At first, Alexander attempted to provide a summary-style description, but Ricky’s well-placed questions coaxed far more detail from him than he intended to share.
Everyone's eyes widened in astonishment when they heard about the battle between the elk and the white lion. Of course, Alexander didn’t reveal the whole truth. In his version, he just happened to stumble upon the snake carcass after the gravely injured eagle had killed it, portraying himself as the lucky bystander passing through.
Rather than expressing jealousy over Alexander’s supposed luck, the group seemed more concerned about the presence of such formidable creatures. As Alexander had suspected, these high-level beasts weren’t supposed to be in this outer area.
According to Ricky, these creatures should be nowhere near here. With some probing, Alexander discovered this was the reason Ricky's team was in such a state. Everything had been fine on the first day, going according to plan. But everything changed at midnight. Ricky explained that they woke to the ground quaking, initially thinking it was an earthquake. In the next moment, they found themselves fleeing from a massive horde composed entirely of gray wolves.
They weren’t sure how, but somehow they managed to lose the horde by noon the next day without any fatalities. Though no one had died, many were injured. At least they had a chance to catch their breath. The area was also filled with coconut trees, allowing them to enjoy some of nature’s refreshment.
But unfortunately, The respite didn't last long. Shortly after noon—precisely at 4 PM—the world convulsed violently. Trees were uprooted, the ground itself seemed to tear apart, and chaos erupted all around them. They found themselves staring up at a 47-foot-tall, white-haired behemoth—a gargantuan ape. From its description, Alexander was certain it was an Orth Ape.
Unlike before, their luck had run out. The ensuing battle was nothing short of a brutal struggle for survival, rapidly descending into a tragic fight for their lives.
Desperation took hold. With no other options, they made the harrowing decision to flee, even at the cost of lives.
“It shouldn’t have happened, not like this. The orth apes live deep in the forest. Why, why would one be here? It doesn’t make any sense,” another member, a frail girl holding an equally frail spear, almost screamed out, her voice quivering.
“Don’t worry, it will all be okay. Okay, I guess,” another from the side tried futilely to comfort her, his own voice trembling.
At this time, the sound of civilization knocked at everybody’s ears.
“Hey, Alexander, it’s time,” Ricky said, pointing at the box.
Unlike when he crossed the border to go out, this time the experience was much calmer and far less nerve-racking.
And without a hitch, Alexander was back inside the safety of the giant's wall and the experts that guarded it. The feeling was, in a word, comforting.
Ricky’s group was, if not anything, honest. They swiftly gave everything Alexander owned to him without any hitch. It was not as if there was no one eyeing his stuff, but in front of Ricky none of them dared to make any move.
Before going, the things that Ricky said, resting his hand on Alexander’s shoulder, still lingered in his mind, “Goodbye kid. Let us hope we never meet one another again. This, this line of work. It’s not good. Get a good degree and do some office work. Of course, the payment is not great but it is certainly steady. At the very least, you don’t constantly have to pit yourself against death. You are a good kid, don’t through your life away.”
Alexander could see it, the helplessness and frustration at his own self behind the brave front. Or rather, it was too obvious to miss. This might be Ricky’s last hunt or, at the least, one thing was for sure, this was the last hunt for this group.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“Sigh.” But no matter what the matter was and how sad he felt, none of that mattered. Not just objectively, not even to Alexander himself. He barely knew them. Of course, there was some sadness, but it was soon overshadowed or rather overwhelmed by his excitement of selling the things he got. The prospect was exciting on its own.
But the excitement soon died down, reality hitting hard as always. Though most of the shops didn’t question where he got his goods, a few did. The truly disheartening part was the pitifully low prices he was offered.
Sure, he knew the items were from the outer layers, but seeing them priced at a mere 10 to 100 du was still a blow. Not to mention he got occasional allowance from his father more than this. At first, Alexander thought the shopkeepers were messing with him, so he visited several more. The prices did fluctuate slightly, but nothing significant.
Eventually, Alexander settled on a shabby-looking shop, buried deep within the market. There were two reasons for this choice: the old man who ran it had a friendly demeanor, and more importantly, he offered better prices, even if the difference was just 1 or 2 du.
