Beast of White Stone Mountain

The morning after the Harvest Festival, inside Leofric's study, Sir George entered to give a report. He bowed first, then started speaking.

"My Lord, our scouts have tracked the ferocious beast to White Stone Mountain. They've surrounded the area and are confident it hasn't escaped." George reported.

"Have they figured out what this beast is?" Leofric asked.

"Yes, the reports describe it as having black fur, bull horns, and the body of a wolf. It's likely a bull-horned dire wolf," Sir George replied.

Leofric then contemplated for a moment, hesitating about something. Then he said, "Tell steward Lucio to bring Alexander and Sylvia here later."

"My lord, do you intend to bring them along to hunt the beast?"Sir George asked in surprise.

"Indeed," Leofric replied while leaning back on his chair.

"My lord, isn't it too risky for them to join in the hunt?"Sir George questioned.

"The bull-horned dire wolf is a lone wolf and wouldn't join another of its kind unless to mate, so it's most likely alone, since it's not yet the mating season for wolves. Also, being in White Stone Mountain is a good opportunity to hunt it down, as it wouldn't be able to sneak up on us with its dark color. Furthermore, this beast likes hunting powerful prey, so it would probably target us, not the kids. Besides, we'll be there to protect them. This should be a good training opportunity for the kids," Leofric explained his decision.

"Very well, I shall inform Steward Lucio immediately," Sir George replied. He bowed and exited the study to relay Leofric's orders.

*****

Inside Alexander's room, he sat at a table, rewriting and summarizing the contents of a book he had just read. The book was titled Twelve Pulse Spirit Manual, the spirit path cultivation manual given to him by Sylvia. He had learned his lesson from last time and chose to study the entire book before attempting to cultivate it, lest he make a fatal mistake again.

The book described how a cultivator could open each pulse and connect it to the spirit source. However, it only covered the spirit connection stages of the Spirit Mage Path, with no information beyond that. This made Alexander realize that it was a tier lower than the Starry Skies Soul Manual.

Thinking about the Starry Skies Soul Manual, he could only sigh in disappointment. Last night, after completing his attribute grinding routines, he attempted to connect to another star. He managed to establish a connection, but when he pulled the star's aura through it, only a very small wisp actually reached his soul. This caused the process of creating a reflection of that star to fail. He repeated this until he was exhausted, but his efforts remained fruitless.

The only good news was that his soul core had progressed extremely close to becoming red. He suspected that this speed was the result of connecting to the sun instead of a faraway star. His soul was actually developing faster than he had expected.

"Sigh, who would have thought that connecting to a star aside from the Sun would be this difficult. I was originally planning to share this manual with Sylvia; however, based on its difficulty, this would only waste her time and efforts. Perhaps in the future, when she gets a bottleneck on both Martial and Spirit Paths, she can also take a look at it." Alexander thought to himself.

Alexander then wrote the last word and completed the task. He looked at his work again and said, "Cultivating my Spirit Mage Path should still count as meditation, right? Then I could complete my meditation task just by cultivating my Spirit Mage Path. That's hitting two birds with one stone."

"How I wish I could go out and hunt some beasts. According to Sarah, I could also gain EXP by killing beasts, demons, or even humans and other races. This would greatly hasten my User Level progression and increase my attributes so I could cultivate faster," Alexander recalled from Sarah's previous explanation.

Suddenly, sounds of knocking came in from the door.

"Come in," Alexander said.

Steward Lucio then came inside the room.

That's right, Alexander had reprimanded everyone the other night, instructing them to knock first and wait for his reply before entering his room. Hearing this, his mom seemed to remember something and couldn't help but giggle and whisper to her husband, who also smiled knowingly. Some of the servants seemed to realize something and couldn't help but chuckle. Alexander could only sigh from the misunderstanding and embarrassment.

"Young master, the lord is summoning you to his study," steward Lucio said with a bow.

"Hmm? Did he say what for?" Alexander asked.

"It was Sir George who relayed the message to me, he said you and Sylvia will be going with the Lord for hunting, he wants you to go to his study to discuss this," steward Lucio explained.

Hearing this, Alexander was elated. Just when he was thinking of excuses to be allowed to go hunting, this opportunity popped up.

"Let's go then," Alexander replied excitedly.

*****

Arriving inside his father's study room, Alexander could already see his little Sister Sylvia sitting across his father from the table, and there was also Sir George who was standing on the side.

Upon entering, his father instructed him to sit on the chair beside Sylvia.

"Seeing those smiles on your faces, I assume you both already know why I've summoned you?" Leofric asked.

"Yes, Father, we're off to hunt some beasts, right?" Alexander said excitedly.

"Right, when are we heading off?" Sylvia asked eagerly.

Both of them were thrilled about the trip. Going through his memories, Alexander recalled that their hunting trips were always fun. Their father would teach them survival tips and other useful skills, and they would usually camp and have storytelling after the hunt.

"We're heading off in an hour to White Stone Mountain to hunt down the beast there," Leofric informed them.

'Ding,' 'Ding,' 'Ding'

Suddenly, multiple notification sounds popped up in Alexander's mind, giving him a very bad premonition.

[ System Notice: Mission Started: 'Track down the Beast of White Stone Mountain'

 Difficulty: C rank

 Details: A 'Ferocious Beast' is lingering around White Stone Mountain. Locate it.

