Early Morning
3 adults and 1 child could be seen standing at the outskirts of the Withlock town, all hooded.
"Darren please take care of him." Elora said trying hard to hold back her tears. Elora had decided not to cry, she wanted to see off Nile with a smiling face.
"You don't have to worry about him, you should ask Nile to protect me and not the other way." Darren joked trying to ease the situation.
"Son we want to give you some good news before you leave." Drake smiled while holding Elora's hand.
Once Drake had Nile's attention he continued.
"Nile soon you will become an elder brother. So return safely"
"HUH" Nile's eyes sparkled and a wide smile appeared on his face. In his current life, he has started to cherish the people around him. He liked the warmth he felt when he was around his family, Nile was extremely happy hearing this news.
'He looks so happy. I wish he could have stayed here.' Drake sighed and looked at Nile who had a wide smile on his face after hearing the news.
"I hate to intervene but we should get going, our whole plan would tear down if anyone sees Nile and me with you two." Darren said while interrupting.
"Take care of mother and my sibling, father" Nile said while hugging his parents. He then turned and gestured Darren to lead the way towards the WildWitch forest.
Behind him, he could hear Elora's sobbing but he continued walking without turning. Turning now would only weaken his resolve. Nile had made up his mind, he wanted to be strong and bring glory to the Withlock family and he was ready to pay the price for that glory.
Darren turned around to look at Nile, he was astonished seeing Nile's eyes filled with determination, he was expecting teary eyes and was devising a speech to minimize Nile's sorrow.
'I think, I was worried for nothing. Such determined eyes, he has made up his mind . Hahahaha.'
After walking for a couple of hours through the forest, they encountered their first monster.
"Give me a brief about that monster. " Darren asked Nile, pointing towards the monster who was drinking water from a thin stream of water. Darren wanted to check how deep Nile's knowledge was.
Nile looked at the monster and took a few moments before speaking " It is a wolf-type monster, it is a rank-5 (human cultivator). They are not very smart and their speed makes up for the lack of strength. Looking at the blood around its mouth and a scar on its back it is safe to assume that it has been in a battle recently." Nile paused for a while and looked around and continued - "Generally, these types of monsters hunt in packs but it seems like this one is alone in here."
"Right on point. I want you to watch carefully" Darren whispered taking out a small axe and moving towards the wolf. When he was a few meters away from the wolf, the wolf raised its head and looked in Darren's direction, both of them stared at one another while taking slow steps towards each other.
(The wolf was 2 meters in height and 3 meters in length.)
The wolf was the first one to make its move, it pounced at Darren when they were a few meters apart. The wolf opened its jaw wide to bite Darren's shoulder, Darren had much better reflexes, he took a step back moving away from the wolf's trajectory and punched the wolf vertically downward in its stomach with his left hand. The Wolf slammed on the ground puking blood. The wolf was too weak against a Warrior-6 rank cultivator, even though Darren had just attacked using one-fourth of his power, it was fatal for a rank-5 wolf (human cultivator).
The wolf was even struggling to stand up and even before it could call out for help, Darren swung his axe, which effortlessly severed its head that fell on the ground with a thud.
"Come out, it is dead." Darren said
'He is too young, but the sooner he gets used to such sights, the better it will be for him.' Darren thought looking at the headless wolf.
"Darren let me dissect the body." Nile's said while walking slowly.
"H.....uh. What?" Darren turned around to confirm what he had just heard with a puzzled expression. He then saw Nile holding a small knife and walking towards him while staring at the dead wolf.
"I want to confirm what I have read in the books." Nile said and stood beside the dead wolf, waiting for the green signal.
"G...o ahead" Darren stuttered.
Nile started dissecting the wolf's body with keen interest as soon as Darren approved.
Darren was speechless seeing Nile cut through the wolf's flesh with unfazed expressions, just like a professional.
'If I had not known him and his parents, I would have mistaken him for a butcher's child. I wonder how would have Elora reacted if she witnessed such a sight.' Darren smiled, imagining how Elora would have reacted.
It took Nile an hour to completely dissect the whole body. He would have had done it in 10 minutes but he wanted to examine the body thoroughly.
'The monsters here are not any different from other planets, just the cultivation level and size varies. I don't even remember the last time I dissected a monster, it must be at least a hundred thousand years.' Nile thought while wiping the blood from his knife and putting it back in his storage pouch.
"I am done Darren, where should we head next" Nile said while getting up.
Darren thought before speaking- "Let's hunt some more monsters and then we can look for a suitable place for resting."
Just walking for a couple of minutes they came across a fox who was lazing around under a tree. It was half in size of the Moster wolf from earlier.
"Darren can I please face that monster." Nile said with pleading eyes, as soon as they spotted the monster.
"Ummm" Even though Darren knew Nile was smart and talented he was not sure.
"That monster is a fox type rank-2, these types of monsters lack strength, and have an average speed, but the only reason they still survive in such places is due to their intelligence. As soon as they come across someone stronger than them they flee, unlike any other monster. It is an ideal opponent for me" Nile said convincingly.
"But it is on par with rank-4 human cultiva-" Darren was mid-sentence when Nile interrupted.
"I know, but I will manage, if something goes downhill you can intervene and I have this too." Nile said while taking out the dagger with a red shining craft (grade weapon).
"Okay, but be careful. It is your first time wielding the dagger." Darren said with a stern look.
As soon as Nile heard Darren, he started moving towards the Fox. The fox stared at Nile's direction. As soon as it sensed Nile's cultivation level, the fox started moving towards Nile with cautious steps.
'Just as I thought. It is not running as it had already sensed my cultivation level, it would have had fled if I had been a rank 4 or above. The feel of this dagger feels comfortable, I think it won't be much of a hassel. ' Nile thought while tightening his grip on his weapon.
The fox dashed towards Nile once he was close and attacked Nile with its claws. Nile stepped back evading the claw, he then swung his dagger at the fox face. As soon as the fox sensed danger it tried moving away from the weapon's trajectory but failed. The dagger caught one of its eyes blinding it on one eye. The fox screeched in pain and started running in the opposite direction to escape. Nile infused some energy in the dagger and threw it towards the running fox, the dagger pierced through the fox's leg, severing one of its hind leg. Nile then picked up his dagger and stabbed the fox ending its misery.
Darren who had been watching the battle quietly thought with a proud expression- 'He is calm in such a situation and did not even use his skill while fighting. He has got some nerves I must say.'
Nile then looked for the monster core inside the Fox but found none.
"Nile do not dissect it, fox monster meat is delicious. We will have it for dinner" Darren said while coming towards Nile.