Ben was tensed. He had forgot about the possibility that other beasts or the kin of qon prosimian could come. Ben was at his last leg. He prepared for attack. But when he saw what came out of the dense group of trees, he relaxed. "You have let your guard down boy. Something could have come and killed you."
Ben did not answer that. Mahaansh continued, " You are going to be an army cadet soon. Isn't it common sense that you need to be aware of your surroundings. You caused a commotion here and more animals will come here if it weren't for us."
Mahaansh's tone became softer. " You need to keep this in mind and be alert in this forest. This is not a simulation, but real life."
Vishok and Azurbaan were looking around. Azurbaan was communicating with Vishok. Vishok said " There is a whole bunch of animals converging here. Even though we killed some around the vicinity, some with sharper senses are moving towards this place. We need to move."
Ben and Mahaansh looked around. Ben said " I think this qon prosimian was trying to run to its den or tree. There might be something valuable there. Can't we go around this convergence and go there?"
Vishok and Mahaansh looked at him. Vishok looked at Ben with unbelievable eyes. Mahaansh looked at him with a neutral eye. Before Vishok could say anything, Mahaansh said " We will help you from the beasts coming here. But you need to find the dwelling of the prosimian yourself. But if we help you find it, half the spoils will be ours. The decision is yours."
Vishok looked at Ben and Mahaansh alternatively. He said " Are you mad? Do you have any idea what you are telling this boy? It is dangerous. There might be noble class or lord class prosimians there. Those savages, Ben does not stand a chance." Then he looked at Ben and said, " Ben , look, it is good to take some risks in life. But this is too much. The place may be way above your capability. Don't go."
Ben took a deep breath and calmed his mind. Then he said " I will take that risk. I will not go too close to it. If I sense danger, I will come back. I don't intent to die here."
Vishok: It is not as easy as you think it is. The qon prosimians of high rank can smell blood from a considerable distance. It is also not easy to sense them.
Ben: Still I have to try.
Mahaansh: Let him go. It is his decision.
Vishok tried to protest. But Ben had made the decision. Soon the martial lords used their powers to bypass the incoming animals and escape. The animals came slowly because of the tense situation in the forest. They did not want cause commotions and thought it was a trap. Thus the beasts cautiously approached the site of commotion. Seeing only some rubbles and craters and blood here and there they looked confused. Then some animals seeing their prey and pounced at them. Others seeing their predators tried to flee. Some others seeing their enemies started to fight with them. Thus, another commotion started there.
Meanwhile, Ben was moving towards what he assumed to be the cave or dwelling of the qon prosimian. He moved cautiously towards the direction to where the qon prosimian was trying to run to. Slowly moving he reached a large tree. There was a large hole at a certain height in the tree. Ben thought this was its dwelling.
He carefully climbed the tree. But to his disappointment, he could only find corpses of baby animals with their insides removed. He was not so surprised. By now he understood the cruelty of nature to a certain extent. He had knowledge of its nature. But even now he was not at the receiving end of it. Even then seeing it was not pleasant for Ben. He prevented himself from vomiting and some how climbed down he tree.
He calmed himself down. Then he looked around. With his heightened senses he scanned the surrounding area. Then on his right side he noticed something. The shrubs in that area is slightly damaged. It was not apparent at first look. He walked over there. He saw that there were some branches broken in a line. He followed that straight.
He then reached a large rock formation. Looking at it he thought this was artificially made. He approached it. He looked around and gradually went in.
The light inside was scant. He went in cautiously. Soon he reached what he perceived was the end of the cave. There he found some intact corpses, somewhat preserved plants and some metals and fruits. He did not know what to do. So he just took them all. And quickly went out. This was because he was felt something ominous was looking at him. He felt like it had locked on to him and if he didn't run away, he would have a gruesome end. So he did not linger and he ran away.
Deep inside the cave, there was large open space. Inside it there was large pit. That pit was full of blood. It was not regular blood. The blood was sparkling red in color. Above the pool a lot of corpses were hanging with their major blood vessels slit. Something gradually rose from the pit. It rose into the air. It was completely naked. The blood on it fully went into its body like some kind of force was sucking it inside. The creature looked like natura but with a more pale color. It was almost 7 ft tall. It also had two fangs in its mouth. Its nails were also long like claws of an animal. Unlike natura which had a really pointed ear, this one's ear had a kind of roundness and was pointed at the end, like some leaves.
The creature said in an eerie voice " A marthya with shamanic meridian seed. A pity he is just a beginner knight. If not, his blood would have been a valuable addition. Well, when the night descends and the kingdom of us 'Nocturas' rise, he he, it will be blood bath. " After saying that, its face contorted. The atmosphere in the cave became dark and sinister. Even the creatures outside the cave ran away.
The creature muttered again, " Those damn winged bastards. Their arrogance knows no bounds. Despite being outsmarted by a mere marthya, they are still arrogant as ever. When I get a chance, I will first drink the blood of those bastards."
Saying this the creature calmed down. It went into the blood pond again and gradually submerged in it. The blood from the corpses were still dripping into the pond slowly.