Monster Hunter in League of Legends

Compared to the help Tarin had given him, it seemed he couldn't help Tarin in any way. In fact, even the survival and continuation of the beast herd depended on Tarin's intervention…

Thinking about it, Nidalee pursed her lips and then said:

"I can't repay your help right now... If there's anything I can do to help, just let me know. I'll do my best to do it."

"OK."

Tallinn nodded.

Seeing that Nidalee had rested enough, Tarin asked, "Are there any suitable prey around?"

"There are quite a few... but they're all in the territories of other beast packs."

Upon hearing Tarin's question, Nidalee pondered for a moment before sighing and saying:

"Our herd has doubled in size, and our territory is no longer enough for our daily hunting needs. If we want to continue hunting, we'll have to go to the forests of other herds."

"What kind of beasts are around?" Tarin asked.

"Basilix dragon lizard, mane beast, shadow wolf pack... Hmm, the shadow wolf pack is the one we hunted yesterday, but something seems to have happened in their territory, as they actually ventured into our forest to hunt."

Upon hearing this, Tallinn nodded thoughtfully.

The Brazilian Lizard is a social creature endemic to the Kumangu Mountains in northern Ixtal. Young lizards are trained by Noxians to be mounts, while adults are used as pack animals and disposable battering rams because they are difficult to ride.

The Libin Beast is a large, solitary quadrupedal creature that also inhabits the Kumangu Mountains. It is a large predator. In the official League of Legends novels, Rengar, the Pride Hunter, once hunted it and described it as an opponent that Rengar could never defeat head-on. In the end, it was slowly worn down by the tactic of bleeding it out.

The Shadow Wolf Pack... a pathetic, lowly apex predator.

Tarlin himself preferred hunting Brutes. But after careful consideration, he said, "Then let's go with the Shadow Wolves."

Tallinn looked in the direction they had returned from yesterday and said, "The large-scale migration of the animal herds could be due to either some kind of ecological disaster or the emergence of a more powerful predator that has forced the wolves to come to our forest. In any case, we need to find out what exactly happened there."

After a pause, Tallinn added, "And even if we find nothing and there are no wolves, there will still be as much prey as possible for us to hunt."

"Okay." Nidalee nodded; that was what she thought too.

Compared to the dragon lizard and the bristly beast, the shadow wolf is indeed easier to bully.

And Nidalee was indeed quite concerned about the fact that the Shadow Wolves had suddenly left their habitat and come to her forest yesterday.

Although the Shadow Wolf pack is at the bottom of the apex predator hierarchy, its social nature still gives it a strong ability to withstand risks, and its group combat capability allows it to always win against stronger opponents.

Forcing such herds to leave their fertile forest habitat undoubtedly indicates a more intractable threat to the original area.

A moment later, Tarlin and Nidalee set off.

The dense forests of Ixtal are dangerous, separated from the material world for thousands of years, and still retain the wildness of ancient times.

Walking among them, ancient trees reach for the sky, forming a verdant canopy, where even the brightest sunlight can only filter through the gaps, casting a few streaks of golden light. Many of the giant trees have trunks so thick that it takes more than a dozen people to encircle them, and their buttress roots, like writhing dragons, pry open the moist humus soil and plunge into the earth, rich in water and elemental magic.

Soon, Nidalee and Tarlin followed the trail to the depths of the forest.

The deeper they went, the more unusual something seemed to happen to Tarlin and Nidalee.

There weren't many wild animals; the entire forest seemed to have been cleared away by some unknown entity.

Large swaths of soil were scorched black by some kind of corrosive liquid, as if they had been splashed with strong acid. They were wrinkled and carbonized, and when stepped on, they were brittle and silent, completely lacking the moisture that a forest farm should have.

The shadow wolf's fur was tangled up here and there, and there was no complete corpse, only broken bones, torn muscles, and limbs that had been gnawed down to half.

