The sun was just rising when Bastian opened his eyes in the morning. After lingering in bed for a few minutes, he got out of bed and washed his face.
His grandfather still hadn't woken up, which took him quite by surprise. Usually his grandfather would always wake up before the sun came up.
Bastian went outside, got some fresh air, went inside, ate a few snacks in the kitchen, and waited for Maxim.
The minutes passed quickly.
Maxim had arrived when the sun began to rise completely from behind the hills. Although Bastian didn't want to go on this journey, in the end, Maxim had helped him through his difficult time. He had to pay back.
When Bastian left the house, he saw Maxim waiting in the carriage. This man looked to be in his thirties; he had black curly hair that went down to his shoulders and jet black eyes. This man, though not very muscular, was not skinny either. His body looked athletic and agile, as a hunter should be.
Maxim couldn't help but be surprised to see Bastian walking out the door. He had thought that Bastian would probably forget his already promised promise and Elgon would greet him.
"I'm surprised you haven't forgotten your promise." Maxim glanced at Bastian, who was coming towards him.
"Actually, I forgot." Bastian climbed into the carriage. "My grandfather reminded me yesterday."
"Of course it did." Maxim let out a small sigh and started the two horses pulling the carriage.
The town of Greydorm was quite close to the town of Lightleaf. The journey there would not have taken more than a day by horse carriage. Maxim started to ride the carriage over the pathway to the south.
Time passed slowly, like torture for Bastian. Maxim was a strange person with a cold personality; he didn't talk to anyone much and didn't get together. When this was the case, the sounds of the horse carriage and the sounds of the creatures in nature were absent. Of course, there was also the sound of the wind gently caressing the leaves of the trees.
In the afternoon, as the sun was hiding behind the hills, the warm air was giving way to a slight coolness. According to Bastian, the surrounding noises were getting quieter as the clock ticked; which produced a strange silence that is difficult to describe.
Maxim suddenly stopped the horses. With his brows slightly furrowed, he looked at the wooded area to the right of the pathway.
"What's going on?" Bastian noticed the change in her movements.
Maxim quickly reached behind the carriage and picked up his bow. His eyes scanned the wooded area incessantly. Although there was no sign of fear in his eyes, it was obvious that his body was tense.
"Get to the back and don't come out no matter what!" Maxim took a dagger from the scabbard attached to his belt.
Even though Bastian could not sense the difference, someone or something was observing them. This had easily escaped his notice, but an experienced hunter like Maxim had of course immediately sensed it.
Hunters, for their purposes, constantly listened to their senses and acted accordingly. This process never changed for hunters; they sharpened their senses more and more and became adept at acting on their feelings.
It would be very difficult for an experienced hunter to be mistaken in his feelings!
Maxim saw a snake crawling out from behind a large oak tree with his sharp eyes. The eyes of this snake radiated a faint, bright green light. It had hundreds of jet black scales in the shape of a pentagon. Its length was approximately five to six meters; the thickness of his body was more than the size of two palms.
However, none of these were the most striking feature of this snake. Its most notable feature were the razor blades on its tail, which were opened at a half-moon angle. In fact, they could not exactly be described as razors; it was only one of its organs, but it had a sharp razor-like appearance. That's why they were called razors.
"This is a baby Zenit snake…" Maxim muttered as he examined the snake's body. Looking the baby snake, he was actually quite relieved.
The Zenit snake was one of the mutated species. especially the adult ones moved and attacked quite quickly; moreover, their scales would be hard.
Therefore, even a few experienced hunters might not be able to fight an adult Zenit snake.
Maxim took an arrow from the quiver hanging on his back and placed it in his bow, then deftly drew his bow. When he released his hand, the arrow whistled through the air and flew straight towards the snake.
*Tss!* The baby Zenit snake twisted its body at an awkward angle and the arrow pierced the ground. Immediately after, the snake attacked swiftly and agilely. It covered the distance of tens of meters in a few short seconds and was in front of Maxim.
The Zenit snake quickly spun its body and swung the blades of its tail into the hunter's throat.