 Time Limit (12 hours)

 Success Rewards: 250 EXP, 25 GP (Greatness Points), 1x Blocking Talisman

 Failure Punishments: Blindness for 1 day ]

[ System Notice: Mission Started: 'Eliminate the Beast of White Stone Mountain'

 Difficulty: B rank

 Details: A 'Ferocious Beast' is lingering around White Stone Mountain. Eliminate it.

 Time Limit (12 hours)

 Success Rewards: 1000 EXP, 100 GP (Greatness Points), 1x Spirit Cultivation Talisman

 Failure Punishments: Extreme fatigue for 1 day ]

[ System Notice: Quest Started: 'A Safe Return'

 Difficulty: A rank

 Details: User 'will' be going for a hunting trip. Have a safe journey and return 'Alive'

 Success Rewards: 2500 EXP, 250 GP (Greatness Points), Black Wolf's Dagger

 Failure Punishments: Death ]

Alexander then briefly read the subsequent notification messages. His face then turned pale after reading the contents. He could clearly see the words Ferocious Beast written in bold orange characters. He wasn't entirely sure what the font and text color meant, but he was sure what this Ferocious Beast meant. It only meant one thing for him: 'run as fast as you can'.

Noticing his son's weird expression, Leofric couldn't help but ask, "Alexander, is there a problem?"

"Father, are we hunting down a 'Ferocious Beast'? The one attacking people north of Maplewood Village?" Alexander warily asked.

"Indeed, so you've heard of it," Leofric replied.

Hearing this, Sylvia's excitement grew to another level, and she couldn't help but jump out of her seat, exclaiming, "Great!"

Meanwhile, Alexander's face turned a shade paler.

"Don't worry, son. We will be the ones fighting the beast. You two will only be there to observe. However, if you really don't want to go, I won't force you," Leofric consoled.

Hearing his father's words, Alexander could only lament. One of the notifications clearly stated a mission: "User will be going for a hunting trip," with a heavy emphasis on "will." The punishment for failing or not doing this mission was "Death." If he doesn't go, he will die; if he does go, he might die. There was really no other choice but to go and gamble his life.

Alexander could only sigh and say, "Father, I must go on this trip."

Hearing this, his father felt glad, thinking his son was trying to be brave and face his fears.

Sylvia was also elated when she heard Alexander's words. She then declared heroically, "Fear not, brother, I will be right by your side to protect you. I shall not let any harm befall you." She even pulled up her sleeves and raised her arms to flex her nonexistent biceps.

"Very well, you two should go and prepare your things. We will meet at the front gate in an hour," Leofric ordered.

The two siblings then went back to their respective rooms to get ready.

*****

About an hour later, Alexander was walking toward the front gate of the manor. He was dressed in leather armor that was a bit big for him, carrying large saddlebags on one arm, a quiver of arrows on the other, with a bow and a backpack on his back, and a short sword strapped to his waist. This made him look a bit funny.

Sylvia, already at the front gate, asked, annoyed, "Brother, what took you so long? And what's up with all those things you're carrying? Are you going to war or something?"

She was only wearing her usual fitted tunic and trousers. The only difference was a small backpack on her back and a short sword strapped to her waist.

"What do you know? These are my life insurance," Alexander said, indicating the things he was carrying.

What no one knew was that there were actually more things inside Alexander's inventory.

Before they could continue to bicker, they heard the footsteps of a horse and a man behind them. When they turned, they saw Steward Lucio bringing along a red horse.

When the horse saw the two of them, it neighed excitedly and sprinted toward them.

Upon reaching them, it began licking Alexander's face while Sylvia hugged it.

"How are you, Sir Bolt? You seem to have grown bigger again," Sylvia said to the horse.

The horse responded with another excited neigh and licked her face, too.

This was Alexander's horse, Bolt. A rare variant of a Northern Iceland Horse, Bolt was pure red, unlike the usual white or black-mixed color. Similar to other Northern Iceland Horses, Bolt was an expert runner on mountainous terrain and was very fast.

This was a gift from Alexander's older brother, William, for his tenth birthday. Initially caught in the wild and brought to the manor, the horse didn't like Alexander and refused to let him ride. However, by constantly taking good care of it, the horse eventually let its defenses down and accepted Alexander as its master. Even so, it allowed very few people to ride or even touch it, with Sylvia being one of them.

Ever since he was young, Alexander has always loved horseback riding. If there was something he was truly good at, it was this skill. That's why, when William found this horse, he spared no effort to catch it. Upon seeing the beautiful horse back then, Alexander's bright blue eyes sparkled with joy, making William's efforts worthwhile.

Steward Lucio helped them arrange their things on Bolt's back.

After a while, their father, Leofric, arrived, along with some knights.

They were all ready to depart.

Scanning their party, Alexander could see six guards accompanying them in leather armor, headed by Bertram, and ten knights in light armor, including Sir George. With his father, Sylvia, and himself, they were 19 in total.

Alexander checked their power levels in the navigator. The guards were all yellow, except for Bertram, who was yellow-orange. The knights were all yellow-orange, except for Sir George, who was already orange.

This lineup eased Alexander's worries a bit. He thought, "Surely with this group, nothing will go wrong." Or so he thought.