12 'Hunting' Time

Merez Forest Wolf Alpha POV

'I am so hungry.'

I, along with the rest of the pack, are once again in the search for our next meal.

As I put my nose to the ground, I noticed a peculiar smell. It was a strange smell and completely unfamiliar. But it wasn't unpleasant.

Curious, I used my nose to follow towards the source. It was only a few moments later that I found the perpetrator of the scent.

I quietly yelped to my kin, spurring them to follow me.

As we rushed through the dense foliage, it wasn't long until we were able to catch the silhouette of a strange small creature.

From what I have seen, this creature walks on only two legs. There aren't many creatures within the forest that normally walk on two legs, The only ones that I know are either those infernal black monkeys…..or the 'Lord'.

The damned black monkeys rarely walk upon the forest floor so I eliminate them from my choices.

The only option left is the 'Lord'....but the size of the creature is to different from my memories from seeing the 'Lord' from a distance. It doesn't seem to be even carrying that strange stick either.

On its body, it seems to be covered in strange colorful fur that doesn't look like fur.

Its colorful fur reminds me of the 'Lord' as she too had strange fur. The color of the fur even changes depending on the day.

There is no mistake, this creature must be related to the 'Lord' in some way. Is it her offspring?

Due to my realization, I looked around the surrounding area in trepidation searching for any sign of the 'lord's' presence, My kin, seeing my nervousness, they too began searching around for any danger.

After making sure we saw no signs of the 'Lord's' presence, we slowly calmed down. As our minds relaxed, a brutal light, full of greed and desire, shined from our eyes.

This could be our chance!

'If we were to devour that 'Lord's Offspring'….'

Greed filled the minds of my brethren and I. A delicious prey like this doesn't come by so easily.

After basking in the imagination of a promised future, we returned our focus back to the present. We looked at each other as we were giving one another meaningful stares.

In silent agreement, we instantly all set off towards our ignorant prey.

You are our prey. We won't allow anyone else to get you!

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Aether Beast, the generalized term to describe wildlife that had evolved into creatures that can use the free-flowing energy in the air that is said to be the 'Planet's Lifeforce', Aether. Aether Beasts have a shared trait where they can grow stronger through the absorption of Aether using a special organ found in all Aether Beast. Whether from the air or from other sources, as long as there is Aether, it could be used as a 'tonic' to strengthen an Aether Beast. As such, carnivorous Aether Beast. like the Merez Forest Wolves, frequently prey upon other Aether using beings to strengthen themselves. Herbivorous Aether Beast gets Aether from Aether absorbing plants.

In their minds, if they were to eat Ashe. who they believe to be the offspring of the strongest being in Merez Forest, the 'Lord', they can become stronger. As anyone might have guessed, the 'Lord' which struck fear into all Aether Beast within the Merez Forest is in fact, Aileen. It can be said that all Aether Beasts are devout followers of the creed of 'survival of the fittest'. It's an Aether Beast's instinct to bow down to the strong. In order to preserve Ashe's safety when living in the forest, Aileen had used her profound strength to defeat the previous 'Lord of the forest' to become the new 'Lord'.

As the new 'Lord', Aileen had used her influence of killing the strongest Aether Beast within the forest to scare off potential threats. Aether Beast as exceptionally perceptive to the strong and thus Aileen's plan was successful.

However, while sensitive to the strong, Aether Beasts also hold an deeply ingrained instinct to grow stronger than they were before. If there are any chances for Aether Beast to get stronger starts to appear before them, regardless of the dangers involved, Aether Beast would choose to pursue that chance with everything the got.

In that respect, Ashe had become the perfect prey for a lot. if not all. Aether Beast. As the offspring of the strongest 'Lord' Aileen, in the eyes of the Merez Forest Wolves, he is a walking Aether tonic.

As a common rule, powerful Aether Beast give birth to powerful offsprings. The stronger the Aether Beast is, the more Aether is stored within their body. In the event of giving birth, Aether Beast offsprings can inherit a portion of their parent's Aether reserves. This would give the powerful Aether Beast's offsprings an Aether reserves comparable to other adult-stage Aether Beast which are generally weaker than the powerful Aether Beast.

