Way of the Knights

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The Spatial Abode continued on it's way for another month, stopping constantly according to Raven's desire. 

From time to time he will go out and pick a fight with some beast to train. Either that or Venus would complain to him and so he would take her out for a walk - or a meal, depending on her mood really. 

This day is no different from their usual routine. Raven was out in the wilderness in search for a fight. Venus on the other hand is just out there stretching since she's mostly in her scarf form or not on her original size. Venus grew bigger and longer again, now she's about 30 meters long and is almost 10 foot wide. This really made Raven wonder just how large Venus would truly get once she grow older. Well, her growth must also be attributed to her diet. 

Raven was walking around on the dense shrubbery when all of a sudden, he tilted his head and a shadow went past him. 

There are no traces of panic nor surprise in his face when he dodged a blow that might've killed him. He looked forward and calmly stared at the creature who miserably failed in ambushing him just now. 

This creature was small. Barely a foot tall and not bulky either compared to most beasts that one would see here in the depths of the Red Zone. It has brown skin with several patches of ashen color. It has a pair of deep black eyes, long razor sharp claws and four protruding fangs. 

This creature is called Earthen Hograt. A very rare sight even here at the depths of the Red Zone. Earthen Hograts lived underground, they have a special physique that allows to survive even without surfacing for long periods of time. In a way they are like moles, but even if their sizes are small it would be best not to underestimate them. 

Earthen Hograts are capable of bringing down someone or something who's at least ten times their size. They are extremely fast and deadly, they could easily shred an unsuspecting victim in no time. 

The Earthen Hograt in front of Raven snarled at him and swiftly buried beneath the ground once again. Raven sneered and continued walking forward, totally unimpressed and dismissive about the creature. Anyone who would see him to do this would admonish him for being careless, an attitude that will certainly get him killed. But if there's anyone who has a capital to dismiss a huge threat like this, it would be none other than Raven. 

It was not like was being careless. Raven just didn't want to bother with enemies who aren't threatening to him anymore. 

If it faced Raven before he assimilated Tenrou's blood, then sure he would totally take it seriously. Unfortunately, that's not the case anymore. The Earthen Hograt's abilities might be extremely impressive but Raven's enhanced awareness totally countered it. He knows where it is even though he's not actively searching for it, he also knows when it's preparing to surface and could accurately judge where he's going to get hit, allowing him to perfectly dodge it using less effort. 

This is why Raven dismissed the poor beast even though it is proudly sits at Tier 3. Everything it does is useless in front of him, the only way that it could kill Raven is if he allowed it to do so.

*Whoosh!*

The Earthen Hograt tried to ambush him once more but just like before, Raven dodged it so easily even without looking nor activating his ocular technique. This time however, instead of allowing free, he grabbed it just as soon as it missed and hurriedly threw it somewhere. 

The Earthen Hograt was surprised and even a little happy that it was free once more but it soon despaired since it found itself being wrapped by a thick and long albino snake. 

The mere glare of Venus was able to send shivers through the hograt. It tried to free itself from her grasp but the more it struggled, the more she restricted it. Venus is more stronger compared before, and since she was a snake that constricts instead of poisoning, it was safe to say that the fate of this hograt had been sealed when she captured it.

The claws that it used to prey on many unsuspecting beasts before was rendered useless by Venus. And with one strong squeeze, all of its bones were broken and it lost consciousness. She swallowed the Earthen Hograt in one go and searched for Raven at a distance. 

She found him confronting a beast this time around, but what puzzled her is that the two aren't fighting. 

There is a monkey in front of Raven. It's fur was pitch black in color and it has three tails swinging behind it. Raven saw this monkey even before it saw him. He was expecting to be attacked but instead of that, the monkey only titled its head and observed him quietly. 

After staring at him a for a good amount of time, the monkey took a step forward. It looked cautiously at Raven to see if he reacted negatively to what it did but saw him still calm and unbothered. It took another step while looking at him but just like before Raven had no reaction. 

It became braver and took several steps forward until it's mere inches away from Raven. It was at the same time when Venus suddenly showed up, scaring the poor three-tailed monkey. 

"Stop that girl. You scared him." Raven said as he flicked Venus on the head. He then looked back at the monkey and asked: "Do you need something?"

"H-help…"

Raven's brows instantly shot up in surprise. He then calmed himself down and said: "You can speak. That's impressive."

This was a new experience for Raven. While he did had seen and met some beasts who are talking before, they either did it through thought connection or they're speaking a foreign language. 

But for a beast who could not only understand his language but speak it as well? This is the first. 

"What's the problem?" Raven asked after his initial surprise. 

The monkey hesitated to talk, instead it kept looking cautiously at Venus who's still glaring at it. Raven see this and said: "Scarf, now."

*Hiss*

"No buts." Raven stressed, "Scarf, now."

Venus couldn't go against him so she could only follow his orders reluctantly. The monkey watched in wonder as Venus transformed into a white scarf that wrapped around Raven's neck. After she transformed into a scarf, her stifling presence disappeared which caused the monkey to sigh in relief. 

Raven then faced the monkey once more and said: "Sorry about that. So? What's the problem?"

Since Venus was no longer glaring at it, the monkey is more comfortable. It then said: "Y-you will help me?"

"Maybe." Raven said passively. Of course it will all depend on the situation, he might be impressed that this monkey was speaking his language but that doesn't mean that he would gladly lay down his life just to help it because he's impressed. 

"M-my big bro is missing."

"Big bro?"

"Yes." The monkey said in an anxious tone, it's tails were swinging erratically behind it. "W-we went out because we need to gather resources. He said that he's going to go somewhere I can't follow so he left me here. He said that he will come back after gathering the resources but it has been hours since he left."

The monkey sounded more and more anxious as he spoke. Meanwhile, Raven felt impressed instead of concerned. He thought that he got over the fact that this monkey was speaking his language but it turns out that he still couldn't, he still impressed on how fluent this monkey was on using the similar language. 

Raven shook his head and threw his surprise at the back of his head, he then asked: "What's your name?"

"Dennis." 

'Damn, he even got a human name.' Raven was caught off guard once more. He cleared his throat and asked: "Do you know the direction he went?"

Dennis nodded and pointed towards the east. "There, he went in there. He said that there is a treasure trove at that direction. I'm worried that he might be in danger. If he died, then I won't be able to go back home."

Raven raised his brow and said: "You can't go back home without him? Why is that?"

"It's the tribe's rule." Dennis replied, "I shouldn't even be out here, they only allowed me since my big bro is with me. But now that he's missing, I won't be able to come back or else they will treat me as a spy."

"Is that so?" Raven muttered, he sounded like he was thinking about something. He shook his head once more and said: "Very well, let's look for him."

"R-really!?" The face of Dennis lit up in happiness, his tailed waggled even more fiercely behind him. He then continued by saying: "You would really help me?"

"Why not." Raven said as he started walking towards the direction that Dennis pointed.. "I'm bored anyways."