2006 Little Stone

The Stone Cow strutted around the valley like it owned the place. The ordinary, small Stone Cows were avoiding it. They seemed afraid of it. One of the smaller cows was too slow to get out of its way, and the creature found itself rammed to the ground. Its body was cut by the large cow’s horns.

The small Stone Cow did not fight back. It merely squealed and scrambled away.

The Stone Cow walked around the valley, going into its deeper recesses.

The walls of the valley blocked Han Sen’s vision, so he decided to find a new spot to observe from. He climbed up a mountain that was near the valley, using vines as cover. When he found a good place to rest, he used his sniper scope to watch the Stone Cows.

A path wound across the center of the valley, through a small pass, and into a smaller valley. There weren’t any small Stone Cows in the smaller valley. After the Stone Cow entered, it went to lay down beneath the boughs of a tree. It didn’t look as if it was resting, though.

The cow settled itself and looked at the tree. It stared intently as if it was gazing at something in particular.

Han Sen looked at the tree, but he couldn’t see anything noteworthy about it.

The tree was very thick, and it was thirteen meters tall. The top of the tree looked like an umbrella. Because he was too far away, Han Sen couldn’t feel the tree’s aura. He couldn’t even see any fruit on the tree. It was just a green-leafed tree.

“Weird. The valley doesn’t seem to have any special qualities, so how did the Stone Cow remove the wound I made with Teeth power? The Stone Cow can’t possess an ability like that itself, or it wouldn’t have allowed the Teeth power to do so much damage when I fought it yesterday.” Han Sen continued watching the cow, hoping to find some answers to his questions.

The Stone Cow lay there for a while, but it eventually grew fidgety. It started walking around in circles, looking towards the top of the tree.

There has to be something special about this tree…” Han Sen kept observing it, but he couldn’t figure it out.

After a while, a pleased look crossed the Stone Cow’s face. It kept staring at the top of the tree.

Han Sen looked closer, and he finally noticed a hole in the tree that was about the same size as a basketball. Something was emerging from the hole.

Han Sen didn’t know what it was. It looked like a mouse, but it stood on two feet. It was wearing clothes made of leaves, and it held a stick in its hands. It looked creepy, and the sight made Han Sen feel uneasy.

That thing looked evil. Its triangle eyes gleamed red. After it walked out of the hole, it struck a nearby leaf with its stick. It jumped onto the leaf and glided it down to the ground.

The Stone Cow approached. It looked at the mouse-like creature and bellowed at it.

The thing screamed back at the Stone Cow. It seemed like the two were arguing. After a while, the little thing pulled out a rock and threw it to the Stone Cow.

The Stone Cow opened its mouth and stuck its tongue out. The rock landed in its mouth and slid right down its throat. The Stone Cow didn’t even chew.

After the cow swallowed the rock, its body started to glow. The Stone Cow looked as if it was having some difficulty, so it settled down onto the ground again and went to sleep.

The rat-like thing watched the Stone Cow for a while, then leaped back up the tree and disappeared inside the tree hole.

“I don’t know what kind of species that rat thing belongs to, but it does look intelligent. And what was that little stone that the cow just ate? Is that how it removed the Teeth power?” Han Sen wondered.

After discovering this, Han Sen did not want to abandon this pursuit. He wanted to find out what was going on between the Stone Cow and the rat. So, he remained hidden and continued to watch.

After the Stone Cow woke up, it looked much better. It went out to signal the other cows and then returned to the valley. The smaller Stone Cows brought it xenogeneics, and it gobbled them up immediately.

The Stone Cow ventured out of the valley sometimes, but it returned to wait beneath the tree every day. If the ratlooking xenogeneic did not give it a little stone, it would ram the tree until branches started falling off. The cow would do so until the rat came out and gave it another little stone.

The rat was clearly afraid of the Stone Cow, and it seemed that the rat would never refuse its demands. It gave the cow a little stone every day.

“What are those little stones? And where does the rat get them?” Han Sen wanted to find out, but there were so many small Stone Cows, so he couldn’t just waltz in.

After thinking for a while, he came up with a plan.

Han Sen waited until the Stone Cow was outside the valley, and when it went far enough, he found the chance. He shot the Stone Cow while it was at unawares.

The bullet hit the Stone Cow and placed a Turtle spell on it. The Stone Cow was furious, but Han Sen kept firing more and more bullets to make it slower and slower.

Just like last time, the Stone Cow ran back towards the valley, squealing as it went.

After a short time, an assembly of smaller Stone Cows came after Han Sen. He summoned the Red Reaper to draw their attention and lure them further away.

Han Sen slipped around them and ran towards the valley. He wanted to see what was inside the tree hole.

When Han Sen ran into the big valley, he used his scope to aim at the rat-like xenogeneic. It was standing on a tall branch, having a look around. Without a second thought, he used the sniper rifle to shoot it.

Han Sen had only wanted to find out what it was. He hadn’t expected the single bullet to blow the rat’s head off.

“Xenogeneic Earl hunted. Eating Rat: xenogeneic gene found.”

“Huh? An Earl xenogeneic?” Han Sen was surprised. Since the Eating Rat seemed unusually intelligent, he thought that it’d be the same level as the Stone Cow. It was actually just an Earl.