I'll Kill That Bastard!

The two siblings, Aaron and Lilly, moved with practiced stealth, their young bodies fluidly navigating the dense undergrowth.

They halted behind the broad trunk of an ancient oak, peering out at their quarry. In the dim light filtering through the canopy, a lynx stood poised, its sleek fur a patchwork of shadows. Its head swiveled warily, its red eyes, glowing with an eerie intensity, scanning the surrounding darkness.

"A question," Lilly whispered, her voice barely audible above the rustling leaves, "Why are you always going after Omega-stage Monsters?"

Aaron's gaze remained fixed on the lynx. "Because they yield high Cores, and… I never miss a shot." He carefully drew a slender arrow from the quiver slung across his back, nocking it onto his small, handcrafted bow.

"My body might not be built to wield a heavy sword," he added, his voice carrying a quiet confidence as he drew the bowstring taut, aiming at the unsuspecting lynx, which appeared to be roughly forty centimeters in length.

{All Seeing Eyes.}

{Name: Red-Lynx. Class: Rare. Info: Deadly, Its claws are filled with deadly poison which could stop your heart in a minute.}

{Combat Eyes (Archer).}

{Target Marked, calculating Success rate and range... Success rate: 100%.}

A faint smirk touched Aaron's lips as the information flooded his mind. With a smooth, decisive motion, he released the arrow. Lilly watched, her breath held captive, as the projectile flew with astonishing speed, a blur against the twilight. It struck the Red-Lynx squarely in the head, the impact echoing softly in the stillness of the forest. The creature collapsed instantly, its glowing eyes dimming as life left its small body.

The lynx dropped to the forest floor without so much as a twitch.

'No matter how many times I witness this, I still can't quite believe it,' Lilly thought, a mixture of awe and disbelief swirling within her. 'His arrows are just made of wood, yet their impact is exceptionally powerful.'

She stepped out from behind the tree, following closely behind Aaron as he approached their fallen prey.

Aaron knelt beside the Red-Lynx, his movements economical and precise. He drew a small, sharp dagger from a sheath at his waist and carefully slit open the creature's belly.

Lilly watched his every move with rapt attention. 'Is it because of the prophecy?' she mused. 'Being only six months old, yet he already possesses the coordination and awareness of a child several years older. It's almost… unreal.' She observed as Aaron reached inside the carcass and extracted a small, glowing crystal – the monster core. He held it out to her.

Lilly quickly took the core, cleaned it, and placed it in a small pouch hanging at her waist.

"Cores can't be stored in our magic space, but dead things can," Aaron explained matter-of-factly. With a flick of his wrist and a barely perceptible wave of his hand, the Red-Lynx vanished from the ground, leaving no trace of its presence.

AWWWOOOOOO!!!!!!

A long, mournful howl ripped through the quiet forest, causing both Aaron and Lilly to spin around sharply. Aaron's eyes narrowed to mere slits as he scanned the dense foliage to their right, his senses straining to locate the source of the chilling sound. Without having seen the creature, he uttered a single, urgent word:

"RUN."

Instinct took over. Without a moment's hesitation, the two siblings turned and fled, their small legs pumping furiously as they weaved through the trees, leaping over fallen logs and dodging low-hanging branches.

AWWWWOOOOOO!!!!!!!

The howl echoed again, closer this time. Aaron risked a quick glance over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of violent rustling in the undergrowth about forty meters behind them.

"It's the same Teumessian Foxes," he gasped, his breath coming in ragged bursts. "Don't slow down for even a second." He pushed himself to run faster, his small muscles burning with the exertion. Despite his efforts, Lilly remained slightly ahead, her natural agility allowing her to navigate the terrain with remarkable speed.

"I thought there were two of them?" Lilly called back, her voice laced with mild confusion. "One wouldn't usually attack us alone."

'She's right,' Aaron thought grimly. 'But the other isn't a fox… it's a dog. And they are the worst of enemies.' His eyes fell upon a massive, gnarled tree they had passed moments before. "To the tree!" he yelled to Lilly.

She nodded in understanding, veering towards the towering oak. She had learned through experience to trust Aaron's instincts implicitly. His quick thinking had saved them from countless dangers.

The two scrambled up the rough bark of the tree with surprising speed, finding refuge on a thick, sturdy branch high above the forest floor. They turned their attention to the creature that had been pursuing them.

