Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 273

“More like it waited for us here.”

“It wasn’t distracted by the Giant Rat King’s urine,” Joe started to back off when the snake stared at him. He was afraid. Yes, he was afraid. And who wouldn’t be when faced with a beast of renown like the Giant Black Mamba.

The Giant Black Mamba was a Magical Beast belonging to the family of snakes – a group of powerful Magical Beasts that were serpents. The Giant Black Mamba was a high Class Magical Beast with amazing physical abilities. It wasn’t like average High Class Magical Beasts like the Banshee that could be thwarted with careful planning. It was so strong that it was capable of going against Mythic Class Magical Beasts, and there were even instances of it killing of some weaker Mythic Class Magical Beasts. With such prowess, some people rated it as a Mythic Class Magical Beast. The only reason why this rating wasn’t accepted by Adventurers worldwide was because for a Magical Beast to be regarded as a Mythic Class, it had to possess more than one special ability.

Sure the Giant Black Mamba was powerful, but had only one special ability. It was this special ability that made it stand out. The name of this special ability was ‘Accelerate’. It sounded simple, but it was perfect for a beast like the Giant Black Mamba. Accelerate allowed it to move that large body of it so quickly that far smaller opponents found it hard to keep up. With its impressive ability it could kill off larger opponents and keep up with naturally fast Magical Beasts like the Magical Beasts of the cat family that were famed for their agility and reflexes. It was this ability that made it stand out among the High Class Magical Beasts and even contend with weak Mythic Class Magical Beasts. It was true that it could only kill off a few weaker Mythic Class Beasts which didn’t possess tough bodies but rather specialized in speed. But it was impressive nonetheless.

The Giant Black Mamba was a lazy creature by nature. It seldom went out of its way to hunt and mostly spent its time sleeping in shady settlements. It cared very little for what went on around it and barely left its nest. It usually built its nest close to a habitat of Giant Rats, a species of Middle Class Magical Beasts that it loved to feast on. Its favorite was the Giant Rat King.

Joe and Samoa, along with the now deceased members of their team, had chanced upon the corpse of a Giant Rat King some months back and had looted its habitat. All the Giant Rats were gone, so they were able to loot without much complication. As members of a Scouting Party, they were aware of how important a Giant Rat King’s urine was. It could mask a person’s natural odor and make it difficult for anyone tracking that person to find them. It also worked perfectly against Magical Beasts.

They kept the urine in a gourd, and carried it with them at all times, praying that they would never have to run into a scenario where they would have no choice but to use it to get away from a strong Magical Beast. Alas, that day had come, and it wasn’t like anything they had in mind. The threat was far greater than they imagined and came in the form of the Giant Black Mamba. This creature that rarely went out of its way to hunt was out of its habitat, and it smelled the urine of the Giant Rat King.

You see, the Giant Rat King’s urine could work against all Magical Beasts, but it wasn’t so effective against its greatest predator – the Giant Black Mamba. The Giant Black Mamba was lazy, but it was an intelligent Beast. It learned the traits of Giant Rats, and could discern what other Magical Beasts couldn’t. The gourd the urine was kept in masked the smell of the Giant Rat King’s urine. But today it had been cracked when the team came across a Banshee. Usually, the Giant Black Mamba wouldn’t move out of its habitat to hunt down a Giant Rat. But recently, the Scouting Party had uncovered a huge number of dead Giant Rats. Something was killing them off, and it wasn’t because of food. If their killer was hungry, it wouldn’t have left their corpses behind. So the Giant Black Mamba had to move out of its nest for its food. And they were the unlucky ones.

They had been chased into the inner region, where one of their party members lost his life to a Desolate Monkey – a powerful Mythic Class Magical Beast with a myriad of abilities. It was a huge beast with the build of a monkey and a snake as its tail. The most disheartening thing about his death was the way he died. He died because two Desolate Monkeys were having a brawl. It just so happened that a tree that had been uprooted due to their battle was flung at their friend, and none of them saw it coming. He died instantly.

