Chapter 354: Hunting partner. |
Haru walked through the streets in the town as he made his way back towards the entrance that he had come through the day before. It was heavily guarded just as it was the night before although the guards seemed to be in better moods since it was morning and they have been energised again.
The gates were wide open and carriages lined the road as merchants and traders lined up patiently waiting for their documents to be checked before they are allowed to enter the town.
The guards were all busy and didn't trouble Haru as he walked past them and set out towards the forest. But as he walked past the merchants and guards he noticed a few of them staring at them. It was at that moment he looked down at his ragged clothes and realised that even though they were ripped the main difference was that he was wearing modern clothes. And the people of this planet had on long robes that almost touched the floor.
'This is going to cause some unwanted attention if isn't it.' Haru thought as he remembered that he had a change of outfit in his storage ring. It was the one that Li Jun had given to him and also had the benefit of having built-in armour.
'As soon as I enter the forest I will change. But I had better pick something up for Hong Xia when I get back. I don't want any attention to be drawn to her. She's a beautiful young woman after all. There's no telling what would happen if a strong cultivator decided that he wanted to force her to be his wife.' Haru thought as he thought about getting some clothes to keep her safe.
Although she chose to follow him into the transportation tunnel he felt responsible for here as it was his fault that the tunnel opened in the first place. He didn't want anything to happen to her while she was in his care.
Haru walked along the long dirt path back towards the forest where he had first appeared after ascending to the new planet that he had yet to learn the name of.
It took him a few minutes until he made it there. He quickly changed his clothes to be more appropriate for the times and began to walk through the trees as he remembered how the bartender had said that there would be rabbits everywhere once he entered the forest. But as he looked around he couldn't see them anywhere.
'Can they feel my presence or something?' Haru thought as it seemed strange that there weren't any around after being told that they would be everywhere.
[Silencing Touch.]
[Ghost Aura]
[Wind Barrier]
[Wind step]
Haru took a few moments to use magic to enchant his body with skills that would be helpful for hunting. Silencing touch completely deafened the sound of his footsteps as he walked through the forest.
Wind barrier was usually used for preventing attacks from hitting whoever cast that spell since a barrier would form around the body and resist any attacks that came towards the caster. But in this case, Haru was using it for keeping his scent within the barrier so he could sneak around the forest without being sniffed out by anything.
Ghost Aura was a special enchantment as it bent the light around Haru's body causing him to be completely invisible to the naked eye as anyone who looked in his direction would just see whatever was behind him and nothing else.
And finally, Wind step was used to remove any type of drag from his body and make him aerodynamic as it would be easier to chase something that was fast if nothing was holding him back. In theory, it didn't sound like it would make that much of a difference. But Haru found out through practice that at high speeds, humans create a lot of drag since they weren't designed to move at high speeds.
As soon as he activated his magic Haru began to hear sounds of life in the forest. It seemed like he was right. The monster beasts weren't just any animal. They were hypersensitive to the presence of humans and anything that could be considered a predator so they remained hidden when they sensed Haru entering the forest.
But since his presence had been masked completely they soon began to come out and go about their business of hunting or just living their normal lives. The forest soon became crowded with life as birds fluttered between the branches above him and small insects climbed out from beneath the bark on the trees.
Even worms began to move in the soil around his feet as well as small white rabbits with a single red bird-like feather sticking out from the tops of their heads.
'Those are Feathered Rabbits? I thought they would have more feathers.' Haru thought as the name seemed like a bit of an overstatement and was misleading. Although it was true that they had feathers. But what soon became apparent to Haru as he watched for a few moments as they hopped around the ground is that they were much more violent than the rabbits on earth.
A small rodent scuttled across the floor in front of a group of rabbits when suddenly a red glow emerged from the eyes of the feathered rabbits and they chased down the rodent and devoured it alive, making it squeak as its life quickly came to an end.
Haru watched for a little longer as it interested him as rabbits on earth were mainly herbivores but were known to attack over animals if they got too close but it was never to the point of hunting down a fleeing rodent. However as they dispersed from the rodent, the only thing remaining was a puddle of blood on the grass.
They had completely eaten the rodent bones and all. It felt a little eerie that a cute animal like a rabbit could be capable of such a brutal murder but it was just like any other animal. They had to eat one way or another.
It happened over and over again as the rabbits grouped up together to take down other animals in the surrounding area but Haru remained neutral until he watched them collectively take down a deer and devour it in just a few seconds.
'That's insane… They ate such a large animal that quickly. They could easily eat a small child or an injured person if they weren't able to defend themselves. I guess I'm lucky that I didn't go too far when I left Hong Xia alone. I guess this is why they are classed as monster beasts.' Haru thought as he figured that if he had walked away from any further from Hong Xia's location when they first arrived that she wouldn't be alive now.
'Well, I don't have time to waste here leisurely. I promised I would bring her some breakfast. Let's get this over with already.' Haru thought before pulling a sword from his storage ring.
As his storage ring flashed slightly, everything in the forest froze still like a wild animal in headlights as they sensed a trace amount of Qi emerging from Haru's location. But as soon as the sword was in Haru's hand they carried on with their business as though nothing had happened.
'They almost caught me for a moment there. I have to be more careful. But for now. Let me see just how fast these things are.' Haru thought as he bent down and coiled his legs like springs before taking off as quickly as he could towards a large group of rabbits that were eating berries from a bush in the distance.
However, everything around him faded to grey as he shot forwards before standing before them. He looked back to see a cloud had formed where he had previously been standing but that too was frozen.
He looked down at the rabbits and noticed that despite time seeming to stop, they were still moving slightly although their movements were a lot slower.
'That is insane. I am moving faster than the speed of light right now, yet these rabbits are still able to move slightly. No wonder people have trouble catching them. But I wonder if I am fast enough to snag a few of them?' Haru wondered before bringing his sword up and swinging it towards the first rabbit.
He thought that he would need a lot of strength and speed in order to actually kill one of them as he expected that they would only become faster if presented with danger but the rabbit didn't seem to notice as the sword approached its neck and cut through it like butter as Haru's sword emerged from the other side before it even realised that it was dead.
He then held out his sword again, this time swinging it a little lighter at the necks of the other rabbits as he realised with the kind of speed his body was producing it felt like he was cutting through water balloons as there was no resistance at all.
After realising how easy it was to kill the rabbits, Haru ran around the Forrest like a mad man, cutting down every rabbit he saw before placing both their heads and bodies into his storage ring before a single drop of their blood could touch the ground.
It felt like hours to Haru as a few seconds passed as he killed dozens of rabbits and collected their bodies to make the breakfast that he promised to Hong Xia. He got a little carried away as he was determined to collect as many monster cores as he could since he knew that they were universally valuable no matter which realm he was in.
But his hunting session soon came to an end as he saw a flash of darkness run past him a few times and watched as a few rabbits in the surrounding area went missing. Whatever it was could clearly move faster than Haru but was avoiding him as it too ran around the forest to hunt its prey.
'I'm not sure what that is. But I had better leave this place before it decided to make me it's enemy.' Haru thought as he ran straight back to the dirt road as the light around him became visible once again and the trees blew slowly in the wind. A loud bang shot out from the forest behind him as he figured it was caused by him breaking the sound barrier but he wasn't willing to check now that he knew he wasn't the only one capable of moving at those speeds.
'Can everyone at my cultivation level move at this speed or is it just me? Although that thing back there was fast, I doubt that it was big or dangerous to humans for that matter or else it could kill hundreds of people without leaving a trace behind.' Haru thought as he figured that the strange beast in the forest wasn't a threat to the town as he walked back towards the gates now dressed like everyone else.