Chapter 81 - Blazing Stallion
Inside the main house, Zach could be found eating dinner together with the owner of the shelter and the woman who was stupid enough to save him earlier. Looking closely, the atmosphere was very awkward as no one was talking and they just kept on eating.
"You said silver-class beast. Is that the next class after the bronze-class beast?" Suddenly, the owner of the shelter broke the awkward atmosphere and asked while looking at Zach.
"So, you know about bronze-class monsters. You must have an appraisal skills, right? But before that, how should I address you first? Of course, I can use my Appraisal Skill too but it looks more appropriate to hear it from yourself." Zach replied.
"Right. I'm Alisha, and this is my twin sister, Binsa. This might be late but, welcome to Spirit Grassland Shelter." The shelter owner introduced herself after forgetting about it as she was just too distracted from earlier until now.
"My Appraisal Skill must be higher than yours since you didn't know about it. Yes, the silver class is the next level of the bronze class. And this twin sister of yours really had the gal interrupt my fight against one and risk herself instead." Zach said as he looked at Binsa thinking how stupid she was but he couldn't really blame her though since she must not have an Appraisal Skill like her sister.
"R-Right. And I really thank you for saving her." Alisha then said with great appreciation as she looked at her twin sister who was just eating silently but she could see that she was embarrassed of what she did.
"Did you really kill it?" Alisha followed as she looked at Zach and the look in her eyes was filled with hope and anticipation.
"Yes. I may have taken quite some time but yeah I still killed it and it was also probably thanks to Binsa specifically her skill." Zach replied with a smile since that really happened though he was sure that he could the Phantom Wolf without her help.
"You can really kill one? Well, this might be too shameful but can you help us? Please." Alisha was so excited that she moved closer to Zach and looked him in the eye as she could now finally see hope after all this time after coincidentally meeting him.
"Help? What kind of help?" Zach was quite curious as to what it was however, something also struck his mind after he thought that she must have a problem with beasts as this was the topic that they were currently having.
"Do you know why this shelter was called Spirit Grassland?" Alisha then returned back to normal as she started talking about the shelter which was connected to the reason why she wanted his help.
"From time to time, there's a plant that will randomly grow in the area and bear some fruit. I looked into it and it was called Spirit Fruit. I only know its name as everything was just question marks, so I guessed it was something higher than a Rare class item." Alisha followed.
"We tried plucking it out thinking that it must be a treasure and that's the problem. In fact, this shelter had more than fifty survivors back then but on that night, we lost half of our people and could only go back to the shelter." Alisha continued.
"We have lost half of our people in a beast that looked like a horse. We don't know anything about it but after observing the place every night, that horse will always linger around the area searching for Spirit Fruit." Alisha said while recalling the tragedy that happened in the past.
"Well, you are all pretty lucky that it didn't attack the shelter." Zach was quite intrigued by their story and it was really likely that the horse she was talking to was at least a silver-class beast so it's no wonder they had been almost annihilated but there was still something strange about it and he wanted to clarify what it was.
"That's the thing. It doesn't have any interest in us or the shelter at all. Its only concern is the Spirit Fruit and it will only get violent when we get too close to it." Alisha replied while not leaving any details as to what they had observed so far.
"C-Can you help us kill it?" Alisha then asked since she had many reasons as to why she wanted to get rid of it. Though she kind of curious about just what is a Spirit Fruit, she was more concerned about the safety of her people since ever since that night, she had already banned everyone from coming out at night to prevent them from being killed by the beast.
Zach looked at Alisha and he could see that she really was sincere about it. Also, he felt like this was quite favorable to him since he kind of wanted to hunt for more silver-class beasts for him to level up faster. However, he would no longer underestimate them this time just like what he did to the Phantom Wolf.
"I can but if I manage to really kill it, the items it dropped will be mine." Zach answered but he also drew a condition since he must be the only one who can fight it and risk his life to face it.
"Don't worry. As long as you can kill it, everything is yours." Alisha was too happy that her serious and composed behavior before had long been gone as she was now acting like a proper lady.
"So, how often will this Spirit Fruit grow in the area?" Zach then asked since he was also curious about this thing since from the name of it, it kind of had something to do with the Spirit attribute so if possible, he also wanted to take it.
"There's no particular time. It can be tonight, tomorrow, the day after, or even next week. However, we will know when that time comes since the horse had a habit of neighing very loudly every time it sees one." Alisha replied immediately.
"Oh." Zach was dumbfounded after hearing it as he actually planned on leaving after it was done but learning that it does not have a particular time to grow, he kind of hesitated whether to really accept it since his family might already be worried if he didn't come back sooner.
However, Zach could only sigh since this opportunity was hard to pass by so he might as well stay and explain to his family that something had occurred while they were in the hunt. Also, he wouldn't feel worried about the safety of the base since he believe Ethan would do a good job while he's away.
