Rise of the Nightmare Crestmaster

"Five coppers a day."

"Now that sounds reasonable. I also want that bow and some arrows."

"You have to buy the arrows and if anything you rent from me get damaged you will compensate me."

"Fair enough."

"Now come here with me for a moment. Look at this," the halfling pointed at several shops alongside the street that had a flat board with papers on it so any passerby could read them easily. The boards were put a little to the side of the doorways of the shops.

The papers had information on what beast they want hunted, what part should remain intact, old or young and how much they might pay for it. It didn't need anymore explanation, the monsters hunted in The Valley get sold here.

But to whom? That's why people put these boards so that hunter would know who wanted what, and make the exchange easier and simpler. It also gave the hunters a target for what was in demand in the market.

Aldrich paid the money and took the six wheels cart with the backpack. Aldrich then made his way out of the gate and advanced into the Sunken valley. Meanwhile he checked out the map and saw that it had the most common beasts and monsters marked on it.

Apparently the most dangerous monsters in the First ground, also know as the beginner area for adventurers in Voryhrm, are the: Akata, Umvorax, assassin vine, giant black bear and white elk.

There's also a note about a direwolf pack roaming the eastern plains. Ayemon did mention that his knowledge was outdated, good thing Aldrich noticed that.

As he read these notes he was glad that he took the time to talk to the little halfling girl. What was even better was that this information gets updated every month.

Now that he thought about it he should probably pay that halfling girl two more coppers. He felt that he got more than he paid for.

However he didn't see any information about grade one creatures that might be in the First ground. The First ground had very few grade one monsters but that didn't mean there were no grade one monsters here.

According to Ayemon grade one monsters like Bebilith, Basidirond and Catoblepas have been encountered here. After all monsters can move freely nothing is stoping strong monster from just coming in here.

As for beginners area? That was a term for intelligent humanoids even if the monsters understood they weren't likely to give a damn.

Of course the chances of encountering such a monster here were significantly lower compared to deeper regions of the Valley.

Aldrich had some skill with the bow, the short bow to be exact. He was actually much more used to it than the sword. When he worked as a shepherd and farmer Isger let him take the short bow for protection.

Aldrich wanted the long bow but he was just not strong enough to use it, the strength needed to pull the string was too great for him back then. Even for the short bow, it was still very hard for him to use it.

This time Aldrich took the long bow and bought twenty five arrows for his hunt, after all shooting prey from afar is the best way to hunt. After walking for a while Aldrich decided on his target area. He decided to go to the east.

The Sunken valley as the name implies is literally a valley that looked like it suddenly sinked into the ground. It had the cliff walls looming from the extreme east and west.

While the central area is thick with towering trees that bolt out the sun, when you go to the far east or west more plains emerged and the trees faded away.

The giant trees if The Valley were truly a sight to behold, Aldrich had seen trees this thick and tall but not in these numbers. The colors of the trunks and the leafs were emphasized. Aldrich made his way to his destination and made sure to erase his tracks.

This was his first time hunting in monster territory, in the real world at least. Aldrich saw several beasts and avoided all of them as he didn't want to hunt while there are still people around. After some more time he made a stop to relieve himself and to drink some water.

Finally the trees started to recede and the soft mud turned harder and easier to walk on. That's when Aldrich knew that this is the perfect hunting ground for him.

Aldrich lowered his backpack and hid it in a safe area, he made sure to cover it with overgrown leafs and grass. He still had his sword strapped to his belt and the quiver on his back.

The bow was in his left hand, he climbed up a tree and waited, without so many trees to block his vision he could aim easily and shoot with all his might. His target was the Umvorax.

The Umvorax was Included among the strongest monsters in the First ground, it was definitely a grade zero level 3 monster.

Aldrich didn't make this decision lightly, he was confident in his strength. Aldrich believed that his power was no less than the Umvorax.

The Umvorax was a solitary beast and it didn't move in packs, these were the reasons why Aldrich decided to make it his first prey within the Sunken valley. Furthermore, a well preserved Umvorax could sell for a silver and something, might even be two silvers.

This was a very good catch. The meat of Umvorax was considered high quality and Ayemon liked it so Aldrich decided to treat him to some fresh Umvorax.

Aldrich heard a noise in the area and after a while it turned out to be a yellow dog with a stone-like horn where it's nose should have been. This beast was called an axe handle hound.

How did that horn look like an axe handle? He didn't know, that's just how it was named. Aldrich came here to hunt and such a beast could sell for five or so coppers.

But Aldrich let it go.

This dog wasn't Dave but it reminded Aldrich of Dave, Isger's yellow farm dog. Together they played and herded the sheep hand in hand. That slight resemblance made Aldrich unable to pull the string despite knowing that Dave died a long time ago.

After the hound got away Aldrich cursed at his stupidity. That wasn't Dave, and he wasted five coppers or even more. He promised himself that he wouldn't hesitate next time.

Half an hour later, Aldrich heard a rustling sound in the horizon and he saw it. It had a silvery fur with a rust-like tone. It was only a meter long and it was sprinting on eight legs. The head was tiger-like and the tail was bushy.

Aldrich calmed his breathing and took an arrow from his quiver, he easily pulled the string and aimed. The string that he had trouble pulling back only three weeks ago was now an effortless task.

Aldrich waited for that beast to get closer, as a distance of more than two hundred meters was a difficult shot for him in terms of aim since he didn't use a long bow before.

The Umvorax seemed to be casually strolling in the area, the movement of it eight limbs was a fascinating sight. The Umvorax suddenly sped up and with its iron-hard claws it struck a nearby tree. The impact caused the tree to shake violently.

Aldrich got serious at that sight, the pure power behind the attack was a notch higher than his own. The Umvorax repeatedly attacked the tree, it wasn't as violent anymore, it was a playful beating. It kept running its claws against the tree.

Aldrich speculated that it was sharpening its claws or training? He wasn't sure which. But he was sure that he won't get a better chance than this.

Aldrich aimed and took his shot, the Umvorax that was busy with the tree a moment ago rolled to the side swiftly. The Umvorax turned around and looked right at Aldrich's hiding spot on the tree.

Aldrich had no idea how the Umvorax dodged an arrow shot at it from a blind spot and when it was occupied.

The Umvorax rushed with rage and eagle-like speed. Aldrich stopped thinking about how the Umvorax dodged his arrow and got another one.

Aldrich could have jumped away, but he didn't, the tree was higher than most in the area and he would be wasting a shot if he did that. Aldrich took aim and wanted to shoot before the Umvorax slammed into the tree but he stopped himself.

Aldrich remembered the great reaction speed and insane reflexes of the beast just a moment ago. So he forced himself to wait. Just before the beast was about to collide with the tree he made his shot.

Aldrich heard the Umvorax scream in pain just as he felt a powerful force shake the tree terribly. The Umvorax was only a meter long how did it make that impact? What force was behind it? This thing must be much heavier than it looked.