Chapter 38 — Entering Tianmang Mountain

Unlike eyesight, the iron-eating beast's sense of smell was very keen, and Eleven, having mastered Super Vision, was strong in both sight and smell.

With that much assurance, they could basically rest easy that they wouldn't run into any sudden danger.

Next, then, came Eleven's moment of training, and the final destination was the Magnetic Mountain region — the electric slimes!

Summoning the pet had cost them a little time; Shi Jin now pressed onward toward the Magnetic Mountain region with a clear goal in mind.

He glanced at the map in the illustrated guide. To reach the Magnetic Mountain region, they first had to cross Boar Wood...

Boar Wood was home to a dire beast called the Long-Spined Boar: immensely strong, fierce in appearance, with sharp tusks and hide like thick leather, covered in hedgehog-like spines that could be used for defense and attack alike. Its flesh was savory and full of juice — a mid-tier transcendent creature that would scare any small child into tears at the sight of it.

Shi Cen was still young; tears of longing welled at the corners of his mouth.

According to the records in the illustrated guide, the Long-Spined Boars of Boar Wood averaged Awakened Tier Six in growth level; they counted as the backbone dire beasts of this training stage.

The Long-Spined Boar was hardly an easy creature to provoke — its combat power was by no means weak, and so its points were correspondingly high. The more it was so, the more delighted Shi Jin became.

"Eleven, I'm taking you boar hunting!"

"Awoooo~~"

...

Boar Wood.

The Long-Spined Boar was a social transcendent creature, but in most cases, within a fixed stretch of territory, they foraged separately — and that gave beast masters their opening.

Dealing with a whole herd of boars would surely be a headache, but taking on a single one was something the great majority of beast masters sitting this assessment should feel some confidence about.

Shi Yan and Eleven threaded their way through a forest trail and soon reached the vicinity of Boar Wood. Along the way they had run into a few other creatures, but all of them were worth only a few dozen points, like the Earth Mouse, and Shi Jin had no interest in them whatsoever.

To spend several tens of minutes dragging a pile of dead weight along the road was too much trouble — there were even creatures that awarded no points at all, like the Green Silk Worm, and Shi Jin was even less inclined to give them a second glance.

"Found one."

They had barely reached the outskirts of Boar Wood when Shi Jin spotted a Long-Spined Boar foraging at the edge of the woods.

[Name]: Long-Spined Boar

[Attribute]: Earth

[Species Tier]: Mid Transcendent

[Species Skill]: Petrifying Tusk

[Description]: A mutant evolution of the wild boar; skilled at frenzied charging and possessed of enormous strength. Once its tusks connect, it can inflict a petrification effect on the enemy.

"Hmph! Hmph!! Hmph hmph!!" It wasn't only Shi Jin's group that had spotted the Long-Spined Boar — the boar had spotted them as well.

The Long-Spined Boar's natural predators included wolves, bears, leopards, birds of prey, and other dire beasts; it therefore had to stay wary of any sudden attack. It was keen-witted, ferocious, and highly vigilant.

Sensing the danger, it raised its head, the long quills on its body suddenly bristling, a low grunting warning sounding from its throat.

The long-quilled boar, accustomed to life in the wild, knew well that it might have been marked as prey by a hunter.

Its eyes searched warily, yet the moment it caught sight of the scrawny Shi Yan and the even smaller iron-eating beast cub, Eleven, it froze.

Is that all?

Tears of alarm involuntarily trickled from the corner of the long-quilled boar's mouth. Boars were omnivores, eating both plants and meat, and to this particular boar it felt as though the poles had abruptly flipped.

So the hunter was me all along!

The food had delivered itself right to its door!