“Sir! What kind of environment are we going to?” a student asked.
“You all are going to be teleported to the forest environment, this place will test your skills to spot and hunt animals in tight places with many places to hide. You will also need to be cautious of magic as well, those who make their familiars of material not present in this region you should be careful because it would take much longer for your familiar to regain his body once it can be summoned once more.” he warned them and his eyes met Xero’s for a moment before his eyes moved away. “Now then, each of us will take one group, for me I will take the Level 1 group because it's the largest and if need be I am the most competent to reach and protect such a large number of students. Obviously we will not move in one massive group and each will get a magic protection charm. The other three groups will be lead by one of these three.” He said and gestured behind him.
The three introduced themselves as Grunt’s assistants and disciples they summoned their familiars and shockingly they were only support type creatures. One was small fae that was gripping a Princess Daisy, which is a magical herb with amazing restorative capabilities, another as a strange floating red rock that radiated heat like the sun and seemed to have a strong purifying effect around it and the last was a floating golden key the kept floating around the head of its master.
Each one took one group and strangely the one with the key took the level 4 group.
“Alright, we can go out.” Grunt said and turned and did a bow to the old man who nodded.
On the archway a weak glow appeared above it and the portal turned green before opening up to a large forest.
“Entrance portal in Layer 0 is open groups 1 and 2 may enter.” He said and put his hand into his magical bag and withdraw a magic protection charm.
“Follow me and each one of you take one charm.” Grunt shouted and took one himself so that he could use it to exit the training area.
Group 1 soon followed and each passing, bowed to the elder and took the charm. It was customary as taught by the school to respect this old man even above the principal but no one knew why.
While Xero waited he felt a little tug on his shirt and looked back to see the halfling girl. Although she is a halfling, because she is still a child she is smaller than him. Xero is 11 years old and so is she but due to her slow growing genetics she looks like a 7 or 8 year old making her much smaller than others.
“Do you need something Meldie?” Xero asked.
Meldie is her first name and because one of the few people he doesn’t have conflict with due to her gentle disposition.
“Um… is it possible for me to partner with you?” She asked shyly.
He thought a moment and smiled before putting his hand on her head and patting. Her eyes close half way as a small smile appears on her lips. “Sure we can partner up.” He said.
Hearing his words she looked up and noticed what was happening and flinched before hopping back and covering her head. “D-don’t d-do that.” She murmured shyly and blushed.
It’s unknown why but halflings possess a weak spot for petting their head, it has been something they try to avoid because they love it but because of it they are treated like kids.
“Just like they say, petting halflings does heal you.” Xero chuckled.
Eventually the two got a charm and entered and in front of them they found Grunt and move beyond him were many people going in different directions.
“Boy, good you're here, this is a big test for you. Don’t let your familiar do all the hunting and control it, understood?” He shouted.
“How do I do that without warning the prey?” Xero asked and received a hit on the head.
“Through your mental link you numb skull or did you forget that as well? Now get going, you have only three hours for lunch, don’t go blowing up your familiar either because the time it takes for it to rebuild itself is long and it would cause forest fires.” He said.
Xero rubbed his head and nodded before he walked past the old bear with the little halfling walking behind him. In the starting layer there wasn’t much underbrush but there was trees and the sunlight had some trouble to reach the ground.
Before reaching the first layer he summons Ash. “We are hunting, keep a lookout for animals, if you spot, smell or hear one don’t pounce, warn me first, if one ambushes us attack. Make sure that she is safe.” Xero says.
Ash looked towards Meldie then back to Xero.
They start walking further into the forest and when they feel the mana get denser they also notice the underbrush growing denser making movement get harder. Xero removes his sword and swings to slowly make a path but that was rare since the trees weren’t that close and only had large branches is all.
After half an hour Meldie began to grow tired.
“Can… we rest…” She said huffing.
Xero looked back and the sweating girl and sighed. He pulled the collar of his shirt and to unstick it from his body that was sweating. He had already removed the robe and vest because the forest is a humid environment. Backed by the heat from the sun it made it a hot tropical place.
“Sure, we can rest a short whi…” Just then a strong mental stimulus came from the seal and he looked at Ash who was at the ready while it’s ears twitched and it was sniffing the air. It’s head moved left and right before it’s face pointed towards the left side and it growled.
Xero looked over and pulled Meldie behind him, “Be careful something is here.” He said quietly.
Given his strength he wanted to provoke whatever was hiding out so he slowly crouched down and picked up a rock and through the mental link he said, “When the monster attacks intercept it.”
The order given, he moved the rock to his right hand and the sword to his left and with a strong pitch the rock flew right into the bushes.
“Groah!” A yelp came and suddenly a spotted figure jumped out with shocking speed. Covering half the distance it then jumped towards Xero.
Bang!
A dark figure slammed into it’s side and clawed at the face and tried to bite into the neck but the hide was strong. Though the clawing left a large gash on the face over one eye the monster fell sideways and suddenly sprawled and then curled up quickly and kicked the body of its attacker.
