Standing like the grand legendary beast that it was, the Pegasus glared at Damien like he was a lower creature in front of it.
‘Was this what you were trying to warn me about?’ Damien asked inwardly even though the question was directed at Fenrir. Because of the pressure he was currently facing, it was impossible to even open his mouth to speak.
The pressure continued for a few seconds and when Damien felt like it would go on, it suddenly disappeared and the Pegasus took one last look at Damien and then at Fenrir. It glanced at Damien one last time and neighed.
Then it began running toward him with such scary thudding and speed that Damien could only remain in place, afraid to move. ‘I’m not going to die today, am I?’ He thought again, forgetting about the pressure that had disappeared.
He was under a different kind of pressure as he faced the incoming horse head on, too scared to move out of its way to avoid angering it and too scared to stand in its way to avoid dying from being smashed to death.
Just before it crashed into him, a few feet away, its wings spread open and they flapped, pushing the creature into the air and above Damien. They flapped again and by the third flap. It vanished.
“Phew…” Damien crashed to the ground, his heart beating too fast for his own good. “I really thought I was going to die.”
This had to be one of the deadliest encounters he’d faced since his arrival and Damien knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be forgetting this experience anytime soon. “That was Grade Four, right? It felt overwhelming.” Damien muttered, supporting his attempt to stand up by using his uncle’s sword he’d just acquired.
After standing up, he took another look at the sword and nodded. “Definitely better than my bone sword.” He commended as he returned to meet Fenrir. The weapon didn’t even have a scabbard so he had to be careful how he handled it to avoid getting cut or or cutting something else by mistake.
‘Hehe… Hunting just became easier.” Damien laughed as he mounted Fenrir once again and once again departed his current location.
“Summon Cerbe.” Damien gave a command to the system.
«Summoning Cerbe, the Three-Headed Hound…»
«-100 units of Magic Essence!»
The blue shimmering portal followed immediately after the deduction from his essence reserves and a second later. Cerbe appeared from the portal.
«Cerbe summoned!»
“Now summon Luton.”
The same process was repeated for the Stellar Slime but rather than landing on the ground like the hound had, Luton’s portal opened above Damien’s head and the slime leaped out of it, landing on Damien’s head.
“We’re going to test this out and bring you all to the peak of your ranks within the next week.” Damien revealed his plans to his three summons and then to Luton he added. “You’ll be advancing from this so be reading to devour a lot of Grade Five mana beasts and essence cores.”
Aside from raising their ranks, Damien also had another goal with this hunt. He needed just a few more demons to meet the requirements needed to unlock another summon.
“Let’s get it!” Damien ordered and all three summons along with their summoner wandered deeper into the forest unsure of their destination.
~~~~~
Osbourne had been planning on heading out to commission another blade just like the previous one he’d left with Damien when they last.
He needed a weapon just as good as that one. However, he wanted it linked to the former tracker of the former one rather than a new one.
This made him head out to the office of the Family Lord. Ashbourne as he’d left it in his ‘care’ after returning from the forest on that fateful day whwhed dropped Damien there.
As he arrived at the door leading inside, Osbourne exhaled deeply and then knocked on the door.
“Come in.” The voice inside relied and Osbourne didn’t hesitate to push the open and walk inside.
He found his twin brother, Ashbourne slumped lazily on his chair with one hand on his temple. He seemed to be caught in a dilemma. “You okay?” Osbourne asked seeing his twin’s mood wasn’t a good one.
Ashbourne raised his head and met eyes with his brother. “I have been chosen as one of the four representatives of the Eastern Shirefort Continent. We’ll head out soon to the Northern Ireleone Continent to discuss the upcoming war with them. They too will be affected after all.”
Osbourne raised an eyebrow at his twin and then he asked. “Aren’t you always the type to enjoy such? Why do you have a long face?”
“As you know, the Illustrious Elderglow Academy is located there and I’ll have to somehow meet with my son, Damon.” He took his hand off his temple and sat well on his seat. “I don’t know how to face him after sending him off in such a way and not even bothering to sent one letter. He’s the future of the family.”
Osbourne’s eyes narrowed as he stared at his brother. ‘Lame but understandable. If only you’d feel guilty for Damien too.’
“Just go ahead with a birthday gift. His birthday was just three days ago and I’m sure his heart might warm up if he sees you in person with a gift for him.” Osbourne suggested as he walked closer.
“I’ll try that.” Ashbourne nodded and turned to his brother once again. “What brings you here?”
Osbourne shrugged. “Just came here to retrieve the tracker for my sword. I need to make another but I’m quite familiar with that tracker so I’ll have the swordsmith link the new weapon with that disc instead of a new one.” He found the disc sitting at the edge of Ashbourne’s table and picked it up.
Since he’d retrieved what he came for, he turned to leave. “Later then.” He waved at his brother and as he imbued a little magic essence into it to track his old weapon, he froze.
Ashbourne noticed and asked. “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I just remembered I needed to visit the family treasury to get the materials needed for the weapon.” Osbourne lied.
“I see. Go on then.” Ashbourne dismisses his brother.
As Osbourne exited the room, his face contorted into a smile. “Damien seems to be alive. Fate must have its reasons.” He chuckled and continued down the hallway toward the family treasury.