Following that, Zach and Alisha then just continue having conversations while Binsa would butt in from time to time specifically when they started talking about beasts. Not before long, the night went by without hearing about the neighing of the horse.
As if a gust of wind, time passed by and Zach was already starting to reach his limit after having to stay in the shelter for two weeks. However, it was not boring as he could go out to hunt from time to time but he just felt bad thinking that he couldn't be on Christmas and the New Year with his family and spend those days here and the people living in the shelter.
For the past two weeks, Zach has come to learn that they came from Nepal, and in all the days that passed, he has already gotten close to the people and even become quite a celebrity among them after seeing just how strong he was added by the fact that he was too generous.
"Tonight is the last night, if the horse still has not come, I will immediately leave tomorrow." Zach decided as he looked at the sun ready to set on the horizon. He just couldn't believe that despite everything they had experienced, the sun was still really beautiful to look at.
"Zach! Sister is calling. Come and help prepare our dinner." Suddenly, Binsa's voice echoed throughout the place.
Zach heard and looked at Binsa in the distance. After knowing about them, he now knew the reason why she was too courageous after being told that her name meant brave or bravery in their words. He can't help but laugh at it when he heard it the first time but that name really suits her.
With that, Zach looked at the sun for the last time and then just headed to where the main house was since that was the place he was staying all this time as Alisha insisted on it. Though it was quite weird how he was able to live with them, the twins really were just very welcoming and open-minded.
After having dinner, Zach, Alisha, and Binsa could now be found talking to each other as they waited through the night hoping for the horse to come and would only rest when they thought that it would no longer appear.
"I'm sorry but I plan on leaving tomorrow." Zach suddenly said which made the atmosphere turn quiet.
"I-Is that so? Well, it can't be helped then." Alisha was only surprised a little as she looked at Zach since she could understand him knowing that he still had a family to return to and that they might be already worried seeing him still not come back.
"Howe—" Before Zach could finish his words, everyone inside was suddenly alerted after finally hearing the neighing that they had been waiting for all this time.
Zach, Alisha, and Binsa looked at each other first before they immediately headed out of the main house and ran to where the neighing sound came from and there they saw some of the survivors already gathering around while looking to a particular distance.
"Zach, it came. Just tell us if you need some of our help. We will support you with everything." Alisha said with excitement after seeing the familiar horse, she then just looked at Zach wanting to hear anything but when she did so, she saw that Zach wasn't happy or anything instead, the expression on his face looked like he was terrified with a mix of surprise.
"Zach, is there something wrong?" Alisha called again upon thinking that something must not be right.
"T-That's not a silver-class beast. It's a gold-class beast. This is my first seeing one. I can't believe that I really got to see it." Zach's horrified face suddenly brimmed with excitement. The appearance of the horse was just too beautiful seeing it still has the same size as a normal horse back on Earth. The only difference is that its mane, its tail, and its heels looked like they were burning seeing something like a blue fire dancing on them.
[Beast: Blazing Stallion
Beast Tier: 1
Beast Level: 40
Beast Classification: Gold
Beast Skills: Blazing Breath, Flashfire, Heat Wave, Fire Ward, Scorching Heal]
"G-Gold-class beasts. Is that the next class above the silver-class beast? W-What are we going to do now?" Alisha's eyes widened in disbelief after hearing what Zach just said since it would only mean that there's no hope of killing it at least for now and would also mean that they can't freely explore at night until then.
"You said it would not get violent as long we won't enter its range, right?" Zach then just asked once more.
"Yes. Are you planning on seeing it close? It would be suicide, Zach. I don't know how strong you are but this is another level we are talking about." Alisha immediately persuaded Zach not to do anything risky that might kill him as she kind of understood why he suddenly asked that.
"Don't worry. I don't plan to get myself killed. Go and tell your people to go back as far as possible as I want to try something." Zach said and without looking at them, he started walking closer to it with great excitement as his mind suddenly came up with an absurd idea but if it would work then it's worth the risk.
Hearing and seeing Zach, Alisha couldn't help but bite her lips as she could tell that he was really serious about it. With that, she could only go back reluctantly and tell her people to retreat as far as possible in the area as she doesn't want them to be affected if something ever happens.
Meanwhile, Zach walks slowly but surely towards the location of the Blazing Stallion seeing it looking at a certain plant. He knew that what he was doing was surely suicide as the system marked the beast as Black meaning it was sure death but this time, he wanted to trust his guts.
"That's enough distance, human. Anything closer will be your death." Suddenly, a voice sounded in the surroundings which made Zach freeze from his position while he looked at the Blazing Stallion with disbelief as he was completely sure that it came from the beast seeing it now looking at him in the distance.