Perched upon a towering tree, hidden by the leaf covered canopy, Thirio patiently watched his prey on the ground below.
Three meters tall, a deep brown pelt of fur reminiscent of dirt, fangs shooting from its mouth to just below its nose, and a body riddled with muscles. Thirio couldn't tell much other than it being an ape-type beast.
Feeding on a meter-long bear, the ape scanned the area with its fierce eyes before returning to its prey. This went on for 3 minutes before the beast, seeming to ascertain its safety, fully focused on its meal.
Seeing his chance, Thirio slowly circulated the energy in his first sphere around his body; feeling the warm currents of power circulating within his body, Thirio launched himself at the ape below, throwing a punch at its head.
Sensing danger, the ape tried dodging to the left, taking the blow to its right shoulder instead of its intended target.
*Crack*
Blood burst from the point of impact as a shockwave spread rattling the trees around,Thirio distanced himself with the rebound force of the strike, landing a distance from the ape.
*Roar*
Anger burned within the ape's eyes as it looked at the being that dared to attack it.
Not giving the beast any time to recover, Thirio dashed towards it, launching another fist aimed at the beast chest.
Fueled by its rage the ape met the strike with its own fist.
A shockwave spread from the point of impact as the ape was sent flying, its arm a mangled mess of flesh, bones and blood.
Landing against a tree the beast looked up only to see a fist closing in on its head.
*Boom...Splat*
Waving the blood from his hand, Thirio looked at the headless beast and the broken tree before him with satisfaction.
'My use of energy is still pretty crude and my body doesn't seem able to handle the full force of the power being generated in my first sphere at the moment.'
"Swallow"
The flaming vortex of his trinity appeared above the ape's body as it was slowly pulled into the vortex; fully digesting the beast within a few seconds the vortex returned to Thirio's body where it released a spark that strengthened his body using the digested energy from the beast.
"The increase in bodily strength isn't a lot, I guess this is as much as rank 1 beast can offer."
Dashing deeper into the forest Thirio was off to hunt for new prey.
___
The days soon became a blur to Thirio as they only consisted of him hunting, furthering his level of strength through the tempering of battle and increasing his bodily strength.
He saw exceptional growth after each battle as he became more familiar with the energies within him and the different ways to apply them within battle and upon himself.
"Well shit, and here I thought my luck has been pretty good the past week."
Looking at the 7 meters tall walking mass of muscle, its gleaming claws and tough hide that made up the bear before him; Thirio eyes darted around looking for an escape route when a holographic screen appeared before him.
-Be Greedy-
-Sin's of Greed and Gluttony wants you to kill and devour the beast before you -
-Reward: rank 1 Will crystal (2,000,000 ranks 1 origin crystals), Body fortification liquid, and rank 2 Astral crystal (5,000,000 origin crystals)-
Looking at the rewards offered, then back at the beast a fierce struggle broke out within him as he considered his chance of victory against the rank 3 beast before him.
'These bastards offered exactly what I currently need and for a poor sap like me; well nothing ventured nothing gained they say.'
With his mind made up to fight his Will spread to cover a 10-meter diameter around him; rousing all the strength he could safely control he charged at the beast as fast as he could.
Contempt shone within the bear's eyes as it gazed at the being charging towards it, casually whipping out a clawed hand at it, the bear thought it a done deal.
Reading the direction of the strike as it entered the range covered by his Will, Thirio jumped, twisting his body to dodge while lashing out with a kick in retaliation.
*Boom*
The beast was forced back from the force of the blow.
Pushing forward Thirio went in for another strike but a shimmering in the air sensed by his Will caused him to change his actions.
*Roar*
Crossing his hands to defend his chest, Thirio barely managed to stop the claws from gorging out his chest as he was blasted back, smashing through two trees before righting himself.
The beast roared in excitement at the smell of blood as it bolted after its prey to press the attack.
Thirio covered his hands in a greenish-white energy to hold his cracked bones together and stemmed the bleeding from the missing chunks of flesh on his arms.
Tapping his leg lightly, Thirio dodged the charge, whipping his leg out in an instant counter-attack that struck the beast's head, forcing its charge to a halt.
The man and beast looked at each other for a while before dashing forward to clash once more.
Explosive shockwaves battered the forest, craters and fallen trees could be seen littered all around; the low growls and pants resounded in the now silent forest as the two combatants raged within the confines of their battlefield. Separating from another clash, they stared at each other reading their final offensive.
'Right arm, left leg and 4 ribs, all broken,' Thirio thought.
Tired and covered in blood from the laceration covering his body and the missing chunks of flesh, Thirio's eyes shone with excitement while looking at the beast that seemed to be on its last leg, while the battle was hard, Thirio could feel real time improvement in all aspects of his energy usage.
