3

Four months passed since then and Tristan had become very powerful. He had trained with all the weights and he could lift about 1000kgs, he speed had become too fast for the naked eye, his reaction had become even more terrifying thanks to fighting everyday. He had been challenging at least five people a day in order to get battle oriented, but he had underestimated his talent because he found himself with battle instincts next to a veteran street fighter, the only thing keeping him back from becoming stronger is the constraints of the human body. Due to his talent, he had even exceeded what other humans couldn't.

With each opponent defeated, he had more and more money that a month ago he and Kyle had gone to live in a two bedroom rental house for the rental fee of 800 bronze coins. Now, Tristan had decided to start earning money the right way and the only thing he could do was hunting. Behind Rainfall town was a huge forest with all types of beast but only the brave trend there. For the weak, this was their burial place but to the strong, this was the place they could profit.

"I don't want you to go!" Kyle cried when he heard this.

"I am sorry, bud, but I have to. The forest is the only place we can actually get more food, more money and a better house to live," Tristan tried to convince the guy using grown up logic.

"But if you die I will be alone!" Kyle bawled even more. Tristan felt for the kid because of what has been going on for four years. Ever since the previous Tristan's mind became mushed, he was the provider and the caretaker, making the kid's mentality to become slightly matured. As his only living relative, the boy was quite scared of him dying and leaving him alone, especially now that they were living in slight comfort. So, he picked up the boy and hugged him, Kyle hugged back, fiercely.

"Listen, I am stronger than I ever was so I can take care of myself. What I am doing is so that you can a good life so that if you have children they won't have to go through the things that we have. Besides, I am not stupid enough to actually challenge an animal that is stronger than me," he reassured the boy who slowly stopped crying. He then looked at him with tears filled eyes.

"Do you promise?" he asked.

"I promise. I will come back home safe and sound," he promised him, making the boy hug him more tightly. That night, they both had fish and rice and Kyle insisted on sleeping with him (curb your evil fantasies, this isn't a LBGTQ novel). The following day, he left Kyle in the hands of a sweet old woman next door with the money for his spending. He then went to the blacksmith's shop where he bought an iron sword and leather armor. When he looked at himself, he could not help but chuckle for he was like the player who did all the side missions in the beginner village, became OP for the village and he was now going to hunt monsters around the village! When he got to the exit gate, he had to sign a death contract because he was a civilian before he got out. Once he was out, he immediately felt the air was different, making him take in deep breaths quite greedily.

After his moment of fun, he walked into the forest which looked like a tropical forest due to how clustered the trees were. He became alert immediately, his battle oriented body ready to spring into action at the slightest hint of danger. His footsteps were quiet, his breathing subtle, his heart beats steady and his senses doing overtime. The cries of different birds made him feel a little bit better because if there was a dangerous beast in here they would all be quiet.

An hour in, he finally found his prey, a black panther. It was lazing on a tree branch, seemingly full for he could see traces of blood on its whiskers. He smiled to himself before creeping towards it and he was lucky his sneaking was godly for he wasn't detected even when he climbed the tree till he stepped on the branch. His weight had made the branch to shake, waking the beast but before it could register what was going on, Tristan had jumped into action. He pounced onto its back, making the panther roar on confusion as it tried to drop the being that was onto its back to no avail. Tristan unsheathed his sword and stabbed it into its neck, making the panther give its last frail and caused both of them to fall.

"Ouch!" Tristan exclaimed in pain as he got soaked by the blood of the panther for it was above him. He proceeded to throw it beside him and started to work. The smell of blood could attract any more beasts and he had to wash off his. Quickly, he skinned the skinned like a veteran hunter which he wasn't, put it into a bag whose hide had been smeared with scent blocking leaves, then added things like the heart, lungs and liver before taking off towards a river. His sense of direction did not fail him for after a few minutes, he reached the river where he immediately started cleaning up. Once he was blood free, he got out of the water, smeared the Scent Hiding leaves on himself before climbing a tree.

This was the right choice for a few moments after, a pack of wolves came to the river, sniffing out his scent. There were ten of them and each were the size of a calf! Which made Tristan wonder what the heck they were eating. The wolves howled to the sky when they couldn't find his scent anymore and soon, ten more pack members with bloody mouths came together with their alpha. Tristan's eyes glowed when he saw the shiny white fur of the alpha that he was tempted to go down and duke it out with it. But, his sense of survival won and he started thinking of ways to kill the wolves. This was because wolves were relentless predators known to chase after their prey for kilometers without giving up. If they find his scent he would be in a pickle. So, he sneaked off among the trees, formulating a plan.

When he was far enough, he got down to the ground and started looking for more prey. The panther's hide would pay a pretty penny of 500 silvers if he bargained good enough. The heart and the rest were for Kyle's health for he was quite unhealthy for a child his age. While still in thought, he heard the small roar of a large carnivore nearby which made him jump into a bush. He waited a moment before stealthily crawling towards where the sound came from. Through the poor lighting, he could see a large bear enjoying a meal of a few berries. As soon as he saw what kind of animal it was, Tristan's mind raced with the possibilities of using fire to kill fire. All he had to do was be patient.

An hour in, the bear was done with its food and started heading home. Tristan followed it on tree tops for another half hour till it reached its cave. To add icing on the cake, he could see two bear cubs running towards their mother in glee. He was surprised the mother did not eat one cub but put that thought to the back of his head. With the location of the bear's den, he then ran back to the river and followed the wolf's trail which coincidentally led him right to their den! He chuckled evilly to himself before slicking back into the canopy.

When it was starting to get dark and the wolves were about to go hunting for twenty plus mouths to feed was just much even for a pack, Tristan decided to make his move. When the hunting party was some distance away, Tristan jumped down from his tree and swaggered towards the den for he was sure there must be cubs in it. He was spotted by a nanny who was about to howl out the signal when Tristan appeared in front of it and decapitated it with one swing. He grinned to himself and walked into the den where he saw another nanny taking care of the cubs. When it heard his footsteps, it turned around and immediately became defensive. Its fur rose, its head pointed forward, its claws scratching the ground and its teeth bared. Tristan looked at the cubs behind her then back at the wolf.

He swung his sword into a combat position, ready for any movement from the wolf in order to start his counter attack. A moment of just intimidating each other, the wolf barked at him before charging. Tristan went to the left and the wolf pounced but he suddenly did a 360 turn to the right as his sword slashed to the left. A headless body of a wolf crumpled to the ground, this was the effect of having peak human reaction and agility. Tristan wiped the blood off his sword on the fur of the dead wolf and turned towards the other cubs.

"Which one of you is going to be my bait against uncles and daddy?" he rhetorically asked. He then saw a cub with patches of white fur and smiled to himself. "Guess you are the winner by default." He then stabbed all the other puppies before picking up the chosen one which was now whimpering in fear. "Don't worry, they say parents can die for their young ones, I am just trying to test that theory." He then walked out of the cave just as the pack arrived. Both parties froze when they saw each other, both not quite understanding what the other was doing there.

"Damn, their sense of smell is amazing!" Tristan said to himself. The cub suddenly whelped pitifully at its father who was now realizing its child was in the hands of an enemy. Without even trying to compromise, he barked at Tristan and charged, making the rest of the pack follow.

"Whelp, time to go, little guy," Tristan said to the puppy and took off, twenty wolves hot on his heels.