Chapter 23 Legolas, The Beast Tracker
After a grueling day in the Blue Forest where Predator got to flex his powers, hunting beasts till satisfaction while Legolas simply lazed around and harvested the experience points, they finally returned to the shelter.
From the POV of the citizens of the shelter, as the sun set, the new warrior who came to town returned with his contracted beast and a bag slung to his back.
By now, it was already confirmed that he was a Summoner. After his show against one of the local gangs, warriors were sent to spy on him.
Legolas deliberately let them spy on him, this way, a lot of things would become more convenient for him just due to the scare of Predator.
As Legolas walked into the shelter, he instantly noticed the difference in the atmosphere and energy among the warriors, he tried to ignore it though.
"Shuush…, the Sexy Chocolate is here".
"…" Legolas's steps jerked a bit on hearing that but he kept his silence.
"Do you think he would take the quest too?"
"I dunno, he'll probably take it though, after all this guy is not just a Prince but the price that he is offering is freaking 1 million Darvis credits".
"Outrageous, right? I know". The warrior in black who spoke laughed. "The hunters of the hunter union are already taking the quest in droves; they all want to suck up to this Summoner Prince".
"Summoner Prince?" Legolas's ears stood erect on hearing that.
The gossip already sounded fascinating to his ears and with this, he made his decision as he turned before moving to where the quest notice board was erected.
>New Priority Quest: The Missing Leo<
>Quest Details: Prince Christensen is looking for his missing contracted beast. The Frost Wolf is dangerous and untamed, rumored to be corrupted<
>Quest Objective: Find Leo<
>Quest Reward: 500,000 Darvis Credits<
…
>Quest Objective: Rescue Leo<
>Quest Reward: 1,000,000 Darvis Credits<
"A corrupted beast?" Legolas raised his eyebrows.
Being not just a zoologist but one of the co-producers of Dominator, Legolas knew clearly what a corrupted beast meant. He contributed a lot in creating the Summoner class which meant he knew even more about this phenomenon.
By this term alone and from the idle talks of the other warriors, he already had a basic idea about what happened to this so-called Prince's contracted beast.
Unlike the other supers who went to register their names in the notice board to take up the quest, Legolas surprised everyone and simply left with Predator.
He already had other plans for this specific mission, besides, his virtual game interface already lit up to notify him of another triggered mission.
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[You have received a new Grade E mission: The Missing Leo]
[Mission Objective: Find and Rescue Leo, the Frost Wolf]
[Mission Rewards: 100,000 Experience points, 1,500,000 Darvis Credits, and +50 Favorability with Prince Christensen]
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Legolas had a creed of maximizing every opportunity that came towards him. Other supers may just see this as a money tree, but Legolas's perceptive eyes already saw at least 3 ways in which he could benefit from this Prince.
He did not rush things though; it was already evening. On returning to his inn, he left Predator to sleep outside while he went into his room to rest.
For plans like this, experience taught Legolas that it was better to have a proper rest and work with a fully active brain than to work when tired.
For Summoners, high mental activity to detect clues fast was a must. Legolas hummed a children's lullaby until he fell asleep.
…
The next morning, Legolas was up before any other super in the shelter as he finalized his plans, woke Predator up before leaving to the Blue Forest.
Once Legolas arrived at the Blue Forest this time, he had a serious expression on his face since he no longer had any intentions of staying in the periphery.
A newly corrupted beast behaves like a mad beast. Through his expert knowledge and intuition about beasts, his best guess was that the Frost Wolf was deep inside the forest and there was an 80% chance that he was injured.
Corrupted beasts behave like rabid dogs, attacking everything in sight.
In the Blue Forest, especially the deeper parts, the Frost Wolf would not be able to act unbridled and was why Legolas predicted its injury.
Another important fact was that Frost Wolves loved cold regions and highlands. Since there was no mountain in the Blue Forest, Legolas simply opted for the high planes where dangerous beasts roamed.
The journey this time was not so straightforward.
Predator encountered a Berserk Ape, a Mud Python, and a Vampire Coyote which Legolas all ordered it to escape from, Predator was unwilling but it had no choice but to listen to Legolas.
After arriving at the high planes, Legolas used little traces left by the Frost Wolf to track it to the scene of a battlefield.
Seeing the battlefield and the blood, Legolas was not surprised. "He fought here". He bent down and poked the blood before smelling it.
"This blood was spilled from one party, probably Leo".
Legolas frowned. "Does this mean that the Frost Wolf stood no chance and did not even injure its opponent?" Legolas felt doubtful so he checked the surroundings more.
10 minutes later, he found traces of a tree. "A Predator Mandrake".
Instantly, all the pieces started falling in place in his head. "Leo probably roamed here, and feeling the energy of the tree, he attacked. The Mandrake was stronger though which was why Leo ended up severely injured".
"Leo did not die and was able to escape. As for the Mandrake, it felt threatened after the unwarranted attack and migrated".
Legolas's eyes shone. "That's the exact series of events".
After this, everything else became easier for Legolas. Knowing the habit of Frost Wolves, he knew that after the severe injury, Leo would probably opt to go against what he loved and would go to hide in the low planes.
Probably, Leo was currently hidden inside a cave.
"Predator, this way, move".
Legolas mounted his contracted beast and moved. The blood traces were subtle, but Legolas was too experienced, he traced the Frost Wolf all the way to a part of the Blue Forest that was filled with thorns and thistles.
By now, a few hours already passed and it was late in the afternoon.
It was here in this den of thorns that Legolas encountered the most problems. After searching for 4 hours without any positive results, he sighed. "This Leo is really intelligent; I wish I had a pet like him instead of freaking Lucky".
"Growl!" Predator protested, leaving Legolas shocked. "Since when did you start siding with and protecting her?"
Predator only snorted in reply.
With Predator's company, Legolas kept on going into the night until he finally found the entrance to a hidden cave deep in the den of thorns.
One look at the entrance and he got his clue, Leo's pawprints. "Found you".
He didn't enter inside the cave though, rather he left and spent the night at another part of the Blue Forest alongside Predator.
The next morning, he left back to the Blue Scale Shelter.