The rise of the pervert primordial

Of course, before leaving, Aster made it so the wounds on the black horses which they killed, were impossible to identify by using the wood clubs to beat the wounded areas until they became a mess.

It sounded like a lot of trouble, but a throughout process was only needed for the two horses killed by Guardian and more accurately the one who had its back destroyed by her claws, for the others a few hits with the clubs were more than enough.

Aster also took some strands of the manes of the dead horses, both the enemy and allied ones, after asking for permission from the mare of course, he did it quite savagely by pulling them off for the former and carefully by cutting it at its roots for the latter though.

It was done so that in both cases it wouldn’t be possible to be noticed without being specially looking for it, once the scene of the fake battle that Aster wanted to create was finished, it was time to leave, it’s worth mentioning that the subordinate of the giant eagle that originally came this way, was sent back to bring the news and should be about to arrive to where Nina is at this point.

Aster didn’t want to waste the colored powder signal, when there was a free option available.

With a bit of threatening from the little wyrm whose tail was firmly holding onto the black horse’s neck, Aster and the others tied their backpacks together and placed them on the horse, it’s worth mentioning that though there wasn’t a need for it, since the mare and practically all the other horses were surrounding the black horse, cutting any chance for him to escape, the little wyrm was riding on it.

The excuse was that she could instantly kill the black horse if he tried anything funny, but to be honest she just wanted to try riding on a mount after she saw how much fun was Vivian having earlier, after all she is normally the one to let others, namely Kana, ride on top of her, so it’s normal that she was interested on it.

Also, Espi looked cute acting all proud and authoritative by treating the black horse she helped to capture, as her servant.

‘Well, I was going to ask that little girl to erase her traces, but it’s better if she doesn’t leave any sliding marks while leaving the area to begin with, so I guess this works for the better if she is having fun’, thought Aster to then turn to see the giant eagle.

“As we discussed, please erase our tracks and leave slight but noticeable hints in a direction that would lead the former king of herbivores towards the area where the subordinates of the king of water beasts, are active”, he said as he handed a branch full of leaves to her.

The king of flying beasts nodded and grabbed the large branch with her claws to then raise from the ground and follow the group from behind, to then use the branch to erase any steps or signs of movement left behind by them, this continued until they had deepened into the forest enough so that their tracks would be mixed with the ones from other animals, which would make them impossible to be distinguished.

Only then did the giant eagle return to adjust the fake tracks in the direction she had to, luckily since the king of water beasts and her are in horrible terms, she was aware of many of the secondary hunting areas of that anaconda’s subordinates, because of course it would be too much of a coincidence if the tracks led directly to the king of water beasts.

Thanks to the bigger black horse which was in charge of supervising the hostage horses, Aster realized that while the change the horses were going through, aligned with the one of the bear, they didn’t completely lose the capacity to reason, at least not as of current.

After all, that bigger horse immediately surrendered when he noticed that the little wyrm could instantly break his neck with her tail, if she felt like it, in other words he didn’t want to suffer and valued his life, so he wasn’t as crazed as the bear and the former king of herbivores should be the same.

And so, Aster had to adjust the scene to leave only traces that wild animals would find impossible to erase in a short period of time, it was better if the former king of herbivores suspected of the king of water beasts, but wasn’t a 100% sure, because the idea was to win time and that black horse won’t directly attack the anaconda before observing him for a couple of days, that would give enough time for Aster to prepare his next move.

Anyway, with the mare guiding them, the group soon reached a secluded spot within the forest, which wasn’t included in the areas of any prominent animal race, it was a “blind spot” of some sort, created thanks to Guardian’s patrolling schedule, since a lot of animals would avoid the areas where she is often seen.

Of course, the mare didn’t hide the children, which were supposed to be the last hope for the continuation of her race in this territory, in the first blind spot she found, it was until the fourth or fifth one that she stopped advancing and stomped her right hoof on a rock that protruded from the ground, in a certain way.

A few seconds later, the leaves of a large bush could be seen moving before a head peeked out of it, it was a white filly, a young female horse but given her height it’s obvious she was older than the foal from earlier.

