Chapter 16: The Territory of the Horned Serpents

The walk through the forest was peaceful. There were no strong beasts along the way, and all the weaker ones had already been dealt with by Azreon.

"Oww, my legs are hurting. We’ve been walking the whole day! Can we sit down and rest just for a little bit, please?"

Chris turned around and looked at Serena. Thinking for a moment, he nodded and found a nearby clearing.

He took out his sword and slashed at two nearby trees, making them instantly fall to the ground.

"Sit, let’s rest."

Chris had noticed that Serena was getting tired earlier, but he hadn’t said anything and simply waited for her to speak.

She approached one of the fallen trees and sat down.

"Thank you."

Aldric approached and sat down next to her.

"I’m sorry, young man. My granddaughter has been spoiled from a young age, but she is a very good person."

"Grandfather!"

Serena was shocked that her grandfather would talk about her in such a way.

"Hahahaha... don’t think too much about it. I don’t mind at all. I noticed that she was exhausted earlier, but she didn’t want to say it. She is indeed disciplined."

Serena slightly blushed and didn’t know what to say. As a wealthy and talented lady, she had received countless compliments in the past, but almost all of them had been about her beauty and talent. Nobody had complimented her in such a way before.

"Are you hungry?" Chris asked.

"A little bit."

Serena and Aldric replied together.

Chris put two fingers in his mouth and released a strong whistle. In the next moment, Azreon came flying back and landed in front of him.

"Buddy, I’m sure you have already eaten while hunting the beasts around. Go and hunt us a beast as well, we need to eat."

*ROAR!*

Azreon took off again, flying into the distance.

Chris approached one of the trees he had just cut down and severed a couple of dry branches with his sword. He then collected several larger rocks from the ground and placed them in a circle before putting the wood inside, making a campfire.

Once everything was ready, he extended his right hand and opened his palm. A very small fireball appeared in his palm, and he tossed it into the campfire.

He had to restrain his mana quite a bit so that he wouldn’t burn the wood into ash instantly.

*Whoosh!*

The wood instantly caught fire and started burning.

"!!!"

Aldric and Serena were instantly shocked.

"Wait, young man! Aren’t you a beast tamer? How come you can use elemental mana?"

Aldric had never seen such a thing in his life. Beast tamers would usually only be able to tame beasts and use them in combat. They wouldn’t be able to use elemental mana, as that was reserved for mages.

Serena was shocked too. She was a mage herself and could use elemental mana, but she had never expected Chris to be able to use it too.

"I am indeed a beast tamer, but I can use elemental mana too. As for how and why, that’s a secret."

Chris didn’t want to reveal his secrets to people he barely knew. He had a good opinion of the two of them, as he had noticed that they were well-mannered and disciplined during the short journey they had shared, but they were still not close enough for him to reveal his secrets.

Aldric nodded and didn’t push it further.

*ROAR!*

At that moment, Azreon’s roar was heard from a distance. He came flying back with a deer in his claws.

"Good job, buddy! That deer will feed us for days."

Chris patted Azreon’s head and took out his sword again, beginning to skin the deer and cut its meat.

It didn’t take long for him to finish. He then approached the fire and put some of the meat on it to cook before sitting down again.

Aldric suddenly opened his hand and tossed something to Chris.

Chris caught it and looked at it. It was the same vial he had seen earlier, the vial with the Experience-Boost potion.

"Hmm? Why are you giving this to me now?"

"Consider it as an up-front payment, young man. I can see that you are a man of honor and that you won’t go back on your word just because you received a reward. If you wanted, you could have attacked us earlier to take our possessions."

Chris thought about it and nodded. He could have killed them both and taken their possessions earlier, but he would never do something like that to innocent people. He had his honor.

He carefully stored the vial inside his storage ring.

"Aldric, how did you get this potion? Is there a way to get more of these?"

"Hoho, this potion is extremely rare. Even our family, the wealthiest family in the country, only has a few of these."

Chris paused when he heard that.

"Hmm? Wealthiest family? Wait... Are you two from the Valecliff family?"

"Yes, we are. I’m not surprised you have heard of it. Everyone in Dunestia has heard of our family."

"So... Aldric Valecliff... You are that General Aldric?"

Chris was stunned. He had heard the tales of a great General Aldric who had fought many wars against monsters and other countries. He was a legend.

"Hoho, this old man is still famous, even at this age."

Aldric laughed.

"Then why are you so weak? From what I know, General Aldric should be one of the strongest warriors in our country?"

"I am indeed one of the strongest, but alas... I was heavily injured when we fought those flying serpent monsters a few days ago. They were just too strong and there were many of them."

He shook his head.

"All of my soldiers I brought were killed, and we barely escaped. My strength is now greatly reduced. I would need a Legendary Healing Potion to recover my strength now. My family owns such a potion, but I didn’t bring it with me."

"That’s unfortunate. Well, it’s my honor to meet a legendary figure like yourself."

Chris spoke from his heart. He respected warriors who had earned their reputation through years of fighting, and the tales he had heard of the old man were legendary.

