32 The Hun (1/2)

The Hunt

'Hmmm… It seems someone else cleared this path. Well, they should be further ahead by now,' James thought as he surveyed his surroundings. Ten minutes had already gone by since he fled from the periphery of the forest. He wanted nothing to do with his former Items once them completed their Nether possession. Since he fled in haste, he did not ask the system to chart a proper course for him. Instead, he summoned two damned souls and seven corpses from the Army of the Fallen. He was prepared to use them as undead barriers should anything sneak up on him, however, with the distance between him and aberrations increasing by the minute, he felt it was the right time to discuss with the system.

”System, scan a 1km radius, and show me the easiest path to travel. Project it in the form of a mental map. Highlight the position of the monsters and the others. System, tag monsters above Level 2 with a red indicator and those below Level 2 with a black indicator. Do the same for the other targets whose odds of elimination is below 60%. Also show the position of all poisonous plants,” James instructed with keen anticipation.

<Ding! >

I have saved the user's preference!

Scanning…

Warming!

I have detected an anomaly and therefore aborted the scan!

Warning!

Because of the user's previous connection to the Items - Damned Soul and Army of the Fallen, it has formed a mental marker of the user's Mana. If the user chooses the option to complete the scan, they could determine the user's location. If they exploit this flaw, other targets exposed to - Nether, will also determine the user's location using the mental marker.

However, once the user ranks up, the mental marker would become useless. Because, the user's Mana would undergo significant changes.

System Recommendation: The user should avoid completing the scan until the user has attained the next rank.

Will the user like to complete the scan?

<Ding! >

Stupefied, James stopped in his tracks as he stared at system's notification. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, yet the words did not come out. Never would he have thought his failed experiment would yield such complications. Since he did not seek the advice of the system back then, he could only blame himself for his current situation. Even with the radar like abilities of the system, a small but fatal mistake had made him severely handicapped in the forest. Based on his current strength, James knew he was at the bottom of the food chain in the forest.

'If I forcibly complete the scanning, I would be in a worse position than I already am. I can't postpone the third condition anymore, I've to complete the crystallization process. My life literally depends on it.'

With the seriousness of his situation dawning on him, James had a determined expression on his face while clenching his fist. Without saying a word, he resumed running through the dimly lit forest. However, another seven damned souls joined the previous two. This damned souls were part of James's Good ranked merged damned souls. Meanwhile, the number of corpses summoned from the Army of the Fallen remained the same. Because, James knew if he summoned more of them, they would attract the attention of sensitive beasts as they ran. In not for the fact he needed disposable meat shields, he would have not bothered summoning them.

”Scout the terrain ahead. Report if you find any oddities. Go!”

After receiving James's mental command, six from the seven damned souls went ahead of the party. They knew their mission and also knew the consequences for failure. Unlike most parts of the forest which the silver moonlight illuminated to an extent, darkness covered anywhere James and his aberrations passed through.

…

Fifteen minutes later, James arrived at a beautiful scenery in the gloomy forest. A place dominated by wild berries and a beautiful lilac flowerbed. However, James had no interest in the berries or pure and delicate lilacs. Instead, his blue eyes stared at the corpse of a decapitated Moonlight Wolf.

'What happened here? From the color and smell of the blood, it died not too long ago.'

Tilting his head slightly, James stared at the mangled head of the moonlight wolf.

'Hmmm… From the injuries to its head, something large landed on its skull. But it does not seem to be a weapon…'

As James scrutinized the corpse of the beast, he noticed a large sickle on the ground. Because the large body of beast blocked his view, he did not see it earlier.

”Huh? A sickle?” James muttered as he walked towards the sickle. ”Wait…this is new. Bronze and Ospian Ore…”

As James scrutinized the sickle, the odd shape of the cut path he followed suddenly flashed into his mind. At that moment, he realized the owner of the sickle was probably someone who entered the forest a few minutes ago. Although the sickle had no blood on its surface, James's knew it ended the life of the Moonlight Wolf. However, why the owner left it behind and why he could not find a continuation of the tracks made him confused.

The moment this thought flashed into James's mind, a merged damned soul sent an urgent report to his mind. ”Master, three packs of Moonlight Wolves will arrive at your location in the next five minutes. I can spot two Level 2 Moonlight wolves in the pack. They are coming from the east.”

Before James could respond, another merged damned soul sent a report to his mind. ”Master, five packs of Moonlight Wolves will arrive at your location in the next five minutes. I can spot two Level 3 Moonlight wolves in the pack. They coming from the southeast.”

In quick succession, another three reports echoed in James's mind. Telling him about the impeding arrival of several packs of Moonlight wolves, led by Level 3 Alphas. With a mental calculation, the total number of Moonlight Wolves heading towards his direction ranged from seventy to one hundred. However, the most frightening aspect of their impending arrival was the six Level 3 Alphas and over eight Level 2 Alphas. With his current Level, James knew he stood no chance against the monsters, and he did not even harbor the thought of fighting them.

'Damn it! If I could use the system abilities, I would not be in this mess. The bastard who caused this mess better pray I don't him,' James caused bitterly in his mind. His current predicament, made him rue the outcome of his failed experiment.

”Arise, Army of…” before James finished his statement, a warm drizzle of a sticky liquid fell on him and the surrounding corpses. Before James could even determine what it was, a pungent and thick rotten smell assaulted his nose. At that moment, the system's notification echoed in his mind like an alarm.

<Ding! >

Scanning Completed!

Warning!

Warning!

Warning!