PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

′′ So, Sasha, the truth is that I came to this forest to look for some specific resources just like in your case, but I am not too familiar with the area and neither do I feel comfortable leaving a pretty girl like you wandering through a sinister forest. Like this one, what if I validate the offer from before and help you collect your materials in exchange for some instructions. ′′

Desmond of course would not accept that he actually did not have the slightest idea where to start collecting the materials he was looking for beyond the fact that these would probably be found in the rocky section of the forest, of course, he was also somewhat interested in the profession of Sasha as an alchemist and the fact that she was so attractive only added to the merits of her idea.

′′ What kind of materials are you looking for? Maybe I can give you instructions directly. ′′

As naive and absorbed in her rose-colored emotions as Sasha was, she was still someone who had lived alone in the forest for a few years and had dealt with humans on more than one occasion so a certain distrust was difficult to hide in her response.

But as timely as some events can become, a series of whispers began to sound in the surroundings, at first both of them had overlooked it due to the sound of running water in the stream, but now it had become too loud to be ignored.

′′ Araszh enick orizae . . . arazsh enick orizae. ′′

“Quick behind me,” Desmond said with a hand signal before returning to his archery stance.

As perceptive as Desmond could be at times, this time I noticed something peculiar about the ghoulish whispers, these were almost as loud as the ones he had heard before during his fun zombie hunt, but the place where he and Sasha met was a small stream that ran between some rocks, the place as such was not surrounded by trees or bushes in its vicinity and that is precisely the reason why Desmond chose to rest here in the first place; to have a good field of vision. That is why when I hear Sara come out of a bush, she was several meters away from him and I only heard her because of the unusual stillness that reigned in this part of the forest.

.....

Taking all of the above into account, the fact that Desmond could hear those whispers almost as loud as when he met the zombies face to face, being very certain that there were none of them in the immediate vicinity, could only mean one thing: the origin of these whispers was bigger or stronger than the zombies that I faced before.

So, with some caution, Desmond took one of his special black arrows from his secondary quiver and placed it on the bowstring, letting it soak up the rich dual mana of his gentle fox-bow, ready to fire a full shot. Power Desmond even started channeling his focused mana shot ability; Due to the uncertainty of his current situation, Desmond did not dare to take any risks. Of course, Desmond had no way of knowing that Sasha was now alternating his gaze between him and the bow in her hand, giving a strange image by alternating between the face of a maiden in love and the face of a mad scientist obsessed with an experiment.

Soon the precautions taken by Desmond proved to be adequate, as multiple ghoulish entities emerged from among the trees around the stream, in a split second Desmond determined that trying to annihilate all his enemies depending solely on his bow was at best stupid. So, taking a quick glance at the battlefield, he pointed his weapon in the direction of the largest of the monsters that surrounded him and Sasha.

Releasing the bowstring, a black bolt tore through the wind and quickly struck the creature Desmond was aiming for, leaving a massive crater in the beast’s chest, which staggered back a couple of steps before collapsing into it. ground convulsing for a few moments until he died.

Seeing that one shot at full power with one of his higher quality arrows barely managed to kill that thing, Desmond was glad he had targeted it since if he had wasted a shot like that on one of the weak foes, he would have run into serious trouble trying to kill that thing with his other means.

After the big one fell, the rest of his group finished emerging completely from their hiding places revealing their figures, they turned out to be normal zombies, of course, if such a thing as a normal zombie exists.

Not wanting to waste arrows and time, Desmond opted for the melee approach, although this was also partly because with the number of zombies in the place, trying to stay in a fixed place while playing sniper was probably not the way to go or the wisest choice to make.

′′ Stay behind me at all times, we will move while I deal with them little by little. ′′ Desmond exclaimed slowly and calmly to avoid any misunderstanding with Sasha that could put them at risk.

′′ Are you sure you can handle all of them? They far outnumber us. Sasha asked, she did not seem to doubt Desmond’s abilities as she had more of an expression of curiosity than an expression of the doubt when asking the question.

′′ Don’t worry, it may not seem like it, but I’m very good at massacring. . . Cof cough I mean protecting, yes protecting people. ′′ Desmond tried to appear reliable by exposing his abilities, but he realized halfway through that although what he said made him look strong it did not make him look reliable so he changed what he was going to say midway in a very uncomfortable way.

“I didn’t know that was a requirement for hunters.” Ignoring Desmond’s clear mistake, Sasha focused more on the incongruity between skill and profession.

′′ It is that besides being a hunter I am a part-time bodyguard. ′′ Lying blatantly Desmond tried to cover his earlier slip.

′′ Well, I hope that the part about being good at slaughtering is true because you are going to occupy it. ′′ So Sasha nonchalantly exposed the fact that she had certainly heard Desmond’s earlier slip.

So Desmond could only prepare for battle with a wry smile on his face when he saw that he had failed to create a good impression on the alchemist. . . or so he believed.

Since in the mind of the naive young alchemist, Desmond’s image had only gotten better from the moment they met, starting with Desmond’s unbelievably good looks and then proceeding with all the cute things Desmond had said about her appearance, if we add to that how damn attractive is the image of a serious Desmond preparing for battle; Sasha only had good thoughts about this person that she had just met.

As for how much her opinion of the hunter would increase based on his performance in battle, well that would be up to Desmond himself as Sasha had already done her part about it with her pretty eyes brimming with expectation and adoration for the strong.