The sun was rising higher as the early birds decorated the tranquil morning with their twittering.
A young man and a young woman were travelling through the forest, one of the places where the beauty of nature was at its peak, which also sometimes made one forget about the danger hidden within.
The man was walking forward carefully while observing his surroundings. He was holding a short sword in his hand in case anything dangerous popped out of the woods.
The girl was giving directions and correcting their route whenever she saw them deviate. She was panting lightly as she was exhausted after walking for only an hour.
Shuua!
A sound was suddenly heard which sounded as if an arrow was shot.
Anom acted swiftly and hacked with his blade. The body of a green-blue snake fell on the forest floor. It had been hacked into two before it could make its way towards Crystal.
Anom picked up and studied the two pieces and said to the stunned Crystal, "Hmm. Looks like you are not in your best condition. Although you have taken care of your injuries, you've still not recovered your strength completely. It would be better if we waited until you are recovered before continuing our journey. We can find a secluded place where you can take a rest, hmm?"
"No!" But Crystal rejected the suggestion hurriedly, "I can't waste any more time. My parents must be worried. And as you have seen, there are some people who wanted to kidnap me to force my parents to agree to their demands. And although they did not succeed, they can still use my absence to blackmail my parents. It will be too late if we don't reach there by tonight." She was worried about the situation her family was in. The more she thought about it, the more helpless she felt. She had to do something before her family faced certain doom.
'Why do I feel like I have been involved in a clichéd plot?' Anom thought suspiciously, 'Meh. Who cares? As long as the rewards are also clichéd.'
He then turned towards the girl, considering her predicament for a while before nodding, "Fine. Let's go!"
They started walking again as the girl clenched her fists and tried to cope with the weakness she was feeling. Nothing mattered to her as long as her family was safe. She couldn't till she recovered.
Suddenly, she heard something and looked in front of her.
She saw Anom chuckling while looking at a small beast in his hands. Its fur was a mix of brown and yellow, with yellow as the base and three broad brown circles covering its body like chains. Or was it brown at the base?
The beast bared its sharp teeth threateningly and growled at Anom. Its eyes kept darting between Anom and the dead snake that was in his hands. Apparently, Anom had kept the carcass of the snake in his hands all this time as they walked.
She then heard him talk to the beast.
"Quite the feisty one, aren't you? Now let's make a deal. You will guide us to some places as I describe my requirements to you, and I will help you catch any prey of your liking on top of freeing you. So? Do we have a deal?"
Crystal thought that he was only playing around with the beast to tease it, mocking it for its upcoming fate. Although she didn't like him doing that, she still didn't say much.
But what happened next made her open her mouth wide.
The beast actually seemed to be considering Anom's offer and after a few moments it nodded.
Anom then put it down along with the dead snake. But it didn't even try to run away and happily ran towards the snake's corpse.
"You can consider this as a down payment if you want. And if you work properly, the reward you will receive will make this snake taste like garbage." Anom tempted the beast with its words.
The beast had already picked up the two parts of the snake's body with its jaw. But after hearing what Anom said, the young beast dropped one piece back, keeping only one.
"How greedy," Anom commented. But this human-like emotion was also a sign that the beast was intelligent. 'It'll do well as a guide.'
Crystal just looked at the interaction between the man and the beast with her mouth agape. Finally, she calmed herself as she asked in a shaking voice, "A-Are you a tamer?"
Anom stared at her for a moment before realizing what she meant by tamer. He answered clearly while shaking his head, "No, I'm not."
"Then how did you tame this Earth Tremor Bear? And this one is clearly intelligent even as a kid. The more intelligent a creature, the harder it is to tame them." She asked, while she didn't try to hide the shock she was feeling.
Anom asked in confusion, "What do you mean by tame? I just made a deal with him. And did you just call it a bear?" He turned to look at the creature whose face resembled a leopard. After looking carefully, Anom found that its tail was the same as that of a bear. And one more look at his head made him realize that even its ears were round and fluffy, just like a bear.
'Damn it! Either that soul-based translation skill Della gave me is flawed or this is the best equivalent the skill can provide based on my knowledge and memories.' Although he complained inwardly, he knew that it was the second point. There was no way Della would provide him with a flawed skill.
He stopped thinking about it and asked Crystal, "So what's so special about this beast?" He was curious as he looked at the little beast who kept looking at the piece of snake it had discarded from the corner of its eyes.
"Well, the most powerful and intelligent ones among the Earth Tremor Bears are not found in this peripheral region. They usually live deep inside the Zeru Forest. Some people also call them Bone Tremor Bears because one of their signature skills causes the target's bones to tremor and crack even from a distance." Crystal explained briefly.