Seeing the mare returning alive, and accompanied by many other familiar figures the filly happily opened the way for the small horses that were anxiously calling her, so that they could see she had returned.

It was a wholesome moment to see the children reunite with their parents, older brothers or sisters… or at least one of them for each child, with a single exception, that filly which was comforted by the mare.

Apparently, that filly is the mare’s niece as in the mare’s younger sister was her mother, her father which was her sole surviving relative was the one that led the group that blocked the former king of herbivores and was also the first one to die and was devoured by the king himself, according to what the mare had told Guardian earlier.

Originally she was going to stay behind to fight, because she is one of the rare cases where a female horse has fighting teeth, so she had another weapon at her disposition, but in order to save her life, the mare convinced her to come with her, because if she died, her niece would be in charge to look for the small children in her stead, luckily the worst possible scenario didn’t happen.

“I hate to interrupt the reunion, but remember that the energizing drug will run out in an hour or so, and a though large, incapacitated group of horses and wounded and tired mares, will be easy prey in the forest, do you guys have a place to hide?”, asked Aster, a question that Mira translated for Guardian who did the same for the mare.

Which resulted in the mare being lost in her thoughts for a moment, using a secluded blind spot to hide was possible for the children, but the adult horses wouldn’t fit in such a small area.

What’s more, they couldn’t seek refuge in any of the areas that were in good terms with the mare instead of the king himself, because those where the areas that the now leader of the black horses will be spying on in order to find them, first.

So, the areas under the control of the king of flying beasts had to be discarded immediately.

The other possible options where the areas controlled by the acquittances of the former king, but who knows if they were trustable, some might ally with the former king due to his newly gained strength, even if he became a carnivore now, unless he attacked them like it happened with the moose for example.

And the worst part, is that unlike other animals like the snakes for example, where there was more than one major group, spread through this territory, there was only one group of horses, at least until now, so if the black horses saw a normal horse, they will immediately attack it.

“I have a suggestion, we can take your group back to our camp, the black horses will definitely not find you there, at least not in the next five or so days, there is enough food and water as well, however if you decide to follow us, you won’t be leaving until we had dealt with the black horses and the bear, and of course you’ll have to contribute to earn your stay”, said Aster which was translated by Mira to Guardian, while Aster added.

“Of course, I’m not planning to assign any tasks that would possibly lead to expose you to your enemies, since that would be counterproductive for my side as well, it will just be things like helping us move stuff and the like”.

His words made the lynx give Aster a strange gaze, as if she was surprised that he was so direct about his offer, on the other hand she saw in a positive light that Aster wasn’t feigning to help while hiding ulterior motives, both parties benefited from the deal, which in her experience was for the better, something she made sure to communicate to the mare.

“Grrrr”, with a few growls and neighs between Guardian, the mare and the other adult horses, the deliberation ended with the mare directly nodding at Aster.

“I don’t think there is a need to translate it, but she accepted the offer”, casually said the ligress girl, to which Aster jokingly said.

“Heh, why are you acting all indifferent now, I can recognize the gaze of someone that loves small cute animals when I see it, so I bet you were jumping on the inside when you realized there will be so many little horses living with us”.

“Humph!”, Mira’s face slightly reddened, she was going to suggest letting them stay at the camp with them, if Aster didn’t, precisely because of the small horses, at this point it was obvious that she had a weak spot for children, the ligress girl was quite the big sister type, as it could be seen in how she treated both kana and the little wyrm.

Speaking of which, Espi who was keeping the black horse in check, happily smiled at the foals who though a bit shy, returned the greet, because in their eyes the black horses were the “bad guys” and that pretty white snake that was smiling their way, had defeated one of them.

Seeing that little girl already getting along with the foals, Aster couldn’t help but imagine how happy will Kana be when she sees them returning with a bunch of small horses with which she could play.

Having teased the ligress girl enough for the time being, and since the giant eagle was back meaning she had finished the last details of the fake battle scene Aster prepared for the former king of herbivores, it was time to leave this place.

