The Curator
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Chapter 90: The Glorious Hunt
🕑 Added 2024-11-03 19:12:55 +0000 UTC"What do you think, Eve—to the left or right?" Kargul asked.
They had hunted for over a day now and made great progress, with both close to level 70. Vorlok was also close to level 70, and additionally, it had grown a few meters.
The turtle was now over five meters long, and its head was larger as well. It had devoured multiple tons of flesh, but its appetite was just growing with every level.
"I think we should go to the left," Evelyn said after a while. "There are hoofprints on the bark over there, maybe we’ll get lucky and find something big."
At the mention of something big, Vorlok’s head shot up and scanned the area. A moment later, they were on the hunt again. They were so far from Kael's base that they would need to turn around soon to get back before the system shop.
Traveling the distance was totally worth it. Not many were hunting in these areas, which allowed the beasts to grow much stronger.
They had fought a bullfrog, level 71, yesterday in a swamp area, but Vorlok and Kargul didn't like the swamp, so they left. Kargul could make great progress in his body-tempering and was now twenty centimeters taller and had built a lot of muscle.
He had also gained a boosting skill that made him faster and stronger. In return, he had to burn additional stamina, but the trait was definitely worth it. Eve also got some new evasive skills and upgraded her illusion and healing skills to exalted.
Vorlok, on the contrary, still hadn't gained any skills so far—maybe because he had grown so much? Evelyn thought while sitting on the back of the flying turtle. It was so relaxing traveling like that; you didn't have to watch out for surprise attacks since no beast would dare to attack the crazy skyturtle.
The aura of Kargul and Vorlok told a story of slaughter and death, and both didn't care at all to hide it. Actually, Eve didn't even know if they knew what an aura even was.
That was a topic for another day. She loved hunting with them, and as a healer, she didn't even have to do much since both of them rarely got injured, but she still got the full experience.
At that moment, she heard Vorlok sniffing deeply. A sign that the turtle had found something and would pursue it with all its speed. That turtle really was a bit like Kung Fu Panda—nothing special until food got involved.
"Oh, you found something good?" Kargul asked with anticipation.
The turtle started to sniff more and more, which was a sign for Evelyn that the rollercoaster was about to begin. The next moment, a terrifying amount of mana was channeled into the ground under their feet, and vines started to grow, catching the flying turtle, which was not fast enough to escape, and trapping Kargul in an embrace.
Only Evelyn managed, with one of her movement skills, to hop onto a tree branch. She had a lot of practice in that move since sometimes the turtle dive-bombed into the ground after seeing a shadow move and mistaking it for prey.
"Look what we have here," an orc said with a wide grin after stepping around a tree.
More and more orcs came forward. Two female orcs looked like they were shamans and most likely had cast the spell that kept Kargul and Vorlok trapped.
None of the over fifty orcs noticed Evelyn, who hid behind an illusion and watched as the orcs approached. Vorlok dealt with the situation in his own way, as he was eating the vines eagerly.
"What is that ugly creature?" the orc who had spoken laughed. "Since when do we keep our food around like that?"
"This is my pet, Vorlok the Worldshatterer," Kargul announced proudly.
"Haha, you must have lost your mind," the orc laughed. "Not that it matters anymore—you’ll be dead soon."
With that, he pulled a giant hammer out of his spatial ring and started to approach Kargul.
"You dare to mock Vorlok the Worldshatterer?" Kargul screamed in anger, and Vorlok also noticed that something was amiss. The eyes of the turtle narrowed as Evelyn had seen so many times. Vorlok was going to eat every last orc. Before she could finish her thought, the turtle began biting the vines apart.
"Kill the creature first, or it will free itself!" one of the shamans screamed.
"No one can contain Vorlok the Worldshatterer!" Kargul roared, and his muscles bulged.
The vines around him started to rip one by one. Evelyn took her chance and summoned a mana barrier in front of the female orcs, who also stood on a tree branch not so far from her. Evelyn pushed the barrier into the orcs, who failed to muster a defense and got hit right in the face.
"That was a mistake, girl," one of the shamans hissed, pointing a finger at her.
A wooden serpent emerged out of the tree and flew at Evelyn with incredible speed, but it was worth it as she heard the last vines rip. Vorlok and Kargul were free.
"Vorlok, the flesh of those is very soft," Evelyn shouted while pointing at the two women.
"What?" the female orc exclaimed, but it was already too late.
It almost seemed like Vorlok had teleported as a giant maw opened before the female orc. Two gulps later and a twist with his beak-like turtle mouth, and the female orc was gone.
"No! What have you done?" the orc shouted with anger and shock.
"Quiet. First smash, then talk," Kargul said coldly while taking out his mace.
His body burned with power as he blurred forward, swinging his mace at the now far weaker orc. The other orc tried to dodge but completely failed.
His body sank to the ground, completely destroyed. Kargul continued to kill orc after orc until one orc threw his weapon away and pleaded for mercy.
"Please, just keep my sister alive," the orc pleaded while pointing upward to the remaining shaman.
His eyes grew wide in shock as he saw that his sister was already half-swallowed by Vorlok, with only her shoulders and head sticking out. Blood was dripping from her mouth as she said, "Help, please help."
She couldn't say anything more as Vorlok gulped her down and, satisfied, licked his beak.
"NO, make the beast spit her out!" the orc screamed in anger and desperation.
"Hey, dumbhead, you tried to kill us. That means you get smashed or eaten," Evelyn shouted from the branch she was standing on. The orc didn't have time to say anything as Vorlok dive-bombed down, landing with his open mouth on an orc archer and starting to swallow the orc alive.
The orcs, who had stopped fighting for a short moment while the young orc tried to bargain for his sister's life, all attacked. Kargul rushed forward again and started smashing. His skin was so hard that most weapons didn't leave deep wounds, and even those were healed instantly by Eve.
