Aeron invited them inside, the youth and the guards still looked angrily at him which he just shrugged.
‘There’s nothing I can do if your master wants to go here you know?’, he thought.
“Ignore them, we were swarmed by wolves on our way here, that’s why they’re angry since I still continued”
Brother Gerard said nonchalantly.
“Wolves?”, Aeron asked. He didn’t encounter any when he traveled here.
“It seems like the wolf king has been born, but it’s probably deep in the endless forest, the wolf king actually dies frequently and every time there would be a surge in wolf activity”
Brother Gerard said.
“Your place looks so boring”
Brother Gerard added as he looked around.
“Well I’m not like you, I don’t even have enough mana stones for myself, not to mention buying demon beast decoration, Richie get me some fruits for the guest”, Aeron replied.
“Ki!”
Richie nodded as he glared at the other visitors.
“Your Martial Monkey is quite smart”
“Nah, he’s just a bit smarter that’s all”
“Your too humble little brother”
“Not at all, not at all, anyways about that Wolf King”, Aeron said.
“Oh, you’re interested?”
Brother Gerard said while a distinct ‘humpf’ could be heard from the youth.
“Of course I am, I live here remember? If I have to fight an army of wolves then I’d rather leave now”
Aeron replied, ignoring the reactions of the others. It has always been his belief that being angry with others is a loss in itself.
“haha well it’s nothing much, it actually happens every year, it’s already happened for the past three years since the city’s establishment”, Brother Gerard said.
“So, is there a reason why it happens every year?”, Aeron asked.
“We’ll there had been people sent to investigate, and my sources say that when the wolf king is born, the alphas of the other packs hunt it down, even in normal wolf packs, the alpha is always challenged by the other wolves, how much more a king?”
Brother Gerard said while biting a fruit Richie presented on a stone plate.
“Are there no Tamers who attempt to tame it?”
Aeron asked, if it’s a well-known event, there should be powerful Tamers who can tame an infant Wolf King.
“Of course there are, they swarm the Endless Forest each year, commissioning others to help them, but no one more powerful than a Sky staged Professional brave the Endless Forest”
Brother Gerard said as a matter of fact.
“Eh why? Shouldn’t it be easy for a Transcendent to tame a newborn Wolf King?”
Aeron asked in astonishment.
“Well you’re from the City of Isa, right?”
“Yes”
“Do you know why the Boundless Mountains is still there? Even after hundreds of years upon the City’s establishment?”
“Father said there are an unknown number of God level Beasts inside the Boundless Mountains”
Aeron said, then it suddenly clicked, since there are God level Beasts in the Boundless Mountains, then there should also be some in the Endless Forest.
“You get it now? God level Professionals can’t enter both places because they’ll be attacked by God level Beasts, it’s the same case for both Demigod or Transcendent”
Brother Gerard said before continuing.
“There’ll be attacks from wolves in the fringes of the Endless Forest but none higher than level 5 come out, High-Grade Beasts are more concentrated in the interior of the Endless Forest, if it comes to it then you could hunker down the underground floor, also here”
Brother Gerard added as he gave Aeron a bunch of seeds.
“Thanks for the Information Brother Gerard, Oh what’s this?”
Aeron said as he received the seeds.
“These are scented grass, everyone else got them, plant them in the corners of your walls, they grow quickly if you plant them with a mana stone. They can cover your scent so the wolves or other beasts don’t sniff you out” Brother Gerard explained.
“Thanks”, Aeron said.
“No need for thanks, it’s a benefit of your task, also if you find any High-Grade Beasts hide immediately but don’t forget to send the Notification Bird, also I brought you the spear and bow in advance, this should help you a bit, I also brought more fruits and mana rice this time, which should last you more than three months, oh right, I brought a notification bird, other than the task provided notification bird you should release this too, also the delivery of your supplies might be late due to the surge in wolf activity and, well, your place being too far”
Brother Gerard added as he ordered his men to bring the goods.
“This…”, Aeron was really speechless this time.
“Don’t sweat it, I’m your Brother Gerard, right? So you’re my Brother too, also this here is Alexis, his also my Brother so both of you shouldn’t fight”
Brother Gerard said as he dragged Alexis and Aeron.
‘Why do I feel like we’re kids quarreling’, Aeron thought while smiling wryly.
“Nice to meet you, Brother Alexis”
Aeron said, what Brother Gerard said touched him, he hadn’t paid him back yet Brother Gerard was already giving more.
Silence
Alexis didn’t say anything nor even moved muscle. But was still forced to because of Brother Gerard’s glare.
“A.. Alexis”, Alexis said as he relented.
“You’re shy huh? You weren’t so shy when made your Demon Beast roar at me?”
