Each moment felt like an eternity to Thilve and Tazkin. They could hear their heartbeats slowly rising. Their eyes were fixed on the forest before them. Soon, the beast slowly stepped out of the cover of the trees and granted them a look at its body. Thilve and Tazkin took a step back. The beast reminded Michael of the komodo dragon back on earth. It was a Iarge lizard with long tails, a strong and agile neck, and sturdy limbs. The beast's tongue was red, forked, and oozed blood. It had a stone color skin with distinct, large scales.

Sssssss!

The beast hissed at them but locked its gaze on Michael. Somehow, the beast sensed the real threat among the three was Michael. Perhaps the sword in his hand, or perhaps he himself threatened the beast. Michael felt mother luck was on his side today. While harvesting the ingredients, he pondered about the antidote. To brew an antidote, he needed something that was naturally immune to the air around him. That's where the beast came in. If he could get the beast's flesh and blood, he would be able to brew an antidote without a problem.

Michael clenched his dark sword. One would be surprised to see the three dragons in his hilt wrap around his arms like they were alive and provide more grip. He didn't take out his second sword but decided to slice and dice the beast using one. Step by step, the beast strolled toward Michael. Thilve and Tazkin slowly walked backward while maintaining their focus on the beast. However, the beast only focused on Michael. When the beast was just a few meters away from Michael, it started to gallop, increasing its speed significantly. Suddenly, the beast pushed its legs into the ground and lunged at Michael with its mouth wide open.

The poor beast had no idea how fast Michael could move. He just swayed his body to the side and dashed forward with his blade tilted to the side. Thilve and Tazkin felt a gust of wind blow past him as one beast became two. Michael's sword cut through the beast's body like a hot knife through butter. Two halves of the beast hit the ground with a sickening thud. Blood sprayed out everywhere, including Michael, Thilve, and Tazkin. Michael sheathed his sword back into the sheath and turned around. The beast looked like neatly cut fish filets, except it had more blood, bits of pieces of the tiger it just ate, and entrails.

Although the wood elves were shocked at how quickly the beast died, they weren't disgusted by the sight of its dead body. This told Michael that these wood elves had witnessed much worse.

"Good, they aren't soft bloods," Michael said to himself. He flicked his wrist as a dagger, and a glass jar appeared in his hand. Then, Michael squatted beside the two halves of the body and carved out the beast's heart, flesh, and collected its blood into the jar. Once again, Michael hated the system for not giving him any experience points. But then again, killing a creature with no cultivation level was as easy as stepping on an ant. It was no challenge or thrill. After collecting the body parts of the beast, Michael turned his focus on the ingredients.

"Shall we continue?" asked Michael as Thilve and Tazkin snapped back to reality. They continued to collect the mushrooms. Hours passed without their notice. Michael enjoyed the momentary peace and quiet. Eventually, Michael picked enough mushrooms and harvested enough ingredients to get his potion business running for a few months. This time would be enough for him to earn gold coins and invest or build businesses to generate passive income.

"It's enough," said Michael. Thilve and Tazkin were sweating. The task exhausted them quite a bit.

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"If you don't mind me asking, my lord, what are you planning to do with all these? They seem poisonous," Tazkin asked Michael.

"They are. But with a little bit of magic, the mushrooms could be turned into something special," Michael answered as he strolled toward the pond. He washed his face in the crystal clear water. Then, he decided to return to the tribe. On the way back, Michael led them instead of the other way around. He memorized the path back to the tribe. Tazkin and Thilve followed him while cautiously looking around their surroundings.

Almost after walking in peace and quiet for an hour, Michael slowed down. The red forest was far behind them, and they entered the forest part with sparkling blue trees.

"Something wrong, my lord?" Tazkin questioned Michael.

"Climb up this tree and stay there," Michael pointed at the tall tree beside him. Tazkin and Thilve were bewildered, but they chose not to question their god. Tazkin nodded as he put his back against the tree, boosted his wife to the top, and climbed up the tree with Thilve's help. They used the branches and holes in the tree as stepping stones to reach the top.

