Indeed there was a very vivid set of footprints, all four pairs running away in the same direction. The reason the pawprints were so easy to find was that the blood of their comrades soaked the ground into a sort of red, muddy, soup. Kind of disgusting, and smelled awful, but was helpful nonetheless.
Sprinting full speed in the direction the trail was leading me, I quickly caught up to them resting beside a row of tall trees. Upon sensing me coming toward them, they all looked up and tried to continue running, but I was already on top of them.
Rushing towards them at max speed, I kicked off the ground and spun like a tornado horizontally toward the group, arms out and spinning like a top, rotated 90 degrees. 16 out of 16 dead. After seeing the Hounds stop and accept their fate, I couldn't help but feel disappointed that there was no big boss of anything to test the full strength of my new power.
"Damn, I sound very overconfident. I need to stop doing that. Anyways, thanks for the momentary distraction, guys. you have been very helpful." I said to the remains of the four Hounds, which were now a bloody mess of stinky flesh and bones. Not wanting to be here any longer than possible, I kicked off the ground and back into the trees, where I continued climbing, but staying in Gallen's form, as no one from the village would come out this far to recognize me.
"Now that I have let off some steam by not doing anything for 3 days straight, I think it is time I explore more of this forest. Maybe I will come across someone who will be of use to me. I do need a navigator. I hope this is not just all wishful thinking." I mumbled to myself, casually swinging from the upper foliage of the forest, which, with eyeballs, looked more like a large rainforest back on earth.
"I wish there would be more activity in this forest. No big threats seem to be showing up, and all I am seeing are Alter Hounds, which are much more common than I thought. I guess that just shows how weak I was back then." I said, looking below me at a group of Alter Hounds weaving in and out between trees.
With these creatures being the only creatures that I could find, besides a few Tankasauruses, which were mostly herbivores and did not attack unless provoked, and when they do attack, oh boy is it rough to defeat them. Not because they are strong, which they are not, but because of their protection. Their skin was like thick rubber, and the scales on top of it were like diamonds.
The only way I was able to defeat the sparse few I came across was by driving my fish into their mouth, which was very hard to punch, and releasing mana to explode from the inside. Even a massive explosion on its side did nothing but scratch the scales. The underbelly was the softest part, but it was covered by the bone shield that I saw in the skeleton of it way back when.
"What the hell is that?" I whispered to myself. What confused me was a raised thin line of dirt, which seemed to lead somewhere. The only conclusion I could make of this was that this was made by some monster because I have not seen any other life forms besides the Hounds, the Tanks, and a few Stomp Hoppers, which were quite easy to sneak attack, as they did not have eyes.
Anyways, after a couple of minutes of following the strange trail, I found an entrance to a massive cave. A few meters back, there were another couple of trailers that converted into one big line that led to this cave. These monsters need to know how to be sneaky about their movements.
Walking right into the cave, which was covered in vines and had cracks all over it, the first thing I noticed were little footprints made out of wet clay leading deeper into the tunnel. Going wherever the footprints were going, I searched my surroundings, and it was so much easier now that I have night vision eyes.
Wandering deeper into the cave I started to notice some strange inscriptions on the sides of the cave, which seemed to get narrower inch by inch. The runic carvings seemed to depict a sacrifice of some sort by showing what I could assume was some old society killing a person and putting it on a pedestal, what I could assume as blood flowing down into a cup, which a taller figure than the rest drank.
Not to dis the carver or whatever, but the figures in the pictures on the wall are an ass. Then again, they probably did not have many good carving tools by the way the carvings were wearing down. Before long, the mud tracks ran out, but I could just follow the straight path, which was all there was to follow.
Not long after the tracks disappeared, the cave tunnel ended in a large open room, which was covered in balls of flame. Yes, balls of flame. There was no source of fuel insight, and the unnatural form of the fire made me believe that inside this room was magic. Moving my eyes to the back of the room, I found something that every adventurer would love to find. Mountains and mountains of gold.
Not able to believe my eyes, I rubbed them with vigor. Nope, all of this was real. However in the center of the gold was a massive throne, and sitting atop the throne was a woman with light red skin and horns on her head, fit dripping. It looked like she was sleeping. The only thought that went through my head was, 'How is she able to sleep in that uncomfortable, looking throne?'
But the best thing about her was her frame. Her rack looked like two melons, barely fitting inside her skimpy outfit, which looked like a skin-tight jumpsuit with the center missing, which still looked hot as hell. Sadly, her ass has yet to be seen, but the way she is rising off her seat would make me think that it is just as fantastic as her breasts.
Fantasizing about what I could do with that body, I must have accidentally slipped over a goblet or some other precious treasure to my right. Holding my breath, I tentatively raised my head as well as my eyes to where the horned beauty slept. Only her eyes were not closed anymore. They were staring at me with steely indifference, fiery-red eyes burning deep.
Fuck!