While the young offsprings of powerful Aether Beast hold huge potential in growth with their in-born Aether reserves, since they are still newborns they are incapable of comparing in strength against any fully grown Aether Beast, no matter how weak. In the eyes of weaker Aether Beast, offspring of powerful Aether Beast or nothing more than juicy, nutrient-packed prey.

However, unlike Aether Beast, human children are unable to inherit the Aether reserves of their parents. While there are slight differences in size, humans have been more or less born with a fixed Aether reserve size range. Regardless of the size capacity of the parents, it bears no influence onto the sizes of their children. Unless there are special circumstances, human children's Aether capacity after birth will not exceed a certain threshold. And unlike Aether Beast, humans are unable to increase their Aether reserves from ingesting Aether filled sources. The special organ found in Aether Beast is missing in humans.

It does not mean, however, that human children are unable to obtain a larger Aether reserve capacity in their entire lives. Otherwise, how could there be adults with Aether reserve capacities that have reached 5 times the size of the children? While Aether Beasts require ingesting Aether filled sources to increase their capacity, the human race had developed special techniques over hundreds of years that allowed them to not only increase their capacity but also allows them to get stronger.

So while one of Ashe's parents is the holder of a large Aether capacity (Aileen), as an untrained child, Ashe is not the same. The Merez Forest Wolves, not knowing that truth, just follow their instincts to hunt for their best chance at growth.

As a racial trait, Merez Forest Wolves, when hunting in packs, typically aim for larger prey bigger than they are. Due to their intelligence, they would rather choose to hunt bigger but slower prey rather than chase after smaller but faster prey in order to properly feed their entire pack in one go. But there are always exceptions. Compared to their racial trait, their instincts to become stronger will override their feeling of hunger and they would collectively hunt that prey regardless of size.

In other words, it could only be chalked up to 'bad luck' as to why Ashe Daemon had become their next target. Having placed their mark, the Merez Forest Wolves will never let go until their prey is dead.

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We easily caught up to the 'Lord's Offspring'.

It moves ridiculously slow. This hunt may be easier than we thought.

It seems that the offspring can't sense our presence. Even smaller beast can notice our presence when we are this close, yet the offspring of the 'Lord' can't...

What an idiotic prey.

I can't help but give a yawn in boredom.

It seems that the offspring is looking for something, but that doesn't matter to us.

As we slowly creep upon our prey, it seems that they found what they were looking for as they shouted in happiness.

'Now!'

As the offspring started running towards whatever they have found, I yelled the signal to begin the hunt and immediately charged towards it.

'You are mine!'

Just before my jaws were ready to bite into the soft flesh of my prey, my teeth hit nothing but air as I soared past my target.

Surprised, I instantly landed and turn my body quickly. It can't be that the offspring noticed, right? Are you telling me that its lack of guard was just a ruse in order to counter us?

As I looked towards the offspring, my raised guard immediately went down.

Phew. It was just a coincidence.

It seems the prey fell down just as I was about to bite them.

How lucky for them.

Unfortunately, the prey now knows that it is currently under attack. The ambush had failed.

As I continued to stare towards it, the offspring started to show signs of fear and fell down on its rear end.

Hmmmmm…..?

What is this?

I had never seen a prey as cowardly as this.

Even if other prey were frightened, they would run at a moment's notice.

Yet, this offspring only sat frozen on the ground shaking in fear.

This is….very interesting.

As an experiment, I growled a little bit at the offspring's direction.

"Eeeeeeek!!"

Ohh. What a nice scream.

Afterward, signaling to the rest of my pack, we began to growl in succession. Without fail the offspring continues to scream and ever so slowly backs away.

How fun!

But after doing this for a while, even fun things lose their appeal.

It's time to finish it off.

With the intent of killing, I once again pounced towards the offspring.

"Ahhhhh!!"

The offspring dodged once again, but this time it did not get scot-free.

With the sensation of tearing flesh, I had successfully used my teeth to scratch the offspring.

The smell of blood filled the air.

Smelling that bloody odor, our instinct to hunt was triggered and a feeling of elation went through our nerves.

This time I won't miss.