“I didn’t take into account having to return to our camp, but it’s better if we don’t have to get too deep into the forest for the rest of the day, just in case, I trust the materials and resources you spoke about, are easy to obtain, especially the ores?”, said Aster to Guardian who nodded at him, after Mira had translated the question to her.

“Perfect, then you guide us through the shorter and safest route possible, towards the area where the striped wood snake race lives, we’ll take it from there”, said Aster to which the lynx softly growled as she started advancing at a relatively fast but stable pace.

It was a bit hard for the foals to keep up but they had to hurry up because the adult horses that took the energizing drug, the mare included will basically be unable to move once the potion runs out of effect, and the wounded mares were also tired, once they stopped moving, they’ll need to rest at least a few hours.

Luckily, since they only needed to go back on the way they took, they didn’t have to waste time sorting obstacles or anything, and soon they reached the area controlled by the king flying beasts, where Nina, the son of the mare and the son of the giant eagle were calmly waiting.

Judging by the tired eagle who was resting on the ground next to them, Nina and the others had received the news of Aster’s group victory over the black horses, naturally the foal which had somewhat recovered from the shock it suffered due to the moose after resting and drinking a bit of the analgesic potion, immediately rushed to his mother’s side when he saw her among the group.

The son of the king of flying beasts also flew to his mother’s side, but was welcomed with a peck on his head, as if the giant eagle was scolding him for thinking anything was going to happen to her, tough love at its finest.

“Scree”,

Speaking of which, the king of flying beasts communicated something to Guardian who passed the message to Aster through Mira.

“That giant eagle says she’ll stay behind in case the former king comes looking for the mare this way, but her child will come with us, in part because she wants him to repay his debt by helping us and acting as our eyes in the sky and in part because she says she’ll be much more at ease if her dumb son is with a trustable ally”, said the ligress girl.

“Sure, any free manpower is always welcomed”, jokingly said Aster, which the young eagle didn’t understand but seeing both the black-haired bipedal creature, which his mother has told him is called a “human” and that white snake that beat him up before, smirk in his direction, made him have a bad premonition.

The king of flying beasts alongside her subordinates left the area, this wasn’t their main nest and she had to pass the message to all her subordinates to not come down from the top of the trees in case the black horse tried to attack them.

They were all flying beasts, so as long as they remained in a place high enough from the ground, the horses won’t be able to do anything to them, she was more worried about other flying races which weren’t exactly happy with her rule getting funny ideas due to the former king of herbivores instead, which is why her sole “weak point”, in other words her son, was better with the small group she saw dealing with the horses, so easily, especially if Guardian was going to be with them.

….

After parting ways with the giant eagle, the group went through the moose area where Guardian gave the moose a resume of the situation, since they were angered after the former king killed one of their own and ate its head in front of them, this way the foal ever being here will remain a secret, because the moose won’t cooperate with the former king.

And they will be prepared to immediately attack if the former king or any other black horse approached their area, in fact they wanted to turn the black horse which Aster was using as a pack mule, into a pile of meat paste with their antlers and would have done so if Guardian didn’t tell them he was going to suffer even if it lived, turns out that the moose were a rather vengeful race.

After that the racoon and peacock areas were easy to traverse thanks to Guardian’s presence and lastly the group reached the area controlled by the striped wood snakes, where the adult snakes were still waiting for them, or more accurately for the little wyrm to return.

They had gathered the tusks of the boars they had in their nest as a thanking gift for having helped them deal with the peacock, surprisingly even though the group that will be moving through their territory had grown quite a bit due to the horses, since Guardian and Espi were with them, the snakes didn’t seem uncomfortable with it.

“Hissss”, the snakes bowed their heads at the little wyrm as they offered the tusks to her, she looked especially “royal” using such a large animal as her servant, while putting the tusks in one of the backpacks, Aster saw the little wyrm cutely gazing at him, there was no need for her to say it, Aster knew she wanted to warn them about the black horses.

