The sun was glistening in the sky, and a group of four young warriors made their way up to the winding mountain path.
Lucas's eyes were filled with excitement for the hunting with his new team members.
Nyla was taking a peek at her crush from time to time which Rio could notice easily due to his [Heaven's Eyes].
The air was thin and crisp at this height, and the green trees were scarce on the mountainous road, giving a path to rocky cliffs.
"What beast lives in this region?" Lucas asked the pink-haired beauty who was marching ahead of the team.
"Shadow Viper Fox," Sophia said with a gentle smile and answered him.
"And What beast soul it would give us?" He asked while he walked behind her.
"Its beast soul can be recognized by the beast's name. It gives a shadow viper shuriken projectile-type weapon. However, it's a one-time usable weapon. Once you use it, it will disappear from your mind sea but each strike would be very destructive." She explained the usage of beast soul in a relaxed voice.
Nyla and Rio stayed silent as they weren't as curious as Lucas.
The Magenta haired girl already researched this area on the internet as she had made plans to visit the purple stage shelter for her sweetheart so she was almost aware of all the nearby regions.
The path led them higher into the mountains.
As Rio and company climbed the top of the mountain, they could see the verdant landscape in front of their eyes
There was a dense forest nestled in the valley between the peaks. They had to take another winding path to descend into the valley.
"We have to climb down if we want to hunt the shadow viper fox for the beast souls," Sophia said, turning around to tell her group members while pointing towards the green landscape below them.
"Ah...what is this? I thought our destination is on top of the mountain." Lucas said in a disappointed voice as he saw there was a forest down ahead in the valley.
"Now where has your man's pride gone?" Rio asked while putting his hands on the jaw and giving him a watchful gaze.
"What man pride. Even they get tired if they climb such a rough mountain." Lucas complained and continued to follow Sophia who had started climbing down the winding path.
It was understandable why he got tired compared to others.
Lucas was recently advanced to the purple stage while the beauties had higher purple stats points compared to him.
As for Rio, he had the strength of an intermediate purple stage warrior even though his purple stats points were zero.
Additionally, he had [Life Sutra] for faster recovery which helped him feel refreshed and vigorous throughout the tedious journey.
As they reached the foot of the mountain, Sophia gestured her hand to alert them as they all halted their movements.
"It's Shadow Viper Fox." She mumbled to tell her comrades.
A fox-like beast was staring at them from behind the trees.
Its fur was shimmering like silver in the sunlight. It was a small fox-type creature, not bigger than an actual fox from the earth, but its red eyes were filled with a devilish charm.
There was a purple coiling stripe on his neck, informing everyone that it was a purple stage beast.
The beast decided to attack its enemy and moved through the trees with grace, its paws as if not touching the ground.
"Leave the beast to me," Sophia said and move towards her target.
The shadow viper fox beast growled in anger and lunged toward her, its sharp claws glimmered in the sunlight as it attacked the pink-haired girl.
Sophia was ready for the beast as she summoned an axe-type weapon, that had sharp blades with purple handles, and an Armor beast soul, that covered her from head to toe in purple tight clothing.
Her eyes glinted with resolve as she met the beast's attack head-on. Sophia easily tanked the beast's attack with her armor beast soul and struck at it with her axe beast soul.
Shadow viper fox howled in pain as its body was injured by Sophia's attack. Blood dripped, staining the ground red, and the beast's eyes filled with fear as it was planning to retreat.
"Kill the fox so you can use its beast core," Sophia instructed the boys while her eyes didn't leave her enemy.
"Brother you take it. I'll take the second one." Lucas said with a bright smile.
"You need it more than me as you get tired easily. So go and make a move." Rio responded to him in a stiff voice.
"No brother. You should go." He waved his hands in refusal and asked him to get the last hit.
"Hurry." Sophia's hurried voice sounded as the beast was about to run away.
Lucas saw Rio wasn't making any move so with a defeated sigh he summoned his normal tier purple stage beast soul weapon which was an axe similar to Sophia who had a mutated tier of the same.
He moved like with agile movements and cleaved the neck of the already half-dead shadow viper fox, sending it to its afterlife journey.
The beast's head rolled on the ground before it gave a last painful cry and its headless body collapsed on the ground.
A putrid scent enveloped the surroundings as the beast's blood was scattered on the ground.
A purple beast core appeared beside the dead shadow viper fox.
Lucas bent his knees to take it away from the ground before infusing his mana to absorb his first purple beast core.
He felt his strength getting a boost as it brought ecstasy to the boy's face.
"Did you get the beast soul?" Sophia asked him with some hope as beast soul drop rate wasn't 100%.
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Edited By: TheWhiteSnow