The forest was covered with paw prints of fleeing shadow wolves, but the footprints were of varying depths and directions, completely lacking the order and unity that a wolf pack should have when hunting. Just through these traces, Tallinn could feel the panic and helplessness of the wolf pack.

Soon, Tallinn also discovered a different kind of trace.

"Here."

Upon hearing Tarin's words, Nidalee quickly rushed over, her face showing a slight seriousness.

While individual Shadow Wolves are not as strong as Paka Jungle Cats, their pack size is even larger. The thought of such a massive herd fleeing in panic to other forests, especially since the Shadow Wolves' original forest was right next to their own territory, weighed heavily on Nidalee's mind.

Upon arriving at Tallinn, what came into view were sharp, three-sectioned claws piercing the cracks in the tree trunks and the earth.

These weren't the claws of a shadow wolf; they looked more like those of some kind of arthropod. But Nidalee didn't recall seeing similar claw marks among the top predators around her.

On the contrary, Tarlin, looking at the claw marks, had a thoughtful look on his face, as if he had made some kind of connection.

But before Tallinn could think about it further, a pair of eyes flashing with a fierce light appeared in the shadows to the side.

The next moment, a cold light flashed, and a throwing knife landed on the hardwood beside Talin.

This instantly made Nidalee bristle, her expression like that of a frightened cat. She gripped the venomous bone spear tightly and glared menacingly in the direction from which the throwing knife had come.

"Who is it! Show yourself!!"

The guy who threw the knife showed no intention of coming out. Instead, he vanished instantly with the sound of leaves rustling and began wandering around the surrounding woods.

"Get out of here! This guy is my prey!"

Hearing the slightly rough voice, Tallinn paid no attention. He didn't even take the so-called attack to heart—there was no murderous intent, it was just a cat hissing.

He simply crouched down, touched the claw marks left by the arthropod, and felt the distortion of the land caused by the void energy. Tarin calmly said, "It's a void creature, isn't it?"

Not really knowing what void creatures were, Nidalee glanced at Tarin and then continued to be on guard.

The man who had thrown the knife as a warning fell into a brief silence, then a voice came from all directions: "None of your business! Get out of here!"

Tarin shook his head, then said, "We're both hunters. Would you give up your prey just because of a few words from others? Or is this how the legendary hunter Marcon taught you?"

"Marcon?!"

Upon hearing the name, the individual hidden in the shadows of the leaves let out a surprised sound, but then quickly regained their composure and said coldly, "Who are you! How do you know this name! And what is your relationship with Marcon!"

"Shouldn't you step forward before asking questions?" Tallinn retorted.

After a moment of silence, a burly figure nearly two meters tall emerged from the shade of a nearby tree. He stared intently at Tallinn, his eyes filled with astonishment, uncertainty, and brutality.

Upon seeing the newcomer, Nidalee involuntarily gritted her teeth, her face contorted with shock and rage: "Flesh-toothed Beast!!"

Nidalee's hatred for the Flesh-toothed Beasts goes without saying—the reason she discovered she was a Shapeshifter was because her foster mother was besieged by Flesh-toothed Beast hunters, and in this desperate situation, she was forced to unleash the potential within her bloodline.

Even so, after Nidalee drove away the flesh-toothed beast hunters, Nidalee's foster mother eventually died from her injuries.

The flesh-toothed beast clearly didn't care about Nidalee's anger; in fact, after sensing her rage and hatred, a hint of confusion flashed in its eyes. But then, the beast turned its gaze to Tarin beside it, gritting its teeth as it said:

"I'm out now! Tell me, who are you! How did you find out about Marcon?"

"I see it." Tarin tapped his eye socket and looked at the silver-gray fleshy beast.

"Actually, I was just trying my luck, but I didn't expect it to actually be you, Rengar."

The flesh-toothed beast hunter who appeared here was none other than Rengar, the Pride Hunter from League of Legends.

Standing over two meters tall, its hind legs, with their joints reversed, were upright. It wore steel chainmail lined with animal hide. In its left hand, it held a single-handed hunting knife that resembled fangs, while in its other hand were a pair of fine steel wrist blades.

