Spikes made of earth shot from below and penetrated...no one. The moment Aldred reverted back to his original state, he knew immediately that Ralph would try to do something. He had formed a layer of Qi Armor surrounding his body that protected him from most of the piercing power of the spikes. Suffering only a few light grazes from the spell, Aldred turned his attention back to Ralph. Ralph was sitting there in disbelief. He had no clue about the wonders and formidability of Qi so he could only gawk in confusion. However, Aldred did not wait any longer. The second he broke away from the spikes, Aldred slashed down with his arm and decapitated Ralph's head into five pieces. A fountain of blood spurted out from the neck and pooled around the headless body.

Whew! Aldred exhaled. Finally...finally killed this bastard. He squatted down and wiped his bloody hand on the corpse's clothes. He turned his head back and looked at the exhausted Razortail.

"How are you holding up?" Aldred asked.

"I'm alright...just need to rest some more." Skaal replied.

"Ok, you rest here. I'm going to take care of a few things."

Aldred got up and walked back into the house. He packed a few necessities and food into a bag before leaving. Once outside, he headed towards the basement. In the basement, he looked at the hanged bodies and grimaced. The sight was still sickening no matter how many times he saw it...this was not a sight to get used to and it would be forever engraved in his mind. With the strength that he had left, he unhooked the bodies and laid them on the ground. Then, he took the lamp that hung on the ceiling and threw the lit candle onto the ground. There were a lot of flammable liquids and materials in the basement so the fire spread quickly. Aldred hurried out the basement and turned around. He watched as the fire in the basement increased in intensity and spread to the rest of the house.

"Rest in peace my friends...my brothers and sisters." Aldred muttered sadly. He wiped his eyes a bit...must have been the dust. Walking towards Ralph's body, he lit it on fire as well. Then, he looked at Skaal. "You still tired?"

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"Yea...Weapon Form takes too much mana. I need to hurry and increase my rank if I want to increase my mana capacity and efficiency."

"I'm going to leave this place. If you want, change into Small Beast Form and rest in one of my pockets."

"Ok."

Small Beast Form and Giant Beast Form are the only two forms that did not require the use of mana or stamina, while Spirit Form and Weapon Form required mana. Demonbeast Form, Godbeast Form, and Human Form required stamina. So once Skaal shrunk into a small scorpion, Aldred picked him up and placed him in his right pocket. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Aldred left the premises. After wandered around aimlessly, Aldred asked Skaal about where they should go.

"Where should we go next? I don't have a map, so I'm not sure exactly where my home is." Aldred asked.

"Hmm...you humans are so inconvenient. We demonic beasts can sense our family from large distances away through a form of spiritual and mana connection. How about this, let's go northwest to the Demon Forests. I have family that I'm on good relations with there." Skaal answered.

"The Demon Forests? I heard that place is extremely dangerous. There are many demonic beasts there."

"I know what you're thinking. No worries! Don't forget I'm a demonic beast too. I'll guarantee your safety...most of the time." Skaal replied, but muttered the last part.

"What was that?"

"What was what?"

"That last part...something like 'most of the time' or something like that."

"You must have heard wrong."

"Did I?"

"Yea. Anyways, enough talking, let's get moving. At our pace, we'll reach the borders in a week."

"Alright." Aldred grinned.

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This ends Part 1 of this novel. Part 2 will begin in a day or two so stay tuned for updates.