The other two were killed by the Giant Black Mamba once they had reached the deeper part of the inner region. Both of them sacrificed their lives to draw the attention of the Giant Black Mamba, just to allow Samoa and Joe who were the youngest to escape. The duo then poured the Rat King’s urine on their filthy shirts and tossed it aside to mislead the Giant Black Mamba. But it still found them!

*Hiss*

Samoa and Joe subconsciously took a step back when the Giant Black Mamba hissed at them. Fear crept up their spines as they started to shiver, even in this humid weather. Slowly, the Giant Black Mamba slithered towards them. They wanted to run, but the strength they had spent years to grow abandoned them. They were Thrashers, the Samoa Bull and Boar Joe, yet none of that strength could be manifested. The presence of the Giant Black Mamba drove away their fighting spirit. The scenes of their colleagues failing to even dent its tough scales revisited their minds as their eyes filled up with despair.

“We must at least warn the elders about what we found”

Samoa finally found the strength to open his mouth. His words were spoken in between labored breaths, as though he was fighting for air under water. Although they had been cornered by the Giant Black Mamba, one of them had to escape to let the Elders know what they found out. One of them had to make it out and warn the Elders that an Overflow was on the way. One of them had to survive. If they didn’t complete this task, then their friends would have died for nothing.

“It should be you,” the shivering Joe mustered a desperate smile as he stuttered out his words. His words stunned Samoa who was just about to suggest Joe escaped.

“You are younger than me, and more talented. You have the potential to become a strong Predator, and join the Tigers of the Village. It should be you” Joe calmed himself slightly as he spoke. Although he still shook from the fear of his impending doom, now that he had come to terms with it, he sounded calmer than before.

His reasoning was logical. Samoa was a talented member of the village’s younger generation. Although both of them were Thrashers, Samoa was stronger than him, and had greater talent. Sure they were of a similar age, but Joe, who was the son of an Elder, had consumed a New Type potion three years before Samoa, who was of common birth, had finally attained the privilege to take one. And even with such an impressive head start, Samoa had overtaken him! This was the evidence of his talent.

“You truly are kind Joe,” Samoa whispered as he gazed at his friend.

His friend was a kind man. According to village protocol, Joe, who was the son of an Elder, had to be prioritized if there was ever any danger. But Joe didn’t think that way. He logically analysed their abilities and decided that Samoa had to leave. But he was in the wrong. If Samoa were to escape, and Joe died in the forest, Samoa would be penalized. Samoa was cherished by the Village Head because of his talent. But even the Village Head wouldn’t be able to save him from any assassination attempts.

“But you know Joe, it doesn’t seem that bad to die with you,” Samoa smiled and stood his ground. He wasn’t intending to flee. And Joe noticed this.

“What are you doing,” he screamed?! “Get out of here now,” came the voice of his agitated friend.

“I wouldn’t be able to outrun a Giant Black Mamba. Besides, it wouldn’t allow me to escape” Samoa bitterly stated as he gazed at the Giant Mamba that was slowly closing in. For a creature that had exceptional speed, it was taking its time to arrive. Why was that?

“It is playing with its food,” Samoa knew exactly what it was doing.

To the Giant Black Mamba, there was no way they would be able to escape. It only wanted them to squirm in pain before it killed them. Now that both men weren’t shivering in fear, the snake looked bored. It rushed at them with its exceptional speed. Samoa’s idea to shove his friend out of the way met its first obstacle as the speed of the Giant Black Mamba was far greater than what it had shown at the beginning – when it chased his entire team into the inner section.

“It had been toying with us all along,” Samoa realized and desperately closed his eyes.

*Boom*

*Hisssss*

Samoa opened his eyes in surprise when he heard the giant snake hiss in pain. What greeted him as the green eyes of the Giant Black Mamba. It was so big that Samoa could only gaze into one at a time. But he noticed that there was panic in those eyes. The lazy and annoyed look it had in its eyes earlier was gone. All that was left was fear. It started to squirm, but something seemed to be holding it from the back. Something that brought it fear. The Giant Black Mamba was suddenly hoisted into the air, and slammed onto the ground.

*Boom*

“Hey. You alright kids?”