex can't afford to waste time.
With their low-end strength, the group of crazy hyenas owned a small piece of land between two giants. So, out of anxiety, the hyenas were vigorously patrolling their territory.
Even if Alex moved on the edge, he can't avoid them for long. Alex can only try not to attract too much attention.
"Varis, find a safe path through the area."
[Yes.]
After some time, Varis replied:
[if you follow the small trail on the left, you will find a group of boulders you can hide behind.]
"Got it."
Alex immediately started moving. He took out his bow for protection and quickly moved from one tree to tree.
Soon he reached the M-shaped boulders, where he hid. Alex breathed a sigh of relief while taking a break. As he was about to resume the journey, he heard the bad news.
[Incoming. A Crazy hyena is moving towards your direction.] said Varis.
Alex crouched behind the boulder. He slightly leaned his head to peek.
Alex saw the tall and muscular brown hyena with black spots coming towards him. Its hair was standing upright like it got electrocuted, while its tongue hanging out, and eyes blurry. That was the craziest looking beast Alex ever saw.
The brown hyena was patrolling lazily. After a cursory glance, it turned away. As Alex was about to sigh in relief, he saw the hyena stop.
The Crazy hyena raised its head and started sniffing the air. It once again faced Alex and walked towards the boulder while sniffing the air.
Alex started to sweat a little. Then he saw the blurry eyes slowly gaining focus. Alex knew he was found out and readied his bow.
[It's going to call others.] reminded Varis.
Sure enough, Alex saw the hyena open its mouth wide, about to bark and notify others. Alex can't have that. He raised the compound bow and shot the arrow in its mouth.
The Crazy hyena closed its mouth and started to whimper. Alex did not pity it and shot another arrow. This time through its eye. The Crazy hyena finally fell.
After eating the Red jade fruit, Alex had gained both physical strength and mana quantity. Now a low-level hyena can be dealt with casually as long as it did not go berserk.
"Is there any other movement," asked Alex, ready to run away.
[No. Everything is calm.] said Varis surveying the surroundings from the sky.
Alex took a heavy breath, calmed down, and pulled the dead body behind the boulders. Unfortunately, there was nothing to cover the body. However, this should delay the other Crazy hyena from finding it.
Alex resumed his journey and quickly reached the end of Crazy hyena's territory.
"See if anyone is following."
[No one]
Alex sighed in relief. After the minor conflict, his journey was once again smooth for the next hour.
"Varis, it's getting late. Please find a safe place for the night."
[Ok.]
At the same time, a Crazy Hyena who was patrolling near the boulders saw the dead body of its companion. Its blurry eyes slowly regained focus and made loud barking noises that sound like crackling laughter.
"Wu hu hu hu.."
The laughter penetrated the area, and soon a group of crazy Hyenas came running towards the boulder. They saw the dead body started barking in anger.
"jie jie jie...'
"he he he..."
"Wu hu hu..."
All the weird laughing sounds attracted the pack leader. Soon a huge brown hyena with a scar running down the eye came to the boulders. The crackling laughter stopped as the group gave way to it.
The scar-eyed hyena saw its son's body and started giggling hysterically.
"Ha ha ha..."
Even though it was laughing, the surroundings became depressing.
After some time, The scar-eyed Crazy hyena stopped grieving and barked at the others. After a while, the whole pack assembled.
Soon, some crazy hyenas took the lead and started sniffing as they tracked Alex.