After reading the message on the communicator Shi lang did not hurry to rush down and explore the place. He began to craft himself some weapons. The weapons he was going to use were the pebbles he had picked up from the ground earlier.
Yes, he was going primitive. He sat down in the crown of the tree and began to break the stones by rubbing them with each other. What he was trying to do was to sharper the stones by grinding them. The speed of a Terran hand was not lesser than an electric motor. As he rubbed the stones together, he was soon left with a thick needle.
These needles had the thickness of half the finger and had pointy ends. Shi Lang had gotten himself twenty such needles and it took him two hours to prepare them. After placing the nails in a section of his utility belt, he climbed down the tree and began to move around the area to find himself a source of water.
He was not in a hurry to hunt down the smaller rodents he spotted. But he was looking around to spot a bigger predator. Because that predator will be his key locate a source of water. He was not aware of the others but he knew that a bigger body will need a bigger source of water. He moved around the woods making almost no noise. His movements were simple yet calm.
After another hour, he located a beast as big as a tiger. He could not see the beast with a normal vision. However, he was wearing the mask from the secret divisions, and also thanks to the recipe that helped him unblock the gene chain.
The tiger seemed to be hiding inside the bushes and waiting for the right time to take down another animal in front of him. This animal looked like a deer.
The deer had big horns however, Shi Lang sensed something odd when he gazed at the two beasts. He raised his eyebrows and mumbled, “This is not false data, this is a definite death trap.”
While gazing at the deer, Shi Lang noticed that the creature not only had big horns to stab someone into a sieve but also it had a mouth filled with canines. It was thanks to his training at camp Ragnarok, that he was able to discern the real situation here. Herbivorous animals did not have canines, at least, not a full front set of six such teeth.
The deer was a carnivore, after confirming that the beast was a carnivore, from the body language it displayed, Shi Lang did not act too cocky to go over and hunt it down, but he wanted to lurk and learn from the situation here. If an animal was to be gazed at a close range, with the intent to kill, they will sense it. They will become nervous and alert.
He wanted to see, if the tiger was a carnivore, or was it just the deer. He waited for half an hour very patiently. The deer did not lower its head to graze on the grass, but the deep eyes were looking all around the place to locate the prey. However, the tiger hidden inside the bush was also very patient. Shi Lang found out, that from preventing itself the beast had closed its eyes. It was very weird, but the constant flickering ears made it clear that the beast had not taken its focus away.
This scene surprised Shi Lang, he initiated a recording feature in his visor, the activities in front of him were telling him that the intelligence of these animals was not low. The tiger had closed its eyes to suppress the animal instinct inside it, the reflex to react to a sudden movement and attack the prey.
Shi Lang was impressed, this was something he had never expected, a beast supressing its instincts. However, suddenly, he saw the deer raise its head in his direction. He was not afraid of the beast, and gently put his hand inside the utility belt to pick out a nail he had made earlier, then he took a step back crushing a twig under his foot.
The beast suddenly ran towards him. Behind his mask, Shi Lang smirked, and turning around he ran. To catch the prey he must lure the prey. He did not run at his full speed, and the beast was able to run at a speed of fifty kilometers per hour. The body of the deer was twice as big as a tiger. Just when the beast was about to lower its head and stab Shi Lang with the antler.
The boy turned around and flicked the nail caught between his fingers. The nail moved fast like a bullet and before the deer had the time to react, the nail had dug deep inside the skull, puncturing the brain and killing it instantly. The legs stopped moving and with a thud, the beast fell down. Shi Lang moved to the side, and the beast slid past his position.
Shi Lang sighed, the beast was dead, and it left a good set of materials for him to make out weapons and tools. Turning his head back to the bushes, Shi Lang could not find the tiger hidden there. He sighed and shook his head. The beast could have led him to a water source but while he was hunting this deer the Tiger had run away.
He crouched down and took out a pebble from his utility belt. This pebble was like a coin but extremely sharp at the front. Shi Lang was about to make an incision when he heard a voice inside his head, “Who are you?”
His instincts kicked in and the youngster quickly stood up with the nails between his fingers. He looked around to see where the voice came from. His special ability allowed him to sense things within hindered meter radius, yet he was unable to sense someone so close to him. As he was looking around, the voice sounded again, “What are you looking for?”
Shi Lang replied, “Who is it? Come out.” his tone was calm. Despite his elevated heartbeat he managed to control his speech.
Suddenly, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Calming himself down the boy said, “Are you a beast?”
At this moment, he sensed a creature standing behind him, at the hundred-meter range. Shi Lang slowly turned around to see a blue-furred tiger looking at him dead in the eye. He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and asked, “What are you?”
The tiger spoke in his mind, “Outlander, answer my question first.”
“I am a soldier, out in the woods to train. I have no offensive motives.” replied Shi Lang.
The blue tiger slowly walked closer to him. Shi Lang could swear that every single step taken by the beast was resonating with his heartbeat. The youngster did not expect that he would be able to experience this sensation again, this fear. The tiger’s voice sounded inside his mind once again, “You do not need to be afraid, I am not going to harm you. Your fear, I can sense, anyone would fear the unknown. However, I will ask you for something. I will react depending on your answer.”
Shi Lang nodded and the tiger asked, “What will you do with this prey you have caught?”
Despite the surprise, the youngster replied, “I will collect a few materials to make tools and consume the meat to replenish energy.”
The tiger nodded in a very human-like manner. Then it went on saying, “You will not be able to consume so much meat, rather than wasting it, why don’t we share it? I will tell you all that you want to know in return.”
Shi Lang almost choked when he heard this, after calming down, he replied, “Yes, we can share the food.”
The tiger nodded and said, “I would like you to cook it how you outlanders do with fire. Charlotte used to cook delicious food. Huh, I miss her.”
Shi Lang raised his eyebrow when the beast mentioned the name, and could not help but ask, “Who is Charlotte?”
“An outlander like you, she was training here a couple of decades ago. However, they used to call her weird names. One of them being, war maiden. You outlanders have a pathetic sense of naming.” replied the tiger ignorant to the shock it has sent to Shi Lang’s spine.
The young boy stood in a daze when the Tiger said, “So, when will you start? I prefer eating the liver and the hind legs. You can take the heart and the rest of the flesh on this big guy.”
Shi Lang woke up and asked, “Why do two carnivorous creatures fight against each other?”
“Territory, and of course, wisdom. Come I will explain to you as you make us a meal.” that said, the tiger came to sit down near the dead deer. Shi Lang did not expect that he would be learning the ways of this mystical place. No wonder they named it Mythya, he thought.