Aeron said teasingly.
Alexis glared at him.
Bam!
Brother Gerard suddenly slapped Alexis’s head, this sudden scene stunned Aeron. Alexis held the back of his head then looked at Brother Gerard, his eyes were teary.
‘Pitiful guy’, Aeron thought, he was the one who teased the guy but the other got punished instead. But he was sure it shouldn’t have hurt as much as it sounded. Alexis probably just felt more embarrassed.
“Let’s ignore this guy for now Little Brother, if he doesn’t want you to be his Brother then his not my Brother anymore!”
Brother Gerard said as he glared at Alexis making the latter lower his head again.
After some chatter, Aeron decided to increase the number of fruits to 21 which garnered them 50 mana stones, there were 8 fruits priced at 3 mana stones while the rest were 2 mana stones. After they said their farewell, Brother Gerard embarked on the return journey.
Inside the carriage.
“Young master, haven’t you already confirmed that that person isn’t one of the Geniuses the Ironbull family is raising?”
Alexis now had a stern face.
“Stop calling me young master, call me Brother Gerard instead”
Gerard ordered Alexis.
“Yes, young master”, Alexis answered.
“Tsk, so stubborn, sigh”
Brother Gerard suddenly sighed before continuing.
“I really did think he was one of those Geniuses, but it turned out he was even more talentless than the normal family members”
Gerard looked outside reminiscing about something.
“But I also investigated his situation, both his parents were Geniuses, the Silent Hunter and the Crimson Slaughterer are both rising in fame, but their son chose to be a talentless Tamer for the honor of his parents when he could’ve chosen to be a Genius like them”, Gerard continued.
“Both of us fight for the honor of our parents, I was just luckier on the Affinity side, and you? Why do you follow me? Isn’t it because you said you were awed by my goals? Or is there some other purpose?”
Gerard said as his gaze turned sharp.
“Young Master, we’ve known each other since we were young, whether I’m loyal or not, you should be able to judge”
Alexis said as he bowed.
“Of course, I know, I’ve always known”
Gerard said as a hidden glint flashed through his eyes.
‘Oh Brother, I already gave up, why do you want to force me so much?’, Gerard said as he looked outside the windows.
Howl!! Howl!! Howl!
“Master, Wolves”, the guards outside spoke.
“Kill them!”
Gerard ordered, his voice was frosty without an ounce of playfulness or feelings. This voice sent shivers down Alexis’s whole body.
“Yes Master!”
The four guards outside replied in unison before starting a slaughter.
Back to Aeron.
“Wolves huh, it seems like we’ll have to quicken things up, Arthur”
Aeron said as he gazed outside, he didn’t know why Brother Gerard was helping him, nor was there any use in suspecting him. Right now, he just had to strengthen himself.
“Ki ki!”, Arthur replied as if saying yes.
This reply made Aeron smile as he started his meditation, this time he didn’t stop to train his archery or spearmanship, he had a sense of foreboding, he needed to level up quicker.
Early the next morning, Aeron didn’t go to the Endless Forest to patrol, he had far more important things to do.
“This time our goal isn’t just to collect materials and explore the forest”
Aeron said, he had explored the three hills this past few days and found some rock essence as well as a bunch of iron essence, he had enough materials to create a dozen spears, with his original 4 spears and 4 bows he’ll have enough weapons to arm 20 monkeys. With the 3 silver monkeys with Arthur equipped with bows, their power should even be able to handle High-Grade Beasts.
“Now go!”, This time, Aeron and Arthur also entered the forest, the whole forest rife with monkey calls.
“ki ki kii ki” “ki ki kiiiii ki” “ki ki ki ki”
“First let’s go here”
He drew a simple map on the ground, pointed at the southwestern part of the forest. While Arthur wasn’t able to write complex messages, he was still able to convey simple ones. The southwestern part was already explored by the Silver Teams, also, there were no High-Grade Beasts so it was perfect for his purpose.
Aeron had the Black Team do the scouting while the Silver Teams flanked him and Arthur.
Oink oink!
Up ahead were three Fanged Boars, one was probably a female while two were facing off each other.
“Lancelot face them, Gwaine, Elyan you go behind them”
Aeron ordered, Lancelot led his team as two others went around or rather climbed around. The forest was a natural terrain advantageous to monkey type beasts.
“Kiiii!!”, Lancelot taunted.
Squeal!!!
The three fanged boars turned their attention to Lancelot, as Lancelot pulled his bow, mana arrow started to converge between his fingers as silver liquid covered the mana arrow, this was a method of reinforcement using [Silver Armament] skill.
Sweeee!! Sweee!! Sweee!!
