This was the first time Nero was able to calmly sit and meditate in a week since he arrived in this world. Nothing much could be done at the moment concerning his injuries. If he wanted to prepare for the adventure that awaits him in his world, he had to prepare both mind and soul.
Nero slowly opened his eyes. His eyes flashed with a brilliant green light that pierced through layers of darkness, emanating a powerful aura and intent. After a few breaths of time, the aura quietly dispersed. Nero looked out the window. The fine lines of sunlight started to appear over the horizon.
At the crack of dawn, the sky was dyed red as the sun tried to make its ascent. Nero got down from the bed and went downstairs towards the tavern.
"Little brother is awake! I hope little brother enjoyed his nights' rest?" A voice called out to Nero. Nero looked over to see the old man from yesterday. He had a warm smile as he waved his hands indicating that Nero comes over to the counter where he was.
"Mm." Nero nodded. "I rested well."
"Good then! We will bring your breakfast right away. But if you need anything, next time don't bother coming down here, you can just call and we'll attend to you." The old man had decided to be friendly to this mysterious fellow who could casually take out more than fifty gold taels. Even if Nero was mortal, it didn't mean that he came from a poor background.
Many influential families in the bid to maintain their status in the wealthy society send out the wastrels from their family. If anyone heard the news that these prestigious families had a mortal that had no potential to become a martial artist, they would most likely become a laughing stock. But even if they are being driven out from their families, it didn't mean they would leave empty-handed. In a normal sense, the old man thought that Nero fell into this category.
Suddenly, one of the old man's assistants drew close to him and whispered a few words to him. The old man's face immediately turned sour. Nero sat close to them but didn't pay any attention to what they were saying.
"Little brother I apologize but I'll attend to you shortly." The old man said and dragged his assistant to another room.
The indistinct chatter between the old man and his assistant carried on for few minutes before the old man came back to where Nero was, smiling as usual.
"Little brother must be starving, please forgive this old man. I'll bring your food…"
"Is there a problem?" Nero asked before the old man could finish his sentence.
" There's no need to worry, we'll handle it." The old man replied. He thought for a while before he continued, "Unless little brother can help hunt down wild flaming boars, then I'm afraid there's nothing you can do. Of course, we'll pay full price for the trouble."
"How much are you paying?" Nero didn't intend to play around with words. In truth, Nero was in great need of money and he couldn't bear to subject himself to being a petty robber who only takes jewelry and a trivial amount of gold. If he wanted to earn he had to find something to do and this old man just offered an easy job of hunting down flaming boars.
When Nero arrived in this unknown world, he had encountered a herd of flaming boars that were chased by a lightning Jaguar. Nero didn't think much of these flaming boars, but to these people, it meant a lot. The old man slightly furrowed his brows, he didn't think that Nero would directly ask him 'How much are you paying.'
"A hundred gold taels!"
"Consider it done," Nero said and stood up to leave.
"Wait!" The old man shouted out, "It's not wise to go hunt them by yourself. Although they are just level one wild beasts, they are still very strong." The old said, showing concern.
'Still very strong?' Nero sneered in his heart, "If only he knew."
"I'll be fine. Do you have a detailed map of where they might be?" Nero asked.
The truth was that Nero was trying to avoid getting lost or wandering inside that forest. He needed a map mostly to see how detailed everything was, especially the forest Rhedaia.
The old man sighed, "The young generation Is hot-blooded as usual."
He reluctantly handed over a map. The map contained a detailed drawing of the Rhedaia forest. Nero's eyes gradually grew wider. According to the map, the forest occupied hundreds of miles of land space! This was just a rough estimation it could be even more!
"The place marked red is where they usually forage for food. If you go this early, you'll be able to find them in herds. But it makes it difficult to hunt them. So it's wise to wait until they are done foraging and too heavy to run." The old said with a faint smirk. If his expression could talk it would probably say 'I might be old, but I know how to get the job done.'
Nero looked at him and laughed inwardly, "This sly old fox."
Nero replied, "I'll keep that in mind." And then left the inn.
The old man wanted to say a few more Nero had already dashed out from sight.
"This fellow…just who is he to have such guts?"
The sun was finally up, hanging in the sky like an unwavering crystal light that bathed the land in its light. It was already noon. Nero had been on the move for six hours. According to the map, the flaming boars were foraging at the Northeastern part of the forest which was the closest part to the village.
"If this is the closest part to the village, then how come it takes me six hours to get here!?" Nero grumbled. Not that he was exhausted, but he thought that the mission would be over by now. Which would have thought that it will take him six hours to just get to the marked place on the map.
Nero shuttled past various enormous trees at an unfathomable speed. Although his injuries were holding him down, it didn't mean that he wasn't strong at the moment. Nero shuttled past a few other trees before sighting a 3 feet wide trail of smoke and dust.