The Mysterious Mountain Ax Senior

Marius stared at the strange old man that looked no different from a bear, being one head larger than even himself. The old man was currently looking at the fallen tiger, his expression showing curiosity as he shifted it from the corpse towards Marius and his family.

"Hoho... well this is a first, I've never seen anyone at the beginning stages of power, fight and defeat an F Rank Blazing Ice Black Tiger. You, young fellow, are not the ordinary man..." The old man spoke with a smile.

Marius narrowed his eyes at those words, even though the man seemed normal, for someone like this to exist in this kind of mountain, he was far from simple. He thought to himself, 'Who is this elder? He could even sneak up on us without even drawing my attention, never has this happened before on Earth?'

Marius was an elite EX Assassin during his earlier years back on Earth, raised to kill from childhood, his skills so superior, that no matter which tasks were given to him, he could accomplish them with ease due to his astounding natural gifts.

Because of this, he only felt a chill in his heart when looking at this old man; he tried his best to calm down and spoke with a poker face, "Who are you?"

The old man chuckled and replied calmly, "Me? Ah yes, I've been in these mountains for so long, that I've forgotten my decorum. Do please forgive this old mountain man for his behavior. My name... heh, I've grown so old that I've already forgotten such a simple thing. Hmm… why not call me the Mountain Ax Senior?"

Marius frowned and nodded; it seemed that the opposite party wasn't interested in fighting. Since it was so, he was able to now calmed down a bit, but his caution was still in full effect.

Right when he was about to ask what he wanted from them, he felt a slight tremble from one of his arms and noticed that the adorable Little Rose was shaking while fearfully looking away from the old man.

"Eh? My Little Rose, what's wrong?" Marius asked no longer paying attention to the Mountain Ax Senior.

Little Rose placed her head onto his chest, not daring to look at the Mountain Ax Senior as she spoke, "Dadda! He... He's scwwary!"

Marius was puzzled by this, he looked at her carefully and glanced at the Mountain Ax Senior, but as he saw that the man revealed no aura, he was intrigued why his daughter felt so scared. Still, being intrigued was only one thing, right now he knew he had a more important task to do.

"There-there, father is here; you don't need to be scared of anyone..." Marius said, trying to coax her, but this only ended up making her feel sleepy.

"Dadda... I'm sleepy..." Little Rose said, her eyes turning droopy, it seemed that the previous affairs had been far too much for her young mind and body. She nestled her head comfortably on his chest. Soon, she fell asleep, falling into the world of dreams.

Marius smiled as he saw this, gently patting her back as he whispered to her, "Good girl, don't worry, once you wake up, all will be fine again."

While Marius focused on his daughter, the Mountain Ax Senior had a strange look in his eyes as he looked at the little girl, even more so when he glanced at the beauty in Marius's arms that wore a hat. When his eyes stared at the hat, they narrowed as if he saw something, he then looked downward at the frightened Grevlin that hid behind Marius, peeking from behind him.

"Such a peculiar wife and little children you have there... truly an interesting combination indeed. In all my years of living in this world, you, my young friend, are the only man alive to have such a family," Mountain Ax Senior said in a strange tone.

Marius who now looked up, didn't like how the old man was talking; he gently held Little Rose as he patted Grevlin on his head when he directly faced him and asked, "What is it do you want from us?"

Mountain Ax Senior chuckled as he saw Marius's wariness, he spoke, "Your worries are unwarranted; I come with no intention to bring you or your family harm..."

Though Marius heard that and knew it was true, he still didn't let his guard down. The Mountain Ax Senior shook his head and shifted his eyes from then and stared at the sky, noticing that the mists had already faded, revealing the clear blue sky and the endless greenery of the mountain.

He then spoke again, "Morning has now graced us in its full splendor, it's a wonderful sight, but my dear young stranger, I think it would be wise of you to follow me, for you won't be able to survive this mountain range for long, especially with those two children and that wife of yours. Heh, you are fortunate to only encounter only this kind of common beasts after being summoned here..."

When the Mountain Ax Senior said this, he made a willy smile before turning around and walking away at a steady pace, no different from a standard old man hiking through a steep path.

Marius looked at his back in shock, especially when he heard the man saying, 'summoned,' in his statement. He narrowed his eyes while thinking, 'How could he know this? Could it be that he was watching all along and saw when we appeared from the portal? Or is it that he's merely able to perceive something from us that we cannot?'

As if he wanted to confirm something, Marius' eyes turned sharp when he commanded with his mind, "Inspect Status!"

____

Ding!

[Entity's power is vastly superior to the Host's, scanning will be extremely dangerous and may result in the Entity's suspicion.]

____

When Marius saw this, he didn't show surprise, he already had an idea that it would turn out like this, but he still tried his luck.

Though the old man was leaving; it is evident that he was waiting on them to follow along as if he wanted to leave, he would vanish into thin air.

Marius gritted his teeth before deciding with his mind, 'Dammit! Now isn't the time to think, he didn't show ill intentions, and it's obvious that he's many times stronger than myself. If possible, I can use this chance to gather information about this world, only then can I speak with Ria and plot our next course.'

As Marius thought of Ria, he glanced at his unconscious wife in his arms, he sighed seeing her in pain but knew this must, of course, be some strange effect from her secrets.

'I'll need to question her really good after she's awoken from this state...' Marius thought, but he no longer wasted any time, he glanced at Grevlin who still stood behind him and spoke, "Come on Grevlin, let's go."

"O-okay father," Grevlin replied as he promptly followed behind Marius, who hurriedly walked over to the slowly leaving old man.

While walking Grevlin couldn't help but notice the two tiger cubs had arrived nearby, he hesitantly glanced at them, seeing that one of them had white fur with two tiny black lumps on its back, as the other had black fur with two tails and two white lumps on its back.

'I'll just carry them since there here...' Grevlin thought as he picked up the adorable pups and hurried to catch up with his father.

Soon, the newly arrived family had vanished along with the mountain man, fading into the bushes as they made their way to the deepest parts of this unknown mountain range.

****

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