Chapter 13: Iron Beast
Ember believed his father wouldn’t let any harm come to Rain; that after learning about an iron-rank beast lying in ambush, he would hasten to slay it before his sister even got wind of it.
Now imagine his surprise when, instead of charging there, Cliff asked Lady Evelyn to let the children have a brush with the beast first. An iron-rank beast could be anywhere between Level 25 and Level 99. To unclassed ascendants like his sister and the others, it mattered little even if its level was on the lower side of things. For them, even defeating copper-rank beasts below Level 25 was already a feat. In contrast, even a low-rank iron beast tended to have tougher defences, their physical prowess far greater than that of a classed ascendant.
"That's cold," said Lord Jamie. "Have some mercy on your child, Sir Cliff."
Clearly, he wasn’t asking out of goodwill, as unlike the woman, who was rather straightforward, her brother was more like a two-faced monkey, despite his handsome face. Monkey, because he didn’t seem to be venomous like a snake, but more like a fun-seeking and frothy animal.
Although, now he should be worried about his father, and what he had to say:
"I would rather have her experience some tribulation under my guard than have her meet with a disaster on her very first real expedition."
Of course, what else could he have expected from a slave driver? Despite being a loving father, the man was a slave driver through and through. Ember prayed for his sister's soul. Hopefully, she wouldn’t be traumatised for life.
"That works as well," Lady Evelyn agreed. "I hope it gives some good prospects to my niece and nephew as well."
They are but children. My lady, please have some mercy, Ember cried inwardly, but he could do nothing to change their minds.
Without words, Cliff pulled him onto his back and dashed at the speed of the wind, the other two figures following behind. Their feet never seemed to touch the ground as they moved. At least they were fully invested in their safety.
The trees blurred in his view. Ember had to squint to make out anything, until finally they stopped behind a higher vantage point on a hill. Laying him down, Cliff raised his right arm as his blade appeared from his system inventory. He eyed the path downwards, already seeming to see the figures of his sister and the others, or at least their approximate position.
“Its around Level 60,” Lady Evelyn said, eyeing the same direction. “Save for its tough exterior, there’s nothing magical of note.”
Ember too squinted to see, though he could not make out anything beyond the obscurity of the trees and the long hedges. Level 60 was no problem at all. His father was standing at the very peak of Iron, at Level 99, with his racial tier already pushing towards Tier 9. Outside his class skills, he had a good number of general skills which complemented him well. His movement and presence alone were evidence of that. He didn’t even bother bringing out his knightly armour to deal with a lone Level 60 iron hyena.
“Allow me to deal with it,” Cliff asked her. The woman nodded, and only then did he turn towards Ember. “Em, you remain with them. It’ll only take a moment."
Ember exchanged glances between the two and nodded. Except for Lord Jamie, both his father and Lady Evelyn were exuding an outrageous amount of power. Even remaining close to them was stifling.
Cliff still waited a good minute until a blood-chilling roar rang out from down the path. Then came the shouts and cries of the others, followed by the crackling of trees being overturned.
“That’s my cue,” Cliff said, and took a step forward. He walked down the path. One step, two steps, three steps, and then his figure disappeared into the blur and vanished into the obscurity.
More cries echoed out. Thankfully, most of them seemed to be coming from the beasts. Lady Evelyn took him down the hill as even those shrill cries started to dwindle. Halfway along the path, all the cries fell silent as the wilderness returned to its relative stillness.
Looks like Dad already finished the task, Ember thought, a little dejected that he had missed the opportunity to see him in action.
"It seems Sir Cliff doesn’t waste time at all," said Lady Evelyn.
“I’m more curious why he isn’t ranking up,” her brother said, his piercing gaze trained on where all the ruckus had come from. "What do you think he is waiting for?"
"Perhaps he’s waiting to advance his race," the woman said, though not fully convinced.
While there was some truth to what she said, Ember believed it had more to do with spending time with family and preparing Rain for her eventual trial. The instant he got to Level 100, the clan would send him back to the Northern Plains, giving him even heavier responsibility.
"Well, let’s pick up the children," Jamie said, "and leave. Hopefully they aren't traumatised by a mere hyena."
It's no mere hyena, Ember shouted internally as they reached the site.
The beast lay on the ground with its head severed from its neck, dark scarlet blood pooling around it. It was massive, easily bigger than even a buffalo when it was still standing, with a bulk reaching a ton. Now that it was dead, the oldest boy of the hunting party was poking it with his sword. There was barely any give in its rugged, wiry form. He had to put in everything to even draw a line of blood. Even in death, the iron beast’s defence was as tough as cast iron. Yet from the look of it, his father seemed to have severed its head in one strike.
A dozen other smaller counterparts, likely copper-rank hyenas, lay in similar condition all around. Only a few of them seemed to have been dispatched by the hunting party. Ember could easily differentiate the clean cuts as being the handiwork of his father.
But despite the meticulous precision, his stomach protested in unrest at the sight of all the blood and severed corpses. It was no different from being in a slaughterhouse.
Purposefully, he moved away from the mangled corpses and made his way towards his family, who were waiting under a tree dozens of paces away from all the blood.
Cliff had already sheathed his blade and returned it to his storage, now standing next to Rain. Ember found not even a single scratch on her. She likely had no close brushes with the massive hyena, though the expression on her face spoke volumes about what she had experienced.
Ember collected his thoughts, hoping in some way he could elevate her mood, as his father certainly was not doing much, only patting her shoulder reassuringly.
The only one who seemed to be as affected as her was Benny, the young boy who had loaned him his wand. The pompous young girl, on the other hand, had already reunited with her aunt and was cleaning herself with a towel.
"So," Cliff finally asked, "Think you're ready for the trial?"
"I hate you," Rain shouted before jumping to her feet and beginning to run off on her own.
"Don't be a fool," his father's voice cut in before she could go further. "You wouldn't want to get the attention of another iron-rank beast out there."
His sister stumbled and turned, though she didn’t return immediately, her anger clouding her judgement.
"Now, what to do about this?" Father asked, eyeing the two adults.
"Since it is your kill,” Lady Evelyn said, “the spoils belong to you."
Their father thought for a moment and nodded. "I'll only be taking the iron core. The rest, the children can distribute among themselves.”
Even the corpse of the awakened beast was worth a good few coins, but not so much that high-ranking people would want to deal with it. In his father’s words, they could find a local business to take care of it.
Ember watched as his father brought out a knife and pried open the monster's skull to extract a large, peanut-sized gem from it. A beast core was like the source of an awakened beast’s magical power. It was where all their mana and essence were invested. Obviously, a human shouldn’t try to absorb the beast’s mana from the core, but the concentration of mana and essence made the beast core an essential material for crafting artefacts.
An iron rank one could fetch as much as a hundred iron crowns. That was already a sizeable sum, but adding in the other bounty they could get from it, they were looking at over 200 iron crowns.