The journey back home was long, no doubt, but it was comfortable and, most importantly, exciting. Most of what he sold didn’t even cross the 50 du mark.
But the game changed when he took out the snake meat. It fetched 300 du per kilogram, netting him quite a hefty amount. However, it was the snake skin that truly paid off, selling for 1200 du in total. In one word, it was awesome. Likewise, the remains of the eagle brought in a hefty price as well, nearly 3000 du, or rather, 2986 du to be exact.
According to the kind old man, the scaly feathers were very badly damaged, and so the price reflected that. If they had been in better condition, Alexander would have received much, much more. As for the head, it was close to worthless; all he got was money for the scaly feathers on it and a meager amount for the actual head. In the old man’s words, it could only be used as a trophy.
Alexander chuckled in his seat, a sense of accomplishment washing over him. He thought the egel head was the most valuable thing in his possession. but in reality, the true treasure wasn't anything he'd killed but something he'd harvested. A wildflower, picked near the cave where he had hidden, stood out among his collection.
This unassuming flower had fetched him 6500 du alone. Though he had aimed for 8000 and the shopkeeper initially offered 5000, they eventually reached an agreement. The rest of his jungle haul had been mostly garbage, save for one peculiar shaped, 6 inch mushroom which had earned him 700 du. Not bad, he mused, not bad at all.
The shopkeeper's jest about selling the rest as domestic feed had seemed like a joke, but Alexander followed the advice and garnered an additional 50 du. No hard work wasted, he thought. All in all, this outing had been fruitful, yielding far more than he had anticipated. For his first venture, it wasn't bad at all. It seems it was more profitable to pick herbs than hunt. Alexander joked to himself, without proper knowledge and team that was close to impossible.
Rich with his newfound earnings, all Alexander could think about was how to spend the money. No matter how powerful one becomes, the power of money was unparalleled.
The citadel, three days ago midnight,
“Ghhh,” the grunt of the giant, 8.9-foot man towering over him nearly made the man's heart leap out of his throat. The sweat trickling down his face turned into a flood, despite the air conditioning blasting through the room packed with employees. The typing speed on his keyboard, already frantic, somehow found a new gear, fingers flying over the keys in a desperate attempt to maintain composure.
“It’s been more than two weeks, and you guys have not generated a single lead. We are sitting ducks here! I do not understand how guys like you even have the face to take your salary,” the 8.9-foot middle-aged man roared, his voice echoing off the walls. His gray, flowing beard and mustache rippled with his rage, matching the ancient, noble look of his long yukata.
Though he was middle-aged, anyone observing him from afar would easily mistake him for an old man, a titan exuding an aura of ancient power.
The man adjusted his glasses, the lenses fogging slightly from his nervous breath. He could feel the weight of the insult, a heavy stone dropped not just on him but on every soul in the room. Words needed to be said, a defense must be mounted. It wasn’t like they had been slacking off.
“Sir, we are trying. Every member of my team and almost everyone here is pushing to their limits. But there is simply no trace to follow. All we can ascertain is that the power origin point is within our city, and the magnitude of the power is so immense it might even cover the solar system.”
The man paused, as if doubting the words he was about to utter. “And beyond.”
“Miss Zara is still in intensive care. Many of our experts are severely injured—even the Lord himself was wounded. And all you’ve got to say is, ‘We are trying?’” after a slight pause, the man snorted, a derisive sound filled with frustration.
Before the giant man could respond, a girl ran over, breathless. “Sir, sir, there’s a problem.”
“Take a deep breath, then tell us what happened,” the man with glasses instructed, his voice steady, masking the urgency in his eyes.
She quickly took over his desktop, her fingers flying across the keyboard. The giant screen in front synchronized with the man’s computer, soon displaying a map with an ominous orange-red area highlighted.
The man with glasses adjusted his frames once more and shouted, “Everybody,”
In the next moment, the entire room bathed in a crimson glow, the atmosphere shifting to one of high alert. The room filled with the sound of frantic typing, and various data streams began to populate the giant screen. The coordinates of the area became clear.
“This is near the core area of the forest,” the middle-aged man muttered, his voice low and tense as an aura began to envelop his body, shimmering with barely contained power.