Foxes are usually monogamous. It means that they have only one mate for life. They also take on nannies to help with their pups. The nannies were female foxes that were not breeders. Sometimes, one male fox would have several female mates. Females that have the same male mate were known to live in the same den together.
Foxes could identify each other's voices, just like humans. The red fox has 28 different sounds they use to communicate. These vocalizations include yips, growls and howls.
The small, slender body of a Red fox allows it to run nearly 30 mph.
In conclusion, the Dire Fox’s screams attracted the family. The fox could run at 100 miles per hour on a clear plain and around 60 mph in the forest.
Hearing the death cries of its partner, the female Dire Fox crashed into Richard and aimed to rip his throat out.
It came in too fast but Richard was able put up his arm in defense.
With the body enhancement working the magic, it protected his arm from breaking under the angry bite power.
The red demonic eyes stared at him with hatred. It was too intense and almost made him slip in his Ki control.
Richard followed through and kicked it off his body. Its wild movements would have caused gashes on his skin but the leather armor on his body was made from good quality materials.
It was made from High level Ki Refining Bear type beast, so the armor could easily block arrows and swords from normal people.
Nonetheless, the force behind the fox’s attacks caused some pain.
The fox would have continued the attack but Rex interfered and stopped it from jumping Richard again.
The sudden attack almost caused him to panic and he felt the desire to pull out his gun, and shoot the damn thing.
Regardless, Richard focused on the situation or Rex would get mutilated. The claws of the fox and its fangs had poison. It ate toxic animals and plants to get such a feature.
Rex had resistance to such a thing but who knew if the fox got creative or not.
Without hesitation, Richard took hold of his tomahawk and hit the fox in the rib cage. It was his full strength with Ki enhancement, so it shattered the ribs and Richard gave it a kick for good measure.
The sound was horrifying and almost made him back away.
Richard backed away as Rex finished the job. With the energy levels going down, Richard saw the whole picture and felt terrible.
The fox wasn’t even hunting human beings but he killed them. Its final cry was filled with despair and he saw smaller fox not too far from him.
It ran away with a desperate gait. Rushing to protect its siblings and running from danger.
Looking at the scene, Richard felt like a blood villain.
‘Calm down, calm down, these foxes aren’t some moral creatures. They torture other creatures and even human beings. If we don’t cull their population down, they will rush the village and get courage to harm humans again.’ Richard used logic to calm his nerves as despair induced growls and sounds were always disturbing to hear.
He wouldn’t usually care about wild animals, but such scenes still made him feel sad or something.
‘Those foxes are so going to hate me now.’ Richard thought of the pups but didn’t try to find the den. He couldn’t harm such small things.
But Noah wasn’t having it, as he directly shot down the young fox and picked it up. Dire Foxes could hold a deep grudge and were smart enough to carry out stealth attacks.
They could definitely end up killing Richard in these days when he got injured during a hunt with the help of other foxes or even other wild beasts.
With the hunt done, Richard picked up the corpses and carried them out of the forest.
The task was complete and Noah was happy with the progress made by his son. Though, he had trouble showing it now.
Noah reminded him not to leave such smart animals alive after such a situation or they would make life miserable for him.
Richard didn’t understand completely and felt bad for the young fox. He had never experienced such a thing and didn’t know how it felt.
Only someone who had been stalked relentlessly by a dangerous beast would understand Noah’s sentiment.
On earth there was the case of the guy that got stalked by a tiger because he took its prey. It followed him and roamed around his house, waiting to kill him.
The man was lucky and the tiger got killed, but if he hadn’t noticed then it would have been death sentence.
Noah couldn’t tell if the boy understood or not with his neutral expression, it was one of the biggest changes on the boy’s face since the start of the ordeal.
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His facial expressions were subdued.
“Don’t speak about those things with others, and return home. I am going to meet Lord Charles.” Noah reminded Richard to avoid speaking about things he shouldn’t know or it would attract a lot of attention.
It could be positive and negative.
Richard gave a nod and watched him take turn at the stream. The Harrison family lived surrounded by fields.
It was the only two storey house in the village and it was made from bricks. It wasn’t bad looks wise and had around 10 rooms.
There were even servant quarters where the maids and other personnel lived.
The trees provided shade for the manor or it would get extremely hot during the summers, much worse than the mud brick houses.
To counter that, the bricks were thick and water was poured on the house. Servants were also used to fan the owners and Wind Ki techniques were utilized.
The Harrison family wasn’t new and had some money, so they had hired Enchanters to carve cooling seals for an easy life.
There was a practice ground at the back along with a place for the horses.
There was a well and unlike the villagers, the Knight house had washrooms. It wasn’t some proper waste management, but it was something.
Noah was a regular but still looked around because of his cautious nature. He was the right hand man of Charles and was trusted.
Nonetheless, Noah didn’t share about Richard. Charles had the authority to do anything he wanted with the people of the village.
There was no such thing as rights.
Nobody was going to trust peasants against a Knight. Charles could slaughter and rape, do whatever but fortunately he didn’t.
He wasn’t a bad lord.
