My father was standing not far from me. At his feet were the corpses of three Lycagons. It could be seen that these three Lycagons were larger than the two I had just defeated.
But that was not all that was shocking. It seemed that my father had killed all three Lycagons as soon as my battle began, and he didn't seem to have moved even a single step.
"As expected of my son!"
"You defeated all those three Lycagons?" I asked in the blow.
"Yes. I told you I was strong." My father replied nonchalantly.
'He really is a mysterious person.' I thought as I looked into his bright blue eyes.
The weather started to rain.
***
We found a fairly large cave nearby to take shelter in, waiting for the rain to stop.
Dad told me to bring the corpses of the 5 Lycagons, although I had no idea what to do with them.
After settling down in the cave, my dad started to create a fire that was enough to light up the entire cave and warm us both underground. As soon as the fire started, I could see the whole cave we were in. It looked quite narrow and gloomy, surrounded by rugged and sharp cliffs. There was nothing special about this cave, it was just like any ordinary cave.
'There's no wood or anything flammable, yet he could still create the fire. This must be because of one of the fire element's abilities.' I marveled while staring at the crackling fire.
On the other hand, near the entrance of the cave, my dad was sitting near the corpses of the 5 Lycagons and doing something. Curious, I approached him and asked.
"What are you doing?"
Noticing that I was standing behind him, my father smiled and replied, "I'm cutting up Lycagon's meat to eat. The rest will be sold in the market when we are home."
"Huh? Eating Monster's meat?" I looked at my father with a puzzled look.
"Hehe. Just eat it and you'll understand how good they are." My father smiled mysteriously and returned to his work.
'How can you eat that!' I thought to myself and went back to the fire.
***
A while later, it was still raining outside and my father had finished the dissection.
He was now sitting and roasting Lycagon's meat and I was watching him carefully.
Indeed, when the black fur of the Lycagon was removed, it looked quite plump and had the same color as beef.
'But wait, isn't Lycagon still a Monster? Isn't it infected with demonic energy? Will I die if I eat it?' A series of deadly thoughts flashed through my mind.
However, the fragrant aroma from the well-seasoned meat made me want to take a bite of that juicy thing.
After making sure that the meat was edible, my father passed me the largest part, the Lycagon's thigh. It was even larger than my face.
I inhaled the aroma from the meat and slowly brought it to my mouth.
I took a bite.
A feeling of happiness erupted in my stomach. The meat juices kept flowing inside my mouth. The Lycagon meat was so soft and juicy. It made me want to keep eating. It was better than anything I had ever tasted in my entire life.
In the end, I finished off two Lycagons. I rubbed my full belly while lying on the stone floor in satisfaction.
"I told you it was yummy!" My father said triumphantly.
'Maybe he was right this time.'
The rain continued outside. The sound of the rain became louder and louder. I usually fall asleep easily when I hear the sound of rain, so my whole body gradually calms down.
But then I suddenly woke up because something caught my eyes. Outside the cave, there were many red eyes staring at us. It seemed like my father had also noticed something was wrong because he stood up and picked up his sword right away.
I followed his lead and walked closer to the cave entrance.
There were about 100 Lycagons staring at us while growling.
I shivered at their overwhelming numbers.
"Should we run?" I said but then realized that it seemed like the entire place was surrounded.
"No need." My father's voice was still filled with confidence.
"Besides, this cave will be the perfect place for us to fight because the Lycagons will only come from one direction. Meaning that we only need to use elemental power in one direction without worrying about being ambushed from behind."
I admired my father for being so confident even though we were in this situation.
'That's just like my father.' I smiled.
"Here's the plan. We'll retreat deeper to let the Lycagons in. Then deal with them with long-range attacks. If they get close, freeze their legs and I'll deal with them."
***
We retreated deeper into the cave. As expected, they rushed towards the cave.
As soon as the Monsters rushed in, I continuously shot sharp ice fragments at them. The sharp ice fragments continuously pierced through the Monsters' bodies. Their blood and flesh splattered onto the cave walls.
Meanwhile, my father continuously formed 10 sparks from his 10 fingers and blast them towards the Lycagons. Tiny but destructive sparks quickly exploded every Lycagons they came in contact with. And the other Lycagons that were near the explosion were burnt to death.
We continued like this for around 10 minutes. Fortunately, no Lycagons could get close to us because of our horrifying attack speed.
I laid down on the ground and gasped. Meanwhile, my father walked towards the Monsters' corpses.
"We are going to have so much money!" He smiled brightly.
The rain had stopped falling without me noticing. The air was filled with the characteristic damp smell after every rain.
I genuinely walked past my father who was dissecting the Lycagon's corpse and went outside the cave. I took a deep breath.
"This is so refreshing!"
***
After about an hour, my father had finished dissecting all the Monsters. Then, he took out a brown, cube-shaped object that seemed to be an artifact. Surprisingly, all the parts of Lycagon had been sucked into the cube.
I had heard about it before, it was an artifact that could store things. Since its structure was quite simple compared to other artifacts, mankind had copied the manufacturing formula and created more of it.
Then, we went deeper into the forest.
After 45 minutes of exploring, both of us stopped instantly.
In front of us was a giant bottomless pit. The pit was big enough for a train to pass through. But more crucially, there was not just one, around that pit were many similar holes.
I had an uneasy feeling.