Chapter 16 - Shadow Forest ( 3 )

While falling I saw the thing that was attacking me.

From some distance away from me stood the leader of the Cat mutants pack.

It looks coldly towards me. I repositioned myself in mid-air and landed safely on the ground.

I also looked at the leader cat mutant. I saw some spirituality in its eyes for a moment but it was replaced by a coldness.

It started to gather purple-coloured light in its mouth. Soon it made a ball of purple light and lunched it in my direction.

I dashed away from the incoming attack. Just as I moved some distance a loud impact sounded behind me.

A shockwave from behind pushed me forward. Using the slight force I increased the distance between myself and the cat mutant leader.

I looked back and found that the leader had not moved from its location after firing the shadow ball.

Does it have recoil or cooldown time? Not minding this issue I continued to run. After several minutes of running, I stopped to catch my breath.

Facing the leader I realized the gap between us. If it's one-on-one I can barely take it on but if those other mutants are added then the situation might get dirty.

Think fast, think fast David. How can I solve the current issue? I can not abandon this pack as finding the shadow bloodlines mutants in large quantities like this one is hard and I need to complete this mission as soon as possible so I can complete the quest.

I used the skill of dual thinking and tried to come up with a plan. Like a lighting, an idea appeared in my mind.

Soon a detailed plan was created which may solve my current problems In one go.

Taking some detours I arrived at the location of the pack.

Just as I expected the whole pack is together including those who went out in the morning. The leader Is still standing in the center of the pack.

Looks like I raised an alarm for these mutants as they might stay together till things go back to normal.

I observed the mutants for some time.

I waited till the pack started to take a rest.

Some mutants continued to guard the area by patrolling from here to there in groups of 2 or 3.

I retreated to the forest and started to search for a special type of herb.

Usually, it grows in places where a rich amount of shadow elemental mana is present. After some searching, I found the thing I wanted.

A kind of purple-coloured grass with tiny red spots on its body. I crushed the grass and added some of the human blood into it.

A red smoke comes out of the mixture. I put the mixture into the bottle and sealed it properly.

Luckily no other mutant came here. I returned to the cat mutant's pack and tried to get as closer to one of the patrolling groups.

I dropped some of the stuff I created on the ground and moved back. I repeated the process until I arrived at the point selected by me. I placed a large amount of stuff near a tree trunk and installed a device In a hidden location.

I climbed the tree and hid in the dense branches. Like a calm hunter, I waited till the prey approached the bait.

From my location whole camp can be seen clearly. I observed the camp and found that one of the patrolling teams had found the stuff I dropped near them. The mutants smelled the stuff and then ate it.

Soon by following the trail of the stuff they arrived at the bottom of the tree where I dropped the large amount of the stuff.

A total of 3 mutants got attracted to my bait. As they were enjoying the meal I pressed the button on the remote.

The device that I installed earlier turned on and created a transparent dome-shaped cover which include the mutants. I jumped from the top of the tree and hit the mutants.

After seeing me mutants tried to roar but strangely no sound came from their mouth.

Taking advantage of their surprise I attacked their weak spot.

In some minutes I killed the 3 cat mutants. From the start till the end, no sound was produced by me or the mutants. After killing the cat mutants I turned off the device.

As soon as the device was turned off the sound returned. This device blocks the sound in the surrounding area by making a barrier-like thing that isolates the inside sound from the outer sound.

Using this I can hunt these cat mutants without making any noise or provoking the whole pack.

The only problem is that this method has its risks like some mutants may run outside the range of the device, device malfunction, device gets damaged during the fight, etc.

But for the current situation, this is the best plan I can implement.

I stored the bodies of the cat mutants and changed them to another location.

By using the same method I hunted several groups of patrolling cat mutants.

I make several trips to the cave where I feed the corpses to the key to increase the shadow storage.

Little by little I filled the key up to 50. But my method got busted after some time.

The leader noticed the missing patrolling members and tried to call them back.

Finding that nobody returned the leader raged and started to look for them near the camp.

While the leader is gone high-level mutants protect the remaining cat mutants.

After some searching the cat mutant leader returned to the camp. Of course, it can not find me as I did not leave a single clue behind.

The leader issued some sort of order and the whole pack gathered together. Nobody separated from the large group.

I clicked my tongue in annoyance. Damn cats why can't they stay stupid for some more time? I was halfway across the target.

Anyway, the sun is about to set so I shall retrieve it for now. I will see the situation of the pack tomorrow.

I returned to the cave and made some more plans for tomorrow. After a simple dinner, I went to sleep.

***

The next day I returned to the same location and found that like yesterday the cat mutants stayed in the group till noon and no mutant left the area.

The leader is personally taking the job of patrolling and luring the leader is not possible with that crapy method of mine. I need to find a solution fast.

