6 - First Kill

Val had decided on his plan. He wanted to make this as quick and quiet as possible, so as not to draw the attention of the monsters and beasts fighting nearby. He planned to [Port] behind the goblin and use [Ice Spike] to skewer the Goblin, instantly killing him. For his plan to work, he would have to be as quiet as possible, not making any noise when he is behind the goblin.

Before porting behind the Goblin he checked which part of the goblin was used to verify subjugation, and found out it was the left ear, which should not be an issue as he was aiming for the neck. He also decided to use his [Mana Eyes] he hadn't tested the skill yet because there were no living beings around to use them on.

Once they were active, his vision changed a fair bit. He could clearly see mana particles inside the goblin, the mana particles weren't very condensed which indicated the Goblin did not have a very large mana capacity, nor were they very dark, indicating the Goblin had a low-ranked talent.

He then shifted his vision to the ongoing fight, where the Light Ray Lion had taken down another 2 Orcs and injured 3 more, leaving 7 alive, with 4 of them injured and 3 uninjured. The Light Ray Lion had done well however, he had not come away unscathed, he was bleeding all over his body and it seem like his front left poor was broken. From the density and color darkness of the mana particles, it was not difficult to tell the difference in strength between the beast and the monsters.

What was most interesting was the Light Ray Lion that was laying on the ground behind its partner. Her mana particles had started to disperse and were thinning out, Val predicted it was because she was dying, however, there were two areas within her body that had noticeably different densities of mana particles. The larger of the two was in the area of her lower stomach, her womb. Val guessed it was the baby, as he had noticed she was most likely pregnant, but he was unsure about the other. The other was located on her upper back, close to the middle of her shoulder blades. Val was unaware of what this could be.

Val did not focus on this for too long however, he wanted to eliminate this Goblin and take its short sword, even if the weapon was crap. The young boy took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves, and in a very soft voice said,

"This is it, this will be my first kill, this is the real beginning of my adventuring life."

After pumping himself up, he was prepared.

He ported behind the goblin and immediately cast [Ice Spike], the Goblin noticed something and went to turn around however it was already too late. An ice spike went straight through his neck, spurting blood everywhere and killing him immediately.

Val was surprised at how easily he was able to kill the Goblin,

"That was easier than I thought, everything went as planned."

However, after a few seconds, he woke up from his thoughts and grabbed the short sword from Goblin. He cut the left ear of the Goblin as proof of subjugation and placed it in a rag in his backpack. The Goblin did not have a sheath for the short sword so Val just slid it into his belt for now.

He focused his attention back onto the intense fight going on between the Orcs and the Light Ray Lion. The Orcs had lost another two and all 5 remaining Orcs were injured, but the Light Ray Lion looked like it was on its last legs, it would probably die soon.

It had given a valiant attempt, but the numbers and positional disadvantage were ultimately too much for him. The pregnant Light Ray Lion was already dead, and its body was laying on the ground about 30 meters from Val.

Val focused his attention on the dead female Light Ray Lion and used [Mana Eye]. He was able to see that there were still two areas inside the dead female's body that had mana particles, and at that moment, Val had a very dangerous idea.

He wanted the body, or more precisely, he wanted the baby Light Ray Lion, inside the body, he was also interested in the other area of mana particles as well.

"Is it possible for me to [Port] with the body of the lion, I am not sure but I can test it out with the body of the Goblin. If I can I will have to [Port] from tree to tree to get close then [Port] to the body, but I will have to stay there for 1 sec, the Orcs are faster than me, so it could be dangerous."

Val thought about his options whilst continuing to observe the battle. The Light Ray Lion was attempting to fight back but it was far too weakened to be able to kill any more of the Orcs. The battle was coming to an end so Val had to act quickly.

Val grabbed the arm of the Goblin, which surprisingly was not as heavy as he thought, seeing as how it was a similar size to him, but Val did not have time to think about it. He ported to the tree where he had been before, ported again to another tree closer to the dead female Light Ray Lion, and finally to another tree that was within a 10-meter distance of the body.

Val observed the fight which had come to an end, with the death of the Light Ray Lion, surprisingly he was able to take down one last Orc before dying, leaving 4 injured Orcs. Val decided it was time to act before the Orcs regained their strength and came closer to the female Light Ray Lion's body. The young boy, holding a dead Goblin ported next to the body of the dead female Light Ray Lion. Upon arrival, the surviving Orcs noticed him and were already moving towards him to stop him from stealing their pray and hopefully add another body to their meal. Val realized that they would arrive before he could [Port] away, so he tossed the dead goblin at them and used [Ice Spike]. This move temporarily hindered them but did not stop them for long, as they easily shattered the ice and knocked the Goblin's body away.

It may not have hindered the Orc's movement for long, but it was just enough time for Val to grab the leg of the dead Light Ray Lion and use [Port] to make the distance. Val immediately arrived 10 meters away from the Orcs, hidden behind a tree, however, he knew this was not far enough away nor was he well hidden enough. He took a quick look at the Orcs, who were looking around for him. He wanted to get away as soon as possible. He had not realized it before but his heart was pounding and there was sweat running down his forehead. He was nervous and slightly scared. He knew the current him could not defeat these Orcs even though they were severely injured. He wanted to get away as soon as possible, he had gained a huge amount from this situation, but it would be meaningless if the Orcs caught him and he died.

Val used [Port] again and made more distance, hiding behind another tree that was further away. He took another look at the Orcs and noticed they were splitting up and moving in different directions, looking for him. He knew he had to get out of here as soon as possible and continued to use [Port], moving repeatedly from one hiding spot to another for the next 10 minutes and finally, he was far enough away from the Orcs that he could not see or hear them.

He stayed vigilant and observed his surroundings, but there were no other creatures around him. He sat down for a second to take a rest. He had used [Port] countless times and if it was not for his [Mana Body] he definitely would have collapsed from exhausting all his mana. Even now he was down to the last 5% of his mana reserve. He rested for a few minutes and decided it was time for him to cut open the corpse of the Light Ray Lion. He wanted to [Tame] the Light Ray Lion cub and he was also very interested in finding out what the other object inside the corpse was.

He cut open the lower stomach of the Light Ray Lion's corpse with the short sword he had taken from the Goblin. He was extra careful because he did not want to accidentally cut or hurt the cub. It was a baby and damaging it immediately after birth could result in it dying.

Val cut open the stomach and womb, slowly placing the short sword down next to him and reaching inside, it was a gross experience, but Val still had plenty of adrenaline pumping through his veins so he did not take much notice. He slowly took out his arms, followed by his hand which was holding, what seemed to be a small kitten covered in liquids and a mucus membrane.

Val had some water in his backpack which he used to rinse off the liquids and membrane. Once the small cub was mostly cleaned, Val held it up to his face and looked at it. Their gazes met and...