PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

126 Chapter 126 New Plan

′′ Sasha do you think that classifies as a reason to withdraw? ′′ Desmond exclaimed as he pointed in front of him.

′′ it depends. . . Can you beat them? ′′ Sasha asked back.

′′. . . I may. . . but I prefer not to, it is also a bit late and I will not be able to prepare dinner if we do not return now. . . So why don’t we turn around and go back the way we came. ′′

Without bothering to give a real answer, Sasha just nodded again and again as she quickly retreated to Desmond’s side; who in turn began to make his way back out of the corrupted area of ??the forest.

Any complaint that Desmond had about retreating was completely forgotten when he saw that less than 50 meters ahead, there was another herd of corrupt beasts like the one that attacked the serpentine emperor of steel, and although he believes he was able to kill any of them individually; He also knew that once these beasts started using their pack tactics it would be incredibly difficult for him to fight them.

Desmond might be a stubborn person at times, but he was also someone who knew when to retreat, even when he fought the dark-edged creeper tiger he did so just because he considered his chances of killing him quite high; as for his chances of defeating the corrupt beast pack in his current state. . . Desmond was not overly optimistic.

The only consolation that Desmond and Sasha got at the time was that the corrupted beasts did not seem to have a very high sensitivity to their surroundings, so they managed to retreat without a hitch.

Having made their way back to the safe area of ??the forest, Sasha and Desmond ended up encountering a lone corrupted beast, but unsurprisingly it quickly succumbed to Desmond’s offensive.

Even without infusing any of his mana into the arrow and depending only on the mana provided by the bow itself, as well as the force that he managed to use to pull the bowstring; the shot was still powerful enough to create a huge crater in the corrupted beast’s skull.

.....

That was the huge difference a high-level weapon made when hunting lower-level beasts, it was the equivalent of being a level 20 paid player slaughtering level 10 rookies completely abusing their unfair advantage.

Even so from this incident Desmond managed to determine a couple of things, first that the number of corrupt beasts was not as high as they had thought when they encountered the first herds of these, second, the corrupt beasts alone were not so dangerous what it was truly dangerous of them were when they fought to overwhelm their opponent with their numbers with the mere purpose of hitting their prey and poisoning it with the necrotic substance that they gave off; The third thing that Desmond discovered would help him hunt down these beasts in the future and that was that these beasts had largely lost their sensory abilities making it much easier for an archery specialist like him to hunt them since distance.

Unfortunately, Desmond was not in a position to take advantage of that advantage today, and even if he did, he still would not solve the problem they needed to solve which was to find and destroy the source of this necrotic energy.

The rest of the way was uneventful so Sasha and Desmond soon found themselves in the comfort of the cabin wherein great haste they resorted to taking a shower to eliminate the smell of corrupted blood and other substances that had fallen on them; Of course, Desmond tried to use his precarious condition to get Sasha to help him wash his body but the girl was not so clueless as to fall into the same trap twice so Desmond could only bathe alone while dreaming of a better world.

Following the little routine they had formed between them, Desmond went straight to the kitchen with a few drops of water still falling from his hair to start preparing dinner, and by the time Sasha finished getting ready after the shower the food was already on the table waiting for both of them to sit down to eat.

Desmond, having been too tired to do anything elaborate, ended up making a simple tiger steak accompanied by a berry salad, course simple by the standards of a money-laden alchemist like Sasha meant that all the ingredients used had some level of mana in them.

Having finished eating, they both retired to the living room where they sat to talk about their new plans while enjoying a cup of tea; A detail that did not escape Desmond’s attention was that the selection of herbs used by Sasha on this occasion was different from the usual one so that accompanied by the now slightly bitter taste came a feeling of physical relief that reminded Desmond of the effects of the potion of resistance.

′′ Really as considerate as always Sasha. ′′ Desmond said with a fond smile.

To which Sasha responded with a shy smile accompanied by a little blush that soon adorned her adorable cheeks.

′′ I suppose it is time for plan B, things did not go as planned today and it is obvious that this infection in the forest is getting stronger, perhaps not at such a rapid rate as to alarm us, but we still have to take action, I already have a plan to deal with the corrupt beasts; The truth is that these turn out to be the perfect prey for a bow user like me so I shouldn’t have much of a problem once I’m in my best condition.

But the problem is still finding the source of the corruption, so I would like to go to the city on the outskirts of the forest to get information since the origin of all this seems to have arisen closer to the east side of the forest perhaps we can obtain clues that help us to reduce even the search area; I know you are not a fan of the idea of ??visiting the city but it is the best option. . . I hope you understand. ′′

After hearing Desmond’s point of view, as well as his arguments, Sasha was silent for a moment before nodding in acknowledgment after which she made a single request to Desmond:

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′′ Okay, I agree with your plan to go to the city to find information, but in exchange, you will have to help me tomorrow with some work that I want to do in the laboratory and you will help me with my costume to go to the city. ′′

Desmond quickly agreed to Sasha’s conditions so they spent the rest of the afternoon resting while discussing some details about what they wanted to investigate in the city before the conversation turned to the possible applications of the materials Sasha obtained from the steel emperor serpent after which a one-sided conversation became where Desmond listened with an interested smile to the excited alchemist; He really seemed to enjoy these kinds of moments when a person he appreciated shared her passions with him. . . in that sense he was a simple man.