The wolves did pursue him for some time, but it was not at least some problem to get away from them - after all, these animals could not fly. True, it was difficult to continue the hunt, because the flock was now on the alert. After considering everything, Ray decided to return to the city, because it was not so long before dawn.

He wanted to test the skill gained from [Archer's] growth, so he immediately headed towards the shooting range. Now he was going to practice working with daggers much less, if not only in fights with Arvus, because he realized the futility of self-training.

Yes, it bore fruit in the form of improved coordination and general dexterity, but Ray was already quite satisfied with the current result. The body of the forest was sufficiently developed thanks to the innate abilities and the energy fed to his soul, and the subsequent growth promised to be too insignificant, moreover, very slow.

After weighing everything again, the guy decided that now it was worth switching to shooting, the practice of which had almost unlimited growth potential, thanks to the super-sharp vision of the forest and game mechanics.

Entering the shooting range, Rei took one of the longbows kept there. Hunters usually used short and less powerful versions, because in the forest the long range of a longbow was not much needed. But the guy liked this bow more, so he preferred it.

In Inventory, he had another longbow taken from the body of the same elite hunter. The shoulders of this bow were sheathed with atanit, and the handle was made with a recess for an arrow. On the outside, it looked fairly ordinary, but it was much better than the bows Rey had seen in his arsenal. In fact, he had seen such a bow before. Ciare wore almost the same behind her back, practically without parting with him.

Standing in front of the shooting alley, next to two more foresters practicing, Ray took aim at a distant tree. Although he did not expect to hit the target painted on it, or even the tree itself, that was not his goal. The tree was just a guideline that gave direction.

Previously, while aiming with this bow, Rei could not overcome the mark of 450 meters - an excellent result in itself, but the guy was not happy. The bow was made of very hard wood, so it was difficult to even draw it, so if the shot was fired at a high angle, the arrow could fly a much greater distance, but there would be no accuracy.

The guy was interested in shooting with an angle close to zero, because that's how the accuracy was the highest. Moving the bow slightly upwards so that the arrow was no longer in a strictly horizontal position, Rey once again took aim at the last of the trees marked with the target and released the bowstring.

As promised by the description of the skill learned in the forest, the arrow was able to fly to the tree, covering the full 600 meters of distance. She hit the very edge of his barrel, about three meters above the target.

“One and a half times further, right?”

Satisfied with the test, Ray continued to shoot, but at targets that were closer to him.

Now he was convinced of one more feature of specializations. The increase in level did not affect his skill in any way, the guy could not accurately hit targets at a distance exceeding 100 meters. But just like before, if the target was within 70 meters, he could hit the very center of it.

“Training is still important, although it’s even good. An experience that comes out of nowhere is not real.”

- They are back! - the joyful cry of one of the townspeople, who were waiting for the return of the detachment, broke the stagnant silence. The city was immediately filled with a roar of joyful and seriously excited voices.

Time was already passing by noon, when in the distance, among the trees, silhouettes dressed in green appeared. It quickly became clear that the detachment lacked four foresters, which inspired great sadness on those present.

Arvus was in front of the group, his armor covered in blood, but judging by the confident gait, it did not belong to him. On the backs of several members of the group were the carcasses of animals they had apparently killed on their way back to the settlement.

The group had not yet reached the city, and the number of people grew inexorably, among them was Rey, whom Thea forcibly dragged here.

Not everyone has returned. - the worried voice of the girl perfectly conveyed the mood reigning in the crowd.

Hearing this, the guy thought that she was wrong, but did not say anything. However, his guess was confirmed by the first of the hunters, who said that there were no losses among the detachment, the missing four remained to guard the carcass of the beast, which was too huge to deliver it without the necessary equipment.

However, this issue was quickly resolved, and almost immediately several dozen hunters and ordinary men went to the place of death of the gsarkh, who volunteered to help. The rest, having learned that everything went well, congratulated and thanked the heroes, even a holiday was planned in honor of such an event.

Ray, on the other hand, didn’t care much about what was happening, he was interested in looking at the carcass of the beast, and since it wasn’t there yet, he, having said goodbye to Thea, who ran to greet her brother, returned to training.

Gsarkh was dragged only towards the evening of the next day, and such a hitch was justified, because looking at the body of this creature, everyone had the same thought in their heads, and Ray was no exception.

"Monster".

Even in a supine position, the carcass was three meters high, which was simply incredible, the beast was almost twice the size of an elephant. The claws that made deep furrows in the packed snow were more like swords. The muzzle was covered in gore and completely slashed with cuts, and instead of eyes there was a continuous mess from which arrows still stuck out. The whole body of the beast was tied with ropes, for which he was dragged. Black wool in places stuck to the skin, due to the huge amount of blood flowing from the wounds.

The sight was very unpleasant and, to Ray's surprise, very few people came. Mostly hunters who were interested in what a great predator looks like. The townspeople were few. The number of observers could not even be compared with yesterday. What caused this, Ray did not understand, but he was not very interested either.