It was common in the world for people to be crushed under the boot by the people over them. But, it had lessened over time because of several instances of Lords getting murdered.
Lords were now careful about things and didn’t act too cruel when there was a chance of them getting murdered.
They also maintained their physical prowess and avoided keeping people stronger than them without any leash.
Noah found Charles sparring with his son, Lance. Charles was a handsome man with looks that came from his mother side.
He was 1.8 meters tall with a muscular form that came from a daily training. He had long golden hair tied in a short pony tail, and he had grey eyes.
Unlike Noah, he wore a classy suit of the old times that was made from good quality stitching. The coat of arms of the Harrison family was on its cuffs. It was a Red Bull also known as the Berserk Inferno.
The crest represented the Red Bull killed by Edward Harrison that had destroyed few villages and killed Nights in the Baron’s territory. It was a creature that lived near the Granada mountain range.
Getting back to the scene, Charles wasn’t going easy on his son and pushed him hard. Charles was an ambitious man. He worked hard since young to surpass his father and wanted to get a high rank.
He had surpassed his father and now aimed to finish the other goal. He wanted to become a baron, but for that he needed to get more territory and change his core region into a town.
He would also need permission from the Duke responsible for the region. The Kingdom’s land was divided into 10 regions governed by the Dukes that served the crown, the capital city being at the center. The Dukes were either princes or exemplary men rewarded by the crown.
The whole thing was like a pyramid scheme with slaves at the bottom and the king at the top.
Charles wasn’t so far off from changing the village to a town as he had acquired the required personnel and the village was producing enough wealth for construction projects.
The only problem would be the Baron Jacob that was sitting over him and even the other Knights.
It was the reason he delayed the execution of his plans until his son got older.
His son looked a lot like him and was filled with ferocity. There was lack of patience in him and calmness.
It was clear from his spar that he let annoyance get to his head.
Nonetheless, the boy was talented and was expected to rise above Charles with how much valuable knowledge was poured into him.
Charles had conceived a child late so the children could have the best genetics. Lance was conceived when Charles was 22 years old with a strong foundation.
Charles was 35 years old and at the early stages of Core formation. He was the strongest Knight under the Baron.
Lance was 13 years old and at the middle ranges of Ki refining, with experience in multiple weapons and good amount of knowledge on various subjects.
Looking at the boy, Noah felt proud that his son could do better with less.
“Good evening my lord, I have urgent news to share.” Noah called out with respect as he went to his knee.
The sight of the Shadow Jaguar was worrisome, so they needed to be careful and plan accordingly. It would be tragic if someone annoyed the beast.
Charles was strong enough to combat it in open ground, but the forest was its territory and allowed it to easily slip through.
Charles stopped the battle axe coming at him with his finger tip, “We will stop here for today. You have done well, Lance.”
With a pat on the boy’s shoulder, Charles walked towards Noah.
“Walk with me.” With those words, Noah followed behind Charles. Just like Noah, Charles was also cautious because of his position.
He looked at the sky and felt the wind.
“What is the issue, Noah?” Charles asked in a calm tone. He believed Noah was an honorable man that could be trusted. It was the reason he was even considering to help him level up.
“My lord, I came across the Shadow beasts today. It has never gotten so close to the human region before.
I think there could be a problem on its side of the woods.” Noah replied slowly as he thought about it carefully.
“Continue”
“There could be a stronger beast that caused it to move or…people.” Noah said and became silent as Charles stopped.
It was either a beast or bandits or people from the Kingdom that wanted him dead. It wasn’t uncommon to see Knights destroying each other or even higher ranks nobles getting into a fight.
“Have everyone on full alert and take a team to investigate. Inform the villagers that none are allowed to pass the woods.
It could be people most likely, so take caution. I don’t want to see my brother die.” Charles commanded calmly and turned around with a smile as he placed his hands on Noah’s shoulder.
Noah was shocked by those words. They were definitely friends but it was never that close.
“My lord?” Noah was unsure of what Charles meant.
“Noah, I want your son to marry Rose.” Charles clarified. Richard was a talented child that none could deny.
He had an exceptional mind and progress that wasn’t far behind his son. Charles had wanted to marry Rosalina to a Baron household, but it didn’t work out.
The other Knight’s weren’t trustworthy enough to be of use and Lance was already engaged to the daughter of Knight Legolas from the nearby Nadir Village across the woods.
Nadir Village and Hymn village were both on good terms with Charles while most of the others were neutral.
Baron Jacob was on good terms with him, but it was unknown how good that was. It would have been ideal to have Rosalina married to the Baron’s family but it had been rejected.
It had caused Charles to question the Baron.
Things seemed to be moving forward, so he needed a trustworthy person on his side. Noah was loyal but he needed assurance.
He wanted them to be tied together and in his eyes, Richard was also a good candidate that could support the Harrison house.
Getting back to Noah, he was extremely shocked by those words. His mouth was agape as he never imagined it.
Richard was definitely talented but getting into a noble household wasn’t easy, it was extremely rare as they would marry other nobles.
“I am honored, my lord.” His tone was filled with joy and respect.
Charles smiled at the reaction, “Just call me Charles when we are alone. We are family from now on.”