The rise of the pervert primordial

As if feeling the tedious work that will be coming her way, Alice pouted at Aster, unfortunately before she could complain, the little wyrm who was sliding through the ground next to Aster, cutely hissed as she volunteered to help in the hunt mentioned by Aster.

“Hissss­s~”, that of course earned Espi a few head pats from Aster.

“Sure, your camouflaging ability will actually be crucial for the plan, and of course you’ll be rewarded for being a good helpful girl”, said Aster accentuating the “helpful” in his sentence, which made Alice swallow the commentaries she was about to make.

The focus of this mission is Sarina, and while that doesn’t mean Aster will ignore the others, it does mean she’ll have priority, basically if the dragon princess wanted to have some of Aster, she’ll have to work for it.

Leaving aside Alice’s predicament, the group soon arrived at the toad pond, and contrary to what Aster and the others expected, the toads weren’t calmly resting at the shore of the pond, like before.

“Screee!”, the reason was also unexpected, a rapid figure descended from one of the tallest trees in the vicinity, to then pass through one of the bordering areas of the pound, dragging one random toad away on the spot.

With a “thud”, the poor toad was smacked against a tree and its half-crushed body slid though the trunk all the way to the ground, then the same flying figure from before descended near the corpse, revealing its appearance for everyone. This content belongs to novel⦿fire.net

It was an eagle, unlike the one that was eyeing the little wyrm earlier, this eagle was way larger in size, with a length that probably surpassed the meter from its beak to its tail and a wingspan that more than doubled that.

“That’s a golden eagle”, said Aster with a slight frown on his face, golden eagles can live in forests, yes, but they tend to prefer open zones in semiarid mountainous areas, like plains or prairies for example, it would have made more sense to see this large bird back at the rocky area where they found the iron ores, than in this pond in the inner area of the forest.

But it became obvious why this eagle was in this place as it skillfully used its beak to open the stomach of the dead toad, to then feast on specific organs of it, namely its intestines, heart and liver, once it ended with that, the eagle soared into the air to choose its next victim, which made the toads start running in every direction, and that was a problem.

“That stupid bird is making things difficult”, said Mylene, she needed one of the adult toads for alchemy, and those were the ones being targeted by the eagle, since their organs would obviously be bigger.

To the toad’s luck, the eagle’s attention was attracted by another prey this time though, the eagle’s eyes glowed with a predatory light as it caught a glimpse of one of its favorite meals, a snake, though it was accompanied by a group of strange animals it had never seen before.

But they didn’t pose a threat to the eagle, because they not only didn’t have wings, but they even lacked claws and large teeth that could be dangerous, if anything they were bigger than the eagle, but a difference in size of less than a meter didn’t worry the eagle, who has hunted even deer before.

And so, the eagle did a beautiful maneuver by gaining altitude to then descend like a flash in order to prevent the other strange animals near its prey, from interfering.

“Screee…”, however just as it released a powerful chirping sound, while preparing its sharp claws to grab that snake like always, a white object suddenly filled its field of sight, and the next thing the eagle knew was that everything was hurting.

What happened it’s simple, the moment the eagle dived at high speed in order to catch Espi, the little wyrm casually used her tail to smack the eagle into the distance, making it crash against a tree, to then fall into a random bush, leaving behind a trace of feathers that fell from its body.

“Hissss!”, the little wyrm coldly hissed at the eagle, who dared to think of her as a random snake, she was right, the eagle never expected to be smacked away by what it thought was a young albino anaconda.

For a good reason, anacondas have great strength in their muscles, but they can only use said strength in one way, constriction, that’s the way they kill their prey, but Espi is a dragon, she has even greater strength contained in her relatively small frame and it’s not limited in the way she can use it.

In fact, if Espi were to go all out, she could probably break a middle-sized tree in half with a few lashes of her tail, not to mention that her bite is not much weaker than the strength of her muscles, of course that would probably hurt the little wyrm, so Aster wouldn’t ask her to do that.

On the other hand, she lacked the capacity to grab things so she wasn’t carrying a backpack, so the little wyrm had her own problems, but it’s fine, Aster had way more important tasks for Espi than just using her naturally higher strength when compared to a human, to carry things.

“Don’t kill it, that eagle probably functions as natural control for the poisonous toad population, you can beat it to an inch of its life if it tries to attack you again though”, said Aster to the little wyrm who was giving a murderous gaze to the disoriented eagle who was half conscious inside that bush, unable to move.

“Hisss~”, with those words, Espi returned to cute mode, she rubbed her head against Aster’s leg a couple of times in response.

“Let’s take the feathers back, they can be used to make arrows, I’ll go get the toad”, said Aster to Mylene and the others, who immediately put hands to work, the eagle had dropped quite a few dozens of feathers, so that was more than enough for this fortuitous encounter.

Imagine Aster’s surprise when he approached a small group of toads, and prepared to grab one with work gloves to avoid making direct contact with it to then put it in a container, which had holes in its lid, only for one big toad to come his, or more accurately Espi’s way by itself.

Which is strange by itself, snakes do eat toads after all, though the little wyrm wouldn’t eat something as ugly as a toad, she would rather eat fruits and other vegetables which are cleaner and less bloody, as she is more than capable of that, even back then when the little wyrm lived at Esmeralda’s realm, her preferred source of protein was fish, which has way less blood when compared to other animals.

The toad then expressed submission by lowering its upper body, to then close its eyes, apparently it was offering itself as a “sacrifice”, probably because it saw Espi casually trashing the eagle which is their maximum predator, so it thought Espi was about to go on a slaughter.

“Hissss?”, the little wyrm turned to see Aster, confused on what to do about this, she obviously didn’t want to eat that toad, but she couldn’t communicate with it like she could do with those snakes, toads aren’t reptiles after all.

Aster was also at a loss about this situation, the strongest instinct an animal has is the one of survival, so a random average animal wouldn’t choose to sacrifice itself.

‘Well, it’s not the strangest behavior in animals I have seen today anyway… but this toad doesn’t look different than its peers, I guess it works anyway’, thought Aster as he approached the toad and placed the contained on the ground next to it, to then grab the toad who didn’t resist under Espi’s watchful eyes.

And just like that, without the hassle of having to pursue a toad which was jumping around all over the area, Aster got the toad that Mylene required and he might have even obtained a much more interesting subject of observation than what she expected, since this toad seemed a bit smarter than the others.

“We have all the feathers, a total of a hundred and thirty something, she sure smacked that eagle quite hard”, said Lina as she showed Aster a bunch of eagle feathers inside a small sack which she then kept in her backpack.

“Okay, let’s get out of here already, we won’t stop until we reach the creek at the other side of the forest”, said Aster.

There were still almost three hours of daylight, and outside of one hour which they will need to leave the forest, they had two hours to catch the animal Aster was aiming for both dinner and forging, a boar.

With a nod, the group got on the move, it’s worth mentioning that Aster had kept the contained with the toad in a sack, which was given to James to carry, since he didn’t want to put it in a backpack where things that they would be touching/eating were being transported as of current, the poisonous mushrooms and herbs were kept in hermetic cases, since they didn’t need to breath unlike the toad.

On their way though the inner area, Aster, the little wyrm and surprisingly Alice this time, could feel a gaze on their backs, coming from the trees, it wasn’t an eagle this time, inf act it wasn’t exactly hostile, but more of a curious one even, it was that scarred lynx from earlier, which was jumping from tree to three while looking at them from afar.

“I’m not a soul cultivator unlike the ice princess, what a hassle”, mumbled the wild dragon princess, Aster and Espi had sharpened their senses without relying in spirit energy, by focusing on their instincts, naturally Alice and probably Kana and Sarina could do the same, as they have spirit beast’s lineages.

But for others it was going to take some train to be able bring it to a usable level, Alice only managed it this time, because the lynx wasn’t especially hiding its tracks.

‘The lynx is curious because we returned from the area where that bear lives, that’s it, Mira will be coming with me tomorrow’, thought Aster, if the lynx is an enemy of the bear, then it could very well be their ally, for that specific battle at least.

The idea was a bit out of the norm, but if they had someone that could negotiate with the animals then why not take advantage of it, there is nothing against that in the rules of the trial after all.

The lynx stopped paying them attention once the group reached the middle part of the forest which faced their starting point, the creek which was their guide mark appeared in sight not too long after it.

