38. First dalki encounter

"Unbelievable, you got the best pick-up line to grab her attention. Wait you are serious? She is one of the heroes of war; Malia. She got the nickname snow white or unfazed killer or ..." Robert shut immediately when Malia looked at him.

Even after listening to the new details, Abraham could still not figure out who she was. For someone to be considered a hero of war, they had to make a huge contribution and Abraham only knew about Leo the blind swordsman, and Oscar the second in command of the military, and the leader of each group.

There was only one possibility. If there was no mention of someone such as her in the original book, it means she did not survive until the start of the original story. Just then Abraham remember something. There was once a very short mention of a mysterious woman that save one of Quinn's friends during a dalki attack. Maybe that was referring to her but after that, the woman was never mentioned again.

"Ok, I have not read anything about the different people considered as a hero. Sorry for not giving you the respect you deserve." After aligning his thought, Abraham looked at Malia and the latter gave a nod of approval. Abraham change the conversation and talked to them if they want to go beast hunting to familiarize themselves with each other.

At first, Malia did not want to be part of their group but after consent pleading from Gwen, she finally gave in. Gwen was among the few people that could approach Malia as the late elder sister of Gwen was a best friend of Malia.

When they reached the gate to exit the settlement, they had to show their Travelers card to gain access to the outside world. On one side of the card were the traveler rank while the other side contained the ability level and the nickname of the person. Abraham found each of his companions' abilities. Gwen had a level 5 ability of superstrength while Robert had a level 5 ability of telekinesis. Abraham found that they had the nickname "RedPower" and "silentControl" respectively. As for Malia, the reason for her achievement and her cold attitude were understandable. She was a level 8 ice user with the nickname "SnowWhite".

When the turn of Abraham came and he showed his card, everyone was dumbfounded.

"WHAT. YOU HAVE A LEVEL 8 SUPERHUMAN ABILITY." Gwen shouted so loudly that even she was shocked by her loud voice.

Abraham just returned a smile to them. When the Green updated his rank from "F" to "C", he also asked them to apply the change to his level. The reason behind the shock was not just because Abraham was a level 8 which was rare but also because most if not all level 8 users were arrogant. They would not mingle with lower-level people. The way Abraham talked to them and at no time boosted about his high level gave them a really good impression.

Even Malia was impressed. Now it was their turn to be digging their memory. They should have the knowledge of a level 8 superhuman ability user but Abraham was a total stranger to them. Just as they were about to question Abraham, he exited the gate, and shortly after the others followed.

---

Based on the map the Green has given Abraham, he has set foot in that direction. In a way, they could hunt beasts on the journey and maybe Abraham could separate later to approach the dalki base. When they first exited the village, they had to walk some distance to meet their first beast of the day. On every planet where a human settlement was built, the people would make sure to clear the surrounding area to prevent surprise attacks from beasts.

The first beast they meet was only at the basic tier. The beast was four-legged and the end looked similar to that of a duck. It was the size of an average dog and would navigate like a frog. For the first beast, Malia and Abraham decided to stand by the side and let the duo handle the beast. If at any moment they were in difficulties, Abraham or Malia would jump in.

Gwen and Robert had great synchrony. Gwen having the strength ability would attack in a close combat mode using her axe. Robert would stay a little behind providing support most of the time. With his telekinesis, he would use objects already in his surrounding to make them hit the target.

Although Robert has become a pro in having a ranged ability, he had always desired to have close combat and stay by Gwen's side when fighting. The first hunt rapidly ended and the group continued to go deeper leaving behind them the settlement.

Most of the time they would meet a basic-level beast and they would take turns confronting the beast. The beast crystal was kept by the one who was fighting. After several hours, they finally met an intermediate beast and it was Malia's turn to fight. When the beast came in a radius of five meters near Malia, she gave a rapid swing of her sword. A cold slash left the tip of the sword and went in the direction of the beast. It didn't have any times to reach as the attack hit it and the beast was killed on the spot.

The turn of Abraham also came and with just a normal punch, an intermediate beast was killed. When Abraham killed the beast, both Gwen and Robert were amazed at how easy Abraham made it look. As for Malia, she had a different feeling and only one thought was in her mind. The man in front of her was extremely strong. Even though she had also killed an intermediate beast in a single attack, she was fully equipped from top to bottom with beast equipment. Each of them provided different stats but when looking at Abraham, she found him wearing simple cothes.

After killing their fourth intermediate beast of the day, the group was going deeper into the forest.

Suddenly, Abraham stopped and signal them to remain quiet. He concentrated until he figure out the noise. It was the noise of a fight in progress. Judging from the distance, Abraham guess the beast needed to be around the Advanced level to be able to produce such a sound.

"I think there is a fight going on among beasts in that direction. I will go and check. Continue to explore and I will join you back." Abraham pointed in the direction he was going. Neither of them was concerned as both parties had a level 8 ability user.

As Abraham got closer to the noise, he could also see battle trace all around the area. He activated his shadow cloak ability to stay hidden and he slowly got behind a tree. In front of him, there was two creature fighting each other.

[Inspect]

On the right side, an Advanced beast crawling on a large number of legs could be seen. On both ends, a pincer was present making it difficult to know which side was the tail and which side was the head. When seeing the creature on the left, Abraham knew exactly what it was without even needing the system to confirm.

[Dalki: A half-human, half-beast race]

The Dalki was tall, a lot taller than an average human but not too big that they looked like giants. This one, in particular, stood around 7 feet tall. However, their body frames were different. Just like humans, they walked on two feet and had two arms, but their muscle structure was magnificent.

Nearly every muscle fiber on their body could be seen.

Just like the humans as well, they wore beast gear to increase their power but this one right now was completely naked. One distinctive observation was that the dalki had no reproductive organs.

The Dalki were a race that looked similar to dragons in human myths, only more human. They had scale-like features running from the side of their body running up to the top of their neck. Their eyes were slightly pointed and more oval-shaped, and their hands were shaped like claws with a tail sticking from its behind.

This particular dalki had a single spike coming out from its back.

Looking at the situation in front of him, the dalki looked to be on the losing side. It had injuries all over its body. The advanced beast looked to be a real challenge for the dalki.

Abraham remained hidden behind the tree to observe the fight. There was a big difference between reading something from a book and experiencing it. He wanted to know the way a dalki fought if it had any other noticeable feature lot weakness that was not mentioned in the original book.

One of the reasons a dalki was considered more difficult to defeat compared to a beast was their ability to get stronger the more they were injured.

And that was exactly what was happening to the dalki. He was slowly evading the pincers of the best but still, the dalki was not able to land any hit. At one instance when the dalki threw a punch the beast was able, the put the dalki's hand between the pincer. But due to the dalki hard skin, the hand was not separated instantly. The dalki looked in some much pain as slowly the pincer was breaking the scale on the hand and green blood was flowing from it.

In a state of agitation, the dalki grabbed the beast using his other hand and pulled the beast away. Due to its strength, the dalki had sent the beast some meters away.

He was finally free from the pincer but in pulling the beast, it was able to cut the hand completely from the arm. Ignoring the pain, the enraged dalki immediately went after the beast to take its revenge.

As both creatures were no more present, Abraham got out of his hiding spot and walked towards the recent fighting place. He finally stopped when he came next to the dalki's hand lying on the group. The hand was still twitching and blood was coming out from it. Abraham looked at the green blood and used his Inspect skill.

[Inspect]

[Dalki blood]

[Consuming the blood will have unknown effects on the host]