When Rishi opened his eyes again, he was back in the dark cave. He then exited the cave.
When he realized it was already evening, he summoned the book of contracts. Rishi opened it and checked his status window.
He was relieved when Gaia told him he could now check his progress by opening his status window. He then turned the page and examined the contract space.
0/1 contract
"I don't have much time," Rishi said, looking at the setting sun.
He then started looking for a water source; he needed it for three reasons: to quench his thirst, find a magic beast to contract, and hunt a magic beast for his dinner.
He knew that if he needed water, he had to look for the magic beasts' footprints. He began his hunt and discovered the fresh footprints of a magic beast.
He followed the footprints until he came to a stream.
As soon as he saw the stream, he became extremely cautious. He first climbed the tree to survey the area around the stream.
He waited for a while, watching many magical beasts come and go.
"It's always a good idea to be as cautious as possible," he thought while calculating everything. He also created two sharp wooden javelins to hunt from a safe distance.
After some time, he realized that no predator was waiting for the ambush and cautiously approached the stream. He then drank some water and hid inside a bush near the stream to ambush any beast that came to drink water.
The sunset and the moon rose, and soon moonlight began illuminating his surroundings, allowing him to see an area close to him, but no magic beast approached the stream.
Rishi waited patiently until a magical beast—silver-horned deer approached the stream with caution. It first looked around for any potential threats.
Rishi noticed this while remaining motionless inside the bush; he even stopped breathing to avoid making any sound and alert his prey.
He was well aware that magical beasts which are weak have a keen sense of danger.
Rishi was initially dissatisfied because he did not want his first contract beast to be this frail in such a dangerous place.
He needed a beast with the will to survive at all costs, not one who would flee at the first sign of danger, but his hunger soon took over, and his thoughts were distracted by the delicious meat he would eat for dinner.
Thanks to his passive 'enhanced focus,' he cleared his mind quickly and waited patiently until the magic beast began drinking water and let down its guard.
He rose slowly, aimed his wooden javelin at the magic beast, and then threw it with all his strength. The spear pierced the air and struck the magic beast on the back.
When the deer realized he was in danger, adrenaline began to flow through his body, causing him to run away unconsciously.
Rishi knew that one attack would not be enough to end the life of a magical beast, but he had severely underestimated the beast's speed with an injured body.
"This is not the time to be regret; let's chase it," he said as he followed the trail left by deer, but he was very cautious because he might encounter other beasts.
After chasing the beast for a while, Rishi came across it under a tree. It appeared tired and in pain due to the wound made from the weapon and the blood loss.
Rishi wanted to finish it off and put an end to its suffering as soon as he saw it on the verge of its death, but his senses warned him to be cautious. He decided to trust his instincts and got cautious while carefully exploring the surrounding area.