CHAPTER 114: I HAVE A FAVOR TO ASK OF YOU

Seeing that the silver-winged tiger was willing to speak to him, Adrian decided to use his chance to ask a few questions. His eyes wandered towards the gruesome wounds before he mustered up the courage to ask.

"W-What happened to you?" His voice was still a bit shaky, but he managed to force out the words.

"Hmm? Ahhh, It was that Bastard Mountain Bear. It attacked me just after I gave birth. That fool knows it can’t beat me in a fair fight, so it attacked me when I was weakened." The silver-winged tiger said with a low growl.

Her voice was filled with anger and hate. He could feel the immense killing intent that she released when she thought about that Mountain Bear. Even though it wasn’t directed at him, he was still overwhelmed by it.

He quickly tried to continue the conversation.

"Wait, you said when you gave birth. That should be at least a month ago, right?" He asked.

"Yes, why do you ask?" The silver-winged tiger questioned as she stopped releasing her killing intent.

"Well, does that mean that the beasts migrating is because of you?" Adrian asked.

"Hmm? Explain yourself, human." The silver-winged tiger growled at him. It wasn’t threatening, though, more like filled with curiosity.

Still, it was enough for Adrian to become tense as he began to explain the events of the recent months to the beast.

"Well, for more than a month now, the Misty Moutains had become more dangerous than before. Beasts from the deeper region migrated outwards, causing a lot of widespread panic and fear.

A lot of individuals have already ventured inside, trying to find the cause of this event. Some believe it was because of a treasure, so they want to try their luck.

I heard that some powerful cultivators have entered, as it is an opportunity to hunt rare and powerful beasts without venturing too deep inside the Misty Moutains."

Adrian explained, without leaving any detail out. The silver winged tiger, after hearing his words didn’t respond immediately.

When it finally did. It only spoke a few words.

"... I see. You’re probably right human. This event is most likely my doing."

It said while it closed its eyes to rest once again.However, different thoughts were going through Adrian’s mind. However, seeing that the silver winged tiger was resting, he didn’t know whether he should bother it or not.

He ultimately decided not to and just found a quiet corner to sit down and relax. Outside, the sun was already setting. And since they were in the Misty Mountains where night came quickly, he decided just to stay in the cave with the beasts.

Normally, he would have entered the Blood Star an spent the night there, but there was no way he would do such a thing with this beast near him. Even though it was resting, Adrian knew that it was still paying attention to him, monitoring his every move.

He knew that it wouldn’t hesitate to kill him if it felt that he was doing anything shady.

Adrian sat down with his back against the cold stone wall of the cave, the weight of everything that had just occurred settling heavily on his shoulders. The faint glow of dusk filtering through the vines at the cave entrance gradually faded into deep twilight, and soon, only the soft breathing of the silver-winged tigress and the gentle sound of the waterfall outside filled the silence.

The little kitten, or rather cub, now nestled beside him, curled up into a ball, its soft silver fur blending into the dimness. Adrian glanced at the tiny creature, and a strange sense of protectiveness welled up inside him.

It felt foreign, yet natural, like something awakened from deep within. He reached out and gently stroked its back. The cub let out a satisfied purr and tucked its head under his arm.

Adrian allowed himself a small smile. "I suppose I’m your babysitter now." He said with a small chuckle.

Despite the situation, a strange calm settled over him. There was danger, yes, immense danger, especially if powerful cultivators were roaming the mountains. If anyone even suspected the existence of a silver-winged tiger, they would rush here in order to slay it.

The value of a Rank 7 beast was far too immense. The materials that could be harvested from its body were very valuable. That was without mentioning the beast core. It alone was enough to cause an uproar if it were to be discovered.

He shut his eyes, not to sleep, but to enter a meditative state. He began cultivating, in order to keep himself busy. Since he could not sleep, he decided to use this method to pass the time.

Even in his focused state, Adrian remained aware of the tigress. Though she hadn’t spoken again, he could feel her consciousness lingering, watching. Her aura had receded, but not disappeared. It hovered faintly, like a slumbering guardian beast, constantly monitoring the surroundings.

Hours passed.

The moon had risen, casting pale light through gaps in the cave’s ceiling. Shadows danced across the stone, the only motion in the otherwise still cavern.

The cub stirred beside Adrian, before crawling into his lap while meowing. Since he wasn’t cultivating too deeply, he was able to quickly snap out of his meditative state as his gaze fell on the cub in his lap.

Adrian didn’t feel angry that his cultivation session was interrupted. Rather, he was amused at the antics of the cub in his lap. He scooped it up in his arms and started feeding it more dried beef.

He also decided to have a quick meal. He hadn’t eaten anything for a while now, not since he entered the Blood Star to escape from the wolf magic beast.

However, he had grown tired of eating dried meat. He discreetely fished out a piece of meat from a beast that he had previously killed. A quick fire later, and the smell of roasting meat began to fill the entire cave.

Normally, Adrian would not have dared to do this. If he were in any other situation, he would have been surrounded by beasts before the meat even finished roasting. However, the aura of the silver-winged tiger was enough deterrent to any beast that wanted to come here.

The cub’s eyes shone in delight when it smelled the delicious aroma of roasted meat. Adrian noticed this and cut a small piece off for it. Without hesitation, the cub pounced on it, before devouring it hurriedly.

Seeing the cub acting so cute, Adrian couldn’t help but pet it. He gently stroked its back while it fed on the meat he gave it. This seemingly innocent interaction didn’t escape the notice of the silver-winged tiger.

Like Adrian had speculated, it had been monitoring him, making sure he didn’t make any suspicious movements. It woke up when it perceived the aroma of the meat, but didn’t ask for any, nor did it even move.

It was a Rank 7 beast. It had too much pride to ask for food from this human that it could easily kill with a swat of its paw. Besides, it didn’t think this human would have enough food to satisfy it anyway. Even eating him wouldn’t satisfy it.

It watched the interaction between Adrian and its cub with one eye open. Seeing how its cub was playing with Adrian and how Adrian was treating it with genuine care and warmth, a peculiar glint shone in its eye.

However, this wasn’t noticed by the other two inhabitants of the cave. No one knew what the silver-winged tiger’s thoughts were as it closed its eye and went back to sleep.

The rest of the night passed without incident. The sun rose early the next day, and with it, Adrian and the cub. He had finally decided to go to sleep after playing with the cub for a while.

It didn’t let him concentrate on cultivation, so he could only try to coax it to sleep. When it saw him lying down, it also decided to rest. It climbed on his chest before curling up and falling asleep.

Now, Adrian had to decide on what to do. As much fun as playing with the cub was, he had more important things to do. He couldn’t stay here and keep ’babysitting forever’.

It definitely wasn’t because he didn’t want to keep staying near the Rank 7 silver-winged tiger. Yeah... It definitely wasn’t that.

As if it read his mind, the silver-winged tiger that had also woken up spoke to him in his mind.

"Human, when will you be leaving?" it asked in the same feminine voice.

"Ahhh, I’ll be leaving soon. I apologise if I have disturbed your recuperation." Adrian said in a hurried tone. The last thing he wanted was to have unknowingly offended this powerful beast.

"That’s not it. I have a favor to ask of you." The beast said in a somber tone. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, Adrian became quite curious as he wondered what such a beast could possibly need from him.