Though the striped wood snake race had no relation with the king of water beasts, since they aren’t that anaconda’s subordinates, unlike basically all the snake races that live at the inner part of the forest, they might be dragged into the fight if they were unaware of what was happening.

“I was going to ask you to tell them, but it’s better if you do it, they are quite useful allies so it would be a shame if something happened to them”, said Aster to the little wyrm whose eyes sparkled as she proceeded to give instructions to the snakes that made Aster raise an eyebrow at her.

‘Did she just ask them to call representatives from the snake and other reptile races that live in the middle part of the forest… oh well, we have to get rid of that anaconda at its given time anyway, since there can only be one king of reptiles’, amusingly thought Aster.

Having sent the snakes off, the one guiding the group changed from Guardian to Aster and Vivian who was in charge of the map in James’s absence, needless to say but the lynx was surprised to see how efficiently they moved through the forest, despite being new to the place.

Soon they reached the border of the forest, where after calculating how much time of the energizing drug they had left, Aster told the horses to eat some strawberries while he and the other members of the exploration team filled the backpacks being carried by the black horse with them, there were new members of the group after all and though the horses could eat grass, the mare quite liked the strawberries the little wyrm gave her.

And so, the group led by Aster which had more than tripled their number came out of the forest and was immediately spotted by the girls from the sect that were on watch duty, fulfilling a mission.

“Senior brother is back…”, their enthusiast greet was interrupted midway when they saw all the horses, and though their attention was of course drawn towards the foals, those curious girls actually forced themselves to look at Guardian instead, because she was the one that looked the most “threatening” given that she is a large sized carnivore and there was that scar which gave her an even fiercer aura.

“Don’t worry, they are new allies that will be staying with us, ah right, there is an eagle too, go ahead of us and tell the others not to shoot it down”, jokingly said Aster.

The son of the king of flying beasts was flying at a low height, and Aster didn’t want the girls to throw spears at him, well, he was worried about some specific girl causing trouble, namely Alice.

After waiting for a couple of minutes, with his especially good sight, Aster saw those girls making signs to him, meaning that everyone was aware of their arrival, so under the mare and Guardian’s interested gazes, he guided them towards the camp.

Seeing the though well-hidden, still noticeable for his dragon eyes, surprised expression on the lynx’s face, when she saw the large and well protected camp, thanks to the fence which was expanded and reinforced by the girls of the sect during the day, Aster couldn’t help but think.

‘She’s seen human settlements before, so why is she surprised, perhaps she thinks we have created quite a decent camp for the time we have been here’.

Leaving that aside, the elders and disciples of the sect as well as Alice and the others all came out to welcome Aster and the rest of the exploration team, naturally the one that led them was the little girl who jumped to cling onto Aster by encircling her arms around his neck.

“Big brother~”, enthusiastically said Kana, only after she had greeted Aster, did she change her focus to the horses and Guardian.

“Are they okay big brother, I feel like they are sad?”, mumbled the little girl as she looked at the mares and foals, as one would expect Kana could immediately tell, because of her affinity with nature.

“They had a rough day, so I’m looking for someone to befriend, take care and cheer them up in my stead”, said Aster which made Kana’s eyes sparkle.

“Mm, leave them to me!”, said the little girl as she let go of Aster and approached the foals, who contrary to how they kept their distance from Aster and the others, especially Vivian, directly approached Kana who petted them.

“Come, let’s find you a nice place to rest~”, cutely said Kana as she took the foals along with her, which of course made the adult horses follow the next second, with the exception of the mare, her niece and that black horse.

“I’ll explain later, I only dropped by to leave the things we have in our backpacks, the horses will be sleeping in a few minutes, prepare a softer version of the analgesic for when they wake up, there are also some blood samples I would like you to inspect”, said Aster to Mylene and the others, to then add.

“Ah right, Alice, keep an eye on this guy, you can use it to move the heaviest stuff and if he does as much as look in a direction you didn’t tell him to, you can beat him to a pulp”.

“Finally, a fun task for me”, said the wild dragon princess as she gave the black horse a threatening gaze, the black horse didn’t know it, but he was about to realize that the white snake that captured him was… really kind.