After a long explanation and a bumpy ride through a hilly valley, Alex was dropped off rather roughly near the entrance of the Ether forest.
He had tried his best to explain he wasn't two-timing the girls but no one believed him. His reputation had sunk that low. He sighed and brushed it off. They were only together for an hour or so before parting but it was still an awkward ride.
He stood at the entrance of a heavily wooded area. The trees were dark and thick and he could see that barely any light penetrated through the canopy. Before going in, he decided to throw his entire bag into the storage ring after taking out the weapons he planned to carry.
He wrapped the Kusarigama around his waist loosely and hung his gauntlets over his neck with a rope. His armor was already on him and he attached his short sword and shield to a buckle on his belt behind him.
He then took a deep breath before walking into the forest.
He took out the list Alan gave him as he made his way through the outskirts of the forest. He kept an eye out for signs of water and edible food as he went deeper and deeper.
The listen had a dozen or so monsters, most of which he learned from the library he went to Alicia with, while a few he hadn't heard of. Of course, these were the creatures he had to kill the least of, which probably meant they were the strongest with their smaller numbers.
There was a brief description of what they looked like, and when he said it was brief, it was brief.
One of the creatures was called a 4-winged duck and the description was: "A duck with 4 wings"
Alex rolled his eyes at these terrible descriptions, and names of animals. Pretty much all the names of these creatures just described them. There was no originality to the names and no one seemed to care about documenting these creatures properly.
Earth was much better in this regard but it was at least simple to understand what kind of creature he would be dealing with.
Alan said most of what he was dealing with was 1st and 2nd Ring but there was one 3rd Ring he needed to get. He knew he could take on 1st Rings fine and probably 2nd Rings with his overwhelming stats, but the 3rd Ring would be tough.
By that point in evolution, all races will have several skills to use. Some may even have double digits. This is what happens when they have more time to process their strength. Since Alex had enormous strength that his body couldn't even keep up with, it was already a miracle to have so many skills.
"Grrrr!"
He heard a growl to his left as he wasn't paying attention to see a dark brown, almost black-colored wolf glaring at him with red eyes. It quickly lunged and Alex reacted just as quickly. He pulled on the Kusarigama around his waist and the chain came undone easily as he swung a part of it around him once before it sunk into the side of the wolf.
Instead of following its initial path, the wolf was thrown to the side in a bloody mess and crashed into a tree. Birds cawed and flew away as Alex quickly approached the wolf with the other end of his Kusarigama.
The wolf struggled to get up and didn't even know how it died before darkness consumed it. Alex yanked the serrated blade out of its skull and he avoided the splash of blood that followed. His hands still got covered in blood but he didn't mind as he went over and tore out the canines in its skull.
The monster before him was a 1st Ring Shadow Wolf. Shadow as in it hid in the dark very well. Other than that it was pretty easy to deal with. They didn't have any skills most time and it was only when they became around a 3rd or 4th Ring existence that they were really deadly.
They could actually use the shadows at that point so they were difficult to deal with.
Alex thought this kill was really easy, even though he was ambushed, he reacted way quicker than it could and almost killed it in one shot. If the sickle end of his Kusarigama struck his head or neck he probably would have.
After getting his proof of kill, he pulled the sickle end out of its abdomen and cleaned it off with a rag from his duffle bag. Then, instead of going around searching for more monsters, he got a good idea and decided to set up a trap using the corpse.
30 minutes later he was sitting on a tree branch watching the corpse below him. He was out of sight for those on the ground and he set it up so that it was in a clearing. He also had some trip wires set up around the area to alert him and to prevent monsters from running off with his kill.
It wasn't 10 minutes later when another monster came. This one was tiny, a rabbit, but it was still around a meter tall with its ears. Its teeth were incredibly sharp, but it was once again a 1st Ring. It was also pretty fast but Alex wasn't super worried about it with his own stats.
The Sword-Toothed Rabbit, as people decided to call it, sniffed the air before cautiously approaching the corpse. Just as it took a bite into the wolf, Alex acted, throwing down the serrated blade of his chain and following it down.
The blade quickly reached the rabbit and stabbed it in the leg. It was able to move enough to avoid a direct kill, but this agility-based monster was as good as dead now. It began running but it's speed was very slow compared to earlier.
