Caught off guard, Telarin coughed in a sudden fit before ducking away, "O-of course n-not! I don’t know what ya talking about!" he huffed and walked away.

"Tsk, tsk! To be young! Resven continued to chuckle.

Moments later, a steady stream of footsteps resounded across the floor, and Resven could see the girl from before, accompanied by an older man, who had greying hair but still stood straight and upright, his clear hazel eyes scanning the room and falling onto Resven.

’So... this must be Old Gerrick, presumably.’

"Welcome, welcome! My name’s Gerrick, I hear you wish to buy one of my garrons, is that right?"

"Aye, for the cart outside," Resven once more pointed it out.

"Well then, let’s get down to business then"

***

At the base of the mountain peaks north of the clearing, Keren was making his patrol. Bramm had ordered him to scout out ahead the areas surrounding the mountains, especially since the loud rumbling of beasts had grown more frequent.

Bramm had even suggested that Keren should try to find the beast making the loud rumblings in the mountains, if he had enough time and would be safe in the process.

He had ventured through the whole southern and eastern area before midday, and now he had found himself at the base.

’Shit! That bastard of a beast! I couldn’t even scratch it but it kept on chasing me for at least an hour!’ He cursed in his mind. He had earlier in the day run into a beast of Dark Red strength and fled without a moment’s notice. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

The beast, however, seemed to have taken him as prey, and he had no choice but to kite the beast. ’Thank Ocen’ for that damn bear-like beast. Otherwise, I would have probably still been on the run.’

With a thankful sigh, he collected himself and scanned his surroundings in extra caution.

Whilst he had to flee from the beast, he had unknowingly fled into another beast’s territory, and the two beasts came into conflict, which gave him the opportunity to escape.

Gazing at the steep cliffs and slopes of the mountain, he could not help but smile. The sunny day had taken a darker turn, and dark thunder clouds gathered above, which made the mountains look like haunted hills.

’Nothing like climbing for a fun day’s activity... reminds me of back home,’ he gave a chuckle before sprinting off towards one of the steeper cliffs. Pulling out his twin hatchets, he jumped and grasped onto a ledge with his hook.

He leapt from ledge to ledge, making his way towards the top. Jagged edges made the climb all the more fraught with danger, and the wind picked up speed as it slammed against his body.

It didn’t stop him from continuing onwards, however, as he made quick work of the climb and found himself on a particularly big ledge which led straight into a cave.

’Looks like a lair of some sort... guess it must be a pretty big beast if it needs an entrance as big as this one.’

Carefully, he glided against the cave walls, making his way into the darkness. As he continued further inwards, he was certain he had found the beast whose voice rumbled like thunder across the surroundings.

The earth beneath his feet seemed to tremble with each intake of breath, Vitre swirling in the air as he stalked through the dark. He made sure to stick to the edges of the walls.

’Abyssals! This thing definitely isn’t a Red-tier primal!’ he cursed lightly, his feet stumbling as he struggled to move forward with the dense energy breathing towards him.

The tunnel leading to the cave did not last long, however, as he soon saw a light appearing at the end. Turning around the corner, he was standing at the precipice of a cavern, some natural light filtering in from above.

Although not much, since the thunderstorm was raging outside.

It made the area visible enough for Keren to see what type of beast lay out before him. With a quick scan of the area, his eyes fell upon a silver sheen to the side. And his whole body froze.

’Shit, shit, shit!’ Keren cursed himself continually and had no other thought than to escape, ’Of all beasts, I had to run into a bloody Slate Back Wyvern!’

He hurriedly turned around and scuffled away, his thoughts dragged back towards the beast. The beast’s feathers were basically like metal, in colors and durability. The beast had a wingspan, Keren could only guess about 35 feet or larger, based on the size he witnessed.

Whilst his thoughts ran rampant trying to remember each tiny detail of the beast, he could feel the Vitre suddenly spike behind him, ’Oh no! It awakened?!’

Pushing himself to the limit, a phantom of a Great Rusty Anchor appeared behind him as he was enveloped in a red hue. He sprinted across the tunnels as fast as he could.

Seeing the tunnel open up ahead to the downpour of rain, he ducked his head and jumped as far as he could. Grabbing his twin hatchets, he slammed against the mountainside but managed to hook one of the ledges.

Seconds after he was able to grab himself, a terrifying screech echoed above him. Looking up, he was just in time to see the beast stretch its wings like it was the thunderlord itself, unperturbed by thunder and lightning reigning above it.

He had to squint his eyes; the downpour came crashing into his face, making it difficult to see, but that did not stop him from seeing the beast take flight and head towards the central area of the forest.

’Thank Ocen... that thing must have a wingspan of at least 50 feet...’ his eyes were glued to the back of the beast as it flew away, and while he could sigh in relief, the creature had not seen him, he was quickly alerted to another problem.

’Mother of all!’ He cursed; the sudden action he had taken to escape from the beast had left him with a nasty wound or two on his legs and oblique. Blood stained his armor and tunic in an ever-increasing pool.