"Urgh, it's time to get to work." Grey woke up with a yawn and a stretch, before fixing himself up. The previous day had cleared his mind excellently, and he felt ready to tackle another Beast.
'As long as it doesn't have Fire.' He thought. He quickly got changed, headed downstairs, and ate breakfast.
"Mom, Dad, I'm going to hunt another Beast."
Neither of his parents reacted to his statement, except for a small style smile that appeared on Lucas' face.
"What did I tell you, sweetie? He'd be back on the job in less than 3 days. You owe me now!" Lucas bragged.
Upon hearing his father's words, Grey's spine tingled a little. He looked closer at his mother and spotted a small vein just above her eyebrow, and he saw that it twitched occasionally.
'The car is still packed, right?'
"Well, I've got to go now. Love you both." Grey darted out of the house, closing the door quickly behind him.
Just after the door firmly closed, Grey heard a loud smack.
SMACK!
'Yep, it was the right idea to leave when I did.' Grey thanked his lucky stars that he left when he did, and rushed to the car.
'Best I leave as soon as possible.'
He started the car and headed to the Hunter Association.
---
Grey stepped up to the counter and waved to the lady in front.
"Hello, I'd like to take a Hunt, please. I'm an E- Rank."
The lady swiftly followed his words and brought up all the available subjugation quests.
"There are 7 quests available for you to take. Which would you like?"
Grey scanned through the quests, settling on the one where he had to hunt an EWi-Tiger. An Earth-Wind Tiger.
"I'll take this one." He said, pointing at the quest he wanted.
"Of course, sir." The lady at the desk marked into the panel that he was taking the quest.
"Thanks." Grey left the Association, taking off for the border again.
---
The journey was long, but this time it was much more pleasant. Grey enjoyed his travel, this time taking 4 days to arrive so that he could sightsee. Last time, he had focused solely on getting there.
The cities and towns he stopped in were all beautiful, and the inns he stayed in were even more comfortable.
Finally, he arrived back at the border town.
"Well, time to rest." Grey said, settling into the inn he had stayed at last time.
As he got into bed, Fallen Star spoke.
- Grey, I've been thinking about it. It's a proven fact that Hunters lower than B Rank don't get many quests, if at all, involving subjugation. So, why have there been so many? If it was 1 or 2, that would make sense, but it was 3, and now 7. And that's just at E- Rank! Not only that, but people aren't even taking these quests. 2 of the quests we could choose from were the quests from last time -
'Hmm,' Grey took a second to digest Fallen Star's words, 'You're not wrong. It is odd, but hey, that's not my problem. The Hunters probably haven't realized that there were quests.'
- Maybe. But still, it worries me. Something is wrong, but I'm not sure what. -
'I'm sure we'll figure it out eventually. Now, let me sleep.'
- Of course. Good night, Grey. -
'Good night to you too.'
---
Grey strutted through the border gate, spear in hand.
He had decided that it was time to wield a spear. Grey wanted to run an experiment or two, and he was the most proficient in the spear, so it made the most logical sense to use.
This time, when he entered the Beast Domain, he didn't hesitate to immediately enter the forest. As he walked through the brush, he looked around.
'Okay, tiger tracks. A tiger has 5 paws of relatively small size compared to its body, unlike the bear, it has a more diverse habitat. Its den could be a clump of trees, a cave, anything really.'
Grey wandered through the forest, looking for any track, any trace that could lead him to the tiger. It didn't even have to belong to the tiger, he could find his way with any animal's track, but he couldn't see any.
The forest was eerily quiet actually, the sound of the blowing wind and his steps the only thing that accompanied him.
- Creepy. - Fallen Star commented.
'Says the voice in my head.' Grey chuckled.
- You say that every time! - Fallen Star pouted.
'And every time you react, so...' Grey teased.
- Fine then, I won't help. - Fallen Star said, going mute once more.
Grey continued to roam, his guard up, scouring the trees, the flora, and even the ground, although it was covered in snow. It was only after an hour of careful observation that he found something.
'Rabbit tracks.' He thought as he looked at the pattern on the snow. 'Fresh, too.'
Grey got up quickly, following the tracks as fast as he safely could. The tracks went on for a few hundred meters, before stopping abruptly in a pool of red. He crouched down before it.
'Blood.' Grey scanned what tracks walked near the pool of blood, and one was the one he was after.
He saw the paws of a bear, the paws of a leopard, and the paws of a tiger. Each one was distinct, although it took him a second longer to match the animal to the paw pad with the last 2.
Perfect, the tracks are bloody, so even if they seep through the snow, so I won't lose track.'
He got up and hastily chased after the tiger. They led to a cave that was safe from the blowing wind. The cave was located above ground, and from what Grey could see, there was no underground part to it.
'If it got food, then it will most likely sleep after it eats.' He thought. 'Let's wait for a bit.'
Grey sat down in the snow, placing his bag to the side and leaning on a tree. He stuck his spear firmly into the tree horizontally. He pulled out a blanket from the bag, covering himself in it, before relaxing ever so slightly. He couldn't relax too much, lest he drop his guard, or even worse, fall asleep.
---
'That should be long enough.' Grey thought as he shifted in his seat. His body heat had long since melted the cushiony snow, so he had been sitting on the cold, icy floor with wet pants. It was not fun.
He took the blanket off, shaking it to remove the snow that had covered it. He then shook his head to achieve the same result, before putting the blanket back in the bag. He pulled the spear from the tree and then placed his bag into the deep crevice his ass had made.
'Let's go.' He held the spear with two hands, walking toward the den. For the experiment he wanted to run, it was best that the Beast was asleep. It would give him time to set it all up.
Tip Tap-
Grey took his first steps into the cavern extra slow but sped up slightly when he heard no response. As he came into the cave, he heard it.
Purr, Purr
The Beast's breathing was regulated, and the purring came with each breath.
'Having a good dream, huh.' He thought. 'Anyway.'
He walked closer to the Beast until he was just 5 meters away. Just out of reach. It was a beautiful-looking tiger, with brown fur and green spots.
'The last time I did this, it was subconscious and only half-baked. I'll go all out this time.'
Grey burrowed deep into his memories, passing the 17 years he had spent as himself quickly. He arrived before his memories of just before the attack and began to watch them.
He stared at the Beast, pushing his Mana outward. It wasn't noticeable at first, but as the memory progressed, it got stronger. The Mana grew deeper and darker in color, changing from clear bubbles to a thick, palpable presence.
"!"
The tiger woke with a start and began to growl at him, but it made no attempt to move.
By that point, the air was heavy enough that the Beast found it hard to breathe, and in the air, the tiger saw other animals attacking its cubs. The Beast was frantic, attempting to move, to save its cubs, but it couldn't.
Grey pushed the memory from his mind but kept focused on God and that feeling he had, watching the Beast struggle.
'It can't move,' He realized. 'That makes this much easier.'
He stepped toward the tiger, uncaring of the draining effect of his murderous intent on his Mana, and then swung.
It was a simple swing, just a downward slash, but it cut through the green and brown fur of the tiger. Its head fell, cleanly decapitated, only to be followed by its body swiftly.
Grey stood still before rising back to a regular standing position and looked at the dead animal.
'Done. Experiment successful. Murderous intent is very usef-' Grey's thoughts suddenly halted, and his eyes grew heavy.
- Grey! Grey, Gre... - Fallen Star called out, but it was too late.
THUD!
Grey fell face-first onto the cold, hard floor with a thud, completely unconscious.