Max(End)

The scream that sounded like it was coming from Max's very soul made Aaron tell Woof to go easy, which led to it missing the mark by a few centimeters on purpose, so that the Tera would know just what fate it had escaped due to the quick actions of its master.

The boar, along with Max, landed harmlessly a few meters from Aaron, and as Aaron narrowed his eyes and looked at the prisoner who had insisted that he hadn't wanted to fight, he asked, "Is that all?"

The prisoner was consoling the Tera which was actually…wimpering on the ground, constantly pointing at Woof and itself with its eyes, as if it was heaping on a lot of complaints about the husky which looked on with an uncaring expression.

"All right, all right, I won't call you out next time! Go back in!"

This went on and on for a minute, after which the prisoner said this with exasperation.

As the eyes of the boar twinkled on hearing this, it was absorbed back into the Core with a flash of light.

Aaron had actually been waiting for this, as he wanted to see how many Cores this guy had. That would be a clear indication of how many more Teras he might have.

Right before the Boar vanished, though, he had scanned it with his A.A, and the answer had been enlightening.

"Scanning. One Tera found. Searching in Teratome. Entry found.

Name: Leaping Wild Boar

Description: A species that has evolved with exceptionally strong legs that allows it to leap incredible distances. Appearance is similar to the Wild Boar found before the apocalypse, except for the much sturdier legs.

Type: Normal

Abilities: -Capable of high speed, exceptional charging power, and long and high jumps. Weakness of the front area of the head prevents the usage of 'charge' as an attack

Potential:Rare

Combat Role & Rating:Offense(3-star), Utility(2-star)"

The description of the Tera showed that it was pretty formidable if used in the right way, and Aaron had already experienced this first-hand. Anyone would have been crushed if they were in the landing area of the boar, which looked massive and seemed as if it weighed at least 200 kilos(~440 pounds). Even though it wasn't very tall or wide, its legs really had been rippling with muscles.

After it was put away, the prisoner sheepishly turned around and said, "I…guess we got off on the wrong foot. I'm Max. You are?"

The complete u-turn in the behavior of the prisoner didn't faze Aaron too much, as he had been able to detect that what he had seen before was a farce. There were many Teras in the forest which tried to act like predators that they coincidentally looked like, so spotting whether a snake with 4 spots on its back was one of the most venomous Teras in the area or just a random harmless 3-spotted snake which had rubbed on an additional spot was a skill that he had picked up quickly.

The difference could always be seen in the eyes, and the eyes of the guy in front of Aaron gave him the feeling that he might be of the type whom he hated the most: one who loved to scheme and lie and cheat to get what they wanted.

He didn't decide that this was the case right away, though, as he wanted to see more, but, at the moment, there was no way that he would take another chance.

"Is that all?"

As Aaron repeated the question, Max raised his hands and said, "Yes! That's all!"

Anissa had been watching everything with a very bemused expression on her face, and she had actually chuckled silently when she heard Max's dialogue from before.

Yet, she walked forward and spoke now as she heard Max's words.

"He's lying. That other Core was glowing faintly, so it definitely has a Tera inside."

They were in a shaded area, so Aaron had noticed it too. Yet, he hadn't known what it meant.

Nodding to Anissa to thank her, he set his gaze on Max again, who said, "Look, that really is the only Tera I use for battles. He has a lot of tricks, but no trick is superior to what…ahem, you know what I was going to say. The other Tera is…not for battle."

"Then show it to us, and we can get it over with."

As Anissa said this, Aaron didn't speak, as she had said what was on his mind.

Seeing their expressions, Max could tell that there was no avoiding it.

What the hell had he gotten into?

The reflex speed of that damn wolf, or dog, or whatever it was, had been pretty damn terrifying, and he had realized right away that he wasn't its match unless he…used certain methods that he didn't want to resort to unless there was no other way.

Why couldn't he have gotten a simple Ascender who just wanted to earn some credits? Why had that damn old man sent this cold monster?

Well, he had one last trick, so he prepared to use it, although he was loath to use something that he had prepared for a situation that might be worse.

Cursing the old man, he said, "Fine. This Tera was a gift from someone I admired, and he made me promise that I'll never leave it behind, no matter what happens. It has certain…skills that it likes to put on display if it is called outside, so I must warn you to be careful. Here goes…"

Saying so, Max ran behind a tree and held out his hand gingerly before allowing the second Core between the knuckles of his hand to flash.

The Tera that appeared…looked extremely simple, and Aaron wondered why the prisoner had acted in that way.

It was a large lizard, with scaly green skin and a long body that had a length of at least 6 feet(1.82 m).

As it appeared on the ground, it lazily opened its eyes and looked around before getting up.

As soon as it did…it locked onto Aaron and Anissa, and detecting that something was wrong, Aaron shouted, "Duck!"

He followed his own command as something came shooting in his direction, but Anissa was too slow.

Two things had been shot out, with one missing Aaron and the other hitting Anissa square on her face.

The impact was accompanied by a wet, disgusting sound, and as Aaron looked up, he saw that Max had come out from behind the tree and had heaved a sigh of relief before recalling the Tera into his core.

Turning around, he finally saw what the 'attack' had been.

It was the tail of the lizard, which looked like there was some mucus-like green substance on its edges, which had caked onto Anissa's face even though the tail had fallen on the ground.

For a second, there was silence, after which…

"YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! THIS WAS ON PURPOSE!"

Screaming to high hell, Anissa stormed in Max's direction, who looked like he was expecting it.

However, weirdly, Max stood his ground, and by the time Aaron noticed that something was wrong, it was too late.

The moment Anissa reached him with the intention of pummeling him to death, he caught her hand and, in a swift motion during which the cuffs that had been placed on him never left human skin, he dislocated his thumb and transferred it onto Anissa's smaller hand.

After that, Max even had the time to wave at Aaron with one hand, while the other picked out a green, shiny ball the size of a nail from his undergarments before throwing it on the ground.

A huge puff of green smoke erupted instantly, leaving Anissa and Aaron blinded.

By the time Aaron hastily ran out of the radius of the smoke, it was already too late.

The prisoner was…gone, as if he had vanished into the wind, and the only thing he left behind was the tattered remains of the clothes that he had been wearing.