The Smiling Death-Chapter 296: New Danger

At one corner of the forest, Amon was sitting on a small rock. In front of him fire was lit up.

The meat of those bear monsters were getting roasted.

"Hah...I am bored of eating this tasteless meat."

Yawn~

He had been travelling for a long time now.

Amon had already crossed those huge mountains.

To his luck. There was no danger. Except those rank four monsters whose nests were located on top of mountains.

Amon observed them and saw one of the monster’s nests having an egg. So he tried to steal an egg from a bird type monster.

But poor him, just when he got it, that bird monster came.

It chased Amon for a very long distance. Literally Amon covered half of the mountain’s downside distance while running away.

Fortunately it was night. So in darkness he lost the monster.

He thought finally he could eat something different. But to his bad luck. He doesn’t have a pan to fry the big egg. Nor did he have a huge bowl in which he could boil the egg.

In the end he just used a very thin flat rock. Heated it by fire and fried the egg on it. And he thought it must be tasty. But no. It was bland and tasteless.

"Haha~" he chuckled. Remembering that time.

Another was just after descending from the mountain. Amon had entered the territory of rank five monsters.

He was very lucky. Since he traveled at night. The monster was asleep. Not forgetting his amazing concealing powers.

He had seen five monsters two- three times now.

"Am I going in the right direction, aren’t I?" He questioned himself.

From the top of the mountain Amon was able to see far away. He couldn’t see the same mountains that he used to see from human soldier’s camps.

But he did see another mountain range. Its height was not too much. But it spread long.

According to the map. That place was also near the coastline.

So for now going to the coastline or beach must be his first priority.

"This is messed up..." Amon closed his eyes while chewing on roasted meat.

He still has that pager from the academy. That useless thing have no use other than seeing time or taking photos.

It was good that he had recorded the map in pager.

Amon slightly tilted his head and went into deep thought.

’What might my friends be doing currently? Does the second semester of the Academy started or not yet?’

He was feeling down again. It seems he won’t be able to attend the second semester.

"Tch! What’s the point of getting that golden ticket? It seems my Academy life is ruined. What I have dreamt of for my Academy life. Making a lot of friends. Getting a beautiful girlfriend. Spending sweet time with her. Our lovey dovey moments on campus. All are gone."

Amon talked to himself. There was no one to talk to so he made a habit to talk to himself. He didn’t think it was a bad thing. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

But honestly someone else was to see him right now. They would think he had gone mad.

Amon rubbed his chin as his expression turned serious.

"Should I...capture a rank one monster...and try to make it my pet. Take him on my journey." Amon thought about that. Though no matter how weak monsters were it was not possible to control them. Unless someone has a beast taming related class.

And not even then they could not control every monster.

"But I can force it...I can use a vile method to make it obey me..."Amon thought about some dark things to control a weak monster.

"Whatever." Dismissing his thoughts Amon climbed on a tall tree. Laying on one of its huge, wide branches. He had gotten used to sleeping on trees now.

’I will start my journey at night.’

Soon enough he fell asleep.

---

Night returned to the forest once more.

Darkness spread like a living veil, swallowing the land beneath the grey sky. The faint light of day vanished completely, leaving only shadows and silence behind.

Amon opened his eyes.

He rose from the tree branch silently, his movements smooth and practiced. Without wasting time, he began his journey again.

Darkness welcomed him. Amon’s feet were covered with shadow and darkness.

His body moved through the forest like a ghost. His feet barely touched the ground, shadows gathering beneath each step, erasing all sound.

No leaves crunched. No branches snapped. Even the wind seemed to avoid him. Amon ran. Each of his moment’s sound was concealed by darkness.

Tree after tree passed by in a blur. Roots, rocks, uneven ground. None of it slowed him down.

His breathing was controlled, his senses sharp. At night, this forest no longer frightened him. Instead, it felt like his domain.

Amon’s senses were sharped. And while using death’s darkness. It increases by a lot.

Minutes passed. Then suddenly. Amon slowed down. His instincts screamed. He sensed something very dangerous ahead.

He stopped on a thick branch and crouched low, his body blending into the darkness. His eyes narrowed as he looked ahead.

There it was a tree. But not a normal one like others.

It was enormous. Far larger than any tree present here. Its trunk was thick like a tower, roots spreading outward like massive serpents gripping the earth. Though compared to Celestial tree. It was like a small kid. Still it was huge compared to normal trees here.

’What’s that?’ Amon thought. There was something resided in the tree.

’A nest?’ He could guess its shape.

A massive nest made of broken woods, thick branches, bones, and hardened mud. Something huge lay within it.

Amon’s breath hitched. Sleeping atop the nest was a monster. It was far more terrifying than any monster he had seen until now.

Its body was colossal, easily over twenty meters long. Thick, leathery skin covered its form, dark grey mixed with streaks of black. Its wings were folded tightly against its body, each one large enough to blot out the sky if fully spread. Sharp talons clutched the edge of the nest, digging deep into the wood.

Its head was long and narrow, lined with rows of jagged teeth even while its mouth was closed. A bony crest extended backward from its skull, marked with faint glowing lines that pulsed slowly as it slept.

Each breath it took caused the entire nest to rise and fall.

Thump...

Thump...

The sound was slow. It was Heavy. Like a giant heartbeat echoing through the forest. It was really a huge monster.