Chapter 88: White Horned Tiger

Underneath hundreds of tall trees, a river that seemed almost transparent flickered from the rays of sunlight.

In the river, a small man on a boat stared towards Howard's group. His eyes looked like two saucers that stuck out from his skull. Standing at 1.9 meters tall he looked like a bodybuilder, his ripped torso barely hidden by the leather armor on his torso.

"He's a Mocralin," Reee pushed Howard back, "They normally don't attack students from Horned Nation, or do they really care about others. I wonder what he's doing here?"

"Interrupting us," Monica cracked her knuckles, and created an ice spear in her hand. "Is he dangerous? Hahaha! Do I have kill him so we can continue talking about how much you secretly love Howard! I've seen that look in your eyes!"

"Idiot, he's just looking for something." Reece sighed, and gently smiled at the Mocralin.

The Mocralin were the fourth most powerful Nation on this side of the Furnace, and had allied with the Horned in the past. Not specializing in channeling or magic, they instead drew Ki into their bodies to strengthen their muscles. The name Barabin had told her for what they practiced was called Body Awakening. They awakened dormant abilities inside their body by drawing Ki into it.

The difference between the Mocralin and the other races is that they couldn't sense Ki Frequencies, but their bodies automatically devoured this energy every movement of their waking life. On the surface, these men tended to be athletes, body builders, and soldiers before they grew curved horns. Because their horns were curved, and not straight, once again the energy they had got pulled into their bodies.

However, this also affected their intelligence. The Mocralin had to outsmart the other four nations. It's for this reason that Annibell had tried so hard, for so many years, to form a true alliance with them.

"I'm just passing by." The man wiped the sweat from his head and pointed towards an estuary up ahead. "Don't mind me. I'll be down the river before you know it."

"What are you doing here?" Howard said, walking over towards the boat with a smile on his face. "Are you trying to find something special in this forest?"

"Yes, but I can't tell you too much. I just met you," The man looked at Howard and smiled before jumping off the boat. With one hand, he pulled the boat to the edge of the river while still surfing in the air. "Heh, you all seem friendly. Would you like to make a trade?"

###

Twenty minutes later, Howard and his group had been brought to a large iron gate.

The Mocralin man had saved them at least 2 hours by taking them on a short path through the jungle. However, his intelligent European features, hidden underneath his blonde locks of hair, seemed unsatisfied.

"So, I brought you to the iron gate… Now in exchange, I still need help killing that Dream Beast," The man smiled and gently patted Howard on the back. "Since you're probably all at least 10 times more powerful than me. It should be no problem,"

"You're not the honest type," Reece held her arms akimbo while looking at the strange, flickering gate. "You're also smart. The two types of things I hate in me," Reece shook her head, before staring up at the shadows of the canopy on the floor. "Ugh, but since we agreed to it, lead the way."

"After you, handsome three," Alrok smiled and patted Howard on the back. "Heh, you're a lucky man. I heard those two girls fighting over you. Where I'm from, that never happens."

"Heh, well, it's all a joke. I'm sure Monica will go back to normal soon," Howard grabbed her hand and pulled her along, trying his hardest to absorb the Dark Ki leaking out of her.

Barabin had mentioned that Howard had begun to separate Zack and Monica's bond, and thus they'd each begin to feel the Dark Ki in their veins. As opposed to before when they only felt its strange energy in each other's presence, it now existed when they went on separate paths. Mentioning this to Howard, a few nights before they left to Harlock Village, he told him to carefully monitor Monica while he kept his eyes on Zack. Unfortunately, he'd mentioned, the 'strongest nature' of Monica might very well come to reveal itself on the surface.

'I don't get it. How can Monica just change? She always got upset when I visited Monica in the lab, and now she's beginning to radiate Dark Ki.'

'I'll keep a close eye on her. Worst case scenario, Barabin will know what to do!'

###

"It's right over there," Alrok gently patted Howard on the back. "It's guarding a very rare dream plant called a Heart Lotus Clover. If I can't get it, my wife will probably die, hahaha! Please? It's a peak B rank Authoritarian, but all four of us can outsmart it."

"We just need the plant, right?" Howard cracked his knuckles before he began to suffuse fire Ki into his legs. "I'll get it to chase me. Once you get the Heart Lotus Clover, I'll just scare it off."

"Howard, you can't get hurt," Monica said, crossing her arms, "If you get hurt, who's going to sleep with me at night. I'd be so sad if you were gone."

"And… she's interesting," Arlok said with a smile, "Wow, my wife would never say that out loud."

"She's going through a rough patch," Reece shook her head, and looked ahead at the 5 meter tall White Horned Tiger. A peak B level existence that probably dominated most of the other Authoritarians in this forest! It massive body had scrunched itself up, but it seemed incredibly alert to the plant in the center of its body. White Horned Tiger's used Heart Lotus Clover's to get stronger, but each of them took 10 years to develop!

A 10 year Heart Lotus Clover gave off a special type of nectar that not only could increase longevity, but also healed almost any wound and slightly increased strength.

If Respell or other magician's heard about this plant, and knew the Mocralin had been collecting it for years, they'd probably spit out their blood in disgust. However, just like Arlok, most Mocralins' knew how to keep things a secret. He'd even told their group that the Heart Lotus Clover was something his wife wanted to be more beautiful. Of course, he'd never dare mention that he needed it because the leader of the Mocralin was dying!

"Anyways i really appreciate the help!" Alrok gently patted Howard on the back. "Now, remember, don't attack that big guy too much. White Horned Tiger's rapidly increase in strength when their angry. They basically had a berserk skill!"

"I'll be fine. Authoritarians usually like me," Howard finally stepped off his back foot. Activating King Fire Sprint, he seemed to turn into three phantoms that blurred in three different directions.

Swoosh!

Howard manifested all his speed and strength and training and instantly appeared in front of the White Horned Tiger. Suddenly opening its eyes, it saw Howard and immediately slashed forward, cutting the air to pieces with a powerful gale!

Boom!

Howard spun out of the way and gently pushed off the torso of the tiger before he gently smacked it on the side of the face.

"Heh, come get me!" Howard smiled, landing on top of a tree only to find the large White Horned Tiger stood up but stayed in its place. The White Horned Tiger seemed to look up at Howard before dropping its head. It seemed to somehow discern immediately that he was just playing a game, and yawned before falling back to sleep.