Pincer Attack

"This can't be a good sign."

And sure enough, this area of the forest had a lot more beasts than other areas of the forests.

He slowed down his pace. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. Bandits were probably coming from behind him and there were monsters in front of him. He used the inspect skill he's neglected for too long and was a little shocked when he saw their names and stats.

>>Shadow Wolf<<

HP: 500/500

>>Manicore<<[A/N: Lion-bodied, scorpion-tailed beasts with venomous stings and a taste for human flesh.]

HP: 30,000/30,000

>>Chimera<<[A/N: Monstrous creatures fused from multiple animals.]

HP: ???

He was shocked for a few seconds when he saw the chimera. Even if some of the beasts here were above his level, at least, he could see their HP. But the chimera... Even the horse beneath him was shaking vigorously. The chimera had the head of lion, the body of a goat and the tail of a snake. Even the other beasts had reached an unspoken agreement that it was not to be messed with. There was no animal within a 70m radius from it.

Seemingly sensing another presence, the chimera looked back briefly, its eye locking in the direction Lucian was.

The horse beneath him immediately lost it and threw him off its back sprinting away wildly.

"B*stard! I spent so much just to get this piece of trash!" he cursed under his breath.

He quickly rolled over and hid behind a tree. 'Out of sight, out of mind... I hope'

The chimera noticed the horse and might have been irritated by its noise. It opened its mouth and shot out a ball of flames towards the horse incinerating it on the spot. It turned its head back like it was just an annoying mosquito and switched focus to whatever it was looking at before.

The attack startled some of the beasts around, giving Lucian enough window to see what they were looking at. 

It was a white orb, about the size of a watermelon. It was hovering in place, emitting white fumes every so often.

That's probably the source of all the mist and the reason behind the gathering of all those beasts. If even a high tiered beast can be attracted to this orb, then it must be worth a lot, especially to me.

>>Condensed Dragon Soul Orb<<

>>Info: ???

"Just great, no information about it." He looked back from inside the bush he'd crawled to and could make out the figures of a couple of human-sized figures. 

One of them on top of a tree grinned, placed an arrow atop his bow and drew it back.

Lucian froze.

*FWOP* The arrow flew towards his head. He managed to roll forwards just in time for the arrow to pierce through the tree he was hiding behind.

"Sh*t!" He couldn't continue like this, sooner or later, they'll slowly force him into the beasts.

He used the Dragon Veil, masking his presence and ran towards the animals, minimizing his presence as he inched closer and closer to them.

As he got closer to the beast, his distance to the orb also reduced, by the time he was close to the beasts at the edge of the edge, his veil began to flicker in and out. His mind was too focused on trying to minimize his presence as much as he could.

Until... all the beasts suddenly gazed at him. Lucian paused mid-step, "Ah F*ck!"