CHAPTER 66: WHO?

After a few hours had passed and Nick was 99% sure that nobody had followed him or found him, he made the lengthy but worthy trek back to the Sanctuary.

Although he had escaped back into the forests surrounding War Beast Sanctuary, that was nothing but a ploy.

He never intended to go out hunting after hearing about all the groundbreaking news that had just been revealed.

Everyone was soon to be out looking for a Star rank Beast, so the wilderness was going to be crawling with Altered from all different backgrounds in the foreseeable future!

If Nick wanted to have a peaceful time hunting without any interference from outside forces, he needed to wait until all the hype died down and those who were less enthusiastic about finding a Star rank beast gave up and returned to their previous routines.

Hence, after spending a few hours in the wilderness just laying down on some grass in a small patch he’d found, he turned back and headed toward the War Beast Sanctuary.

News about the appearance of Star Rank beasts in the first layer had long been leaked to the general public by now, so those who weren’t apart of the Sanctuary leaders were also aware of their existence now, and had headed out to try their luck as well.

Of course, not to try and kill such a beast! They knew they had absolutely zero chance of ever doing that... But that wouldn’t stop them from selling the location of the Star Rank Beast, if they found one, at extortionate prices to the highest bidder!

Which left the Sanctuaries in their emptiest state since humanity had stepped foot in the Beast Domain over fifty years ago!

The last time something like this had happened, it was after the discovery of Radiant beasts, which sent all the Altered into a frenzy and a gold rush just like the present situation.

This gave Nick the perfect opportunity to sneak his way back into the Sanctuary, as sure enough, there wasn’t even a single person in the vicinity of the entrance or the entire route leading to the teleporter!

’Ha! Dido and Beast Slayer can have fun with their wild goose chase, I’ll be chilling back in the Federation!’

He had zero intentions of even stepping foot back in the Beast Domain until at least a week passed, or the hype had died down.

It would slow down his progress in his hunting, but he wasn’t bothered about that in the slightest.

When he arrived home, Luna was nowhere to be seen, which led to him releasing a disappointed sigh.

He knew that she would be busy with school with her time before reaching adulthood only decreasing by the day.

But being aware of it, and seeing the silent, empty apartment now that he had a break, were two completely different feelings.

However, he still remembered their promise to each other to message at least once a week to keep in touch.

Nick sat down on his couch and carefully thought about what to send to her.

Before he eventually settled.

’Morning Luna! Or evening, or... whatever it is where you are... Brother’s got some free time now thanks to some unforeseeable events occurring, but don’t worry, its not because I got injured again or something like that. I’m just taking a short break, that’s all. When you see this, give me a reply! I want to hear all about your studies and how they are going. Remember, study hard! It’ll come in much more important than you could ever think in the future... Love you, big bro.’

He smiled as he pressed send on the message.

However he knew that she wasn’t likely to see it any time soon since it was left undelivered even after he pressed send.

’Her comm’s disconnected. She’s probably doing wilderness exercises right now then if I remember correctly.’

Thinking of this brought back some both pleasant and unpleasant memories from his time back in school.

His wilderness exercises weren’t as fun as they might sound, and he suspected that they weren’t for Luna either.

It wasn’t a free vacation or a simple camping trip like schools would often do in the past, before the Beast Domain.

No, it was hellish training designed to prepare each and every student for their eventual entry into the Beast Domain.

Its past equivalent would probably be like British Commando’s training back in the 21st century Earth, when sovereign nations still existed before the entire global political landscape shifted after the wars!

Some might call such training cruel, and they would be 100% right.

That was the intention of the Federation for mandating such training on their youth.

They were fighting a war on two fronts, both in the real world and the Beast Domain.

The Demon race itself placed enough pressure on them, so having every citizen at least have some military training gave them a chance to fend for themselves, or survive for prolonged periods of time, instead of just running around out of fear like lunatics whenever any minor inconvenience bursts their fragile bubbles.

As for their ventures into the Beast Domain? That served multiple purposes — increasing one’s lifespan, increasing one’s strength, as well as acting as another form of training, only the real world kind!

’I probably won’t hear from her for another two weeks, since its already been two weeks since she’s started.’ Nick thought while checking the date.

It was currently mid September on the Universal Calendar, and since the wilderness exercises lasted a whole month, Luna wasn’t going to be seen until October starts...

’That leaves me here...’

Now, Nick felt a little bit empty.

He realised that without the Beast Domain and Luna, his life was rather dull...

Ding! Ding!

However, while his thoughts were about to dull, the doorbell to his apartment rang.

’Huh? Who could be knocking my door at this time? Not to mention barely anyone other than Kai knows we’ve moved here?’