"You flatter me, young man."

Chris then looked at Serena.

"I have heard about you too, Serena Valecliff. They said you are one of the most talented in our generation."

Serena laughed lightly and shook her head.

"I thought so too, until I met you."

Aldric then added from the side.

"Young man. Your name, Chris Averian... I am sure I heard it somewhere before. But this old man can’t remember."

Chris just smiled, not saying anything.

Serena suddenly remembered something and hurriedly stood up.

"Wait! Your name is Chris? And you’re a beast tamer? And you tamed a Mythic-rank beast? Are you that Mythic-rank beast tamer everyone was talking about a few years ago?"

Aldric suddenly also remembered and quickly stood up as well.

"I knew I found your name familiar! So you are that guy! But weren’t you...."

They were both stunned and in disbelief. They had naturally heard of a Mythic-rank Beast Tamer who had emerged in their country. Everyone had heard of him.

But wasn’t that Mythic-rank Beast Tamer defective and unable to tame any beasts?

"Wasn’t I what? Defective? Unable to tame beasts?"

Chris laughed mockingly. He knew that everyone thought so, but he didn’t care anymore.

"We are sorry."

They both lowered their heads, realizing that they had overreacted.

Chris shook his head.

"I don’t really care. Yes, you’re right. I’m that Mythic-rank Beast Tamer that couldn’t tame any beasts."

They looked at each other, then back at Chris, but were hesitant to ask more. They could tell that the topic was sensitive for him, and they were almost strangers, even though they were from the same country.

"Forget about that. Let’s eat. We need to continue our journey."

Chris took the meat from the fire and gave portions to Aldric and Serena before taking his own and sitting down to eat.

Once they finished eating, they stood up and continued heading south.

They were silent while they walked and didn’t talk about anything. Chris preferred it this way, as he could focus on the sounds of the forest as always and stay more alert.

They continued their journey south. When night came, they would sleep, and at dawn, they would continue their journey.

Two days later...

While walking through the forest, Chris suddenly stopped and called Azreon to come back before turning toward Aldric and Serena.

"Now, listen carefully. The part of the forest we are about to enter is very dangerous. This is a Horned Serpent’s territory. There are many Horned Serpents of levels higher than 40. A couple wouldn’t be a problem for Azreon or me, but they have too many. We wouldn’t be a match for them. Not to mention that their leader is at least Level 50."

Chris had this information from the map that he had followed before. When he first came through this part of the forest, he had moved very quietly and hadn’t dared to make any noise. He had been lucky that no beasts had discovered him.

Aldric and Serena’s expressions became grave and serious. If Aldric had been at the peak of his strength, it wouldn’t have been a problem at all, but now they could lose their lives.

Chris continued.

"You will follow my steps and keep quiet. If we see Horned Serpents, even if it’s just one of them, run. Don’t try to fight them under any circumstances. The beast will call others from a distance, and within a short time, many others will come."

They both nodded seriously.

"Good."

Chris continued through the forest, also commanding Azreon to follow along instead of flying around.

He activated his Dragon Vision and stayed alert at all times, looking for any signs or tracks of horned serpents. They were very good at hiding, so he had to be vigilant.

The forest became quieter as they went deeper into the territory, and Chris carefully watched the ground, the trees, and the branches above them.

They walked through the forest for another two hours before something unexpected happened.

Serena’s foot caught on something, and she stumbled. They looked at the ground and saw a thin layer of slime covering the ground beneath the leaves where she had stepped earlier.

Chris’s expression grew heavy.

"Not good, stay alert."

He knew that this was one of the serpents’ tactics to spot prey. When someone stepped in their slime, they would be alerted.

Just as Chris expected, a giant serpent’s head came rushing down from the top of the tree above them, its mouth opening toward Serena.

"Shit!"

Chris didn’t have time to attack the serpent before it reached Serena.

He jumped in front of her and focused on his arm, causing thick black scales to appear over it in an instant.

The serpent closed its mouth around his arm.

*BOOM!*

A loud sound echoed through the forest. The serpent was unable to bite through the thick scales, but the force of the impact was still powerful enough to send great pain through Chris’s arm.

He hurriedly took out his sword and swung it, intending to sever the serpent’s head.

The sword got stuck halfway through its neck and was unable to sever it completely.

The serpent shrieked and released its grip on his arm, falling to the ground and rolling around while loudly shrieking.

"Fuck! It’s calling for help already! Run!"

Chris swung again, fully severing the beast’s head, and immediately started running through the forest. Aldric and Serena followed, while Azreon flew up into the air to follow them.

As they ran, Chris could hear roars and hisses all around them. It seemed like the whole forest had been alerted to their presence.

He turned around slightly and, through his Dragon Vision, could see dozens of huge serpents chasing after them from the distance.

"They are chasing us! Don’t slow down!"

Chris yelled before turning his head toward the front again.

Just in time, he saw another giant serpent’s head extending down from a tree directly in front of them.

"Fuck!"