It was a massive creature with a thick, silvery-gray mane that grew on the back of its neck, resembling that of a lion. This mane was not merely decorative; it was woven together and secured at the ends with iron hooks and animal teeth, so that in battle, a casual flick of its wrist could transform it into a deadly weapon.

Thinking this, Tarin looked at Nidalee beside him and said, "Calm down, Nidalee."

"How can you expect me to stay calm?!"

Upon hearing Tarin's words, Nidalee instinctively retorted, but then seemed to remember that Tarin was now the leader of the beast horde, and even the weapon in her hand was made by Tarin. Nidalee's expression changed slightly as a result.

Thinking it over, Nidalee took a deep breath, lowered her head, and suppressed the hatred in her heart as she said, "Aren't you a prophet...? You saw my past, didn't you? You know why my foster mother died."

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, and every debt its debtor."

Tarlin pointed to Rengar standing to the side and said, "He most likely wasn't involved in that hunt."

Upon hearing this, Nidalee remained silent, only pursing her lips and looking at Rengar. After a moment of silence, she said, "No... I know about the Flesh-toothed Beasts. They hunt every summer, especially these young ones. His age... is just right!"

"What are you talking about?!" Rengar's face was filled with impatience as he listened to Tarin and Nidalee's conversation. "Answer me! That man, what's your relationship with Malcolm?!"

Seeing that the three people present were talking amongst themselves and had no intention of negotiating, he was quite helpless in coming to collect the goods. However, he had already developed some feelings for Nidalee and knew that she was not a reckless person, so Tarin responded to Rengar first.

"I don't know him, but I saw a glimpse of your past self."

With that, Tarin waved his hand, then stared at Rengar for a while—mainly at his left eye, which was clearly blind and still wrapped in bloody bandages.

This caused Rengar genuine displeasure—the flesh-toothed beasts were far more humanoid than the Paka jungle cats, as evidenced by the fact that they could be called 'Vastayan,' while the Paka jungle cats were merely 'cats.'

Even so, the hunting instincts hidden deep within the bloodlines of these flesh-toothed beasts still made Rengar particularly disgusted by Tarin's current gaze.

For a beast, having its wounds stared at by a stranger is tantamount to provocation. Although it didn't say anything, Rengar instinctively bared its teeth, preparing for a sudden attack.

To this, Tallinn shook his head and explained, "Calm down, I was just using your injuries to determine your current condition... Also, if you need, I can help you repair your eyes."

Rengar didn't think much of Tarin's explanation. But when he heard that Tarin could help him repair his eyes, Rengar fell silent for a moment, then quietly put away his bared teeth.

For wildlife, losing an eye is not just a matter of impaired vision.

In nature, healthy predators represent strength, while the blind and lame are often seen as weak.

This is pure jungle law.

Once deemed weak, being driven out of their original herd is the least of their worries; some brutal beasts will even kill them outright as food reserves...

For a hunter like Rengar, losing an eye means losing stereoscopic vision.

This means Rengar can no longer accurately judge the distance to his prey as before, and cannot calculate the timing of his charge or pounce. At the same time, during high-speed pursuits, the lack of perspective makes him more vulnerable to terrain countermeasures and slows his reaction to attacks from the side or behind.

It can be said that the higher the predator's apex, the greater the impact of losing an eye.

Rengar in the past might have only needed to lie in wait, measure distance, and then launch himself out with a single, fatal blow using the powerful body of the flesh-toothed beast.

Now, Rengar must get closer and take more risks to make his move, and he needs to compensate for the loss of stereoscopic vision caused by his eyes by using his sense of smell, hearing, and vibration.

For him, who considered himself a proud hunter, these scars were a brand, a mark of shame.

But now... there is still a possibility of making amends, and there is still a possibility of treatment.

Thinking this, Rengar's iron-whip-like tail instinctively lashed out, and after a moment of silence, he spoke:

"There's no such thing as a free lunch... So, tell me, what do you want me to do?"