When one killed the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bear and wanted to cut their Silver Horn, it was known that the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears were storing their Psionic Energy in their horns, so when somebody attempted to remove the horns of the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears, the Psychic Energy gathered in the Silver Horn would lash out and send some sort of Curse at the person who was cutting down the Silver Horn of the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bear.
It was very dangerous to hunt for the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears for these reasons; not only was their personal power rather fearsome, but the aftermath could be rather nasty.
"Then we should get going..."
I didn't have a problem if Esdeath wanted to pursue romantic involvement with me; she was like Hela in this regard. She knew what she wanted, and she wouldn't take no for an answer. Also, during the time I was on this planet and living among the Partas Tribe, I took a great liking to her.
And she would fit pretty well in our home as she wasn't the most mentally stable individual around.
She was acting as the tracker for us, as I knew literally zero things about proper tracking of the animals. Not to mention, tracking after something in the world where everything was covered by snow was incomparably harder.
So, I was cheating a bit in this regard.
When a man was courting a woman in the Partas Tribe, he would take her on Hunt.
During the hunt, he would set a powerful target as his prey; the more powerful the prey, the better the chances that he would succeed in the courtship for her hand. Then, once the prey was set, the man would act as the prime hunter and do everything...
He would track down the prey on the planet and then hunt it down.
As I didn't know anything about tracking the prey, Esdeath was doing this for me, though I seriously doubted that it would be much of a problem because I was far, far stronger than Anoyn in the Partas Tribe, even in my weakened state.
Though that was understandable.
Even though this may have been just a clone body limited to Tier 8 in physical power only, I lived for more than ten thousand years, and my experiences and combat skills were far above their own.
"So, where are we going to?"
I asked as I followed after Esdeath, who caught tracks of the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears.
She was rather surprised when I told her about my choice of prey. For the Partas Tribe, the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears were one of the most challenging prey, not only due to their power but also the Curse that came from removing their horns.
At the same time, due to these properties, the Silver Horns of the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears were used in my occult and mystical rituals, and thus, their price was exorbitantly high across the markets of the Fenran Rex IX., and it was considered as one of the top-notch merchandise.
"Frostearth Valley. It's just a few tens of kilometers from our current location."
I nodded and followed after her to the Frostearth Valley.
***
Frostearth Valley, Feris Continent, Fenran Rex IX.
The Frostearth Valley was a stark, unforgiving expanse carved into the heart of an alpine mountain range in the Ziras IV, where the air was thin, the winds were razor-sharp, and the cold was a living, biting force.
Towering peaks of jagged, ice-clad mountains loom on all sides, their summits lost in swirling clouds of snow and mist. The valley itself was a vast, U-shaped glacial trough, its floor a patchwork of frozen tundra, jagged rock outcroppings, and massive sheets of ancient ice that glistened faintly under the weak light of a distant, pale sun.
The ground is a mosaic of frost-heaved boulders and cracked permafrost, with deep crevices splitting the earth like scars. In some places, the ice is so thick and ancient that it has formed towering blue-white glaciers that creep imperceptibly down the valley, their surfaces riddled with deep crevasses and serrated ridges.
These glaciers reflected the faint light in eerie, shifting patterns, casting an otherworldly glow over the landscape. The air was filled with the sound of howling winds that whipped through the valley, carrying with them stinging particles of ice and snow.
The temperature was perpetually below freezing, and the cold was so intense that it seemed to seep into the very bones of anyone who dared to venture here. The sky above was a pale, washed-out gray, with the sun barely visible as a faint, cold disc that provided little warmth.
Large swaths of the valley were frozen solid, with ice covering everything from the rocky ground to the skeletal remains of long-dead trees. Everything that has lived in the Frostearth Valley was already devoured by the inhabitants of this place or destroyed in the latest clash between the wildlife.
"This place is one of the favorite areas for the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears to hunt for food, and it also serves as their major habitat. There is an entire huge colony of the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears that lives in the Frostearth Valley as long as our documents go back... the first records of them settling here were during the end of the Long Night."
Esdeath then proceeded to tell me about the colony of the Silver-Horned Tattooed Bears that lived here and it was rather a sizeable colony.
Many of the Danger Beasts that lived in the Fenran Rex IX had lived here since the establishment of the colony, though some were brought from the different worlds of the Solar Federation.
And during the Long Night, many of the local fauna and flora has evolved accordingly, got much stronger and much bigger than usual. Though, this wasn't exclusive just to the Fenran Rex IX, but to all of the planets that were touched by the Long Night, as the Immaterium had some effects on every single living being.
In one way or another.