Novel Full Chapter 373: Opportunity Seeker - 1
Chapter 373: Opportunity Seeker – 1
Chapter 373: Opportunity Seeker – 1
Kaelion heard Leo and answered him.
“It’s because killing them doesn’t bring the beast any benefit, and also because the weaker ones aren’t creating a nuisance for the king.”
After this, Tavian continued.
“The king sees them as followers, and which being doesn’t want others to do its bidding?”
“But aren’t the followers also getting killed by the same king’s attacks?” Leo asked again.
“As you said earlier, the king isn’t actively trying to kill them; it’s almost the same as stepping on ants unknowingly when you are just trying to walk. But in this case, it’s the ants coming in your way to get stepped on. You cannot blame the king for this.”
“Wait… walking? Isn’t this storm created by that king beast’s attack?” Leo asked, confused.
Both Tavian and Kaelion looked at Leo and shook their heads.
“No,” both said simultaneously, then glanced at each other when they realised they had spoken in sync.
“It’s just a passive effect created when a certain king-tier beast migrates. And though it can be suppressed to a great degree, I think this king doesn’t want to make that extra effort and just flies to its destination… along the way gathering followers.”
Leo was amazed. If this were just a passive effect of flying, what would it look like when the beast attacked actively?
“Wait, migrating? Where? Do beasts like these even need to migrate?”
“Winter has nearly arrived in this region; it’s probably going to settle near Gehra Lake in the northeast,” Kaelion guessed after looking at the general direction the storm was moving.
Tavian nodded in agreement.
“Even if the adverse climate cannot affect it, staying in a good place is always more enjoyable and comfortable. This beast must like colder regions.”
Leo had more questions regarding followers and what other benefits the weaker beasts could get, but he decided to talk about it later and instead asked the important things.
“So it won’t intentionally attack my territory, right?”
“Not a chance. If the territory gets destroyed, better call it collateral damage. Because kings won’t even bat an eye towards insignificant beings like us. The stronger you get, the calmer you are… in most cases. Even unintelligent beasts won’t attack until they’re threatened, annoyed, or need to fulfil a personal desire,” Kaelion said.
“That’s true,” Tavian added.
“Every bit of extra energy and time used on anything other than consolidating power to rank up is a waste for them. So they would rather rest and sleep for decades than run amok around the world. There’s also a high chance that they might disturb a higher-ranked existence and get killed,”
Then Kaelion added another point.
“That’s also why the migrating beast always prefers to travel through the same region, because it’s safe, and the chance of a sudden high-ranked beast appearing is low.”
“Oh?” Leo raised a brow.
“So you mean to say this beast will come back from the opposite side in summer?”
“No, after 10 or so years.”
Leo frowned.
“That long? Why is it even bothering to migrate then?”
“Are you acting or really not aware? Don’t you know that temperature patterns change every 10 years in our world? So, for the next 10 years, this place is going to be comparatively cooler even in summer. This also means the winters are going to be bone-wrecking,” Kaelion said, a bit annoyed by Leo’s incessant questioning, which was distracting him from observing the king beast.
Leo nodded in understanding, completely disregarding Kaelion’s annoyance.
As they observed the incoming storm, Kaelion suddenly realised something.
“Leo, I think you should cover the houses built by the elves too. That lightning can blow them away in one hit if it strikes.”
Leo nodded.
The storm had almost reached them, so time was short.
“I’ll get to work then.” Saying that, Leo departed. But as he reached the first house, he realised the earthen domes wouldn’t be enough, because in the heavy rain they would get soft and eventually collapse. The same was true for the domes created by Howl over the magic plants and natural treasures.
“Wait, Natural Treasure!”
Leo suddenly recalled he had the perfect thing to counter random lightning strikes. He thought about it, and the item appeared in his hand.
Thunder-Crest Elk Antlers: Low Purple-tier Treasure
—A naturally shed antler from a Thunderhide Elk that matured into a female after reaching Low 3-stars. Saturated heavily with thunder elemental energy, it is prized for forging weapons, conductive gear, and high-grade alchemical reagents. These antlers instinctively attract lightning during storms, absorbing massive amounts of electrical power, and—when processed correctly—can function as a stable, high-output energy source.
The bony, branched structure glowed with a faint whitish-blue light; it was the antler given by the elk whose partner had been healed by Leo.
“I wonder if those guys are still okay…” he muttered, but he knew in the wilderness anything could happen, and they might already be dead.
Leo shook his head, pushing away the useless thoughts.
“If I had Howl at that time, I might have brought them along. And I couldn’t even tame the male alone, as he would have been separated from his family. And I couldn’t tame all three since I have limited slots…”
But just then, he felt the antler charge with static energy all of a sudden.
He looked up and realised it was actually getting attracted by the steadily approaching storm.
“Wait, what the—!” he cursed when he realised the storm was suddenly right over his head.
“Leo!” Kaelion’s distant shout reached him through the roaring wind.
“Come back! The storm is faster than it appears!”
He didn’t wait anymore and ran to a fairly empty place over the mound, then planted the antler there by burying one end into the ground. Just to be sure, he used vines to hold it in place and reinforced the earth below. But suddenly—
Crackle—Crack!
A long lightning strike tore down from the stormy clouds like a branched chain and struck the antler directly.
“Shit!” Leo jumped away.
BOOM!
Still within range, he was thrown off balance and rolled across the dirt.
“Argh!” he groaned. After a quick look, he realised his right arm was completely blistered. The heat from the strike had been intense.
Thankfully, it started healing soon after.
Leo quickly staggered back and managed to get out of range before another strike hit the same place where the antler was planted.
“Just don’t break…” he muttered, finally giving a glance towards the stormy clouds.
But what he witnessed widened his eyes.