Chapter 7: First hunt
"Is it them?" Nero wondered.
He picked up his speed and quickly dashed forward for about a quarter-mile before seeing what seemed to be a smoke cloud up ahead. Nero halted in his tracks avoiding coming in contact with the smoke cloud. He then released his consciousness to probe the smoke cloud. His consciousness pierced through many layers of smoke before finally arriving at a clear prairie in the middle at the smoke cloud.
Over 50 to 70 flaming boars were grazing on a clear field! The ground was a bit scorched black because of the flames emerging from the flaming boars. These flaming boars were peacefully grazing for food; then Nero thought of an idea. He had a feeling that these wild boars wouldn't give away their positions to their predators while openly foraging. The smoke cloud was thick and high.
The only reason why Nero hadn't seen it before was because of the trees. The trees here were thicker and wider than a water barrel and their branches could block the rays of sunlight from reaching the ground. So instead of the smoke from the flaming boars dissipating into the atmosphere, the big tree canopies restricted them, thereby causing the smoke to build up in layers, hence the thick wall of smoke.
"Was it the smoke?" Nero thought. He believed that everything in this forest's ecosystem knew where they stood in on the food chain.
These flaming wild boars were prey to some other animals just like when they were being pursued by the lightning Jaguar. But now they care freely grazed for food like they had a trick up their sleeves. Nero picked up a stone beside him and threw it into the smoke cloud while also probing with his soul consciousness. Nero's eyes lit up when the stone hit the smoke cloud.
Almost instantly when the stone touched the smoke cloud, all the 50 to 70 wild boars became increasingly alert! Their focus was shifted to where the stone landed. The boars started to growl and stomp their hooves.
"Just as I thought! This smoke serves as a signal to warn them that they are in danger." It was exactly what Nero thought it was.
The smoke released by these wild flaming boars contained a piece of their animal instinct that warns them of any lurking danger. Once a predator touches the smoke cloud, it instantly alerts the herd making them prepare beforehand. The flaming wild boars were naturally strong beasts individually and as a herd. If their predator wasn't someone they could compete against even as a group, they could always resort to running for their lives.
But if it was the other way round, they would instantly trample on their enemy without any hesitation. In this world where you can either eat or be eaten, they wouldn't want to go down without a fight.
Nero stood atop a tree branch watching the reactions of these flaming boars through the piece of soul consciousness he left there. A smirk appeared on his face. This seemed to be a form of entertainment to him!
"Your methods are smart but against true power, you can only die!" Nero leaped from the tree branch into the giant smoke cloud.
Nero leaped into the thick smoke cloud without giving it a second thought. In the blink of an eye, he pierced through the smoke cloud, like an arrow diving deeper into the smoke. On the ground, the flaming boars that noticed something had pierced through their smoke cloud and started to galvanize every power they had to dispose of this incoming threat. Seeing Nero pierce through their smoke cloud, the wild boars became increasingly alert.
Their bodies seethed with flames as they all shot fist-sized flames at Nero. Nero who just pierced through many layers of smoke was still in mid-air when a barrage of attacks locked unto him. Without waiting to sight Nero, the flaming boars had already launched their attack catching him off guard. Nero didn't have enough time and got hit by the attacks of about 50 to 70 flaming boars.
Boom!
The attack caused a huge explosion to spread out leaving behind a dense cloud of smoke.
"Haha! Dream on!" Nero's cold voice echoed from the smoke cloud.
Almost instantly, Nero broke free from the smoke cloud and casually punched the air In front of him. The punch created visible ripples in the air and sent shockwaves that instantly suppressed the flaming wild boars. The land slightly cracked and caved in. Loud miserable shrieks of animals echoed out.
The part of the land that caved in was dyed with the overflowing blood of flaming boar. The bodies of more than 20 flaming boars lay still in the cave-in with bone-deep cuts and bones jutting out from their skin. They died! Nero's attack instantly killed more than 20 flaming boars, caused a cave-in, and left behind a deep fist print on the ground!
The other boars ran around the cave-in, letting out wailing shrieks while releasing a strong heat from their bodies. The bodies of the 20 something lifeless boars started to sizzle at a visible speed from the heat. Seeing this, Nero furrowed his brows. With a roar, he landed inside the cave-in, causing more cracks to appear and the ground to sink deeper.
Almost instantly, an unknown pressure fell on these flaming boars causing them to retreat a few feet away from the cave-in. The pressure continued to grow stronger directly dispersing the smoke cloud that shrouded them. A couple of feet away, a good number of flaming boars were whimpering in agony. They had blood flowing down their nostrils and eyes.
Some of those who couldn't withstand the pressure died while having bled through the orifices of their face. This was truly a gruesome way to die. Under the pressure emanating from Nero, these flaming boars cried miserably.
"Humph." Nero snorted. The pressure he released slowly lessened till only a faint trace was left. But this faint trace was more than enough to scare these boars into submission.
Without the slightest hesitation, the remaining flaming boars started to make a run for their lives. The one's who could still move, naturally didn't slow down their speed, while the ones who could barely move because of the injuries they sustained were put to rest by Nero.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone