Chapter 35

"Aahhhh!" The next day, Fares, and Zena woke up to screaming coming next to them. They jumped out of fright, before realizing how they were sleeping the night before.

They both blushed beet red when their eyes met, and they quickly turned their heads to the other side.

"Ooooooh, sister Zena is being naughty." Mona giggled as she teased them with an 'all-knowing eyes'.

Only then did they realize what was going on. As it may seem, Mona yelled out to frighten them awake, just so that she could see their awkward faces.

"Mona, you… you…" Zena was speechless. How could her flesh and blood do this to her? She immediately ran after Mona with both hands up and wriggling in the air and an evil smile on her face.

"No! No, don't come near me." Mona knew what was coming her way, so she rapidly dashed back into the room, but before she could even close the door behind her, Zena was already standing in the doorway.

Mona became shocked, since when was Zena this fast? She raised her hands in front of her as she cried out, "Stop, don't come near me!"

Throughout the whole morning, screams along with giggling could be heard from the small house. Every passer-by would find it weird and hastened their pace.

During all of this time, Fares was cooking food with an absent look on his face, even between the giggling and screaming he did not pay attention to it. It was only when a hand had been placed on his shoulders that he snapped out o" it.

"Oh, it's you, Zena. Food is almost ready." He said, looking behind him, only to see Zena standing there staring at him with a weird stare that he had not seen before on her face. Nonetheless, he still felt it was quite cute.

Behind her was a little body sprawled on the floor and panting heavily. He shook his head at the satisfied look on her face. To her, it was extremely worth it.

"Ok, breakfast is ready." Fares said as he put the food on the table. He really wished he could find more herbs out there, according to Healer Raya herbs also grew in the dark as they rely solely on energy.

At the mention of food, Mona's eyes opened abruptly as she quickly made her way over to the table. Zena was already sitting down by then, with her legs dangling side to side.

After breakfast, Fares asked Zena again to follow him to hunt together. It will shoot their hunting efficiency by a lot. As for Mona, he told her to stay put and play with the nearby neighbourhood children, as long as she did not stay far away, just in case they came looking for her.

After preparing some food beforehand for Mona, just in case something happened, Fares left the house with his sword and a small pouch he made using the Raptors' leather carrying the necessities for hunting. Behind him was Zena, she too had a pouch with a few extra items in case they needed any.

When they left the cave, the sun was fully shining in the sky, marking the beginning of a new day.

Fares took Zena to the Raptors hunting ground first, he had a couple of reasons for it. First and most important, he needed to go find Smooka, he missed his friend. Secondly, he needed to see how Zena fights to strategize a plan for their hunts.

As soon as they arrived, Zena looked around vigilantly, she had no idea why did Fares stop here, so she searched in case there were beasts she had not noticed before. But to her dismay, there was not a living being in sight.

Zena was about to look at Fares in confusion when she saw him infuse energy into his fingers using them as sharp claws and started climbing

the tree next to him.

Her confusion did not affect her much, as she followed him right after. She did not question his actions since she had hands-on experience on how almost everything he does is planned.

She did not use her energy, or more like could not use energy to do the same, however, she used her naturally strong and trained body to do that instead of energy. Furthermore, she was much faster too, since Fares only used energy to attach himself to the tree and did not increase his muscle power.

However, Zena did not overtake him since she had no idea what he was here for. Only when Fares reached the final branch on the tree did he stop, he extended his hands to Zena giving her helping hands which to him was gentlemanly.

She was amazed to find a hole this big in the tree, she had never seen one before on any hunts. But to be honest, she never climbed that high as she would not be able to see her prey from so high.

However, soon she held her stone sword and prepared for battle as she saw a pair of eyes glowing in the dark and staring at them. Before she could react, the figure lunged itself at Fares, pushing him further along the branch.

Zena was about to attack it, but when she heard Fares' laughs, she stopped in her tracks, bewildered. Fares soon stood back up, his face covered with a sticky gel-like substance, which was not bothering him in the slightest.

"What is going on here?" Zena asked with confusion clear on her face. It was her first time seeing a beast like that, and it just jumped them up out of the blue.

"This is my friend, Smooka. I met him the last time I went hunting. Without him, I wouldn't have cultivated this far and my plan would have failed." Fares said rubbing Smooka's soft silky fur.

Zena looked at him with envy, it looked so fluffy, she wanted to try it too. Fares noticed her desire and asked her, "Do you want to pet him too?"

She blushed a little and nodded her head shyly. Smooka somehow still understood them, so he approached her slowly. As he arrived close enough, he stopped and lowered his head, Zena raised her hands slowly towards Smooka.

However, Smooka noticed how scared she was, so he immediately rubbed its head into her chest. She was taken by surprise and could not react in time, but a few seconds later she finally relaxed and rubbed its fur with a happy smile on her face.

Her lovely smile made Fares' heart flutter, so he coughed to grab their attention and said, "Let's go hunt then, shall we?"

After searching the surrounding area for a while, they finally found a group of Raptors taking cover under a giant tree. They were of the same size as the group Fares had met first when he went hunting, so he found it perfect for them to hunt.

"Ok, Zena, I want to see how you fight first so that I can come up with a plan to hunt." Fares said looking in Zena's direction. She nodded and drew her sword while looking at the Raptors with a hunter's eyes.

Fares thought that she was not bad, as hunters needed to plan a few steps ahead first before going on the hunt. However, he was soon proved wrong.

"Ahhhhh!" Zena gave a battle cry as she charged head-on in their direction. She attacked the weakest of the bunch, killing it before it could react. The Raptors instantly got ready to fight that evil beast that attacked them while they were chilling.

"Oh no, this does not look good." Fares said as he saw the other Raptors charge towards Zena.

Zena then blocked the first Raptor that reached her, who happened to be the alpha Raptor, since he was the fastest. However, the other 3 Raptors attacked her from different directions. The Raptor coming from her right was the first to arrive as he bit on her right arm.

Zena felt unimaginable pain from her legs, but it was nothing she was not used to, her skin did not even break as she had thought it would. She pushed the alpha Raptor using brute force and then kicked the Raptor on her right in the head, sending it flying 10 meters back.

She was dumbfounded at the power in her kick, it was her first time to hunt after breaking through two minor realms, and she liked the newfound power. Before she realized it, the Raptor on her right had already reached her and a bit down on her left thigh.

It throbbed like hell, but it was not as strong as before, that was due to the Raptor skin Fares made her. She then stabbed the Raptor in the head with her stone knife, killing it instantly.

By then the last Raptor was right behind her, she dodged slightly to the right before squatting down and swiping the knife sword sideways, slicing its legs into four.

It only took her a few seconds to get rid of three of the Raptors. By the time she stabbed the amputated Raptor again, killing it, the alpha Raptor had regained its balance and opened its maw wide and biting down on her head.

It was too late for her to react, so she just closed her eyes in fear and waited for what was coming.