“Maybe it will be put on display in the city later, or everyone was only worried about the condition of the hunters, but they don’t give a damn about the beast itself ...”

While opening the gate, through which the carcass had to squeeze through with great difficulty, Rei was able to get closer to her. Next to him walked Thea, who also decided to go and take a look, but her eyes did not have the same enthusiasm as the guy's. He noticed this, but continued walking towards the dead beast anyway. They decided to turn Togo on its side, because in the current position it simply would not fit in the gate opening.

Part of the ropes were removed from the carcass and, with the efforts of almost two dozen men, they were able to pile it on its side. Ray watched this with interest, noticing that the front of the gsarkh's body was badly injured as well.

Coming close to him, he put his hand on the dark fur of the once dangerous predator. Passing his palm down, he realized that she was quite pleasant to the touch, but after a moment, he stopped stroking her, realizing that this was inappropriate.

Turning around, he noticed Thea, who, like a child, wanting to follow his example, with a trembling hand tried to touch the body of the beast, but she could not do this, not because of fear, but because of the noise that escaped from the mouth of the gsarkh.

"He!? Like this?" - having moved a few steps away, Ray noticed how all the men surrounding the body of the animal were also alarmed, but not believing their ears, continued to look at the lying beast.

In a moment, they realized their mistake. Gsarh was lying on his left side, and now his right paw, as if not feeling resistance from the ropes binding it, walked along the row of forests that stood next to the beast.

One of them was simply cut into pieces, the other two also instantly lost their lives, but from deep wounds that turned their bodies into heaps of crumbling meat.

At the same moment, four arrows flew from the walls, which unmistakably hit the head of the predator, but as if he was only more furious, he tore the rest of the ropes and already began to rise.

Ray, who was observing this picture, had no doubts about further actions, so he had already taken several steps in the opposite direction from the gsarkh. He didn't have any equipment with him, and even if he did, he didn't want to risk fighting against such a monster.

Just as he was about to turn around and start running, his eyes caught on the young girl who was now kneeling next to the gradually rising animal carcass. Frozen in the same place where she stood before, Thea simply could not make her body move, with fear in her tear-filled eyes, watching the black "mountain" that gradually grew right in front of her.

- By ... Help ... - squeezing out a barely audible word, the girl closed her eyes, not wanting to see the impending death.

Ray continued to back away, but with each step, he moved slower and slower.

"Heck! Why can't I leave!?" – absolutely sincerely perplexed guy. He did not realize at all that he had managed to become attached to this girl who, with such a joyful smile, fed him day after day.

“Khhh…” Gritting his teeth, after a moment's thought, Rey took out two blades from the Inventory, hoping that no one noticed this because of what was happening.

"I'm just repaying the debt, nothing more." In a brief moment of hesitation, Rei remembered how much Thea had done for him out of her own kindness. It can be seen that the time spent among the forest people had a very beneficial effect on his hardened mind, because the guy forgot for a second that he was deceiving her ...

Clenching his daggers in his hands, Rey bit his lip with displeasure and rushed towards the guard, who, fortunately, had not yet had time to rise, and since he was blind, could not react to Rey's approach.

"One random stroke and I'm done for." - a thought flashed through the guy's head, after looking at the animal's huge paw.

Having chosen a target for himself, he put all his strength into his legs and jumped, driving both blades into the back of the beast. Even after strengthening, the body of the forest could not reach the now four-meter height, but Rei understood this, so he immediately released one dagger and, grabbing the second with both hands, threw himself higher.

He was lucky and the dagger was able to come out of the dense skin of the beast, ending up with Ray on his back. Perhaps the guy was saved by the fact that he did not approach the guard from the front, or that the guards of the gate were still unsuccessfully shooting at his face, thus only distracting him, but now the guy did not think about it. Grasping the animal's thick fur with one hand, he pushed himself once more, but this time towards its head, which was already more like a pillow with needles.

“How can he be alive after something like that!?” – froze for a moment, Ray pulled himself together, and with all his strength drove the dagger into the upper part of the skull of the gsarkh. He went in up to the hilt, but for a moment it seemed to the guy that he had hit a piece of steel, his hands ached so much.

"It's good that I'm stronger."

Having received a blow, the beast fell to the ground like a rag doll, scattering huge puffs of snow around. Rey was still holding on with both hands to the hilt of the blade protruding from the creature's skull. Only realizing that the guard was not moving, the guy exhaled heavily and, helping himself with his foot, released the weapon from captivity.

“Some kind of nonsense, how could he be alive?” Rey jumped down and, ignoring the looks either on him or on the beast, pulled the second blade out of his carcass. Glancing at Thea, who lay unconscious a little to the side, apparently thrown away by the fall of this multi-ton creature, Rei turned back to the animal.

The guy patiently waited, watching him, but after ten seconds he frowned, because the soul of the gsarh had not left the body.