Vorlok was also like a flying fortress, as every attack on his shell bounced off harmlessly. His mouth would snap forward, biting the orcs. When I say biting the orcs, it was more like biting most of the orc off.
The orcs very soon understood that they couldn't win, and some exited the third stage by paying 50,000 credits. The others ran, but Vorlok wouldn't let his meal escape and was relentless in hunting every single one down. When it came to food, the turtle had no problem counting every single enemy and hunting them all down.
Evelyn tried to hide one of the younger beasts in the pack during a hunt yesterday, but it was no use against that turtle. The orcs experienced exactly that as they tried to escape in different directions, but they had no skills to defend against an over-three-ton sky turtle dive-bombing onto them. Have you ever seen an eagle hunt?
When they find their prey, say, a rabbit, they dive down, and when they're right over the rabbit and it looks like they'll crash into the ground, they open their wings and their claws shoot forward, grabbing the prey.
With Vorlok, it was almost the same, with the difference that Vorlok didn't open his wings but just slammed into the ground with an open mouth, with the prey under him.
With his size and weight, he left big craters after every attack. It took the turtle two hours to hunt down every last orc, and he happily landed on the battlefield where Evelyn and Kargul waited. Seeing the smashed corpses, Vorlok flew over happily, devouring every single one.
"I wonder where all the flesh is going," Evelyn muttered in amusement.
"In his belly, of course," Kargul explained while nodding.
"Those weaklings were not enough. I want more," Kargul announced after standing up.
Vorlok definitely agreed, as he was still hungry and flew over to Evelyn, nudging her leg with his beak.
"Okay, okay, let's go," Evelyn relented and jumped on the back of the turtle, who took off.
She wanted to do some body-tempering and soul cultivation, which was impossible on the back of the turtle. Not that it wasn't relaxing to be transported by the turtle—it was more about the turtle recklessly dive-bombing the moment it saw movement in the jungle.
To be in deep meditation when the turtle crashed into the ground would definitely not be a good idea. One thing Evelyn really didn't like about Vorlok was that he hunted down everything, no matter the age or size. Evelyn had to watch multiple times as the turtle swallowed newborn beasts or tiny cute hamsters. Vorlok started sniffing again, turning his head quickly from side to side.
"Ah, you’ve found something again," Kargul said eagerly. Vorlok nodded, his excitement clear as he looked around and soon began to slowly fly forward, sniffing repeatedly.
"Oh, I can’t wait to fight again. The last ones were so weak," Kargul said, trying to spot the prey before the turtle could.
<--
"What do you mean, you’re normally a human?" Nerissa asked, intrigued as she watched the wiggling crab slowly sinking toward the reef.
"Well, I’m a shapeshifter, and today I decided to be a crab," Josh said nervously.
"So, I guess the squid is also a shapeshifter?" Nerissa asked, her eyes narrowing.
"That's right, powerful lady, but I’m stronger," Jack replied proudly, oblivious to the danger.
"No, you are not," Josh replied angrily.
"Ah, and who was stuck in my tentacles and couldn’t get out just moments ago?" Jack argued, amused.
"It’s just this form. In any other form, I’m stronger!" Josh yelled in defiance.
"Oh, so it’s my fault that you chose to become a crab?" Jack laughed. "Is there even a weaker form?"
"Yes! Why did you choose to become a crab? Wouldn’t it be best to take the strongest form possible?" Nerissa asked, clearly interested.
"Well, I just thought...it wouldn’t be such a bad choice at the moment," Josh mumbled, embarrassed.
"Anyway, you swim over here. You two, follow me," Nerissa said coldly.
"Of course, powerful lady," Jack replied happily, slowly drifting in her direction. Josh tried to swim toward her, but only made small progress with his paddle-like hind legs.
"What are you doing?" Nerissa asked, noticing Jack had started to spin.
"It’s not easy to swim with such a big body," Jack complained. "I need to blow and also position myself right. Then, there’s the problem with the vision! I don’t know who designed this big thing, but I really need some side mirrors."
"Alright, why is the crab taking so long?" Nerissa asked in annoyance.
"It’s not my fault! These paddle legs are not the best for swimming, and if some giant squid wouldn’t blow me away all the time, I would have already arrived!" Josh said, agitated, with a glare at the still-spinning giant squid.
"It doesn’t matter. You are now my personal slaves and will take the forms I tell you to," Nerissa announced icily.
"What? A slave? Why?" Josh exclaimed in shock.
"Oh, Josh, why can’t you just do what the powerful lady says?" Jack retorted. "Why is it always so difficult with you?"
"You will address me as Lady Nerissa Serwyn," Nerissa said coldly. "And now hurry up! I have better things to do than wait for my slaves."
The squid was now spinning like a balloon with a hole in it, while the crab was also being blasted around.
"What are you doing now?" Nerissa said impatiently.
"I am trying to swim fast. It’s just not working! This is exactly how the crab problem started!" Jack exclaimed. "Ohhh god, I am so dizzy right now."
"Please, Lady Nerissa, it’s not my fault! He’s blasting me away—there’s nothing I can do!" Josh exclaimed, worried that he would be punished while being spun around by the giant squid.
"Help them," Nerissa commanded her guards, who had wide smiles on their faces.
Soon after, one guard carried Josh over while the other stabilized the spinning squid.
"Everything is still spinning," Jack muttered, exhausted, while his large eyes continued to roll.
"Bring them to my chambers," Nerissa ordered her guards. "I have much use for two shapeshifters."
Thalion watched from a distance as the two guards struggled to bring the squid, whose tentacles were over 30 meters long. They tried to push him with streams of water, but Jack just couldn’t swim straight, as he would always start to rotate after a while.
