After parting with Gwen as she headed to Selene’s room, Leon went to the artificial lake where Swampy currently was to check up on the beast.
When Leon approached, its head surfaced from the waters, and its large eyes blinked at him.
Leon smiled faintly, still amused by the fact that the mutated beast was intelligent enough to submit to him.
"You must have been hungry over the past few days, huh?"
He asked, flashing a toothy grin. The mutated crocodile snorted in response.
"Well, I’m actually planning a hunting expedition..."
An hour later, Leon, Cassie, Fel, Miguel, Richard, and Swampy left the city walls and headed into the Mutated Forest. Marie had immediately resumed work, taking the other half of the Evolver army into another section of the Mutated Forest to grind.
’Truly a diligent woman,’ Leon thought in admiration.
Swampy seemed hesitant to enter the forest, but remembering how Leon had decimated the Tier Two mutated tree, it confidently followed him.
Unaware of the crocodile’s thoughts, Leon adjusted his position on Little East which was serving as his mount.
The mutated fox had grown even bigger, now at the peak of Tier One and just a step away from becoming Tier Two.
Leon patted its orange fur, then looked at Richard’s remaining tamed beasts. Apart from Little West—the black cat—there were three other beasts. One was a mutated monkey that was as tall as a human, having long sharp claws and deadly rows of teeth.
The beast was clearly Tier One—and a deadly one at that. Even Leon couldn’t help but feel slightly cautious towards it.
Flying above them was a large black raven with sharp purple eyes. The mutated bird of prey had feathers glinting like metal, and Leon had no doubt that those feathers were deadly blades in and of themselves.
Richard’s last mutated beast was a seemingly ordinary green mamba that sat coiled around his neck. Its eyes shone with intelligence on par with that of the Bone-Armored Zombie King, and it hissed at him when it noticed his gaze.
Leon quietly turned away.
"Miguel, what level are you now?" He asked.
The blonde guy replied quickly, a small grin on his face. "I’m currently at Level 48. Richard is the same."
Riding on Little West’s back, Richard hissed. "Hey, nobody asked you."
Miguel just shrugged and ignored him. Instead, he turned to Cassie and Fel. "What about you guys? Are you as strong as us now?"
Cassie gave him a sidelong glance, then shrugged. "I can’t tell if I’m stronger... unless I try to kill you."
"Huh. Not interested, not interested," Miguel immediately backed out, not wanting to have a taste of her deadly daggers.
"You do look a bit different, though. The sparkling blue tips of your hair," Richard said casually, his eyes glinting with admiration.
Miguel frowned. "Hey, Richard. Weren’t you the one who told me that they’re—"
Before he could complete his sentence, Richard snapped a tree branch and smacked it on his head.
"You loudmouth. Shut the fuck up!"
Miguel felt nothing from the hit, but then he nodded. "I see... I understand it now."
No one had an idea of what wrong understanding he had reached since he didn’t bother sharing. So, no one asked him.
"You two bicker too much," Cassie said, shaking her head in disappointment.
"It’s actually fun," Fel said quietly, covering her mouth as she chuckled.
Leon didn’t say anything, but his lips were curled slightly. At least the group was still getting along well enough.
"Alright, jokes aside. Why aren’t we seeing any mutated beasts? We should have run into one already," Miguel frowned, looking around.
Leon calmly answered, "That’s because they’re avoiding us. If we count Richard’s tamed beasts, there are ten Tier One creatures and one Tier Two mutated beast. Who’d be foolish enough to come close?"
Not even two seconds after he finished speaking, they all heard a low growl coming from up ahead.
"I guess that one is foolish?" Miguel tilted his head, looking at the mutated beast standing a few meters away from them.
It was an enormous grizzly bear, twice its original size. On its forehead was a blue soul crystal, signifying its current tier.
Leon’s eyes gleamed brightly as he looked at the soul crystal as though it were gold. Ever since he had killed the mutated tree, he had always wanted to get another Tier Two soul crystal. Unfortunately, he couldn’t just kill the mutated crocodile for that reason only.
Now, however, he had found a replacement.
’Very good,’ He thought.
Sadly, he wasn’t going to be the one handling it. Else, their aim for coming together today wouldn’t be achieved.
He got down from the mutated fox’s back, then said to Richard. "Do you think you can handle it?"
The bespectacled guy smiled nervously. "By myself? I’m not sure. But if I go in with my tamed beasts, we have a chance of bringing it down."
Leon nodded, folding his arms. "It’s yours, then. Go all out."
Richard’s nervous expression disappeared, and a feverish grin appeared on his face. "Hell yeah!"
He raised the Tamer’s Whistle to his lips, then blew into it. His tamed beasts snapped to attention, and they all dashed at the mutated grizzly bear, surrounding it.
Cassie tilted her head as she watched. "Was that whistle-blowing necessary?"
Miguel shook his head with a short laugh. "No, actually. He just says it looks cool."
Cassie nodded and refocused on the fight, studying the synergy between Richard and his tamed beasts.
As soon as the man and his beasts made their intentions to fight clear, the mutated grizzly bear released a powerful roar that shook the trees around them.
Richard frowned as he felt his ears go numb, but he didn’t stop. He unsheathed his sword, rushing straight at the beast without fear or hesitation.
The beast’s eyes flashed with malice, and it pounced on him.
Richard suddenly lowered his body, causing the claws to miss his torso by a small margin.
At the same time he slid out from underneath it, Little West and Little East attacked from both sides, corresponding to their names.
The mutated grizzly bear roared and blocked their strikes with a simple claw swipe from each front paw.
The blows were enough to knock each feline beast back, but not enough to kill them. Before the bear could relax, the mutated monkey rushed in, its claws blazing red like tongs forgotten in the furnace.
The mutated bear roared as a warning, but the monkey ignored that. It moved in and attacked. Its claws struck the bear’s chest.
Leon’s eyes narrowed at the results.
The claws hadn’t even pierced its hide.