It emerged from the trees – an enormous fox, easily three meters long, its fur the color of midnight and its eyes glowing with the same malevolent red as the lynx. The fox slowed as it reached the base of the tree, its massive head low to the ground, sniffing the air intently, searching for their scent.

"I hope you used the perfume I created?" Aaron turned to Lilly, his voice tight with anxiety. Lilly's eyes widened in dawning horror.

"You forgot." Aaron's voice rose, almost a yell. "Don't you know that perfume masks your scent from these Monsters? No! I've told you this not once, but countless times! That's why I prefer to hunt alone!"

"Sorry," Lilly mumbled, her face pale with guilt. "I just… forgot."

"One mistake can lead to your death, Lilly!" Aaron slapped a hand to his forehead in exasperation. "Okay, stay close. I just hope mine can still somewhat mask your scent."

Lilly moved closer to him, pressing herself against his small frame, closer than Aaron found comfortable. He suppressed a sigh. He had no choice but to endure it. The Teumessian Fox wasn't just an Omega-Stage Monster; it was a Demon-Stage Monster, two terrifying tiers above. Even their mother would face a formidable challenge against one, let alone the two of them.

The huge black fox circled the base of the tree, its powerful muscles rippling beneath its dark fur. It stopped directly beneath their branch, its head still low, sniffing the air with an unnerving intensity. Aaron and Lilly held their breath, shrinking back against the branch, trying to make themselves as small and inconspicuous as possible as the fox finally raised its massive head, its glowing red eyes scanning the branches above.

BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!

The sharp, percussive sounds echoed from the right, startling the fox. Its head snapped in the direction of the noise. Aaron, peering down through the leaves, saw nothing.

{All Seeing Eyes.}

{Name: Teumessian Fox (Uncatchable), Class: Elite. Info: Extremely Dangerous, Worst Enemy: Laelaps (The Hunter).}

Whoosh!

Aaron's head whipped back to the fox just in time to see it bolt away from the tree with an incredible burst of speed, disappearing into the dense undergrowth.

"It's gone," Lilly whispered, relief evident in her voice.

"Shhh." Aaron silenced her with a raised hand. The two lowered their heads, peering through the leaves. A moment later, a massive white dog, easily four meters in length, stood where the fox had been just seconds before, its dark eyes fixed intently on their position in the tree.

"Crab," Aaron muttered under his breath.

{All Seeing Eyes.}

{Name: Laelaps (The Hunter). Class: Elite. Info: Extremely dangerous. Note: it attacks only when it got no scent of its hunt.}

Before Aaron could even begin to formulate a plan, the huge white and black dog suddenly turned and bounded away, its powerful legs propelling it into the forest in the same direction the fox had fled.

"Phew… I've seen so much in this forest that almost nothing surprises me anymore," Aaron said, letting out a shaky breath.

"Thank goodness," Lilly sighed in profound relief.

"You are not following me next time. I strongly suggest you stay with Mom," Aaron said, his voice tinged with mild annoyance.

"Mom is the one who asked me to follow you," Lilly revealed, her lower lip jutting out in a pout. "She said I should keep an eye on you."

Aaron heaved a weary sigh. "Okay then. Let's just go back home. The lynx should last us for a week, I think?"

"I'd say five days," Lilly corrected, sliding down from the branch and following behind him.

"Baby brother," she began, her tone shifting to one of curiosity, "I want to know how you can—"

"—How I can kill anything with one shot, but I'm supposedly scared of powerful Monsters, right?" He landed lightly on the ground.

"Huh?" Lilly blinked, taken aback by his preemptive answer.

"Why the surprise? You ask me that same question every single day, and my answer remains the same: I'm not strong enough to hunt them… yet." He started walking towards the direction of their small house, his pace brisk.

"But when I do get stronger, I will personally kill that bastard that injured Mom."

Lilly jumped down from the tree and hurried to catch up with him. "Don't be so hard on yourself, Aaron. You weren't the reason she got hurt. And that was three months ago, she's okay now."

"That doesn't mean I won't kill that Talos." Aaron said, his voice firm with unwavering resolve.

He would never forget the day he had been sitting outside, playing with a few smooth stones, when that monstrous creature had ambushed him from behind. If Aurora hadn't reacted with lightning speed, he might have met his end then and there. Even though the Talos was a terrifying Demon-Stage Monster, Aurora had shielded him, taking the brunt of the attack and sustaining a serious injury in the process.

Weakened but still dangerous, the Talos had managed to escape back into the depths of the forest. On that day, Aaron had made a silent, solemn vow: he would find that monster, and he would make it pay.