Three silver arrows whistled through the air. The fanged boars weren’t the smartest of beasts nor were they agile as the three arrows found their marks.
Squeal!!!
This time their squeals weren’t that of aggression but of pain as blood gushed from each hole, the silver arrows were already gone as another was cast. Another bout of arrows was fired as the three fanged boars slumped down unmoving. Blood painted the ground as it continued to gush out of their wounds.
Aeron’s stomach threatened to heave if looking at memories was like watching a movie. Then seeing it personally was nowhere near comparable. He tried his best to stop himself from puking, even if he wasn’t good at fighting, he should at least be able to handle this much. Although he was able to steady himself, he was visibly paler, his body also felt cold all over.
“Ki?”, Arthur called as Aeron nodded in response.
They continued on; the Black Team would return to notify Aeron in advance while Arthur translated.
“Jungle Cat”
This time the beast ahead of them was a lone jungle cat, it was as big as panthers and were known for their speed and agility. This time Aeron looked at Arthur, he already knew Arthur was strong, much stronger than the silver monkeys, but Arthur was still young. This was also one of his main purpose in entering this forest.
Arthur nodded as it faced off against the jungle cat, the cat looked at Aeron and the other monkeys warily. As Arthur neared, it started to lower its body as its muscles were stretched tout. If Arthur came nearer then it would attack with blinding speed, jungle cats weren’t known for their strength but their speed, they could even outspeed some High-Grade Beasts.
“Kiiii!!”
Arthur suddenly shouted which surprised the jungle cat, but it still stayed put. Then as Arthur placed his foot on the ground the Jungle Cat lunged, even Aeron thought the cat vanished for a second. But Arthur wasn’t surprised, instead it was the jungle cat that was surprised as its opponents vanished from its sight.
Siiiick!
Golden light flashed through the jungle cats’ eyes as Arthur’s tail pierced through its head. Arthur had crouched down, using its tail as a short spear.
“Good job Arthur”
This was truly surprising, this was the first battle Aeron had seen Arthur in, it had even outmaneuvered a jungle cat. Aeron thought maybe Arthur had leveled up unnoticed but when he looked at his status plate, Arthur was still level five, only the inactive part on [Golden Monkey King’s Martial Mastery] was gone. This had made Aeron realized why he became noticeably better with his weapons training yesterday.
Arthur smiled happily but resumed his serious face immediately. They were still inside the jungle and Arthur knew that his master was the weakest of them all, so it had to stay vigilant. They continued on with their exploration.
“A lone jungle dog”
Aeron thought for a bit, he had seen the fights and each of his pets was definitely stronger than him, jungle dogs, unlike jungle cats, hunted in packs, also, it was much weaker than the level 5 jungle cat, as it stood at level 3 at maturity. This jungle dog was either a scout or an outcast.
“Okay, this one’s mine”
Aeron remarked, as much as he wanted to admit, he was the weakest link, fighting would better his experience and quicken his leveling. And as unwilling as he was, this was something he needed to do sooner or later. Arthur seemed worried while the other monkeys weren’t, this was because Arthur was Aeron’s true pet, even though the synergy between [Tame] and [Monkey Kings Authority] allowed Aeron to keep them in his pet space and even order them around. The other monkeys were still more concerned about Arthur.
“Surround it”
This time Aeron made the monkeys surround the jungle dog, jungle dogs were much weaker than the jungle cat so it was more likely to escape, but being surrounded made the jungle dog more aggressive.
The jungle dog looked bigger than what he expected, it stood at almost a meter in height. Unbeknownst to Aeron was that the jungle dog was a defeated alpha, it had aged while the young jungle dogs grew stronger. Suddenly the jungle dog found itself surrounded as a lone human approached it, just like the time when it was challenged by the new alpha. The memory lit its anger, coupled with being cornered, it had almost gone berserk.
Aeron was surprised as the jungle dogs’ eyes turned crazed, it immediately rushed at him. It was fast, but Aeron could still see it, he pointed his spear on the jungle dogs directed which made it stop. This was the advantage of the spear; it was longer than the other weapons so it offered more safety. Aeron thrusted his spear, ordinarily a jungle dog would’ve been skewered already, especially because Aeron was boosted by Arthur’s skill. But this particular jungle dog was different, it dodged the spear as it crouched down while leaning left, it had defeated many jungle dogs with this maneuver, if only it didn’t get weaker as it aged, it would’ve even mutated.
The jungle dog’s movement surprised Aeron, the jungle dog lunged at him, and without the spear on its way, it had easily shortened the distance between them. The surprised Aeron changed the spear thrust into a sweep; the short distance only managed to throw away the jungle dog but did no damage.
