///// Aemplefort School Library /////

Upon returning from the Mercenary Guild, The library was the first place Vincent went to.

He dug through the shelves until he found something that could help him, A book by the name of Migas Geological Locations.

He soon found the forest he was searching for and began to memorize the whereabouts.

"Sandaloph, A clear and lush forest not far west from Aemplefort," Vincent muttered to himself.

"It is rated at moderate danger level, but with the recent happening, it should have decreased."

"Either way, it's not like I'm taking on the entire forest. I only need to find the targets."

///// The Next Day /////

The next day, Vincent was off to Aemplefort west gate. The earliest route to Sandaloph.

[An: Majority of the Stampede occurred at the south gate.]

He slipped on a brown, fairly long-sleeved, smooth leather jacket that covers just above his knees.

The jacket was worn on top of a black shirt and pants.

This jacket also acted on top of a breastplate made from a piece of iron, that was crafted to ensure endurance and protection whilst still lightweight.

His lower arms and lower legs were also protected with a light fitting of an iron gauntlet and booting respectively.

Firestorm was of course strapped to his side.

Soon he arrived at the west gate, and like the bustling city that it was, The gate was crowded with a long line of travelers and carriages, Even though it was still at daybreak.

A few moments of idling later, Vincent's turn came. He showed the gate officials his Mercenary Rank Card and was allowed out of the city with no fee charged. A benefit of being a C-Ranked Mercenary.

However, Vincent still paid the original fee, with a tip as a show of goodwill.

The gatekeepers smiled kindly and well allowed him to pass.

Now Vincent has come into Sandaloph.

As earlier described, Sandaloph forest is a lush, clear, and wide forest. It covered almost 5000 square kilometers of space.

There is a marshland to the north, high hills to the west, mangrove to the east, and woodland to the south. Vincent is currently in the woodland biome.

Sandaloph is also home to many recognizable species like Alder, Cottonwood, Beech, Sycamore, etc. It also houses plenty more unknown varieties like Deci, Yengle, Tosch, etc.

Each tree is covered in creeper plants and the ground between each tree is covered in thick grass, fruit trees, edible and inedible plants.

[An: This is a fantasy Biome, Tolerate my nonsense (• ▽ •;).]

Vincent took on his usual style of movement through this woodland, by leaping from branch to branch, and parkouring through the obstacles it presented.

Soon he touched upon his appointed destination deep into the lands, it was the recommended position from the guild.

"This is where they were last seen," He deduced, The foot markings further helped his premise.

"According to the info, I'm looking for two mated dark beasts, they should be easily spottable from their shiny shells."

"They should still be in the area, so it shouldn't be too hard to locate them."

"[One With Nature]."

Upon the activation of [One With Nature], Vincent was able to spread his senses throughout his current observable range, covering half of the woodland.

Immediately upon doing so, he found his target.

"Found you," He said with a smirk.

///// Earlier That Day. /////

Two couple dark beasts were roaming through the Sandaloph forest unhindered and carefree. As a Dark Beast possessing the same trait of a monogamous animal, They have been together for years now.

The couple dark beasts were a pair of bipedal furless monsters that carried a nigh-invulnerable shell on their backs as a way of defense.

The beasts could be likened to the physiology of a turtle or tortoise, albeit bigger, stronger, ferocious, and more dangerous.

One was taller than the other And had a more jagged shell and aged look. He was the male and the other was the female.

A fulfilled relationship they have been all this year.

Shame.

That's about to end.

"[Thundra Possession]"

*Cackle*

"[First Strike]"

*Boom.*

A sudden blast of lightning erupted beside the male dark beast pushing it away from the blast with mild burns.

The blast aroused dust and obstructed its vision.

When it settled, The beast then saw a sight that brought unfathomable rage from within.

He saw Vincent standing on top of his mate, resting on a spear that impaled her straight through the head, instantly ending her life.

"RAWWWWRRR!!!" It roared, summoning gust of winds that shifted the trees away from it, its roar was the embo-.

"[Authority Of Lightning: Tribulations of Yecsi]"

The clouds darkened in an instant, within it a quaking rumble could be heard. The clouds then descended downwards in the form of a tornado, and soon enveloped the Dark Beast.

Upon enveloping, it just needed the order.

"Fall"

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

BOOM!

8 powerful bolts of lightning, each capable of instantly obliterating a mountain, fell upon the beast simultaneously.

Albeit, the beast was able to quickly retreat into his shell which made the lightning bolts fall upon it instead.

The shell tanked the 8 bolts of lightning with mid-difficulty, which surprised Vincent.

Whilst he did not know the strength of the skill, Vincent was sure that it was in the high range as it was a fused skill.

But this beast appeared to tank it quite well.

"I truly underestimated the defense of that shell of yours. A good thing I killed your companion before she could retreat into it."

"But then again, Your shield can't save you from all forms of attack."

Vincent then outstretched his hands to the beast and said mockingly, "let's see how your shell protects you from this, Bury"

Rumble.

In an instant, the ground swallowed up the beast and buried it further and further within its grasps until it was 12 feet under.

Then it held it there.

The beast did not struggle against the pull as over the years the shell on his back has saved him multiple times, he did not doubt that whatever was planned against him would break its defense.

/////3 Minutes Later/////

It began to feel uncomfortable

/////5 Minutes Later/////

It realized that something was wrong, so it began to struggle.

/////7 Minutes Later/////

It began to feel out of breath, hence it struggled even more.

/////10 Minutes Later/////

He began to feel dizzy.

/////15 Minutes Later/////

Darkness encroached, slowly blighting its vision until…

/////17 Minutes Later/////

It died!.

///// With Vincent./////

Vincent could feel the last breath of the beast leave its body.

He did not unbury it immediately though and instead left it there for 3 more minutes.

Thereafter, he unburied the dead body of the beast and double-checked whether it was dead or not.

After verifying it, he relaxed.

"Sigh, well that was not too hard," Vincent said whilst wiping his sword on the bark of a tree nearby.

"Now for the shells"

He pried off the shells from both beasts with mid-difficulty, then kept them in his storage ring.

"Onto the next quest." He said and proceeded to dash towards the city.

Vincent did not know that he missed one more beast in the vicinity.

Because of that, it was not his fault that that beast later grew to be the king of the forest.

And it certainly wasn't his fault that the beast, later on, caused a stampede that destroyed Aemplefort, and he indirectly helped it.

Yeah, not his fault.

Either way.

Onto other matters.

/////