Witch’s Journey - Chapter 13 Exploration 1
“Sigh, the time flow is the same in this Grimoire World.”
Bert sighed as he announced to the group. A Grimoire World may have a different time flow from their world. If the time flowed quicker in this dimension, then they would’ve been able to explore for a longer time and gain more resources.
‘Well, at least this is confirmed.’
Sigil thought in his mind. This was one of the information in the message. This was also an important fact for the continuation of their partnership.
Now, he only had to separate himself from the group without compromising the security of the people he cared about.
Unlike the previous Sigil, who had intimate relations with many women, the current Sigil only cared for Aria. After all, it was unreasonable for him to have the same sentiments for Alicia, Martha and Linda held by the previous owner if this body.
Yes, he did flirt with these three and yes, he had some intimate moments with Alicia. But what else should he do? A beautiful woman wants to kiss him and he should reject the offer? He wasn’t out of his mind.
Right now, he could only come up with two plans.
The first is to immediately separate from the group without giving any explanations.
But this method had a downside.
He wanted to separate from the group to enter the true inheritance ground of the Grimoire World. He would not be able to explain himself once he gets such an outstanding opportunity.
The second plan is to create an incident or leave the group in a chaotic situation.
But this method might compromise Aria’s security.
Since the first plan wasn’t viable, he chose to wait.
“Alright, the Elders may accompany me or explore on their own. Other than Elders, no one will enter the inner regions of the Grimoire World, understood?” Bert commanded sternly.
The younger generation of the family nodded while various Elders started grouping. Linda chose to enter the group of the Supreme Elder. She also lectured Aria to ensure her safety before anything else and entrusted her to Sigil.
They could leave the Grimoire World using the same chants and talisman.
Meanwhile, Sigil felt a little troubled.
Not only Alicia, Martha and Aria teamed up with him, but also many more people requested to enter their team. After all, the three of them are recognised experts.
His gaze suddenly shone as he finally found an idea.
Without any hesitation, he started to accept every single person requesting to join their team. Alicia and Martha looked towards each other in a strange manner.
The Sigil they knew would never let any outsider enter the team if he could spend some alone time with both of them.
Meanwhile, Sigil had a single thought. More people always lead to chaos!
They all were transported to the outer regions of the Grimoire world since they entered this dimension through the border of the affected region. The foot of the tall mountain was just a start.
The group of Elders decided to climb the mountain while Sigil’s group decided to walk around it.
Their group soon entered the nearby forest as they started making their way towards the left side of the mountain. Every member had already taken out their silver knives while Sigil also placed his hand over his gun.
Benefits are only obtained by taking appropriate risks!
The whole Grimoire World was an untapped land of resources and also an unexplored land filled with dangers!
“Ah! That’s a Serpent Bark!” A youth, around the age of 23 spoke aloud in surprise.
He pointed towards the strange looking bark that had an extremely smooth surface. It was a Serpent Bark. A poisonous material that could be used in creating Poisonous Curses and exotic Talismans.
Soon, the youth cut apart the bark as he quickly slashed apart the outer surface and collected it in an empty bag while others waited for him.
A Serpent Bark wasn’t lucrative enough for everyone to fight over it. After all, they originated from the same family.
The group continued forward as they kept on finding some herbs or other materials. The group had a simple rule, the finder is the keeper.
Meanwhile, Sigil only took some resources beneficial for little Aria. Other resources weren’t good enough for him and hence, he did not bat an eye when others took the resources for themselves.
Rustle
A rustling sound caused all the members of the group to pause in their tracks.
“Grrrrr”
A humanoid figure slowly emerged from the nearby bushes. It was a man with a pair of white eyes and no pupils. His canines were elongated and his nails looked extremely sharp, glimmering coldly.
Seeing this new arrival, most of the weak people took a step backwards.
It was an Incomplete Werewolf!
‘Who rear werewolves in his Grimoire World?’ Even Sigil felt speechless.
Incomplete, Complete and True.
These were the three Evolutionary stages of most of the humanoid monsters including Vampires, Shapeshifters and other monsters.
