Bang!
A round launched from the muzzle of the dark red rifle and rapidly crossed the distance to a tree hole where a scaled lizard-like creature made its nest.
Despite the alien lizard's diminutive body and lack of ferocity, its species possessed excellent instincts and reflexes. freewebnoveℓ.com
The hunters who entered the Hanlin #6 Hunting Ground in the past rarely managed to hunt these sensitive and speedy lizards down.
This was because they could always sense a threat in time for them to dodge and move out of the way!
Their ability to evade attacks might not be as good as light mech specialists, but it was more than enough to avoid the vast majority of attacks launched by the casual and immature hunters that frequented this hunting ground.
While the alien lizard had already tensed its limbs in order to jump away in an instant, the creature suddenly froze in place!
Its reptilian eyes dilated and its scaled body shook in fear.
The reason for that was because the bullet that was heading straight towards its body happened to carry an additional passenger!
Maaaaaaw!
Just like the Valkyrie Redeemers that initiated their charges against their foes, Yaika was able to project her death power in a narrow cone in front.
Even though the black spiritual cat was much weaker than Helena, Yaika's aura of death was not a force that a small reptilian exobeast could resist!
Plop.
The bullet fired by the rifle was not that powerful, so the lizard did not explode on the spot. The projectile merely passed through the forehead of the creature and accurately struck the brain, thereby killing it instantly.
"That is how it is done." Andraste spoke with satisfaction even as she maintained her vigilance. "Did you see that, big sis? You should take a shot at the next creature we come across. I will even help you correct your aim this time so that you won't miss your shot!"
"Ah, that is okay, little sis. I can manage on my own. I know how to shoot."
"Yeah, sure." Andraste dismissively said.
"Maaaaaw!"
Yaika meanwhile returned triumphantly. The juvenile companion spirit had just participated in the act of taking the life of another creature in the most direct fashion possible.
As an entity that had managed to activate the seed of death embedded within her spirituality, Yaika managed to harvest a lot of new insights on life and death.
The black spiritual cat had grown excited because of these gains. Even if she and her principal were still too young to comprehend a lot of deep and profound concepts, just touching the surface of them was enough to influence the direction of Yaika's subsequent growth!
Andraste had spent so many hours on training her weapon skills that she never really thought about what would happen if she utilized her arms on the field.
It couldn't be helped. Despite her tremendous combat skills, no one in the Larkinson Clan ever thought about sending her off to battle!
At most, Andraste only got a taste of what it was like by killing virtual opponents in virtual combat scenarios, but only sparingly as it was not good for a child of her age to indulge in such a bloody spectacle.
Her father did her a favor by bringing her to a hunting ground where she could finally experience what it was like to take away the life of another organism.
Though the small lizard was not comparable to a human or one of the formidable aliens of the Red Ocean, her first true kill still had a notable impact on Andraste!
"Lucky, can you retrieve that lizard? I want to take a closer look."
"Meow."
The gem cat dashed forward and returned a short moment later with the bleeding lizard carcass between his teeth.
"Meow!"
Lucky hurriedly deposed the lizard carcass in front of Andraste. The cat certainly did not enjoy putting four-tasting organic matter close to his maw.
"Thank you, Lucky."
Andraste and Yaika studied the dead lizard in further detail. The smell was awful, but the breathing mask fortunately filtered out the worst of it. The bullet hole in the center of the forehead looked a bit odd.
It leaked out less alien blood than it should, and there was a dark and ominous air to it. Yaika's energy still lingered on this wound, causing the surrounding organic tissue to necrotize a lot sooner than it should.
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