'Let's finish this with that one strike, come on body pull through for me, I'm counting on you,' gritting his teeth Thirio roused the astral-dragon energy sleeping within the two spheres.
*Roar*
A majestic dragon roar erupted from his body causing trimmers to rock the ground as an overbearing energy burst from his body.
Vanishing in a burst of speed, Thirio appeared above the bear, bringing his right leg covered in a dark blue flaming energy down in an axe-kick on its head.
*Boom*
Devastation struck as the force of the blow blasted the beast head apart in a shower of blood and brain matter.
The remaining force bore into the ground below, opening a ten-meter wide crater with cracks running into the forest, collapsing the trees in the distance.
Thirio looked at the torn flesh and cracked bones of his leg, taking a seat on the dusty ground.
He took a few minutes to absorb the beast while collecting its beast core.
"The lingering energy should keep the other beast away for a while but I shouldn't linger here."
Satisfied with all the gains he made his way back to his base to recover.
___
Three days having passed and with his injuries recovered, Thirio looked at the three items that were awarded to him from the impromptu mission.
'Greed is a sin,' he thought with an embarrassed smile on his face.
Having recovered, his body was strengthened from the absorbed beast while he gained greater finesse in energy manipulation.
Grabbing a sealed canister from the objects before him, Thirio calmed his thoughts before downing the contents and diving back into his cultivation.
___
The dying wails of beasts resounded in the area as they were pierced by rays of light leaving charred holes in the center of their foreheads.
"I no longer feel much pressure from low and mid-rank 3 beasts, it seems I'll be making a profit from now on," said a young man standing before a pile of corpses.
Wild untamed dark purple hair, chiseled and sharp facial features, blood-red eyes, and a slim body.
Walking around, he stored all the corpses around him before looking off into the distance.
"It's been a month and a half since we came here. The energy keeps getting stronger every day, it shouldn't be too much longer before it appears. Maybe I'll see Thirio when it does."
___
It was a city with wide avenues that teemed with a myriad of different races.
Places to sit, eat and relax filled every corner while the loud noise of the populace filled the street.
In the center of the city stood a large black tower that extended well past the high walls that surrounded the city.
Thirio took in all the sights with the same excitement he had the first time he came through as he made his way to the tower.
"Here again for another hunting mission or a trade, Thirio," asked the soldier at the desk as Thirio approached.
"To sell or trade if what I need is in stock Tom."
"With how often you've been here, what you need should be quite expensive or very rare. If you still need funds an expedition team is being assembled to venture into the Resting Forest."
Thirio's interest, having been peeked at Tom's words. He was alway opening to earn even more funds; just then a screen popped into existence before his eyes.
-We're Bored and need Excitement-
-Sins of Lust and Gluttony are bored and would like some excitement from one of their new Trinity holders.-
-Rewards: one free essence of any kind (value depends on how entertained sin's feel), and low-level bone graft.-
'These bastards are at it again it seems. Based on the fact that an expedition team is needed for the location and the rewards, the risk to my life should be fairly high but I can't give up on that bone graft.'
"When do they set out, how much people are expected to participate, and what's the basic strength requirement," Thirio pursued more information as his life was always the most important.
Reading the struggle within the young man's eyes with practiced ease, Tom gave a smile.
"They leave in a month, the team will consist of 25 individuals all with the strength to kill rank 3 and 4 beasts. Strength to kill a peak rank 3 beast is required to join the team."
Shifting through plan after plan in his head, Thirio agreed after a suitable plan was drafted and the necessary preparations he would need to make were settled in his mind.
Watching the young man heading to carry out his business Tom starred in front of him at the holographic screen with a smile.
-Mission Completed, rewards will be delivered upon request.-
___
Thirio was currently back at his base refining his plan of action for the coming expedition to increase his chances of successfully returning.
'I'm currently at the peak maturing stage with strength, healing, and Will, covering most of my base.'
"Greed, show me a list of the essence for speed."
The familiar screen soon appeared before him as he went through. Finding what he needed, Thirio's eyes soon looked at the price.
"Here goes all the money I amassed during my hunts," Thirio sighed as he confirmed his first of many purchases.
-0 crystals.-
"With how much cultivating is costing, won't I always be poor, I have to make back all this and more from this expedition."
___
Opening his eyes and looking at all those present in the room, he nodded, 'this should be everyone.'
"I thank you all for joining this expedition, I'm Gashna and will be the leader of this trip to the Resting Forest.
Our objective is to locate and collect a rank 3 Space Flower or 50 rank 2; each of you is expected to offer two 2nd rank flowers in the case of the 3rd rank not being found. Anything over what is expected of you will be your profit from the trip.
It's Finder's keepers and I want no in-fighting within the group while on this mission."
A heavy pressure covered the room as Gashna finished his words that were little more than a veiled threat at the end.
"Let's move out."