The three levels correspond to the three stages of Cultivation of a Witch.
Gwaaaagh
The werewolf roared as he sensed the shift in the surroundings.
Bang
Before it could attack, a loud bang was heard as a silver bullet pierced the heart of the Werewolf.
He died an uneventful death!
“Don’t you guys have guns? Why did you freeze in front of him.”
Sigil kept his gun as he frowned at the group.
What a bunch of wastes!
They just knew how to loot resources. In actual combat, they even forgot that they had guns that could easily trump weak monsters.
Sigil looked at them and continued his journey. He still needed the group as a distraction in due time.
The group continued their journey. After reaching the left side of the mountain, the group encountered a patch of Ruby Petals near the nest of Werewolves. At this moment, Sigil’s eyes shone with brilliance. He finally found a landmark!
Now, he can officially start his plan.
“Everyone, prepare your guns.”
Alicia took the lead this time.
Ruby Petals were valuable Cultivation resource and she also wanted to contribute to the battle to earn a part in the loot. Even little Aria took out her gun as they all prepared for open fire.
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
The ambush proved to be successful and the nest of incomplete Werewolves couldn’t stand the barrage of the silver bullets.
In this world filled with monsters, every single abomination had some sort of weakness except for Humans.
Even though humans were born weak, they did not have a weakness towards different types of metals or elements.
Meanwhile, most of the monsters had some sort of weakness. Werewolves were weak towards Silver, Vampires could be killed by mortals if a wooden stake is pierced in their hearts.
“Collect their canines. They are good materials for spells.”
The group started to loot the area. After eradicating the whole nest, they dropped their guard.
It was the outer regions and encountering a monster comparable to a Chakra Stage Expert was unlikely, or so the group thought.
Aooooooooooooo
Except for Sigil, everyone felt a slight chill in their heart when they heard the howl. The howl was filled with sadness and rage. Before anyone could react, a grey shadow flashed and the head of the teammate, that had gone towards the opposite end, fell off.
Everyone could finally see the assaulter.
It was a man with his arms covered in grey fur. His canines were longer than the incomplete Werewolves and his feet had a slight protrusion, as if he was growing another toe from the back of his feet.
A Complete Werewolf.
Most of the members of the group had shallow foundations and very low experience. This also included Aria, Alicia, Martha and Sigil. If it wasn’t necessary, Sigil would never risk his life to encounter such a being.
“Don’t worry. It’s just a Rank 1 Werewolf. Even though he has a stronger defence, it can still be killed using the silver bullets.”
Bang
The moment he finished speaking, one of the members pressed the trigger, firing at the werewolf.
The sound agitated the near-insane werewolf.
The difference between an Incomplete Werewolf and a complete Werewolf was astronomical. It was like comparing a rock to a mountain.
The physical ability of a complete monster is enhanced exponentially. This could be understood by the fact that the Werewolf had dodged the silver bullet and moved towards the attacker at a great speed.
“Attack!”
Sigil immediately commanded. Even though the werewolf was strong, it could not keep dodging the silver bullets. It had to either retreat or keep on attacking with his life on the line.
Of course, the werewolf had chosen to retreat if his entire nest would not have been slaughtered and then ravaged.
Bang
Bang
Bang
Bang
The battle lasted for a couple of minutes as the sorrowful Werewolf lay on the ground. His whole body filled with numerous bullet wounds, including the head region. This only proved to showcase the strong regenerative Abilities of complete monsters.
But right now, the werewolf couldn’t heal his wounds. After all, his heart was punctured by a lot of silver bullets.
“Huff, this was dangerous! Right, Master?”
Martha asked casually as she looked towards Sigil’s location.
“… Master?”
He wasn’t there!
***
Crack
Sigil stopped in his tracks as he accidentally stepped on a twig. The forest in the Grimoire World was a dangerous place and such accidental sounds may also garner unwanted attention.
He stood in his place and calmed his breathing while he tried to sense his surroundings.
Adventuring alone isn’t exciting, but Dangerous!