The one that attacked was obviously Ash but when Xero saw the monster that attacked his eyes widened and his pupils shrank.
“Level 2, Spotted Razor Fang Leopard.” He muttered.
Ash got up unfazed by the kick and it started to sniff and looked at the Leopard and grinned before licking its bloody claws. It was prepared to attack before Xero stopped it.
“Let it come first, then jump to the left to dodge before attacking from the side and tipping it over again and clawing it.” He ordered it through the link and slowly pushed Meldie back. “Slowly walk back, be careful to not trip.” He said softly and she looked back to carefully move back. The Leopard was circling Ash and his head slowly followed it. Every three seconds he would sniff the air because the feline didn’t make much sound but it probably still heard something.
“GROWAH!” he suddenly roared and moved like lightning as it attacked and Ash faced it before jumping to the left and doing as Xero told. It dodged the jump and then turned to ram it once more and clawed at the front leg and the chest under the ribs. It made two sets of huge gashes that started to bleed out but like before the Leopard kicked it off but this time it suddenly advanced.
“Roll to the right and get up then jump up quick!” Xero ordered and just as Ash hit the ground he stabilized himself and rolled to the right and got up quick and jumped up dodging the paw swipe. Because it happened so suddenly the Leopard didn’t notice he jumped and a moment later he fell on it’s back. Following the new orders, “If you land on its back stab your claws into it and grip down strongly, than saddle it and tire it out.”
Although the landing was a bit off from the proper sitting position almost falling off once it clawed into the back of the le
opard he fixed himself and clawed into its side. At once the Leopard began to buck and roll but Ash remained on because the claws were firmly in the back.
“Claw the eyes!” Xero ordered and Ash removed one claw and pulled the other making the Leopard roar in pain before it swung its hand clawed at the face.
In a very short time the face became mangled and even the eyes had burst due to the clawing and finally the level 2 beast fell over. Quickly Xero said “Don’t eat it!”
“We won!” He said sighing.
“Wow, I didn’t think the imp was so strong!” Meldie muttered.
“It’s not, this is human’s greatest weapons, you need to make strategy.” Xero said and stood out from the tree he hiding behind. The leopard had taken Ash a distance and he had been following while remaining out of sight. Now with the beast dead he walked up.
Meldie trembled seeing the body but Xero had seen dead creatures before. Being a commoner his family hunted once or twice before so seeing a Level 1 or 2 monster dead wasn’t something to difficult. Opening the jaw Xero removed an incisors that were the token for felines and canine.
Storing it he sighed, “You can eat it but don’t use magic to self destruct.” He said and turned making sure Meldie turned as well and allowed Ash to eat.
“Well that was a rough start.” He muttered.
"I wonder why a level 2 is so close to the edge?” Meldie asked.
“There is nothing restricting it, it’s a predator and this is supposed to be the home for the herbivores so they come to hunt.” Xero said and looked back seeing the body already half eaten. “We should be more careful, this is a good time to teach you and your familiar a few things about the woods I guess.” He said.
“Eh?” the halfling looked shocked.
Xero turned and picked a small plant and smiled, “Just so you know, you can look for this plant when you need a natural healing paste.” He said. Like that he began to show surrounding plants that were medical. He explained the details of how to identify and he also stored a few.
After that he recalled the Imp causing the blood on its body to be cleaned off somehow and they continued on.
Chapter 6
Xero runs up the Ash who was bringing back another monster.
“This is number 35.” Xero sighed and looked at the rabbit that was the size of a dog and had three horns with the middle one being the longest and having a golden tip. “This is really slow hunting.” He muttered.
“But you're such a good hunter.” Meldie said, “Your Im… Ash is already as strong as a level 2 monster.” She said.
“No it's not, it’s strength is definatly level 1, it can’t even lift more than 10 kilos and its slower then a 4 year old. It only has good jumping ability like a level 2 because it naturally developed that before I summoned it.” Xero said.
“But isn’t that good? After all this test is for testing your control.” Meldie said confused.
“Yeah he is strong when I control it but he is still an Ash golem, a level 1 weak monster made of easily breakable ash that was compacted into a body.” He complained.
“But… isn’t that the whole point of being a mage?” She said.
“What is?” he asked.
“Controlling the familiar completely and having them fight as you want.” She asked.
“Even if it’s good it doesn’t change the fact that he is weak.”
Meldie was forcing a wry smile at this point and there was a bit of sweat on her forehead and her mouth twitched as she listened to him. “Does he not realize that the imp was able to hunt 12 level 2 monsters and 23 level 1 monsters without dying once? Could it be that he believes he is weak as well?” She pondered.
Its nothing new to her that Xero has been targeted by the nobles because he is the poorest but it's also not anything new that he is a monster in physical training and even Professor Grunt took a liking to him, everyone knows Grunt Crack only likes people who show potential in creating a powerful body for themselves instead of depending on their familiars.
Still she looked at the Imp, it was already taller than her and the figure wasn’t so skinny, its movements weren’t fluid but when receiving orders it moved just as he commands. His own fighting talent he uses to transfer to the familiar makes it really strong.