'So this place is part of the Zeru forest.' Anom thought, then muttered inwardly, "And what's with this ridiculous technique? Sheesh… I better not let this beast 'bear' a grudge against me. Who knows if it will call its guardians and start grinding my marrow?'
Anom turned towards the beast and smiled with his most sincere expression. The beast felt scared for no reason after seeing his smile.
Then he squatted down and started a conversation with the beast.
Crystal couldn't catch what they were speaking about. Both of them were speaking quietly as if they were afraid of the trees nearby hearing them.
Just as she was beginning to feel bored, she heard a chuckle and another weird laughter. She looked and found Anom and the beast smiling together. It was just that their smile was a bit… evil.
Soon she found out the reason and about the place he needed the beast to guide them to.
"I think it's a bad idea," said Crystal, as she tried to be as quiet as possible.
Currently, they are hiding behind some bushes. In front of them was a wide cave. All around the cave were many winged insects flying around. They were shaped similar to ladybugs. But they were black all over with a tinge of gold on their wings and legs. Just a picture of this scene was enough for someone with Entomophobia (fear of insects) to have a heart attack.
They were only a little smaller than a basketball. Heck, even the Soul Sniffers were smaller than these insects. Small enough to jump on these insects and use them as a mount. Hmm… That would look cool.
Anom just smiled in response to Crystal's nervousness. He looked at the young bear and asked, "Are you sure that this is what I need?"
The young bear nodded hurriedly and made noises to indicate he was sure.
Anom didn't say anything but Crystal, who heard their conversation clearly this time, asked him, "Don't tell me you want to gather the syrup made by these Fruit Syrup Bugs?"
Anom chuckled, "Seriously? They are called Fruit Syrup Bugs?" He was amused by the name. But the name clearly stated what the bugs did.
Crystal hmphed and said, "How many types of bugs do you think are in the world? Many new species are evolved every day and many go extinct. As long as there is no major characteristic that makes the creature different in any way, their whole species and related sub-species are classified under one name."
"These Syrup Bugs are the same. You can find many different hives and nests populated by different sub-species of these Syrup Bugs just in this part of the forest alone. Sometimes, if a species covers a larger area, it might have various names given by the locals of each area. Just like these bugs," she paused and pointed at the golden-black bugs, "you can call them Gold Syrup Bugs as they are unique due to their golden hue. By the way, the syrup they make is very popular in the local market here. Sometimes the bigger pieces of syrup crystals of the highest quality are auctioned or directly to the nobles and rich households."
Anom looked at the young beast, convinced that it was a bear. Though the honey here will not be that easy to obtain.
She continued speaking, making Anom think that this girl really liked to share information. "The nobles and big families use the syrup to help their children gain energy and stamina faster while they train their skills. They- Ah!" Suddenly she realized something and turned to Anom, "Don't tell me you are going after the syrup so that I can recover faster? It's not worth the trouble." She felt that he was a sweet person to care for her like that, but the task was too dangerous.
Anom's expression was serious as he said, "I don't think I will have any less trouble finding a similar supplement even if I skip this one. And do you really think we will be able to reach the city by tonight with you being like this? What do you think will happen if more than one beast appears and I'm not able to focus on you? You don't want to accept my advice to take a rest and you also want to reach the city by tonight. You can't have the best of both situations without making some sacrifice." He paused and continued in a casual tone, "Besides, I don't have any currency on me. I will be able to sell those syrup crystals and use the money as a start-up fund for my new life there."
Crystal lowered her head when she heard what she said. She realized that she had been making him do his bidding because he didn't reject her suggestions. He even agreed to reach the city by tonight even though he could reach there at his own pace. And even now he was thinking for her sake. Although he said that he would sell the extra syrup crystals, she knew that he didn't have to go through this much trouble if it was just that.
She stood quietly for a while before grumbling, "I just worried about my family. Sorry for causing you inconvenience. And you have helped me so much. You could have asked me if you needed money."
Anom shook his head, "Don't worry about it. And I only use items that I've earned myself."
'Or those that I stole myself.' He added inwardly.
He then gave Crystal a knock on her head.
Crystal stopped sulking as she rubbed her forehead while looking at Anom angrily. All of a sudden, she smiled and said in a sincere voice, "Thank you, Anom."
"Well, what can a gentleman like me do besides help a girl when she's in trouble?" Anom sighed as he bemoaned the fate of all the gentlemen.
Crystal giggled as she said, "Well, that's also what I thought at first. But now I know that you are just a kind wanderer trying to impress the helpless girl you saved."
Anom smiled when he saw that she was not that tense anymore. Then he shamelessly asked, "So? Did I succeed?"
Crystal rolled her eyes while looking away, "I'll tell you after we reach the city."
Anom smiled and didn't dwell on it.
He said, "Then let's steal some sweet syrup."