Cid and Aerith, who were ordered to accompany William, both had serious expressions on their faces. They had watched how William had killed a Gryphon with the help of the Demonic Beast that resembled a humanoid dog creature.
Kenneth, Priscilla, and the others were shocked at the sudden development, but hurriedly went to assist William in fighting off against the remaining Gryphons.
"Priscilla, you can injure them but don't give them any lethal injuries," William ordered. "We're going to capture these Gryphons!"
Priscilla wanted to ask a lot of questions, but she still resolutely followed William's orders. Since she was the only other proficient archer within their group, she immediately fired a few arrows in the air in order to injure the enraged Gryphon that was sweeping down on them.
Psoglav's and the Gryphon's ranks might be similar, but there was one major difference between the two of them. Although the Gryphon's physical strength was stronger than the Demonic Dog, Psoglav was smarter than it.
As a monster who loved to eat humans, Psoglav was an expert in the strategy of how to corner his prey and go for the kill. Although he couldn't win in a direct confrontation, he could always use the hit and run tactics!
"Void Arrow!" Psoglav, his doppleganger and the two pairs of spectral hands shot the Gryphon who had dove down from the air. Being a magical creature, its resistance against spells was also high. However, Dark Magic was different from the elemental classes. It didn't focus on elemental damage, but curses instead.
Wisp of black smoke oozed out of the Gryphon's eyes as it roared in fury. It swiped its claws blindly in an attempt to kill the bastardly dog that had killed its comrade.
William who was watching from the side was busy dipping his arrows in a cylinder that was filled with the venom of the Amphisbaena. Since he wanted to capture the magical beast, neutralizing its resistance was his top priority.
After coating ten arrows with the Amphisbaena's venom, the shepherd took aim and shot the rampaging Gryphon in the air.
After the tenth arrow embedded itself on the body of the Gryphon, it's movements started to become dull. Psoglav chuckled as it used its dark whips to forcefully bring the magical beast to the ground.
After securely tying the Gryphon with its Dark Whip, it eyed the remaining two Gryphons in the air.
Seeing that two of their comrades had been killed and captured, the two remaining beasts decided to retreat.
The Hippogriffs screeched triumphantly to announce their victories before shifting their attention to William and his group.
Priscilla was about to nock another arrow in her bow when William ordered her to stop.
"Don't do anything that will provoke them," William ordered. "Everyone, stay still!"
Originally, there were thirty Hipogriffs who tried to fight the four Gryphons in order to protect their territory. However, sixteen of them had fallen in battle. Although they were seriously injured during the battle, none of them died because they were saved by William and Psoglav.
The Alpha of the Hipogriffs landed a few meters away from William and screeched in anger.
"That's right." William nodded. "I came here to capture some of your kind."
The Alpha screeched once again and spread its golden wings in an attempt to intimidate William.
"So, do you want them back?" William inquired. "I don't particularly mind, but can you take care of them?"
The Alpha briefly glanced at its comrades that had lost their wings, and limbs, during the battle against the Gryphons. As the leader of the herd, although it sympathized with its comrades, it had no use for individuals that lost their value.
Such was life in the Whimsical Forest. Although the Alpha might be too harsh on its own kin, this was a rule that everyone in the jungle abided by.
The Alpha was silent for a few seconds before glaring at William.
'You can have them,' the Alpha said through telepathy. 'Now get out of my sight! I will not allow you to decrease our numbers any further! There are other groups within this forest. Go capture their members if you dare, but if you touch one more member of my herd, I will fight you to the death!'
The Alpha gave a mighty screech before flapping its wings to fly to the air. The rest of the Hipogriffs gave their ex-comrades a side-long glance before following their leader.
The abandoned Hipogriffs hung their heads in sadness, but this was a natural occurrence within the forest. If not for William adding them to his herd, they would have just been waiting for their deaths because their Alpha had abandoned them.
Psoglav wasn't paying attention to William's discussion with the Hippogriff because it was busy digging through the Gryphon's body to find its Beast Core. The Beast cores were usually located at the head of Magical Beasts. If it's not there then it would be found close to its heart.
As a Demonic Beast, Psoglav had already determined the Beast Core's location and focused his attention in that area. After digging through the Gryphon's chest with its claws, it found the core that it was looking for.
Psoglav dug out a light-purple crystal the size of a bowling ball. It chuckled evilly for a while before opening its mouth to chomp on it. The crystal emitted crispy, crackling sounds that were similar to the sounds of potato chips being consumed.
The Demonic Dog chewed on the core with a satisfied expression, which made Cid and Aerith stare at it with caution.
