CHAPTER 36 - Vultures and hyenas

Monsters or mutated beasts? Which one is each? - First part; monsters.

Years have passed, and there are still a lot of mysteries to uncover or secrets to protect, yet this one is none.

Monsters or mutated beasts? What are the differences and how to identify them?

We first need to think of our planet as one newly infused with mana and all kinds of new energies. While other planets have been dealing with these energies and their side effects for decades, centuries or millennia, we are new to it.

We are like a newborn in terms of both understanding and adaptation regarding these foreign powers, making us most of the time easy to deceive or gullible.

Fear not, as here I am to shed some light on this theme.

First, we need to point out that there are no official records of monsters being born here on our home planet. Why you may ask? Because we don't have the necessary conditions met for them to be created.

For an ‘animal’ to become a beast or monster you need an environment where mana exists. Once that condition is met, we need to take a look at the amount of it in the air.

After getting information from reliable sources, we know that for most planets, mana starts to slowly appear evenly all around the planet’s surface.

This slow appearance usually gives the animals or living beings of the planet some breathing room, letting them all adapt by absorbing all the floating mana particles in the air. Who unconsciously, year after year, over the course of at least a couple of decades, mutated in some ways.

Yes, we are using the wrong term, the real mutated beast should be the ‘monsters, even though it is more of a forced evolution than anything else.

This fast evolution lets these ‘monsters’ get stronger and bigger. The mana forces the phenomenon, but it helps too after the living beings adapt. From the start to the end of the process, the monsters keep accumulating mana in their bodies and growing both in strength and size.

Their strength and size grows exponentially, reaching sizes too humongous to even fathom in some cases. These monsters, only reach the peak of their strength when the mana on their planet, which they use to not only fight but sustain themselves, is not enough to do just that.

That’s what we call the cap of strength of each planet, although there are some ancient monsters that somehow bypass these rules by using other types of energies or means, the fact that the cap exists and is impossible to completely overcome is all true.

Official Records of the Capital

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Leo

I need to make a choice, and do it now, before the cat backstabs the little fox.

Finally deciding on what to do, I choose to help the little fox, something in my gut tells me that it’s gonna be worth it. It definitely has nothing to do with how cute he is… I wouldn’t mind though, adding it as a pet to my amazing army of me, myself and I.

Sadly, I don’t have an actual weapon, so I need to be careful while dodging. I won't be able to parry all attacks while being unharmed.

I jump in between both beasts, intending to stop the attack of the feline before one of its blades slashes the fox. I get in time to save the life of the fox, grabbing one of the tails, but one of the blades in the end of the cat manages to reach the fox and scratch the fox in its back.

Seeing that is just a scratch I follow with a strong pull on its tail to smash it on the tree next to me.

The little beast's body goes through the whole tree sending splinters over the area, but far from being done, it gets up back again and a small gleant starts to be seen in its blades as some type of fluid starts to cover it.

The surface of both blades shines as the fluid covers the entirety of the blade and drips on the floor as the tails swing right and left.

I look at the scratch of the fox to see if I can get any clue of what that substance is, but I don’t see anything abnormal, so I will have to fight without getting hit, just in case.

Being careful of my surroundings I start forming a blade of qi in my left hand, hoping to use it to block its attack and then kill it in one go with a timely and well-aimed punch with all my strength.

I look one last time behind to make sure the fox won't attack me and then focus on the cat as it jumps at me. It displays an incredible speed as it rushes at me, but the distance helps me react easily, parrying one of the tails and cutting the other one with my left hand.

I push with my left hand to the side to avoid any dangerous moves from the tail and then strike with a qi-powered fist to its stomach. I don’t let go of the attack, dragging its body onto the floor and making it even more deadly, killing it on the spot.

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I carefully get close to the body, and just in case I use the same blades it had attached to its tail to cleanly slash its neck to ensure its death.

I look around one more time to make sure that no more monsters or beasts are near waiting to ambush. Not seeing or hearing anything suspicious, I slowly make my way to the little fox, which is now laying on the floor with a ragged breath.

It has used a lot of its strength while fighting that monstrosity of a bear, leaving barely alive just to get hit with more likely a poisoned attack from another foe.

The little creature is on its last legs. Its fur it's more red than white now, and its black tail is missing some parts too. At first sight, its worst wound is a thick hole in one of the hind legs that renders it useless, but I am sure that its internal injuries are the worst thing for him at the moment.

I don't see any sights of the poison or whatever that was taking effect, but I am sure that at some point it will arrive even if it is a small dosage.

