Mathew sat in the middle of the courtyard with his eyes closed, he calmly breathed in and out. -" Just be calm... Breathe in and breathe out." He murmured to himself, trying his best to enter a deep meditative state.
He already had spent two months in this world, and he barely had the chance to cultivate as managing the village had taken much of his time, so he was quite excited to finally start his cultivation journey.
He had studied Sigebert's memories and cultivation books thoroughly, so he was pretty sure that what he just lacked was practice. " Absorb the Qi around you through breathing..." Mathew's body shuddered as he felt the Qi running through his veins.
His eyes twitched in discomfort, Sigebert was already at the fifth level of the Blood Articulation Realm, and guiding so much Qi around his body was quite a daunting task, especially for someone with no experience in cultivation.
Completing one Qi circulation took Mathew around fifteen minutes, and he was completely exhausted after it. " Well, at least I could complete it this time." He clenched his fists in excitement, he had tried to cultivate quite a few times, but, they all failed as he lost concentration in the middle of the circulation.
Mathew took a few more breaths and closed his eyes to cultivate once again, however, this time he found it way easier to control the Qi and was about to complete the circulation in just a few seconds, but unfortunately, the sound of heavy knocks broke his concentration, and all his effort went down the drain.
-" Mathew! Something happened! It's best if you come to see this." Evan's voice rang out from outside of the courtyard.
-" Sigh... Is it actually an emergency?" Mathew cursed angrily, unable to believe that he had been so unlucky as to have something arise just as he had started to cultivate.
-" You should see it for yourself." Mathew could feel the anxiety in Evan's voice, so he immediately got up and dressed in his bureaucrat's clothes before following him.
Evan took Mathew to one of the farms on the outskirts of the village, just a few meters from the forest, and from far away they noticed a group of people. whom all had saddened face
As he drew nearer, Mathew's face turned pale as he heard sobs. He gasped and offered a small prayer, hoping that this wasn't what he had imagined.
Unfortunately, his fear came true; on the farm's moist ground was a man who had nearly had his entire torso severed by a large cut that had run from one side of his stomach to the other.
-" What the hell happened here?" Mathew grabbed Simon's collar and asked hurriedly.
-" He was cleaning his farm when a big beast came out of the forest and attacked him." Simon's face was full of shame, he was the one responsible for the village security so he blamed himself for this. " There were always some monsters in the forest, but, due to the years of abandonment their number grew too much."
-" A beast?" Mathew dropped his grip on Simon's clothes and stared at the old man in his last breath. " Someone take him to the village! Use the prefecture herbs to heal him!"
-" It's too late Mathew..." Irelia, who was kneeling by the man's sides shook her head in defeat. " He lost too much blood, only a second-level pill could heal him."
-" A s-second level pill?" Mathew froze, this was the second time since coming to his world that he felt truly powerless. " There isn't anything that we can do?"
-" No... I tried to heal him, but, he is too old and his body lacks the vitality to survive this injury." Irelia closed the man's eyes and got up. " We should deal with the monster! No villager is safe while they roam freely around the forest."
Mathew was still frozen with shock, this was his first time seeing someone die, and it left quite an effect on him.
-" Leave this to me! This is my responsibility!" Simon took a deep breath and his eyes flashed with resolve. " I won't let any of them escape." Simon was about to enter the forest when Mathew held him back.
-" Evan... Take care of the village, for now, gather all the village in the plaza for now." Mathew finally calmed down and focused once again. " Simon and Irelia will come with me to the forest, but, let's prepare first." He wasn't sure how strong were the monsters or even how many of them lived in the forest.
It didn't take long for everyone to gather in the plaza, the danger of monsters attacking caused the villagers and even the new miners to be cooperative and follow Evan's orders.
-" Are you guys ready?" Mathew gripped his spear in anxiety, the only time he could consider to have fought was against one of the Ruffus guards, that was barely at the third level of the Blood Articulation realm.
-" Let's go!" Simon first was covered in black bandages, and he only used old and worn-out leather armor.
-" Yes!" Irelia on the other hand wore an armor suit that resembled those of samurai from Mathew's past world, and her choice of weapon was a long bow.
-" Simon! You will be the leader." Mathew didn't have any experience hunting, so he knew that it was better to let someone else command the group. "Let's be careful there! I don't want any more losses today!"
-" Me? Commanding? Are you sure?" Simon was surprised by Mathew's choice, after all, he was quite a competent man.
-" I'm not too experienced in hunting, I fear that my decisions will just put us in more danger." Mathew quickly explained his decision and began to walk into the forest.
The group moved through the forest very slowly. trying their best to find any traces of the beasts. Their first few leads were just a few markings on trees, but, after a few more minutes they began to spot tracks that lead to a small lake.
-" This must be their water source." Irelia kneeled on the ground and touched the soil. " We will surely find them if we hide around here." Irelia sniffed the dirt she picked up from the ground as she spoke.
-" Huh? Are you a hunter?" Mathew was curious about Irelia's background, as he first thought that she was some kind of warrior due to her armor.
-" I was raised in a small village like this, but, we didn't have much farmland, and had to hunt to survive." Irelia smiled happily, the forest was her natural habitat and she was completely at ease.
-" You should have told us sooner!" While Simon was the strongest of the group, he too wasn't experienced in hunting, and only accepted the position because he thought that Mathew and Irelia were also inexperienced. " Why don't you take the lead? It's better this way."
-" Hahahaha, I'm not that good of a hunter, I just followed my father sometimes." Irelia was a bit embarrassed by Simon's compliments, she was about to continue speaking, but, she suddenly twisted her body, and knocked an arrow on her bow. ' Careful! Something is coming."
Mathew and Simon were caught off guard and only reacted as the arrow had already left Irelia's bow, flying straight on the neck of a big boar that prowled in their direction.
-" Not that good?" Mathew murmured as he saw the boar wobbling to the ground. " I didn't even notice it coming."
Simon looked at the girl with his eyes wide open, even he that was three levels higher couldn't react so fast. -" Such a keen sense! This is what a hunter is truly like!"
-" Two more at the right!" Irelia knocked two more arrows, and twisted her body once again, but, this time he shot them to the sky. " Focus! We are surrounded!" Irelia shouted as he anxiously looked around.
-" Surrounded?" Mathew tightened his grip on the spear and prepared his stance, he waited patiently for the monsters to jump out once again, but, the arrows that Irelia had shoot toward the sky descended right on the head of the boars, causing them to fall lifeless on the floor.
-" This isn't right..." Simon looked at the boars in fear, there was no way that a bunch of common boars would have the courage to face three cultivators. " Something must be happening to them!"
Irelia knocked another arrow on her bow and began to retreat closer to Mathew and Simon. -" Look at their eyes... They are completely out of their mind." Irelia gulped as she observed the bushes around the area. " A demonic beast must be close by."
-" A demonic beast?" Mathew gulped in fear, the only demonic beast he had seen until now was the eagle that Allan used to travel. " Can we deal with it?"
Just as Mathew finished his question, the ground began to tremble, and the party noticed a large shadow moving in the distance, demolishing anything in its path.
-" Looks like we are about to find out." Simon took a deep breath and prepared for the upcoming fight.