Michael leaned against the tree as though he was waiting for someone. Suddenly out of nowhere, an arrow soared through the air, piercing the veins, foliage, and saplings The arrow almost hit Michael's wrist where he wore the Olympus. It didn't feel like whoever fired the arrow missed the mark but targeted the Olympus precisely. But before the arrow could hit Olympus and shatter it to pieces, Michael caught the arrow just a few inches away from Olympus. Upon sitting on the highest branch in the tree, Thilve and Taazkin were stunned. As far as they could see, no one was there. Still, the arrow came from somewhere.

"You are good marksmen. I give you that," Michael's voice swept across the forest.

"Pity you are not as good as you think you are," said Michael. He was nonchalant about the arrow or who fired it. Ever since he stepped onto the demons grave, he had a feeling someone was following him. Although the Environmental Scanning sensed nothing, his instincts told him that he was being followed. Yet again, his instincts were spot on.

Whoosh!

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Michael heard the sound of the whistling wind as another arrow came from another direction. Not even a second passed when another arrow soared through the forest from the opposite direction of the previous arrow. Michael caught the two arrows just in time before they hit Olympus.

"Whoever you are, you want a fair fight. Am I right?" asked Michael. Arch energy from the crystals amplified Michael's voice to the point the creatures around him scattered away in fear. The arrows stopped. Then, Michael threw away the arrows and removed Olympus from his wrist. He had a feeling the one who fired the arrows was watching everything.

Michael placed the olympus on the ground and waited for the person to show themselves. Silence fell over them. A few seconds later, the vegetation around Michael rustled. Thrive, and Tazkin noticed something big and black approaching them. The figure lurked in the shadows and seemed to hide itself using the shadows. They perfectly blended with the forest despite how colorful the forest was.

"Stay up there," Michael said to Tazkin and Thilve when they seemed reluctant to stay still and let Michael handle the shadowy figure. The rustling noises pounded louder and louder as the figure finally stepped out of the shadows. Thilve and Tazkin were caught off guard. Simply put, they were stunned. It was a giant black panther that walked on its two feet like a human.

Michael remained calm as the black panther cautiously made his way toward Michael but kept a safe distance. When Tazkin and Thilve looked closer, the black panther had more humanoid features than they initially saw. He had the face of a panther and shiny black fur, but his muscles and limbs looked more human than those of a panther. His black-tailed swayed with the wind. The black panther's eyes glistened with immense killing intent. Michael could feel the murderous lust radiating from the panther.

"Where did I see you before?" Michael rubbed his chin. The black panther became more furious, seeing how calm Michael looked. However, except for his eyes, nothing betrayed the anger within the black panther's heart. It was a trait of a seasoned warrior. Michael was sure of that.

They both slowly started to walk in a circle while maintaining eye contact. Michael snapped his fingers as his eyes brightened.

"You were with Tanulia Valren. The invisible bodyguard. I knew I'd seen you somewhere," said Michael.

"But the rage within your eyes, it feels personal. Like I took away someone you loved. Don't tell me you were in love with Tanulia," Michael snickered.

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"Nah," Michael shook his head,

"It's much more,"

"Jacobe," The black panther finally opened his mouth. His voice sounded extremely thick and gritty. Since there were no beast men in Itonys and Tazkin and Thilve had never seen one, they were completely shocked. Their god looked smaller compared to the seven feet monstrosity riddled with muscles. Yet, they saw no fear in the Dark Lord's eyes. Not that they expected a god to be afraid of a cat.

"Jacobe?" Michael tilted his head, trying to recall the name.

"Sorry, no idea," Michael shrugged.

Of course, Michael remembered Jacobe. Even if he didn't know the name, the black panther had a resemblance with only one person Michael had met, the one who tried to hunt down Gaya and almost succeeded. Everything started to make sense except how this black panther managed to not only enter the demons grave but also come here.

"I shall make you remember then. Ghost," the black panther addressed Michael by his name instead of the Dark Lord.

"Before he disappeared, he was tracking Gaya, the queen of Nagaland. Did you kill him?" asked the black panther. Michael could tell the black panther wanted some closure. He might be a good tracker, but he couldn't have found Jacobe's body because Michael burned it to ashes.

"The moment he agreed to track down Gaya, he sealed his own fate. But did I kill him?" Michael rubbed his chin, pretending to think.

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Looking at the black panther and Michael, Thilve and Tazkin were utterly confused. But judging by their words, they could understand that there was some kind of history between the two of them.