30 Ambushed (1/2)

”Maybe it sees you as its mother…”

Taku's expression turned dark when he heard this. ”There is no way that could happen. It's not like it hasn't seen its mother before. So there is no way that's possible… right?”

Tino grinned when he saw this reaction. ”Tell me mama lion, do you have a better reason for why it is constantly following you. The only thing that is left is for it to ask for milk, only then can we be completely sure.”

Even though Taku knew that Tino's theory was probably bullshit, he couldn't help but shiver at the thought of the little cub asking for milk from him. Just how was he supposed to pull that off? He looked suspiciously at the cub beside him and couldn't help but smile wryly.

”Anyway…” Tino started. ”We should get going. We are already a week behind schedule. We shouldn't keep our teammates waiting.”

Taku just shook his head and replied.

”So what if they wait, it's just a week after all. It is not like they will die of waiting.”

**

”How long till we reach the Tohwe tree…?” Tino asked.

”According to the map…” Taku started as he took out the map. ”We are about two weeks away. We should pick up the pace a bit.”

”I can't believe this little fellow is still following us though.” Tino said as he looked at the cub that matching them for pace.

Hearing this Taku looked at the lion cub with a warm expression and replied.

”Yeah… but it has not been a burden on us, in fact it has saved us a couple of times. So far I have collected 3 tier two beast cores for it. Do you think it will be enough for it to break through to the next tier?”

Tino shook his head. ”Even though consuming beast core would be faster for it than to absorb Zesa, it would still take a large amount of tier two beast core for it to break through.”

It had been a month since the two broke through to the tohwe level and they had used this month to solidify their cultivation bases. In this one month they had fought with at least a dozen peak tier one beasts and 3 tier two beasts. It was a relatively easy battle when they fought against the tier one Demonic Beasts, but it took a massive amount of effort in order for them to kill the tier two beasts.

At a certain point the two of them almost lost their lives whilst fighting a Red Scaled Rhino. Apart from its hard defence which was near indestructible, it also had a massive amount of strength that had left the two teens flabbergasted. At the end of the day it was actually the lion cub that ended up taking the Rhino's life.

It had sneaked under the Rhino's body when it was defending against the two. It then launched its jaw towards the only part which was not covered in scales, and that was its belly. It was a fatal hit and after only ten breaths of wailing in agony the Rhino finally died.

Taku had retrieved the Core from the Rhino with the intention of feeding it to the cub when the situation had calmed down.

After travelling for another two or so days the two decided to take a short break and rest a bit. It was at this moment that Taku gave the three beast core to the cub. Instead of taking them one by one the cub gulped all three down. After doing this it sank into deep sleep. When it was time for them to leave the cub still had not woken up yet, the two just shook their head helplessly as Taku put the Cub back into his storage sack.

”Have you thought about naming it?” Tino asked.

”No actually I haven't yet…” Taku replied as he sunk deep into thought. It never crossed his mind because there had never been a time he needed to call it over. The little cub had always been right beside him. After thinking for a while his eyes suddenly lit up as he said. ”How about we call Him Ganyamuto?”

”Hahaha…” Tino couldn't help but laugh when he heard this. ”It's not a dog. Don't you know that lions belong to the cat lineage?”

”I know that much…” Taku started. ”But first of all, you probably do not have anything better. And have you not noticed how most male lions look nothing like cats? They look more like huge Dogs with a mane.”

”Still, It would not be right to name a cat a dog. We will naturally come up with a name for it in time.” Tino replied.

Taku nodded as the two continued on their journey. In the following two weeks Taku and Tino travelled without much of a hassle. Apart from the occasional tier1 beast there was nothing really that stopped them in their tracks.

”This should be it right..?” Tino asked as he stared at the empty Tohwe tree in front of them.

”Yes! But our team is not here and this tree has no Tohwe's in it.” The two looked around for some sort of clue or something along those lines that could help them figure anything out.

”Ah!”

Just as Taku took three steps to the left of the tree he suddenly exclaimed. Hearing this Tino ran to Taku's position. ”What happened?”