I implemented the second plan I created for this type of situation. Two minds can think better than one mind as my skill dual thinking is very useful for a lot of things.

After two hours I made the final preparation. Now the last part is left. I moved deeper into the forest in search of the thing I wanted.

After searching for an hour I found the thing I wanted or I say I found them.

I used the scan on it.

===============

Name – big-mouthed hound

Rank – tier 3 ( Peak )

Race – Mutant ( male )

Bloodline - < omitted >

Skills - < omitted >

Status – Normal

=============

It is a bog-type mutant that has a very big mouth so it got its name. I found a small pack of these guys.

The number is less than the cat mutants but this type of mutant has a very strange habit. It gets angry very easily. If you provoke it the dog will chase you till the end of the world to kill you.

I sneaked around them and stole some of their cubs. The whole pack went mad and started to chase after me like crazy.

After lots of cashing, we arrived near the location of the cat mutant pack. I tossed the cub of the bog mutants in the area of the cat mutants and escaped in another direction.

The leader of the cat mutants gets puzzled by the unexpected cubs but soon gets wary by looking at the small crowd of the dog mutants.

Both sides continued to face each other. Other high and mid-level cat mutants stood together with their leader to face the enemy.

Just as the tension reached the peak an object hit the cub of the dog mutants. It pierced right through its brain and killed it on the spot.

Like a spark on the diesel, a raging fire burned into the eyes of the dog mutants. They attacked the cat mutants like crazy as the cub died was closest to the cat mutant leader.

It was the same cub thrown by me and it was me who threw the small knife at it.

As the natural enemies, the cat and dog mutants started to attack each other.

The intensity of the fight exceeds my imagination but the messier the ground better for me.

During the fight, I sneaked in to collect the bodies of dead cat mutants. Pity the dog mutants did not have shadow bloodline or the harvest would have been doubled.

But good things did not last long. Due to the smaller number, the dog mutants fell to a disadvantage and soon got wiped out by the cat mutants.

The cat mutants also paid a heavy price for this victory as it lost a lot of its members.

Suddenly the cat mutant leader noticed something. It saw fewer corpses of its pack members and found me collecting the dead bodies of its companions.

It roared angrily at me and attacked me with the shadow ball.

I dodged the shadow ball and ran into the forest.

Behind me, all the cat mutants with their leader chased after me.

I ran through many complex areas but the mutants did not care about them. Like a raging bull that has lost all the reasons, they continued to chase me.

After several minutes of chasing I arrived at the special location.

I took a big jump and crossed a large area without stepping on the ground.

The leader and other mutants chased me without noticing my movement.

Suddenly the ground beneath their legs moved and they fell into a deep hole.

But considering the size of the mutants this hole is nothing for them.

Only the leader found that something was wrong and tried to warn others but it's too late now.

I pushed the button and a loud explosion went inside the pit.

A lot of dirt was thrown out mixed with some blood and body parts of the mutants.

I did not want to use this method due to multiple reasons but the time at hand did not allow me to do so. I have to take the most direct and brutal way.

After the dust settled I observed the situation at the pit.

Except for the leader who is mildly injured as others used their bodies to protect it others are mostly dead.

Some are alive but have lost their fighting power as they lie on the ground.

The cat leader looked at me with fury in its eyes.

So the battle is inevitable. I brink some potions and get ready to face the angry beast.

The cat leader leaped out of the hole and attacked me.

Without wasting any time I also attacked it.

Due to the injuries, the cat leader can not show 100% of its power but it is still a very tough opponent or maybe the strongest one I fought till now.

For some time we exchanged lots of attacks. We both get injured and now gasping for air.

Cat mutant started to gather mana in its mouth to summon the shadow ball. Unlike usual I did not try to distance myself from it but instead ran toward the cat leader.

The cat leader was also surprised by my action but could do nothing while using its talent. It accelerated the mana gathering.

Just as I reached near it the cat leader threw the shadow ball at me. I dodged the shadow ball by a hair distance and slid under the belly of the cat leader.

I positioned my sword vertically and cut open its stomach.

Lots of blood gushed out of the wound as the leader let off a roar of pain. The pain aroused its ferocity but its injury can not allow big movements.

Slowly the cat leader started to lose strength. After some final attempts to kill me, the cat leader fell on the ground and let go of its last breath.

Till the end, it continued to attack me as if want to avenge its companion's death. It made me look like a villain who destroyed their happy home which is kind of true.

But what can I do? I have no other option. Either I hunt and get stronger or stay weak and get hunted by others.

After the tiring fight, I did not stop to take a rest but started to store the bodies of cat mutants in the storage bags.

An arrow appeared out of nowhere and landed in front of me.