I once again charged in. Due to it's wound, the offspring wasn't in a state of mind to dodge.

'Got you.'

Or so I had thought.

*Bwoom*

"Yiiiip!!!"

What....was that?

Why is it I am flying backwards?

If I don't land correctly, I might get hurt.

While blasting backwards into the air, I corrected my posture and landed on the ground.

However, due to the inertia, my feet continue to drag on the ground until I hit a tree with my back.

"Yip!!"

I was blown back? Why? How? Was it the offspring? Impossible! Did the 'Lord' come back?

My mind became a jumbled mess until I noticed an unusual sensation.

What the…..what is this strange pressure?

That was when I finally turn my eyes towards where the offspring had been left shivering.

Huh?

The first thing I recognized was…..'white'.

The silver-gray fur on the top of their head is gradually turning a pure white before my eyes.

As their fur changed color so did it grew in length. What had been short fur, now the fur reached its back.

But that was not what shocked me the most.

Seemingly exuding from the offspring's pores, what appears to be black mist spreads out. The black mist slowly surrounds the offspring until it looks like the offspring was inside a ball of of black smoke.

That black mist gave me only ominous feelings. It was though as if I were to even touch it, only death awaits me.

The black mist continuously moves around the offspring in a spherical form, sometimes leaving gaps between I could see the offspring inside.

From within the sphere, the offspring, whose eyes had been closed this entire time, slowly began to opened them.

Peaking from beneath its eyelids, irises as red as rubies shined brightly. Its pupils became vertical slits that seem to give off an impression of an apex hunter.

...W-what could have possibly happen to make the offspring change so much?

Until just a few moments ago, the offspring had just been a mere shivering piece of meat waiting to served as dinner.

Now it exudes a dangerous feeling that overwhelms even me.

As that thought passed through my mind, my pride had been triggered, my anger ignited.

Overwhelmed....me!? Impossible!!

It just the final gambit of a weak prey just before the moment they are hunted.

Not something I've never not seen before.

I had seen countless examples of small prey releasing all of their Aether in hopes of chasing us off.

In the end however, they merely found their way into my stomach.

This offspring isn't any different.

'Don't you dare show off your meager threats in front of me! Just obediently become my next meal!'

With a howl, I urged the rest of my pack to attack all together.

'Let's us show you how meaningless your struggle is!'

With experienced ease, we as a pack leapt at staggered intervals. Using this tactic, we've never missed a catch we set our eyes on.

Even if they were to dodge the first wave, can you continue to dodge the second or the third wave?

With this. the offspring will have nowhere to escape and be instantly torn to shreds. Just as planned!

….or that is how it was suppose to happen.

"…oooOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHAAAAAHHH!!!!"

The offspring's mouth a guttural roar of a beast was released. The offspring then began to charge straight into our formation with one arm raised as if to spear us.

'Stupid mutt! You just made things easier for us!'

With the feeling of elation, the first of my kin who had charged in first instantly open their jaws aiming to tear off the offspring's arm.

My kin and the offspring made contact at the same time.

At the moment of contact…. a large fiery explosion occurred.

'….Huh?'

Smoke from the explosion wafted towards us, making it impossible for us to see what had happened.

After the smoke cleared, from the aftermath of the explosion only the scene of the offspring with it's arm outstretched and the headless corpse of my kin was left.

…

It was as if time froze.

Just now…..what was that?

Are you telling me that weakling pup…did that….to one of my kin?

Even so….what was that power!?

In my entire life, I never saw such a strange power.

It was as if the black mist that surrounded the offspring had transformed into black flames.

Not just any black flame. It was as if that flame was an amalgamation of hatred and resentment.

The fur on our bodies can't help but stand up in the face of such ominous flame.

After releasing the flame, the offspring slowly lowers it's outstretched hand.

A few seconds of silence.

With a flick of it's head, the offspring turns in my direction as their eyes glow blood red.

...We made the wrong choice.

We shouldn't have gotten greedy.

The moment we knew it was the 'Lord's Offspring' we should have left it alone.

What we thought was just prey had instead became the hunter.

The offspring instantly shortened the distance between us.

…

That was the last thing I saw.