Gael and Fortis are now slowly getting closer to the ruler of the Willow forest, and as they get closer the heavier the pressure gets, and it is already affecting their movements.
The air is getting heavier and it is getting harder to breathe the two of them are starting to sweat profusely as if they have run a long distance.
After a few hours of walking they finally reached the center of the core area of the forest and what welcomes them is something out of their imagination, they have never thought that they will be seeing his kind of monster in a forest of a backwater and small kingdom.
*snore
The monster is snoring loudly, every time he snores, the air he releases from his nostrils creates a wave that carries great strength with it, the trees surrounding the sleeping monster are battered and are about to fall anytime soon just because of the casual air he breathes every time he snores.
He and Gael slowly approached the big sleeping monster that's curled up hugging a whole tree, he and Fortis unsheathed their swords with their enhanced sense.
" what are you?" Gael whispered asking himself what kind of monster this big yet unknown to the whole kingdom.
The big sleeping monster changed his sleeping position making Gael and Fortis both leapt back and in their fighting position, they thought that the big monster will attack them, they heaved a sigh of relief when they found out that the monster is still asleep and just changed sleeping position.
When the big unknown monster changed its position it turned around to face Gael and Fortis giving them a chance to inspect this unknown monster, Gael observed the monster's appearance, it is a big humanoid monster with blue-colored skin and a muscular body, it only wearing leather pants and is topless, its limbs are bound to the concrete ground with iron shackles, then his gaze turned to the humanoid monsters head, it has some facial features similar to a human it is bald but it has a full white beard, but what separates these monsters face to a normal human being is that it only have ONE EYE, one big eye!.
" holy shit! It's a Cyclops " Gael gasped in shock but he still keeps his voice down, Fortis has a shocked expression too.
Cyclops are humanoid monsters that have the closest facial feature to a human, more the Goblin, except for their most distinctive feature, and the feature that gave them the name Cyclops, their one eye.
They are A rank monsters but are one of the strongest it is said that they have the strength that rivals the strength of an S rank monster, they are the so-called 'perfect A rank monster' because they possess the quality of an S rank monster but they are still lacking to be listed amongst the legendary S rank monsters. When it comes to pure physical strength and raw power Cyclops are undoubtedly the number one, the Minotaur is only second though they are both A rank monsters Cyclops are stronger than a minotaur, and cyclops are also more intelligent than minotaurs.
Cyclops are giant monsters that can reach the height of more than ten meters ad can still grow depending on their growth rate and potential they are regarded as perfect A-rank monsters because they are the strongest when it comes to strength and defense no other monster can compare to them, that is why Gael is extremely shocked when he saw a Cyclops bound by shackles here in their kingdom, what kind of shackles can bind an A rank monster known for their physical strength.
Though Gael is ready to face whatever monster is in the center of the core he is starting to think that he might be having wrong life choices, since the monster in front of them is something not to be taken lightly.
" what is a Cyclops doing here of all places?!, how am I going to kill this humungous monster?" despite facing a strong monster such as a cyclops Gael is still thinking about how to kill it, he is actually thinking of fighting the Cyclops for real.
He started formulating plans and thinking about what kind of traps will work against an A rank monster with great defense such as a cyclops, but despite the cyclops' overwhelming defense Gael is still determined to fight it, one thing that makes him confident that he can fight it is the fact that the cyclops is already old, the full white beard gave Gael the impression that the sleeping Cyclops is already weak and old, for Gael a monster that is already past its prime is just a monster waiting to be killed plus the Old cyclops is bound by shackles making Gael's chances of winning higher.
Gael and Fortis left the sleeping Cyclops alone for now, they have to prepare a lot of things since Gael now has a rough understanding of the enemy he can now make tactics that he and Fortis can use to fight the perfect A-rank monster.
But when they left the big eye of the sleeping old cyclops suddenly opened and watched their leaving backs and smiled, but the smile of the old cyclops is weird.
Gael and Fortis picked a place not too far away from the Cyclops but not too close to avoid being discovered once the Cyclops woke up, they picked a small hill as their temporary camp, and they set up their tents and other things, Gael in his tent is sitting on a small chair and a small table he is drawing up the plan and strategies they will use against the cyclops, Gael picked up the habit of gathering information first before moving or taking action from the military, knowing your enemy is important because with the information you have on your enemy you can draw up a plan to counter them or a strategy that will work against them.
Gael spent the whole afternoon inside his tent while Fortis is training outside, he is practicing his swordsmanship, the Grey Wind Sword Dance that Gael taught him, he moved around in a graceful manner with a sword in his that he slash toward the air from time to time, if one does not know that he is training a swordsmanship he uses for killing one might thought that he is a performer, but despite moving in a beautiful manner there is something weird watching Fortis do his sword dance, it does not fir his looks, Goblins are monsters that have the worst behavior, there is nothing pleasing about them, Goblins are also nicknamed the 'absolute sinner' because of what they do every time they attack a village, that is why seeing Fortis do a graceful sword dance looks a little weird, but Gael does not care about those things he sees Fortis not as a monster Goblin but his Familiar, his comrade, his friend, that is why no matter what nickname the Goblins have and no matter how the whole world sees the Goblins to Gael, Fortis is Fortis and that's it.
Gael walked out of his tent and watched Fortis train his swordsmanship, he smiled when he saw how much progress Fortis has gained, the continuous deadly fight they experienced pushed more of Fortis' potential and so is Gael's.
" Fortis that's enough, it's dinner time " Gael called out when he saw Fortis stopped, panting.
" kiiiik?" Fortis turned towards the direction of Gael's voice and he asked if they are going to eat meat for dinner, the literal translation of what Fortis just said is "meat?".
" yes it is meat, do you eat vegetables? No, right? " Gael chuckled as he answer Fortis' question.
They quickly finished eating their dinner and proceed to their nightly routine which is Soul feeding, Fortis is close to having his first evolution, but he still needed a little more push, their fight against the C rank Boar and C rank Ash Wolves is not enough to trigger Fortis to evolve, though some monster can easily evolve once they reach the requirements to evolve, Fortis is a D rank monster with an average potential and growth rate, the only reason why they reach their current level in mere three months is because of the hard work they put towards their training and fighting monsters stronger than them and now that Fortis is close to evolving Gael plans to use the old Cyclops to trigger Fortis' evolution, he knows that it is risky and they might lose in the process but he thinks that it is better than being an average Tamer and Familiar their whole lives just because they are scared to risk their lives.
After the session of soul feeding is finished Gael immediately proceeded to meditation, there are a lot of things his mind has to process today, just the fact that there is an A rank cyclops in the willow forest is enough to keep him all night, but there is also the issue of Fortis' evolution, and the strategies and tactics they will use against the cyclops, his mind is filled with those information that he knows that if he didn't clear his mind in meditation he won't be able to sleep tonight. The three-month training period given to all of them is almost up so he cannot waste his time losing sleep at this crucial moment.