Chapter 8

Chapter 8: More Missions

"System, give me another combat mission," I said. It took a long pause before a screen popped up in front of me.

DING!

[Quest: Hunt a Hybrid

Objectives: Kill a Saber-tooth Moose Lion

Reward: 4 MP per kill]

Finally! A mission to test out my new martial arts. But I think I bit more than I can chew.

A Saber-Tooth Moose Lion, even an adult male hunter will have a hard time let alone me, a five year old kid. 

Just in anatomy this beast dwarfs me. I heard they are at least 10 feet tall or 3 meters tall. 

Just thinking of that sends shivers down my spine, and you're telling me to kill that? 

But a man must keep true to his words. I requested this and the system gave it to me, so it is only right I should abide by it.

******

After being ungrounded by my parents, I once again headed back to the forest on the pretense of playing outside.

I walked with heavy steps, my mind focused and time-conscious. I don't want to get grounded again lest my training gets reduced.

The shades of the tree washed over me as the small glint of sun rays fell on me, the soft winds blew on my face giving me a sense of tranquility,

If not for my hardened resolve to slay a beast then I would've fallen for the peace of this forest.

However I steeled clear.

I have a mission. 

My father was once a hunter before he found a new job as a fisherman. Besides being a great hunter he is also a great story teller so I know very well where his hunting routes are.

He encountered many animals during his hunting days but he only hunts those he can, which of course are just small games. Those small games are not enough to put food on the table. That's why he shifted his job from being a hunter to a fisherman.

As a hunter my father knew the forest well. He specifically warned me not to wander around the southern part of the forest near the giant boulder where the river diverges. There were many animals there, like Hippo-croc, Two-tailed Monkey, and of course Saber-Tooth Moose Lion.

And that's exactly where I am going. 

The hotspot for my mission. 

It was fairly far away from the village so I had to walk for about half an hour. After passing the forty minute mark I heard the sound of water splashing and the noises of fauna. 

Hearing it, I knew I was at my destination. I once again steeled myself clear and gaze at my target. The saber-tooth moose lion.

It stands at least ten feet high, with brown fur, a long muzzle, and a pair of palm-shaped antlers on its head. Its body and tail are feline in appearance and its two enlarged upper fangs extend past its lower jaw. It also has large clawed paws. 

There were about a whole herd of them just there drinking water from the river peacefully, 

Although their size and appearance as well as their numbers appear intimidating, my father told me that the saber-tooth moose lion is, for the most part, a friendly animal; however, if a mother feels something is threatening its cub, it can become very violent.

So the question remains how will I make it fight me? I'm joking, this is an easy question. I can just grab one of the cubs and just kill, even though it's just a cub it is still a Saber-tooth Moose Lion.

My system will recognize that as a kill and give me my rewards. Its that easy. The real hard question is will my morality allow me to?

I'm already here, and it's not like I came here for some noble intentions, I came here specifically to kill them.

Yet, as I stand here, the weight of what I'm about to do presses down on me. Is it right to take a life, especially one so defenseless, just to fulfill a mission? 

A part of me screams that it's wrong, that no strength is worth the cost of such cruelty. But another part whispers that this is the price of power, that strength demands sacrifice. 

What I want is to escape from weakness and this is the way.

This  is supposed to make me stronger. They are just small sacrifices for the greater good, my greater good. And besides, sooner or later they're gonna be hunted down, either by me or by other hunters.

"Yeah, what I'm about to do is right," I said to myself in a chant. Like a monk reciting his mantra, as if saying it enough times will make it true.

I tell myself that this is bigger than them, that my actions have a purpose beyond the immediate violence. 

But deep down, I know these are just words, a way to soothe the guilt gnawing at my conscience.

Maybe this is just my way of coping, a way to deceive myself into believing that what I'm doing serves some higher purpose when, in reality, my intentions are far from noble. 

Perhaps this is how people justify their worst actions—by dressing them up as necessary evils for the sake of something greater.

But it is what it is.

"I found something new about myself," Never would I have thought like this back in my previous life. Never have I come to the point where I'm in the standpoint between my morals.

And I discovered that I was not the good person that I thought I was.

My eyes wandered at one of the cubs who playfully wandered off from his flock. Then I hid in one of the bushes to hide my presence. I waited patiently for the cub to fully enter my reach and once it was there.

I drew a deep breath, as hot air left my mouth forming a thick steam the energy inside of my body flowed through my arm.

My eyes lock onto the cub, now within reach. I draw a deep breath once again, the warmth of Phoenix Breathing filling me with power. 

'Goodbye.' 

My fist was released. The air screamed from the drag of my force and eventually something horrendous resounded followed by a small squeal.

I felt the warm liquid coating my fist.

*******

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