Chapter 166: Moose Beast's Territory Part 1

He had asked Utsusu to survey his surroundings and warn him if a beast was coming towards him, but that was unlikely to happen since Damian had already taken down most of the beasts in the area and because he was in a place that was high up and hidden.

Within a few hours, most of Damian's injuries that weren't very deep had recovered along with his Internal and External Energy and without any time to waste, Damian headed deeper into the beast woods.

It was already afternoon and Damian knew that beasts became much wilder during the night and were also protective of their homes and territories, so it was best for Damian to start moving straight away, rather than wait for night.

Finding a rank 5 Moose Beast would be quite difficult, especially in a large beast woods where there were many places to hide, but Damian was determined to find it and kill it before night.

He also planned to leave the Inner Section of the beast woods, where he was sure the beast would be found, after killing the beasts, since it would be dangerous to rest there during the night.

Getting up, Damian tightened the strap that was holding his bag shut and also made sure to tighten the straps that were holding it onto his back as he held his bow in his hand and prepared to move deeper into the beast woods.

Damian was on high alert and was not only monitoring any beasts that he came across, but was also becoming wary of cultivators in the nearby area.

Human cultivators that were cruel opportunists that didn't care about others and only their own gain, which was most of them, were what Damian had to look out for the most.

Although he was sure that many knew of his name and the fact that there was a Damian that was the direct disciple of the great elder, he was sure that hardly anybody would be able to tell that it was him, so he didn't have to worry about that.

But he was carrying dozens of beast cores and his bow was also very valuable, so he was likely to be targeted by most cultivators that saw he was alone and in the middle of the beast woods.

He was far away from the academy and there weren't any witnesses, so even if he was killed by a cultivator, it would be easy to cover it up and make it seem as though he was killed and eaten by a beast.

Knowing all of that, Damian was circulating his internal energy at all times and was holding his bow, ready to fight at any moment.

Entering the Inner Section of the beast woods, Damian became much more cautious and concealed his aura and presence as much as he could as he walked on the ground and searched for any tracks he could find.

Moose Beasts were the only beasts in the beast woods that had hooves according to what Damian had read, so if he could find any hoove tracks, he could hopefully follow them back to where a Moose Beast lived.

However, in the beast woods where there were all sorts of plants and the ground was quite damp, foot prints would be very hard to spot, especially since dozens of beasts would take the same path each day.

Looking around the outer areas of the Inner Section of the beast woods, Damian was scouring the ground for any traces of the Moose Beast, not wanting to head deeper into the Inner Section of the beast woods until he was sure of the location or direction of the Moose Beast.

It took Damian a while, but he finally found a faint hoove print, but he couldn't find any more around it which shocked it.

However, when he widened the area that he was looking at around it, he found a few more and it amazed him as he imagined the great strides that the elegant and powerful Moose Beast would take to travel through the beast woods.

Damian had a direction to follow and a faint trail of hoove prints that widely spread apart, but he had no idea how many Moose Beasts he would find at the end of the path and couldn't even confirm that a Moose Beast would be there in the first place.

Despite that, it was the only lead that Damian had and he wanted to hunt and kill a rank 5 Moose Beast, which was very rare, even in the beast woods, before it was night and more dangerous to be in the Inner Section of the beast woods.

There was no safe place to leave his bag, so Damian was planning to carry it with him everywhere he went and was planning to place it down before battling the Moose Beast as he couldn't afford to be disadvantaged while facing such a powerful beast.

Following the faint trail that was quite hard for Damian to track, he noticed that there weren't any beasts in the nearby area, which was surprising considering the population density of beasts within the beast woods.

Damian after following the trail for a while had headed quite deep into the Inner Section of the beast woods and had made sure to avoid any beasts in the nearby area along the way.

Luckily, none of them chased after him and didn't sense his presence, since Damian was very skilled at concealing his presence and aura, which he found easier to do while using Shadow Energy.

[This is weird, there are now quite a few more hoove trails in this area, but I can't seem to find any beasts] thought Damian to himself as he placed down his bag, laying it against a tree, before preparing himself for battle.

[This must be the territory of a single or multiple Moose Beasts] realised Damian as his heart began to beat rapidly.

"I will not fail"