Danger in the Lake

As they travel to the forest, Kei is sharpening his dagger. "My knife is blunt already. I think I have to ask Mark to make one again. You have a spare knife James?" asked Kei.

"I have one." he takes out his knife and gives it to Kei. "Thanks." Kei said.

They saw a Virescent Ox.

"Look. A Virescent Ox. Mind to take it down?" James said.

"Why not? I think you can just hunt it yourself. It's pretty easy." Kei replied.

"Well, anyway, it's just Class F:3 animal. Two arrows are enough. Hehe!" Then James readies his bow and arrow, and points it to the Virescent Ox. Without knowing anything, the Virescent Ox peacefully eats the grass. Then he shoots his arrow to the Virescent Ox's flank. Then another arrow to its ribs. The Virescent Ox tried to run away, but eventually, it falls to the ground. It cannot escape anymore. The bleeding do not stop. James and Kei just walk towards it, they are waiting till it lost its energy. A couple of minutes later, it dies on the grass floor.

James gives him an axe and says "Kei, get some branches or logs. I will cook for our meal today. And also leaves or something flammable to make a fire."

"Got it." Kei replied.

He cuts off branches from the trees and gets leaves from plants. He also found a lake nearby. He went back to James to tell him that there is a lake nearby, where they can take a bath for a while. James agrees to him. He lift up the Virescent Ox to the side of the lake. There, they will spend their night.

"We will meet up with the others the next day. So we have to finish this Loderian Boar tomorrow." said James.

"Alright then. James, do you really want us to join the Hunter's University? I mean, we've just knew from the Chief how selfish those hunters are. They are only after the rewards." Kei spoke.

"Yeah. I'm having second-thoughts about that. Ever since, I dream of attending that school. I like to improve my hunting skills."

"But you know what? You are already improving your skills. We don't need to join that school, actually. Right now, I'm happy to hunt. I'm not so sure if we will be this happy again if we join there."

James sighed "Anyway, eat fast. We'll be setting out early morning. Be sure to have enough sleep."

"Aye..." Kei said as he heard something moving towards them. He looks at the lake, he can sense that something dangerous is coming. "James, ready your weapon. Something's coming." James then quickly takes his bow and arrows. "Are you sure? How can you sense that? I haven't even heard anything."

"I just sense it. I can feel it's moving towards here." Kei said.

They alert themselves. Then a very large crocodile came out of the water and appeared right in front of them. They quickly dodge its bite. Kei tries to pierce the scaly skin of the crocodile, but he failed. His dagger shattered. The Crocodile almost bite him, but he dodge it again. James shoots his arrow at the head of the crocodile, and luckily, he managed to damage it. The Crocodile's head bleeds. Kei climbs over the back of the crocodile and targets its eyes. The Crocodile then spins on the floor, but Kei quickly jumps away from the crocodile. James just shoots arrows to weaken the crocodile's defense. Kei punches the head of the crocodile and holds its mouth to stop it from biting.

"James! Use the axe to slash its belly. Now!" Kei shouted.

James then quickly rushes over the crocodile and gashes its belly. Then Kei releases his hold and let the crocodile bleeds on the ground. It even tried to get back unto the water, but James pulls it back using his force.

James and Kei are both strong hunters. They are physically more stronger than an ordinary person, since they grew up hunting terrible beasts like what they just defeated now.

"*Phew* This crocodile is a hard one. I wonder what kind of beast is this." James said as he breathes deeply.

"It's called the Hypolimnion Crocodile. Of course, it lives in the bottom of this lake. It's under Armored Class. Specifically, Class E:2 monster."

"Class E:2? Phew. That's nice. What more?"

"Some parts are tradeable. It costs 10 H-coins per scale, and 15 H-coins per 1kg meat. Maybe we have to cut its pieces apart. Then deliver it to a nearby market. What do you say?" asked Kei.

"Not a bad idea. But we need to slice its parts, then deliver it tomorrow after we hunt down the Loderian Boar. We will be needing new weapons. Your blade shattered. You need to craft stone knives, Kei. Ah, about the slicing of its parts. I will do it myself. Go sleep now."

"Aye." Kei answered.

"By the way, you're senses improve greatly. Keep it up!"

"Thanks. I don't know how either. Anyway, gonna sleep now. Goodnight, brother."

"Ya. Goodnight too, brother."

And so Kei feel asleep, while James decided to cut off the parts of the crocodile. He's still thinking about how Kei was able to sense the crocodile. Even himself did not hear the monster coming. He cuts off the scales one by one from the crocodile, then its meat. The tender meat, body meat, and the dark tail meat. He put it all inside a clean bag. Then he also go to sleep after all that. The second rule of a hunter, never sleep too much. Anytime at anywhere, death might reap your body. So James and Kei sleep lightly.

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