“Boars live near water so we are already on a good place, let’s look for an area which has less trees and more dense vegetation, especially bushes, if any of you sees a muddy area, tell the others, there should be a boar in the vicinity”, said Aster, to which the youngest of the sisters immediately raised her hand to then say.

“I saw an area that matches that description on our way upstream earlier, there were mud and some visible roots of trees a bit further that way, a would say it was a kilometer or so before this area”, she said as she pointed at the other side of the creek.

It was an important matter, they had little daylight left, if they followed the wrong track, they will end up with empty hands, well, figuratively, since they already had obtained way more than expected and there were still a lot of strawberries waiting for them at the safe outer area of the forest.

But without meat, they won’t be able to trade with the snakes, and there were important things, among the ones that Aster showed them, so they needed to catch a boar, for the day to end in a smooth way.

And in case you wonder why Aster simply didn’t ask the snakes to locate one for him, the answer is simple, why would they tell Aster instead of hunting it themselves, the deal he offered worked because what Aster asked them to look for, are things that they snakes can’t eat and have no use for, not to mention that they aren’t in danger while doing so.

Maybe, if the target was one of the animals that the snakes had an enmity with, or which they have special troubles if they try to go against them, like the owls they mentioned, then it might be a different case.

“Probably the flow of creek diminishes during the day, which reveals a part of what’s underwater at night, thus creating a muddy area, it’s a good place to focus on, if no one has any objection, I say we try looking for a boar there”, said Aster.

He was honestly too focused in looking for animals that could jump on them, so he didn’t catch a glimpse of the muddy area mentioned by Nina, even Aster can’t focus on everything now that his soul energy and dragon eyes are sealed, this is actually a good way to improve for him, which is why he is abiding by the rules of the trial.

“No problem, we have to return to the camp soon anyway, it’s understandable if we can’t catch one, though it would be for the best if we do”, said Cayden, to which Sandra nodded agreeing with her boyfriend.

Iris and Lina of course didn’t speak against Nina’s idea, while Felicia and Tiana had no opinions against it, because they didn’t have another hint to follow, as for Alice she really didn’t care about it.

And with that, the group followed Nina’s indications, reaching almost the area where they had parted ways with the snakes, to then cross to the other side of the creek, it wasn’t problem because this was shallow area, they simply took off their socks and shoes, to then roll up their pants in Cayden and Aster’s case, while the girls did the same with the stockings that they were using below their shorts and skirts, to protect their legs from insects.

This way, the water which barely reached the area of their knees wasn’t a problem, they just crossed the creek, dried off their legs with a towel and put on their shoes again, the little wyrm had it easier, she easily swam by zig-zagging her body on the river and then rubbed herself against the towel to get dry and that was it.

Following Nina’s directions, the group deepened into that side of the creek which they hadn’t explored, and a few meters behind a large bush, they saw the muddy area she had mentioned, the roots weren’t visible anymore, since they were underwater at this point, but that wasn’t important.

What mattered, were the pair of boars which were coming their way, what’s more Aster could see many more going the other way around, deepening into the forest, they had run into a pack of boars, which is normal as they are not that territorial but sociable animals instead.

“We got lucky, those two are female boars and they don’t have pups”, said Aster, this was like a gift from heaven, because the meat of male boars have a way stronger taste and an unpleasant smell, which is hard to take care of, so this will definitely save them a lot of trouble, that being said, wild boars will of course taste differently than ones raised in captivity, but the meat of female ones should be manageable.

“They are going to drink water from the creek, we’ll block their way of retreat and then ambush them…”, Aster then proceeded to tell his plan to the others and now we change to the creek where those two boars wee drinking their share of water, before returning with their pack, or at least that was the idea, when the boar on the right saw its fellow being pushed into the water by a long white object.

Water splashed all over the area as the boar had its body turned up, with its snout underwater, thanks to a pretty white snake which in comparison had its head outside of the water, while keeping its long body tangled around the boar.

Though there was a lot of splashing sounds, it was nothing in comparison with the sounds the boar would have made when being killed outside of water where its squeals would have been heard through the vicinity, and that would have probably attracted other boars.

Speaking of which, the other boar whose eyes were met with the calm ones of that white snake, which was calmly drowning its companion, and instead of charging against the enemy, it immediately turned around to run back to the safety of the pack, since the snake couldn’t go for it as of current, but its rush was stopped in cold by a large rock suddenly appearing its way.