I would love to help it live, but the situation is dim. I have no idea how to help it, I can't use my qi to help heal anything other than my own body, and I don't have any medicines right now.

To start with, I need to take it far from here, to my little hideout, to not get disturbed in the midst of whatever I decide on doing, and for that, I need to gain its trust somehow.

I try a few times to get close to it and try to grab it, but even after saving its life, it doesn't seem all that cooperative with the whole process.

I try again after giving him a bit of food I brought to help it feel at ease,, but even though less aggressive, its posture stays the same.

‘This is annoying, and it’s starting to make me feel helpless.’ I can’t think of a way to make it understand that I am an ally, it just doesn’t care.

If it were just a normal fox, I could just take it just fine, even if it tried to forcefully escape, but this guy? Even if I was twice as strong I wouldn’t dare to take it carelessly without its trust.

The same lighting that I saw flying at the bear minutes before could fly directly into my body at any point if I were to carelessly carry it.

I don't have any armor or power that helps me keep safe from those types of attacks, even less something the like of the bear's fur, so I am not risking it. I am not laying a hand on the little guy before my intentions are clearly conveyed.

Just as I am thinking about a way to fix this, some growls come in the same direction that the cat from before came.

‘It seems that the friends of the guy from before are about to arrive.’

I look at the fox and I can’t find any signs of it letting me get near, so I prepare to confront the new enemies.

Seconds pass and nothing comes out, an eerie silence setting in around the forest.

‘Where are they, are they gonna wait for us to let our guard down? To see if we are poisoned and let our strength dwindle?’ I think about what possible explanation do their actions imply, but I end up with no clear solution.

Stuck in the middle of the clearing, I keep my focus all around, ready to react at the minimum movement.

*rustle* *rustle*

A few sounds escape from one of the bushes on my right, but it is that sensation I sensed before of danger, that kind of 6th sense that saved my times numerous times already that helps me notice an attack from behind.

I turn just in time to see a salvo of spiky giant thorns flying at me. I can barely duck in between whatever hole in the rain of spikes I find to avoid getting hit by them.

Dozens of spikes hit the line of trees behind me after breezing past me. They don't deal too much damage at first sight, but a couple of seconds go by and the trees start corroding where the spikes hit.

Not long after, a group of three new monsters arrive at the clearing. Coming from the same direction where the spikes came flying by, the monsters have a lot of similarities with the cat from before.

When the new arrivals see the corpse of said cat they go crazy. Spikes start sprouting from their back in unison and soon enough all of them start flying at me in waves.

‘Could it be that these guys are the males or females and the one from before was the same species? Maybe it is only a genre distinction? A huge one!’ My line of thought gets cut the moment I get to that conclusion due to all the incoming threats.

The projectiles come at me in a straight line, but their number is so large that is still difficult to avoid getting hit. The worst thing is that I can’t really parry them off that easily either as they have some kind of corrosive fluid inside. I will probably have to use my qi to create something if I want to hit them off-course.

Luckily for the fox, the group of beasts seems to be hell-bent on killing me, and only me, marking it as a non threat and leaving it outside of the battle.

I stay focused and keep dodging everything that comes my way. I could keep it up for a while, but each time I keep this up it will be counterproductive. They will run out of spikes to throw at some point, yeah, that's for sure, but the real question is when.

Not wanting to make it a battle of attrition, I try to prove their aim at different ranges. I advance a few meters and then retreat a couple more, and I don't need more than that to notice where the problem lies.

‘I can’t rush them without getting impaled by one of those.’ I conclude there is no point in running at them.

Well, at least in normal circumstances. I look around and the moment I lay my eyes on a big rock near me I get an idea. I grab the rock, quite the easy feat now with my improved physique, and infuse in it some qi to use as a shield as I retreat to the other side of the clearing.

The group of monsters keep launching spikes at me and follow me around to make sure that the distance stays the same at all times, but I don’t panic, I have the best counter for them.

After arriving at the border of the clearing, I plant my stone shield on top of a fallen tree to act as a cover for a moment. Meanwhile, I inspect the corrosive spikes that are stuck in the tree all around me.

All of them drip the corrosive fluid on top of whatever they are stuck to. However, upon a closer look, the fluid only comes out from the thing from its pointy edge after hitting, just as I thought.

I guess that seals the deal…

*Sheesh* *Sheesh* Another barrage of them comes my way.

I duck under the cover of my makeshift shield and wait for all these spikes to land. After the attack, I grab one of them. I imbue it with some qi to make it even sharper and faster, and with all my strength, I throw it at one of them.

The thing that only lacked some piercing power and speed is now piercing the air in their direction.