“Big bro said that sentient beings like humans are naturally weak compared to monsters but their strength is their ability to think. Doesn’t that mean that the imp’s abilities plus Xero’s hunting talent make him strong?” She thought.
Even then she didn’t say anything and just watched as he removed the main horn from the rabbit and the rest was devoured by the imp. The horns seem to shine as it ate but that was all.
Like every time it eats it tries to activate magic, “Don’t use magic.” Xero says and stops the Imp from using magic to self destruct. Even without letting it break down and rebuild, his body was still improving with the meat he ate energizing his bones and muscles.
That said like all demons, most of the energy is stored inside the demon core and only death releases it which is why Ash wanted to die, it wanted to use its power.
Storing the golden tipped horn Xero does a count and then looks at his wrist that holds a magic device for telling time.
“We have about an hour left until lunch and I gathered 47 points worth of hunt. This sucks.” He cursed
Meldie behind him could only smile, “That's good isn’t it? The record for level 1 group isn’t that high either.” She thought to herself.
Xero sighs and stands up, “Let’s go, we need to keep hunting.” He said and told the orders like always to only warn him when prey was found.
They kept moving through the bushes and soon came upon a lake. He stopped them both and crouched before peering out into the water. Taking a stop the threw it hard at the edge of the lake far off almost 100 meters away.
Instantly the area became riddled with what looked like driftwood.
“Freshwater Alligators, Level 2 almost level 3 monsters and there are lots of them.” Xero said.
Alligators were lizards that naturally grew to level 3 at adulthood their full size was that of almost 4 meters in length and it is said a rare few can evolve into a Level 4 Crocodile Dragon that can rise to level 10, most of these were adolescent and were only level 2.
“Let’s circle around and see if we can’t find something on shore and alone.” Xero said.
Saying that they follow the shore line but all they find is some really large ones almost level 3.
Xero himself had hunted with Grunt and could say he could kill a Level 3 his familiar was too weak for it. He looked at Ash’s hand and sighed when he saw no thumb.
“If only he had thumbs, I could train him to use weapons then.” Xero thought but sighed. “Let's go back, there is nothing weak enough for us to kill. Ash can’t attack any of them.”
As soon as Xero said that a growl came and a lot of splashing was heard before the group saw a Razor Fang Leopard coming out of the water dragging another smaller level 2 Alligator with great effort. The lizard tried to attack but it was grabbed at the neck and even when it tried to lash its tail it couldn’t build the momentum.
The lizard was dragged into the forest and Xero grinned upon seeing this. “Let’s go.” He said
The group moved quietly as they watched from afar the Leopard gain a good distance from the lake before it bit down harder and pierced the skin of the Alligator and began to let it bleed out.
“This is the perfect chance.” Xero muttered and turns Ash to face a specific direction, “Walk quietly through the bushes ten paces forward making as little sound as possible then turn to face directly to the left and then take three paces forward quietly then jump up and land four meters forward. Saddle the Leopard and claw at its face with on hand and claw into its body and grip on.” He ordered.
Ash began to execute the orders and walked slowly feeling the bushes around it and being careful and then turn to face the Leopard from behind and walked fo
rward before jumping landing right on the back of the Leopard mounted like it was a horse. It quickly clawed the neck with one hand and clawed the face with the right and by chance one claw stabbed into the eye that burst.
The Leopard instantly let go of the Alligator and began to thrash about and the neck moment the tail of the reptile came in. “Jump!”
On cue Xero made Ash jump and the tail only whipped the Leopard while Ash landed with the tail of the lizard between his legs.
“Find the source of the smell of blood and jump at it and claw and bite into it.”
This had become a high intensity three way battle. The Leopard was stunned by the tail whip and probably had one leg broken because it was whining in pain but slowly it began to get up and limp. The ribs and a few other bones were broken as well.
That said the Leopard only moved away from the fight but remained hidden but from behind Xero still had it in view. It probably had in mind to attack the weakened enemy.
Ash, following the orders, was currently clawing at the open wound but suddenly the Alligator did a rapid roll that caused the Imp to flip with it due to gripping it. Xero could feel the damage through the link but the ash that broke off began to slowly gather once more once the reptile stopped.
Ash’s legs were broken though but it bit into the beast and suddenly ripped out a huge chunk of meat and swallowed. The alligator hissed as it was viciously bitten and had its blood drunk by the imp. What surprised Xero was that the wounds began to quickly heal as Ash ate the Alligator alive and quickly the wounded body was back to full strength and the reptile was dead with part of its head eaten off.
“Jump away!” Xero shouted and Ash followed just as the Leopard jumped at the Imp.
The injured feline landed but the injured side of it caused it to tip over and fell on its weak side making it roar in pain.
The following orders from Xero made Ash accurately aim for the chest of the feline and then the head and quickly clawed it to death which he finally ordered to stop. The two ran up and he began to remove one fang from each of them.
My Blind Familiar_The Ash Golem Page 6
