32 Hunting novice (2/2)
The unskinned bodies were piled up in one place.
”Bait. These will work as bait for the other monsters.”
Doral continued explaining until Joonbum understood that the corpses would be used as bait. Doral grinned as Joonbum barely nodded.
The Ainos finished eating their jerky and water before the moon rose up and hid above the tree, readying themselves for an ambush. Silence fell in the area. They still did not stop preparing as they cleaned off any substances that remained on the arrows and checked to see if they were still sharp.
As for Doral, he was cleaning the Gladius sword Joonbum had bought from Jinchul's shop. He wiped all the blood and flesh off and examined for any damages to the blade. It was easy to see how much he cared for the blade.
This made Joonbum happy.
'Their swords aren't that good.”
The iron crafts they had were all pretty crude. It was natural for Doral to be overjoyed at such a gift.
'Maybe I should give swords to all of them.'
Joonbum closed his eyes as he was thinking about various things while touching his Beretta.
”Joonbum, they're coming!”
He widened his eyes as Joonbum shook him and alerted him with a low voice.
”What?”
”They're coming. Slowly.”
Joonbum turned his eyes to the forest and saw something moving. The sound of branches breaking could be heard everywhere.
'How did he find out?'
Joonbum was becoming curious when he smelled a disgusting odor coming from that direction. It was as if someone had peed all over and it was never cleaned.
”Ugh!”
Doral grinned as Joonbum pinched his nose at the disgusting smell.
”Smell.”
A monster, or a Kerox, started showing up through the bushes where the smell was coming from. They sniffed at the bodies of the dead Odringos and let out whines.
They closed in on the bodies and soon dove into them, feasting on them. There were about seventy corpses, but they fought with each other as they ate them savagely. They kept on fighting with each other even they started eating, stopping in between to fight. When an increased number of Keroxes covered the entire pile of corpses, the whistle of an arrow pierced through the sky.
The arrow pierced one of Kerox's bodies. They started screaming and tried to disperse, but they were soon attacked by a rain of arrows. The Ainos rained their attack upon Keroxes and more than a hundred arrows were fired in a minute.
Joonbum also started shooting. Loud gunshot noises rang through the night sky, covering up the Keroxes screams. The loud noise confused them more than the attack itself, preventing them from running away into the forest. The Ainos took up the chance to attack.
Joonbum breathed heavily. He felt as if a storm had swept through him. It was very different from what he felt earlier in the day. This only took about a minute.
”Hold!”
The Keroxes' whining and screaming continued. They moved desperately to run away, but the Ainos did not kill them off or chase them.
”Why don't we finish them off?”
”It's dangerous right now. There might be more Keroxes hiding in the forest.”
”What?”
Doral pointed toward the darkness.
”Some don't abandon their younglings or packs. Those stay hidden, looking for a chance to grab the youngling or exact revenge. You don't want to encounter these in close combat as they don't die easily. One bite can mean death.”
Joonbum barely understood anything Doral said. But he was able to understand the words, dangerous, bite, and death Just like Doral had said, a Kerox jumped out of the forest and grabbed a youngling with its mouth and ran away. An arrow was shot, but it missed.
”See?”
Joonbum nodded at Doral. He shivered at the sight of the Ainos, the sharpest of shooters, missing the target with a bow. He let out a long sigh.
”Let's rest. It's a bit noisy but we have to stay here until morning.”
The Ainos started leaning against trees and rested. They started eating jerky or drank water while some even started smoking or consuming alcohol.
They were enjoying it freely.