After finishing its meal. Psoglav looked at the body of the Gryphon and salivated. It couldn't possibly eat it right here, because there was a chance that stronger creatures would come and disturb him. He was now faced with a dilemma and wondering how to best solve this problem.
"Here, take this," William said as he tossed a storage ring to the Demonic Dog. "We're going back to the camp for the time being. How about you?"
Psoglav caught the storage ring and gave William a grin. It had heard about these artifacts before, but never had the opportunity to use them.
"I'll return to my own Forest," Psoglav replied as he stored the dead Gryphon inside the storage ring. "Just call me when you're planning to catch your mounts. As long as you keep your promise, we can continue our business transaction."
William nodded his head. Just as Psoglav said, their cooperation was just a business transaction. As long as he supplied Psoglav the cores he wanted, the Demonic Beast would help him capture mounts for his Knight Order.
The red-headed boy was able to summon Psoglav because they made an "Equal contract". This allowed the Demonic Dog to become a temporary member of William's herd, just like Spire. With the help of the "King's Divinity" that was inside his soul, he would be able to summon them to wherever he was.
This ability was called "King's Legion". Right now, William was only able to use a quarter of the King's chess piece's divinity because he still hadn't met the requirements to activate it fully. Even so, it was still quite helpful because he could summon the members of his herd, anytime, anywhere.
A portal appeared in front of Psoglav, and the latter entered it while giving William a grin. William's group watched all of this with dumbfounded expressions.
"J-Just who are you?" Aerith asked. "How are you able to command an intelligent Demonic Beast?"
"Just a shepherd," William replied before facing the Hippogriffs who were still feeling down. "Moping around will not change anything. Since you are now under my her- protection, I will do my best to heal your injuries and allow all of you to fly in the skies once again."
When the Hipogriffs heard that they could once again fly in the sky, all of them looked at William with hope. The latter nodded his head in acknowledgement.
"I will keep my promise. For now, all of you will be part of my organization. Do you all understand?" William inquired.
All the Hipogriffs made screeches of acknowledgement as they stood. Those who had lost their limbs, remained lying on the ground, but their gazes were burning with life and determination.
William smiled before looking at the paralyzed Gryphon that was lying a few meters away from them.
The only creatures that he could tame were Herd Type creatures, and the Gryphon was not one of them. While he was deep in thought, he heard two chuckles not far from their location.
"Young Master, William. Do you plan to have this Gryphon as your mount?" A sturdy man that had a smug expression plastered on his face asked, as he swaggered towards the fallen Gryphon.
"Don't worry, we came here because your Grandpa was worried about you," another man who was slightly shorter than the sturdy man appeared without warning. "Ezio, come out and tell the Young Master that we are Commander's subordinates."
No reply came from the forest, but William scratched his head in understanding. Ezio had told him using very special means that the two men that appeared in front of him were indeed his Grandpa's subordinates and could be trusted.
"May I know both of your names, respected gentlemen?" William asked.
"Respected gentlemen?" the sturdy man asked. "Gideon, is the Young Master talking about us?"
"Of course," Gideon answered. "Damian, I think you are forgetting something. Only respectable gentleman can follow Commander around."
Damian suddenly had the "now that I think about it, you're right" expression and grinned at William.
"Indeed, both of us are respectable gentlemen," Damian stated. "My name is Damian, and this is my partner, Gideon."
"How do you do, Young Master?" Gideon replied with a smile.
William smiled back as he appraised the two newcomers. Because of his training, he could roughly gauge their strength based on their body language. Ezio had taught him how to read people while he accompanied him on his missions.
"I want this Gryphon to become the mount of my officer," William said. "Can you help me?"
"Of course," Damian replied. "This is a very easy thing to do for a Beastmaster like me. Now, who is the lucky guy who is going to have a Gryphon as his mount?"
Damian scanned the group of kids that were accompanying his Young Master. He briefly glanced at the disciples of the Sword Saint before returning his gaze to William.
"Dave, step forward," William ordered.
"Sir!" Dave stepped forward. Excitement was written all over his face.
As a commoner, he had seen Gryphons pull the carriage of the nobles and had dreamed of owning one in the past. Now that his dream was about to become a reality, he wasn't able to stop himself from praising William to the high heavens.
'Looks like I chose the right person to follow,' Dave thought as he looked at the red-headed boy who had become his Idol. 'I'm going to hug his thigh and never let go! Perhaps, I will be able to soar to greater heights if I stay by his side.'
His thoughts were shared by the rest of the members of the Angorian War Sovereign. All of them were looking at William as if he was a genie that was about to make all of their wishes come true.