Re: Elf Prince—A Degenerate's Second Chance-Chapter 44. Preparations

44. Preparations

Eryndor felt all jittery as his skin crawled with uncertainty, part of it was due to the fact that he had been standing for too long so his leg was practically asleep the other main reason was because of the deranged look his uncle had on his face.

"Quit it you deranged old man, tell me now what you are really saying before I lose it?" Eryndor gnashed his teeth and hissed out in rage.

Thalvarin reclined his back into the spine of his chair and relaxed himself before saying. "If you live that means your resolve was strong enough to prove me wrong but who cares what this old senile elf thinks? Don’t let me bore you with the details, what I want you to do is simple."

He gave a brief pause that only increased the tension between them, it stretched a little longer than it’s should have.

"There is a nearby mountain here and on its peak is the mountain wolf king, there used to be quite a number of them but I downright killed them all. It’s the only awakened beast nearby." Thalvarin stopped there and said nothing more leaving Eryndor to piece the rest together.

Eryndor tensed and bit his lower lip, he waited for seconds before finally saying his mind. "You want me to kill it all by myself."

Thalvarin chuckled again making him look even more unhinged, Eryndor was starting to question the sanity of the old elf now. His safety was not assured, but then again he could just escape now that he had been given the chance. But his greed to learn more from the old elf clawed at him. "I want you to slay it, and bring back it’s core as proof. Or is that too hard for you your royal highness?"

Eryndor did not understand the logic behind his uncle’s words, he was sure he knew that beast core was the only way for him to grow stronger so why would he propose such a condition. He suspected his uncle did not want him to consume it but why?

Was he concerned for his safety if things went wrong when he consumed the beast core of an awakened beast or did he really want it as proof. Either way Eryndor would consume it the moment he got it, he needed it to get stronger, he figured he could just bring back another body part as compensation.

Thalvarin seemed to sense where he was aiming at so he added in a much darker tone. "The mountains there are dangerous, I won’t bother to preach on survival to you. You are allowed to leave at any given time." With that he rose to his feet and left the young prince to himself.

Eryndor stood there confused and conflicted, he was being sent away again this time for different reasons. He was going to be tested but he preferred to think of it as a quest since it was similar to those he had read from popular webtoons. There would be harsh climate, deadly beasts, unpredictable circumstances and his life would constantly be threatened. With all of these in mind Eryndor’s mind seemed to buzz with excitement and that scared him.

Not wanting to kill the mood he walked back to his room and went to prepare himself for his first voyage out of the cottage. He wondered if that was perhaps why he was exhilarated.

He packed up his metal training sword, it was a long metallic blade, a well sharpened edge and a stylised wooden handle with engravings on it. It was the first gift he had received from his uncle, it would be the only lifeline he needed on this voyage. He opted to take very minimal mountain wear, even if he could use flame body tempering art he needed to conserve his mana if he would be fighting an awakened beast.

After a while he chose not to take any other wear aside from the one he would put on, he had very limited space in his bag so he would only have to put the important things in it. Things that would determine his survival in the long run.

He packed a bundle of rope, a grappling hook, a pair of plastic googles, things like climbing and hunting his uncle had taught him because he showed interest in them. He went to the kitchen and took with him a knife to cut any meat he would salvage off the dead beasts he would slay in the mountains. For fire he had control over the magical element, the firewood was always provided by the wild.

Eryndor could not help but compare this to the last time he had left the confines of the cottage, it had been to get stronger and escape his foolish predicament. Looking back he had wasted his time stacking up his bag with irrelevant supplies because of his weak control over magic and limited knowledge. Having lived more than half a year in the mountains he had gained the basics survival training, knowing how to hunt and adapt to the conditions to some extent, it was part of his training to harness the fire within him. And for that he was grateful.

He was more capable than he was before. Aside from his sword he took a bow and quiver of arrows, the quiver belonged to someone dear to his uncle Thalvarin and the arrows were carved by Eryndor himself. A first he thought of it as torture but he came to love it. Now he just had to add handcrafting to one of his weirdest hobbies.

Eryndor knew how much speed could be a deciding factor when surviving on the mountains so he chose to keep his bag much lighter. He did not have much to take so he prepared to set out by the first rays of sunlight.

He took what he expected to be the last good sleep he would have in a while and almost overslept as a result. When he woke up he picked up his gear and set out not wanting to have breakfast before he left, he met his uncle standing by the door apparently waiting for him.

Eryndor did not feel the reason to pay him any respect so he walked past him and reached for the door. He did not expect to be stopped by his uncle giving the way they left things off last night.

"What do you want you old geezer?" Eryndor said with a distaste in his voice.

Thalvarin held out something in his huge palm, Eryndor looked down to see a small chain holding a small oval gem, it looked liie an earring. But why was he being given that? "This was actually mine when I was much younger, it signifies the birth of something new in our culture."

Eryndor overlooked it and turned back to the door. "Keep your fancy jewelry for when I return, I’m not a kid."

Thalvarin scoffed at him and said. "I want you to bring it back to me." With that he pushed it into the young prince’s chest and the message was clear but unspoken. "Besides I have something of yours I think you might want back."

Thalvarin walked away and said nothing more only waving some that appeared to be a necklace with a gem on it. A moment later Eryndor identified it to be the necklace Elantha had given him. He had no memory of having it on him since he had reached the cottage so he feared he had lost it. Eryndor did not want to dwell much on the matter so he left with the strange earring resting in his palm.

"Don’t lose that old geezer." He hissed out in deep seethed rage.