Shadow parasite

After carefully looking around to see if the area was clear Gorn took out his black sword and retraced his steps to gather the spoils of the war. Because he was not used to doing such things the process took longer than expected. Nevertheless, it was his first hunt and Gorn felt great joy about his gains.

'Two medium-level monster cores, and eight low-level ones. Plus some teeth and claws that are also useful.'

Gorn grinned happily. He thought about taking some meat as well, however, reaper meat was known to have a rather bad taste so he quickly abandoned that idea. Leaving the corpses behind Gorn climbed the closest tall tree. The reapers were capable of destroying the smaller trees, but trees as big as the one he was currently on could not be destroyed by mere juvenile reapers.

'This is no joke,' thought Gorn.

He was only a few dozen kilometers away from the city, and he already encountered a group of reapers.

'Now I understand why people go outside the city in groups, it's very dangerous otherwise.'

He knew that even before, but now, after experiencing it, the knowledge fell differently in place.

'These corpses should attract some other monsters. Let's wait for a bit.'

Gorn decided to wait some time in his rather safe spot. Soon enough, just as he expected, another group of monsters made its appearance. This time there were wolves.

'Fuck, that's a lot of them.'

Race: Monster

Bloodline: Medium

Power level: 350

Abilities: Hunt (Lvl2)

Loot: 350 gold; Hunt (Lvl2)

Confirm target? Yes No

The group of wolves was bigger than the previous group of reapers, however, a lot of them were weaker. Their size was very similar to the juvenile reapers, and their fur color varied. No matter how you looked at it, they were intimidating creatures. The corpses were eaten in a matter of minutes. What remained was only a few bones, and nothing more. The wolves disappeared into the forest soon after. Now there were two new skills to choose from, but Gorn was not interested in any of them for the time being. And so, he resumed his search.

"What a beautiful forest!" Gorn found himself whispering these words from time to time almost automatically.

The wild fauna was very diverse, and numerous life species were harmless or did not attack you out of the blue.

'Here, there is no limit of space and resources. Maybe when I'm strong enough, I'll make myself a tree house somewhere in the wild.'

Sometimes, the most dangerous place could be the safest. A fact Gorn did not forget. In case the city was full of enemies, coming here was not that bad. A certain area around the city was mapped by the previous explorers. Gorn bought the map and even basic supplies that he put in his inventory in case of emergencies. These actions were done around the time he bought his villa.

The map was pretty useful for someone on his first expedition. In addition, it also had information about the area some monsters liked to roam around. Gorn had a very specific creature in mind, and that was a little monster the size of a weasel. People name it 'jumper'. It was a rather weak, and timid creature, however, it had a very special ability.

The jumper's special ability was teleportation. It was able to teleport for small distances, making it extremely hard to catch despite being weak. Even if you managed to trap it, the teleportation ability could still be used.

'That's a very useful ability to have.'

The jumper's diet consisted mainly of plants, thus his location could be almost everywhere. But there was a catch, the creature had a favorite type of plant that grew only in certain areas. Gorn's plan was simple. Gather as many of those plants as possible and set them up as bait. His purpose was not catching his prey, just getting close enough to it to be able to select it. If he was too far away, the system could not detect anything. Since he had to move with great care, all of this took a great amount of time. Gorn managed to gather some plants, however, it was almost dark outside.

'Should I find shelter or should I continue?'

His power level coupled with his night vision skill allowed him to move freely in the night. While that might be possible, the night was a time when stronger predators roamed these woods, making it a lot more dangerous.

'I'll wait until morning.'

Gorn decided to play it safe, after all, it was his first time outside. The place adventurers spent their nights at were very rarely around a fire, instead high up on tree tops. Flying monsters were found way deeper inside the wilderness, usually on top of huge mountains, thus making it way safer on top of trees since most predators' tree-climbing skills were very poor. After finding a comfortable place high in the sky Gorn decided to rest. Easier said than done. It was too scary to stay with his eyes closed for more than a few moments.

'Sleeping in the middle of the woods is harder than expected,' thought Gorn while being on guard.

From time to time terrible noises could be heard from the deeper parts of the forest. It was chilling to the bone and made one feel very small.

And so, eyes opened, and nerves stretched, Gorn's first night outside the city passed. With the appearance of the sun, certain noises vanished completely. It was almost like he was transported to another place. Was it just in his mind or not, Gorn could not tell. Being careful to not go too deep in the wild, Gorn gathered a few more herbs and then placed them in a pile somewhere he could see them.

'Now it's time to wait.'

Minute after minute Gorn waited patiently. The weather was almost perfect, and the surroundings were filled with life and beauty. After approximately an hour a small herd of wild boars passed through the area. Wild boars were the main source of food for wolves and reapers. An adult boar usually reaches double the size of their predators.

Race: Monster

Bloodline: Medium

Power level: 950

Abilities: Durability (Lvl7)

Loot: 950 gold; Durability (Lvl7)

Confirm target? Yes No

Most of them had a power level below five hundred. They moved in small, and big herds, and usually had an alpha male who was the leader of the group. The leader had many responsibilities, and his mission was by no means easy. Looking at the gigantic alpha boar covered almost entirely in scars, Gorn inhaled slowly.

'What a fucking tank!'

Just by looking at the creature Gorn knew he had no chance to take it down whatsoever.

'A pity, I read that their meat is delicious.'

The alpha male noticed Gorn's presence. After looking at him for a few moments, the boar continued his journey.

Gorn wiped the sweat off his brows and continued to wait. Being chased by that boar wouldn't have been a pleasant affair, not to speak about his current plans being ruined.

After a few more hours of waiting, when Gorn started to think about how much time he should spend on this ordeal, a small creature appeared out of nowhere, and on top of the pile of plants he prepared.

'Would you look at that... .'