CHAPTER 70
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CHAPTER 70
I spent 150 mana to create the bond, but not even half of it was formed. Even though shadowcat was unconscious, it was fighting against me with all of its being.
There was no point in wasting any more mana, so I gave up but learned something new I needed 300 mana to bond with or dominate an adult shadowcat. I slowly opened my eyes and sighed deeply. Even though I tried to console myself, it was a colossal waste of time and effort.
Shadowcat started to wake up when I stopped trying to bond, and I sighed deeply again and started stroking its head. On the other hand, Shadowcat was trying to get rid of the roots as soon as it regained consciousness.
I would love to release you, but you got my scent, and even if you ran away when I released you, you guys are genuinely good at tracking, and I am sure you will try to track me down and hunt me. So, I don't want a headache down the line. I'm sorry, but your life will end today."
I said and stabbed my dagger into its throat. It struggled a bit more, then took its last breath and died.
I canceled the inretio spell and took out my skinning set, and skinned the shadowcat with mastery. While I was skinning this kitten without damaging its fur, I thought of the first rabbit I skinned a year ago. At that time, I had ruined it so severely that it was torn to pieces.
While they were skinning the shadowcat's fur, suddenly, there were whimpering sounds. When I looked in the direction where the sound came from, I realized that the sound was coming from a small den among the rocks. as I approached this den, the whimpering coming from it sounded like it belonged to a puppy. I cautiously looked into the den, and there was a cub inside. I was too big to get in, and the cub was too deep for me to reach and grab it.
"Berus, get inside and get that baby out without hurting him."
"Master, do I have to? It smells like wolves."
I looked at him angrily and shouted in an angry voice.
"of course, it is going to smell like a wolf; it is a fricking wolf's den!"
I spoiled Berus a bit too much, as he can still be counted as a puppy, but I should start being more strict with him. he got in while mumbling something and got the cub out of there. It was grey colored female wolf cub. I don't think I have any luck finding any of the animals I want. Should I just bond with a regular wolf?
shadowcats can also be found south of the wall: Mountains of the Moon of Vale, Mountains around Riverlands, and Red Mountains of Dorne. But each of these places is far from where I live, and this place is the closest place I can find shadowcats.
Let's not be impulsive, I can keep this one for now, and if I can't find any of the ones I want, I will just bond with her. But where do I find shadowcat cubs? I gave the wolf cub to Berus and told him to look after it. Then I continued to skin the carcass. While I was doing that, it hit me like lightning.
"of course, Aermir, you are an idiot."
Why would a shadowcat bring its cub with them when they are hunting. They would only bring them when they became juveniles to teach them how to hunt. The cubs would be in their den. Shadowcat makes their den at high places, with limited access. I turned my sight to the mountains, where the dens would be.
......................
It is tough to climb a mountain while holding a cub, so I made a makeshift basket from some rope, blanket, and branches and put the cub inside it. This way, I can carry her on my back. While climbing, I would use Promodynes ( locate animals ) every time it came out of cooldown to find anyone of the three animals I'm looking for.
As I climb the mountain, it keeps getting colder and colder. I'm beginning to feel the cold before climbing the fur coat, and the stamina buff was enough to keep me warm. But now I'm starting to tire faster, and it feels frigid. The temperature must be thirty below zero or colder now, and I can feel the cold in my bones.
.................
I've been wandering the slopes of this icy mountain for two days and haven't found anything yet; Erebus and Poe would have frozen long ago if it weren't for the training space, so we left their murder at the base of the mountain. My assurance in climbing the mountain so fearlessly was training space, but even it started to feel insufficient now. I seriously began to think about whether I should go back or not. If authenticate didn't work like a natural compass, I would have lost my way on this mountain long ago.
"Promodynes ( locate animals ) shadowcat."
as I was giving up, that beautiful glow started showing itself.
"Yes, yes, yessss!"
at last, I found two of them, which are around 3 km away, but the problem is they are higher up the mountains. Because I'm going to get close to an animal with a perfect sense of smell, I have to use Inanis motu (traceless movement). But first, I will scout with Poe; it is going to be a bit hard for her in this weather, but she can do it.
As I slowly walk up the mountain, through our connection, I can feel Poe is struggling to fly because of the strong winds. I connect with her and share her sight. she goes up and down in the air, flying with great difficulty.
-Poe, if it is hard, come back. We can try and find another den some other time.-
-no, daddy, I can do it; I'm almost there. Look, I can see them-
I hope at least one of them is a cub, and Poe's sight gets clearer so we can see them. one cub and one female, the cub would climb onto its mother's back, and the mother would hit it with her tail and knock it down to the snow, and each time the baby would climb back onto its mother. It was an adorable sight, but at this moment, I didn't care about that at all. Even if it's the sweetest scene in the world, all I can think about right now is the cub is mine.
Poe had perched upon a tree and tried to hide from the harsh wind while we were around 2 km away and slowly getting close to them. If possible, I didn't want to kill the mother. At the end of the day, the cub was going to be a part of my familiars, so I didn't want to kill its mother.
While coming up, I thought of a plan; the mother needed to go hunting, that is why she makes her den in a hard-to-access place; when the mother is away, I will grab the cub. So, when I got close to them, I started to use the Formotegon ( mold earth ) spell to create an underground hiding place for all of us. It took me around 3 hours to finish it. After everyone got in, I closed the entrance and only left small holes so air could get in. this way, we could hide from the mother and be protected against the cold a bit.