Alex reached the ground with a loud thud and didn't even need to run after it as he swung the chain around him a few times before the blade shot out again at almost triple the current speed of the rabbit.
The rabbit was only able to look back before it was pierced through the lung. It squealed loudly as Alex pulled back on the chain, bringing the rabbit with it. Although the sickle was better for dragging, the serrated blade could still do the same job if it lodged itself in its victim right.
When the beast was close enough, Alex raised the sickle in his hand and lobbed off its head. He then grabbed the falling head by the ears before cutting that off too. Many would think that its sword-like teeth would be the most valuable, but it was actually the ears, which could be used for a wide range of potions.
Alex continued this process for several hours, he had to change locations several times and wait long hours for a monster to come by. He ended up getting 9 kills, all 1st Ring, but that was pretty good considering it was only his first day.
It was projected that he would be here for a few weeks and up to a month at most. He hoped to make it in two weeks, that was the goal he set for himself. He planned to get all the 1st Ring monsters within 5 days before moving deeper to go after the 2nd and 3rd Ring monsters he needed.
It was extremely dark out now that it was night so he set up camp for the night. He didn't light a fire, as it would draw attention to him in these bandit-filled woods so he only lit a small candle for light inside his tent.
He also set up his tent in the trees like a hammock almost since it was dangerous to be on the ground. He had a hard time sleeping that night but eventually fell into a light sleep. He had also set up the bell traps again as a perimeter and kept his weapons in his arms. He only put his shield and sword away since it wouldn't be comfortable to sleep against and quietly drifted to sleep amongst the owls.
Nothing happened that night so he got up and ate a little before continuing with his plan in the morning. He had set up several traps around the area using the corpses of the monsters he killed and hopefully his bait worked to either trap or kill his prey.
He went around checking them to find most didn't work but was still able to get 2 out of 10 traps to work. He killed the two monsters before moving on, using corpses as bait and waiting long hours before moving on to the next area.
- - -
While Alex was now in the forest doing his duty, the third night of his time in the forest was also the same night that a mysterious figure went into the Adventurer's Guild.
"I'm here to see Don." The most likely feminine hooded figure said to the clerk. The male clerk nodded and led her to the room where Don was. There was no introduction and this time he was by himself.
Getting straight down to business, the figure said, "The target is in the kill zone."
Don immediately grinned before laughing out loud.
"HAHA! It's time to kill that son of a bitch! I can't wait to see his face when he knows what's in store for him!"
He got up and left the room breaking the door off its hinges. One of the clerks complained but was met with a punch that made their head cave in. It was unknown whether he was dead or alive, but most certainly closer to the former.
None of the other clerks seemed to act on the unfortunate soul's behalf and only bowed their heads as Don passed.
Out here in the middle of nowhere, this town was practically forgotten by the Adventurer's Guild Headquarters. They do zero maintenance and haven't had an official from HQ come to inspect the place in over a decade.
While the town seem nice and dandy on the outside, it was actually a hellhole on the inside. The demons of this place kidnapped, raped, and embezzled money like no tomorrow. People went missing all the time but the guards never did anything since they were most certainly in on it.
Donavan was the 'only' 3rd Ring adventurer in this town and he had become the unofficial king of Floren. He did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. There were other enemy gangs in this town, but they could not stand against a powerhouse like Don.
He thought he would spend out the rest of his days as king here when over a decade ago, the hooded figure approached him and easily brought him to his knees with a blade against his neck. He had no idea what had happened but he was let off easy. The only thing the figure asked of him was to do favors for them once in a while.
He easily agreed and the figure never showed herself again until a few months ago. That's why he was so cautious as to bring two of his strongest men to their meeting. If she was there to claim his life or his livelihood, he would fight back with all he had.
However, she only wanted him to kill a little 1st Ring. That was like swatting a fly to him. He grinned as he rushed out the front door of the Adventurer's Guild and headed in the direction of Ether forest.
He didn't bring anything with him since his fists were his weapons and he didn't bring supplies since he planned to just find the kid and finish the job quickly before leaving. He figured he would be gone, 2 maybe 3 days at most and that was plenty of time for him to not even feel hungry.
While the mad man cackled into the night, the hooded figure stepped out of the Adventurer's Guild with a smile on their face.
'I wonder how you will stand up to Don, the Skullcrusher, Mr. Freeloader.' The figure thought before disappearing into the shadows like they were never there.