Luna returned half an hour later with a tray of food.
"What is it? It slls good." I asked, inhaling the aroma of the food.
"Of course, it does. It’s the at of a Wood Deer, after all." Luna smiled, "Wood Deer’s at is most delicious and nutritious among all the beasts beneath Iron Tier in this region."
She sat on the edge of the bed and asked, "Do you need help sitting up?"
"No." I shook my head and slowly sat up.
She handed the tray and I began eating. The first bite made my eyes light up. It was really delicious.
Luna watched eat with an incomprehensible look in her eyes.
After I had finished half of the at, I finally slowed down because I was starting to feel full.
I noticed her look and asked, "What is it?"
Luna stared at .
"You... seem to have beco stronger." she said, sweeping her gaze across my body.
I also looked down at myself and noticed my muscles were more defined. I could even see a hint of abs when I flexed my abdominal muscles.
"Yeah. It seems to be true." I nodded in acknowledgent.
Luna didn’t ask how I improved so quickly and just stared at , deep in thought.
"By the way, Ms. Luna. I wanted to ask sothing." I said while taking another bite from the remaining at.
"What is it?" she asked,
"You told you all wish to leave—"
Before I could finish my sentence, a loud voice echoed outside.
"...A ssenger from the city has arrived!"
"...A ssenger from the city has arrived!
"...Everyone, you are to gather at the village plaza."
"Hm?" Luna’s brows furrowed, then she jumped to her feet and said, "Let’s go and see what they want this ti."
...
On the way to the village plaza which was an open space at the centre of the village, I glanced at Luna.
Unlike her usual, cheerful self, she looked very solemn now.
"It’s not the first ti soone from the city ca over?" I asked.
"Yes. They occasionally co, sotis every few months and sotis after a year." Luna nodded, and without him asking, she explained.
"You know the Dark Beasts... their flesh isn’t edible nor the weaker ones have a Beast Core. So, they are all but useless to us. These city people, however, buy their corpses. But they are too greedy." She snorted in dissatisfaction, "They buy them very cheaply and when we try to buy so supplies they bring, they sell them to us at a high price."
"I see." I humd in response, then asked, "Why don’t you guys go and sell the corpses in the city? I’m sure you’ll get a better price there and you could buy what you need at more reasonable prices."
Luna gave a side-long glance, the look in her eyes saying she knew what I wanted to know.
"If we would love to..." she sighed,
"Unfortunately, the nearest city is over a thousand miles away from. And there are many small forests and mountains where beasts thrive. Even if we sohow manage to survive the journey, the bandits run rampant near the city. They would not only loot our supplies, they would also slaughter us."
I noticed a hint of grief on her face when she ntioned the bandits.
It seed they had tried to travel to the city and the bandits looted and killed them.
As if to confirm, she told him that it had indeed happened. A group had gone to the city. So died to the beasts while others were killed by the bandits they encountered near the city.
"...Only uncle Joshua survived and made it back. Everyone else, 13 hunters with three being the Awakened, died." she sighed, her voice heavy.
We walked in silence, both lost in our thoughts.
I had received the information I needed. But it made purse my lips.
1000 miles?
Even on earth where there wasn’t any danger of beasts or bandits, it would take several days to cover this distance if one didn’t use modern transportation.
’This ans I have only two options if I want to go to the city. First, I could tag along with the city people when they returned, and second, I had to be strong enough to deal with all dangers of the journey.’ I thought, then let out a sigh.
The first option wasn’t going to work because the city people wouldn’t take along unless I could give them sothing valuable and make the trouble worth it.
But did I have sothing valuable? No, I did not.
’It seems I have to spend so more ti here.’ I thought. ’This is also good. I can hunt the beasts in the forest, ho my fighting skills and earn Stream Points. Once I have enough, maybe I’ll be able to buy sothing that can Awaken .’
This was my main objective at the mont.
I could continue increasing my strength, agility and perception with the SPs, and I was sure I could beco strong enough to defeat the Awakened.
However, to go this route, I would need SPs and therefore, I would have to continue streaming, and continue trying to entertain those people...
But if I beca Awakened, I could harness Mana like other Awakened and beco stronger on my own.
As I thought about all this, we arrived at the bustling plaza.
I swept my gaze across people and noticed that the older ones had neutral or even sowhat cold looks on their faces while younger ones, including John, Dan and Miles, looked excited and hopeful as they stared at a trio dressed in neat clothing, standing on a raised platform.
The mont my eyes landed on the trio, the system screen appeared in front of , glowing texts flashing on it.
[Warning! Authority Fragnt detection tools detected!]
[The Authority Fragnt—Predator’s Gaze is currently unstable and will be detected.]
Ba-Dum!
My heart skipped a beat when I read these notifications and an ominous sensation settled in my chest.
I knew if my fragnt was detected, I would be in fatal danger.
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