However, Maxim reacted quickly and shielded his throat with the dagger hanging from his waist. A high-pitched sound echoed as dagger and blade collided; the snake's blades stopped a few inches above the hunter's throat.
Maxim and the snake Zenit began to attack each other mercilessly.
Most of Maxim's slashing moves hit the snake's body because they were at close range; however, these moves were not powerful enough because they could not go further than simple slashing moves.
The main reason for this was that he also had to be prepared for a bite attack from the Zenit snake. If he added more power to his move, he would have to bring his own body closer to the snake.
In that case, it would be very difficult for him to dodge the snake's bite!
On the other hand, the snake's body was quite agile and even though it had received blade blows, its scales were able to absorb most of the damage. Although the snake always instinctively made a move to directly kill its enemy, the experienced hunter could avoid these moves without difficulty.
While all this was going on, Bastian crouched in one corner of the carriage and waited in fear. the carriage was surrounded on all sides by some kind of cloth; he couldn't see the conflict outside. However, he could hear the clashes and see the vague shadows that were constantly moving.
A layer of cold sweat covered his entire body. It was the first time in his life that he was in such a situation; so he didn't know how to act.
Not knowing what or who Maxim was fighting outside, this uncertainty consumed him inside, every second felt like hours.
"Huh!" Maxim dodges another attack aimed at his throat, bending backwards, throwing the dagger directly at the snake.
The snake dodged the dagger that came on it by twisting its body at the last moment. However, this move gave the experienced hunter the necessary time for his intended move.
Maxim jumped back, putting a small distance between them, and in half a second he took an arrow from his quiver and placed it on his bow.
He released the arrow without giving the Zenit snake a chance. The arrow flew swiftly and pierced one of the snake's eyes.
This time the distance between them was very short; The snake had not been able to dodge this arrow like it did last time.
*Hss!* The Zenit snake began to shake its head left and right in pain and panic.
Maxim quickly fired another arrow, which pierced the snake's other eye.
The zenit snake began to spin around like a madman and toss its razors around at random.
In this situation, Maxim had already moved away from it, observing its movements.
In a short time, the snake fell to the ground and stopped moving completely.
Maxim breathed a sigh of relief and began controlling his body. After making sure he hadn't suffered any cuts during the fight, he called out to Bastian, "You can come out!"
Bastian sighed with relief when he heard what Maxim had said and quickly walked out. His eyes widened in horror when he saw the baby Zenit snake lying on the ground. He had never seen such a snake in his life.
Maxim turned his eyes to Bastian, who was staring at the snake in horror, 'It's a Zenit snake. It's a mutated species; If it weren't for the baby, we'd both be dead right now."
"We're not that far from town..." Bastian felt his throat go dry. The words were barely out of his mouth.
"So they came so close to the settlements…" Maxim muttered thoughtfully. He understood what Bastian meant.
Kingdoms entrusted large numbers of scouts to roam the wilderness and report on dangers. If scouts observed a wild animal or a spotted community approaching their settlement, they would quickly report to higher authorities. Thus, soldiers would be sent to those areas and the danger would be eliminated.
This being the case, very few Ifnerites were able to approach settlements. If the situation was too bad, the scouts would go to the settlements and remove people from those areas for a while. When the Ifnerites were destroyed by the soldiers, these people would return to their settlements.
"This is the first time I've seen an Ifnerite...Do you think there are others?" Bastian averted his gaze from it, not wanting to look at the dead snake any longer.
"What?" Maxim snapped out of his thoughts, "I don't think so… It's probably just a lost baby."
The experienced hunter was crouching next to the snake with quick movements and began to peel off its scales one by one. Bastian wanted to ask what his purpose was, but he had already found the answer himself. He had heard many times before that the body patches of certain animals and Ifnerites were used in various fields.
Maxim would either use these stamps to make an item of his own, or sell them.
As the sun completely disappeared behind the hills, the atmosphere was getting more and more chilling. Especially to Basitan, who was so stressed out, the shadows in the wooded area seemed to fly over him and swallow him.
Maxim had finished his business with the snake as quickly as he could. In fact, he had not even removed all the scales of the snake; his senses were telling him not to linger too long in this area.