To gain good loot, Sigil took a huge risk of exploring the Grimoire World on his own. He had to take care of everything since he was alone on this adventure.
After confirming that there was nothing strange around him, he continued his journey.
From the foot of the mountain, he started moving towards the north direction.
Outer Area, Inner Area and Core Area.
The Grimoire World is divided into three areas and each area have a different environment suited for the growth of different species. The ecosystem of the core area is of the highest quality followed by the ecosystem of the Inner Area and the Outer Regions.
But Sigil’s aim was neither of them.
He kept on moving carefully. A bag hung on his shoulders while his left hand held a Silver Machete and his right hand held a torchlight.
His body was fully clothed and he also sprayed an insect repellent on himself. He needed to be safe from all directions and even the insects of the Grimoire World shouldn’t be underestimated.
Thud
Sigil’s body froze as he suddenly heard a slight ‘thud’. He tightened his grip on the machete and quickly ducked down.
Whoosh
A black shadow swiped past Sigil and immediately hid in the shadows of the tall tree.
Sigil did not waste any time and immediately pointed the torchlight towards the attacker to discover its species.
It was a panther!
A pitch-black panther with green eyes. Its fur shone in luster, as if untainted by the filth present in the forest.
It was a familiar!
In this world infested with monsters and legendary beasts, humans have found a footing for themselves by cooperating with familiars.
Werewolves, Vampires, Scyllas, Gorgons, Minotaurs, Chimera, etc are all the monsters that cannot be tamed by a human practitioner of a chakra stage. Meanwhile, all the other animals that can communicate with certain elements and show any elemental affinity are categorised as familiars.
The green-eyed Panther in front of Sigil was actually a Familiar with an unknown elemental affinity.
Sigil smiled bitterly as he saw his opponent.
“I was scared for nothing. You are just an infant, aren’t you?”
He smiled towards the panther.
Infant, Adolescent, Adult.
These are the three stages of growth of a familiar. Each familiar has different characteristics of their growth cycle while each of the growth cycles presents them with enhanced powers. The three stages are corresponding to the three power stages of humans and three forms of monsters.
Grrrr
The panther growled threateningly as it saw the strange human smiling towards it.
“Hmm? Let’s check your tier. Even though you are an infant, it won’t be long before you enter the Adolescent Stage. Do you know what this means?”
His smile grew wider as he looked at the majestic beauty in front of him. This familiar was a bonus.
Even though he couldn’t make a contract with it, he could definitely tame it.
“This means you are mine.”
He shot towards the Panther without delaying any more.
Shockingly, his speed was almost equal to the speed shown by the panther during the ambush.
This was to be expected, if Sigil was slower than the Black Panther, he would have already succumbed to his fate in the sneak attack.
His eyes shined in brilliance when he saw that the Black Panther chose to attack him instead of retreating to a safe distance. Sigil tilted his machete and met the claw with the blunt side of the blade. He may be eager to kill monsters, but he wouldn’t harm any familiar without any specific reason. After all, every familiar has a chance to increase the combat ability of a witch.
Grwaaoh
The Black Panther cried out as it jumped on Sigil once again.
Sigil dodged to the right and struck the blunt side of the machete on the Panthers back.
“Hoo, so you are from the Jaguar Family.”
In reality, there is no different species for a Black Panther, it is a simple misunderstanding.
The black fur is the variation pigmentation in the Jaguar and Leopard family. While Leopards have a light build and could be scared off easily, Jaguars, on the other hand, are more of a courageous kind.
Sigil took a deep breath and sheathed his machete. This action caused a strange sense of wariness in the Panther’s eyes and it slowly crawled in a circular path.
Meanwhile, Sigil took out some canned food from his bag. He swiftly opened the can and placed its contents on the ground, in front of the Panther.
He had already caused the Panther to feel cautious of him. That was the show of his strength. Even though he knew that Panther had a lot of fight left, he did not want to waste his time and energy in battling it.
Trying to befriend a familiar after showing appropriate strength is always a good method of taming a future familiar.
Sigil even had a sure-fire trump card, but for that, he had to get in contact with the panther in a calm and orderly manner.