The animal naturally tried to stop but it was too late and it crashed against the rock, suffering a strong contusion, to then be swarmed by a bunch of wood clubs to the head.

“Squeaaal!”, unfortunately the boar managed to let out a loud sound, but that was also its last struggle, because a wood spear entered through its mouth impaling it, thus killing it on the spot.

By the time the boar died, Espi had finished drowning the other, and it was time to get out of here, she dragged it out of the water, but at the other side of the creek, while Aster and Cayden used two of the wood spears which have had their heads removed, as a stick and tied the legs of the other boar with a rope on them, they even wrapped the head of the boar with a plastic bag, to prevent the blood from the wound in its mouth from spilling all over them, to then place one of the extremes of the spears on their shoulders respectively.

This was the easiest way to carry the boar, they crossed the creek and repeated the process with the other boar, but this time Alice and Tiana were the ones carrying it, the group immediately left the area, blood has been spilled so some animals might be attracted here.

James who had observed how that pretty white “snake”, had easily killed that boar, felt a shiver running down his spine, that could have been him if he did something stupid back then, what’s more, after that snake destroyed the boar, she cutely hissed while sliding next to the black-haired youth, as if she was happy for having been of help.

‘Is that snake perhaps a baby of a Heavenly realm spirit beast… but then why does she listen to him like that, maybe their Heavenly Quadrant focuses in taming spirit beasts’, thought James, to then forget about the matter completely.

He has learned to not ask questions, he wasn’t being treated as bad as he thought he would, probably just by working hard he will have a decent life in this group and that was enough for him, he wasn’t used as living bait at the first sign of trouble after all, so that was already a win in his book.

Anyway, luckily the creek wasn’t that far from the area where they first met the snakes, and soon said snakes appeared within sight, but there were more than before a total of eight of them, apparently those four had called some friends to help them find what Aster asked from them.

The snakes welcomed Espi with reverence, which turned in anticipation as they saw the animals being carried by Aster and the others.

And soon, the snakes one by one placed the objects they had found in front of the little wyrm, it was a strange sight, as if they were paying tribute to Espi, a total of eight piles were the result of it.

“Hissss”, Espi nodded at Aster, confirming that the snakes had fulfilled their side of the deal, to which Aster said.

“Tell them, to watch the vicinity, we are going to give them their promised payment and it would be a problem if another animal comes this way and steals it from them”.

Espi passed Aster’s message to the snakes, who in return shook their heads, which made Espi’s eyes glow, she smiled to then look at Aster and happily hiss at him.

“Hissss~”, the little wyrm looked really happy, which drew the attention of Alice and the others, especially because Aster repeatedly patted Espi’s head, meaning that she must have achieved something important.

“This is the territory of the snakes, so even if we spill blood here, no other animals will come, and that means we just got ourselves a safe area to bleed our catches”, said Aster.

The following wasn’t pretty to see, but it was needed, the boars were hanged from a tree and Aster cut a specific area of their necks with a knife, making blood come out of it and fall in a pit which was dug previously.

“Me, Alice and Espi will stay behind to watch over the bleeding, you can go back with the ores and all the other stuff we have obtained, also don’t forget to grab more of the strawberries on your way back, after leaving all that at the camp, you can come back, bring more backpacks and a few more people”, said Aster.

Since the snakes had offered him a place for the bleeding, which didn’t affect their camp, then the plan had to be adjusted accordingly, but it was for the better, hygiene was even more important for mortals who can’t clean themselves with spirit energy after all, and they were more or less in a similar situation.

“We’ll be back in a bit”, said Mylene as she guided the group back to the camp, it’s worth mentioning that the snakes didn’t try anything, they respectfully observed the large animals from which they’ll be getting a share from a distance, apparently Espi’s presence was enough to suppress their instincts.

It also helped that Aster just told them, what they’ll be getting in exchange for what they brought them, and it was way more than what they expected, as in Aster was going to give them the heads of the boars and basically all their innards, since eating them was not a problem for animals, but they could be a hassle for humans.

Though they should be free of parasites, since even the water was safe to be consumed without being boiled, but a bit of extra care won’t hurt, the point is that for the snakes that was a lot of food for the work they did, to the point that Espi told them, they had to get a second load of stuff of the same size as today’s to make up for the difference, and they had no complains about it.