If a normal human, Spartan, or sentient specie stumbled upon the glade in The Outskirts of Theria, the first thought that would appear in the mind of the individual would be-
There's a treasure or deep secret in the glade.
Silver was also a victim of this thought the first time he stumbled upon the glade. In fact, he had thought that maybe he had stumbled upon a golden opportunity that would change his fate and cause his talents to soar.
But… The glade was absolutely normal.
Silver had searched every nook and crany of the glade for the so called hidden-treasure he conjured up in his mind, but he found nothing.
Absolutely nothing out of the extraordinary.
However, if there was one thing that was not ordinary, it was the large number of fragrant lilies in the glade. Due to the large number of fragrant lilies in the glade, the glade had an extremely pleasant smell to humans and Spartans alike. However, the smell in the air disgusted most beasts.
Silver removed a gourd from his waist, and then he walked to the pond. He placed the gourd in the pond and absentmindedly looked around.
"How can such a hiddena and beautiful place like this exist but it doesn't have a single treasure?"
Silver mumbled with a disappointed sigh, then he shrugged.
"Maybe there's actually a treasure here, but I'm not just fated to receive it."
Silver rubbed his chin, and a thought came to his mind.
"I can also try to search for a herb, fruit, or a treasure that could improve my talents while I'm here. Although, it's very very very unlikely I'll find one, I should still look around in case I find one."
As soon as Silver had this thought, he could not help but sigh. The chances of him finding a herb, fruit, or a treasure that could increase his talents was exceedingly low.
Assuming he was going deeper into the forest, then his chances might increase. But since he was going to be mainly staying in The Ouskirts and the edges of The Greenbelt, there was almost no chance of him finding something that could increase his talent.
Silver released another sigh, and then he looked at the gourd in the lake.
When he did, he blinked.
'Is that… an eye?'
Silver's mind was shaken and also stunned when he saw a large reptilian eye in the pond. Not more than three seconds passed when Silver saw the water getting darker and darker.
His eyes widened in horror.
"SHIT!!!"
Silver shouted while moving backward with the fastest possible movement he could muster.
SNAP!
SPLASH!
"What the fuck?"
Silver exclaimed with widened eyes as he looked at the large creature that had just emerged from the pond with closed jaws and gleaming bloodlust and hunger.
"What the fuck is a croc doing here?"
Silver could not believe his eyes as he gazed at the beast before him.
Just as he had said, the beast was a crocodile. However, the beast was twice as large as that of a normal crocodile. Maybe even three times as large as that of a normal crocodile.
"If it's this big, then that means…" Silver gulped and then he brought out his spear from his spatial ring, "... It's a Feral Beast… Maybe it's even close to becoming a Savage Beast."
Although he had a spatial ring, the spatial ring had a formation on it that made it only possible for him to store his weapons in it. He could not store any other thing in it.
"Can I kill it?"
Silver clenched his fists tightly as he felt nervous facing a Feral Beast on his own and without any supervision.
This was a true life and death battle.
This was a battle where he could lose his life if he made a single mistake.
Silver felt his Spartan heart beat in excitement.
His eyes took in the detail of the crocodile, and a second later, he brought out one of his shields from his spatial ring.
Luckily for him, the moment he brought out his shield, the crocodile lunged at him with a speed that should not be possible for a beast its size.
As it neared Silver, its long and massive jaws snapped shut with a bone-chilling crunch.
A second later, a tinge of confusion flashed in its eyes when it realized that the taste of blood and flesh was not present in its jaws.
It looked around, and then it located its prey standing a few meters away from it. Its eyes gleamed with anger and bloodlust.
Meanwhile, Silver felt his muscles become extremely tense when it noticed the croc's attention was on him. The speed of the croc's previous attack shocked Silver since he did not expect the croc to be so fast.
He was lucky to have barely avoided the beast's attack by rolling to the side.
'No wonder an average Spartan whose able to bring back a Feral Beast for his rite of passage gains a lot of fame and respect.'
Silver thought with a slightly nervous smile, and then he exhaled softly.
And he…
"ROARRR!"
… And he roared.
RUMBLE!
The crocodile took the roar as a challenge and released a loud bellow which shook the leaves and flowers in the surroundings. Ripples also formed on the surface of the pond as a result of its bellow.
Silver's eyes gleamed when it saw the effects of the crocodile's billow compared to the pitiful effects of his roar.
As Silver observed the crocodile with a vigilant gaze, the croc moved once again.
It performed a lunge at him and Silver was prepared to dodge the attack. Although the lunge of the crocodile was dangerous due to its massive jaws and size, it was rather easy to dodge since the head of the crocodile was not so flexible to perform difficult and sudden turns.
'I'll stab its eye when it performs a lunge.'
Silver thought and before the crocodile got close to him, he moved to the side, fully expecting the croc to stop at its previous spot.
But…
Silver's eyes widened to the extreme as he saw the crocodile abruptly pause its lunge, and to his absolute shock and horror, the crocodile turned its upper body to the side, and a massively powerful scaled tail approached Silver's current position with a deadly accuracy and bloodlust.
The beast swung its tail!
'Ah Fuck.'
BANG!