sovbooks Chapter 24 Giant Horned Bull
Chapter 24 Giant Horned Bull
Appearing in front of Thor was a herd of Bystin Gianthorn bulls.
They stand over 8 feet tall at the shoulder, are nearly 5 meters long, and can easily weigh up to 1.5 tons.
Its massive body is covered with dense, long, dark brown to almost black fur, with prominent humps on its shoulders and back, thick limbs, large hooves, and a pair of nearly six-foot-long curved horns extending outwards from the sides of its head.
As social animals, the Bystine giant bull usually lives in small family groups of 10 to 30 individuals. With their large size and sharp "weapons" on their heads, few predators dare to provoke them easily.
The group before Thor numbered nearly 50, a truly enormous herd. They roamed the wilderness, munching on the newly sprouted grass, resembling moving mountains of flesh.
His gaze locked onto the smaller calves among the herd of giant horned bulls, his outstretched wings folded slightly as he began to swoop down.
The aura of apex predators spread out, immediately causing panic among the herd of giant horned bulls. The strong bulls instinctively formed a circle, protecting the cows and calves in the middle.
For ordinary predators, this is an extremely effective defense mechanism; even a ferocious lion would not want to be gored by those nearly six-foot-long horns.
In the past, Thor might have only been able to harass from the outside, using the bleeding tactic to wear down a giant bull; or he could have eaten a large amount of burning coals and used dragon breath to kill it.
However, after loading the gas frog's biological template, he now has a better approach.
As the altitude decreased further, to less than 10 meters above the ground, Thor stopped descending and began to hover at low altitude, taking deep breaths.
In his abdominal cavity, near his stomach, a newly grown sac-like organ secreted a unique oil that flowed down his esophagus into his throat. After being heated at high temperatures, it instantly turned into thick smoke, which was expelled along with the inhaled air.
The thick smoke, carrying toxic substances, quickly enveloped most of the herd. The Bystin Giant Horn cattle that inhaled the smoke soon began to feel dizzy, and their muscles stiffened.
Although this level of toxicity was not enough to harm these strong and powerful giant horned cattle, the obstructed vision and the abnormality of their bodies still caused them to instinctively panic.
The original defensive perimeter collapsed under the influence of survival instincts, and almost all the giant horned bulls scattered and fled in panic.
Thor's sharp gaze locked onto a calf that was just over a meter long. With the force of his falling momentum, he pounced down and pinned it to the ground.
His gaping maw revealed gleaming dragon teeth, which snapped shut on the calf's neck. The powerful jaw muscles pressed tightly against the artery, causing the calf's brain to suffocate from lack of oxygen, and it quickly became still.
As the thick smoke gradually dissipated in the spring breeze, the once-grown herds of Bystin Bighorn bulls were no longer visible in the distance, leaving only the carcasses of Thor and his calf.
The calf's meat was incredibly delicious, tender and springy, whetting Saul's appetite. After wolfing it down, only scattered skeletons and the hind leg he had saved for dinner remained.
He patted his round belly, watching the Bystin Gianthorn herd disappear into the distance, and thought that if he could catch some to graze, they would certainly be a fine breed of livestock.
Unfortunately, he currently lacks sufficient strength and has too few subordinates to support this idea.
"I just hope these giant horned bulls stay in the area a little longer so I can eat a few more."
……
In nature, no nutrients are wasted.
Not long after Thor left, several desert foxes were attracted by the smell of blood; some time later, carrion vultures began to fall from the sky.
They scrambled for the scraps of meat left on the cow bones, occasionally letting out hoarse moans and whimpering roars.
At that moment, two humanoid figures appeared on the distant horizon.
They wore sleeveless leather vests and tattered cowhide cloaks. One of them carried a rough battle axe on his back, while the other had a curved knife at his waist and a long wooden whip in his hand.
Judging from their attire, they resembled the nomadic tribes of Thor's previous life, but their exposed, rough skin had a faint grayish-green tinge, and their prominent jaws and obvious fangs revealed their orcish identity.
Upon seeing the flock of vultures and sand foxes in the distance, the two orcs immediately quickened their pace and rushed over. One of them suddenly swung his long whip into the air, making a loud "crack" sound.
Startled, the sand foxes and vultures scattered, revealing the skeleton that had been surrounding them.
One of the orcs glanced at it and immediately let out a furious roar.
"That damned thief! How dare he steal my cow! If I catch him, I'll skin him alive!"
Another orc, who appeared older and more composed, crouched down and carefully examined the remains on the ground, occasionally twitching his nose as if sniffing something.
"No! No! Look at the bite marks on these bones, and the footprints on the ground. These were left by a dragon."
The younger orc chuckled upon hearing this, clearly not believing the older orc's words.
"Don't be ridiculous. Why would those adults from Dragon Castle come here? They prefer dry sand or dense forests. You must be mistaken."
The older orc grabbed the younger orc's clothes and dragged him to the skeletons on the ground.
"You idiot, I can't be wrong! Think carefully, when we went to feed those baby dragons, weren't the tracks we left exactly the same as this?"
The young orc thought about it carefully, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The claw marks on the ground and the teeth marks on the bones did indeed resemble those left by the young dragons, but the smell in the air was somewhat unfamiliar.
"Have other baby dragons appeared nearby? We must report this to our master immediately!"
"What will happen to the cows? They'll all be eaten."
"Forget about the cattle! If we stay any longer, we'll all lose our lives!"
……
Thor had no idea that the calf he had hunted was actually someone else's. By now, he had returned to the cave by its two hind legs and was leisurely lying on the stone bed.
When he focused his attention on the huge turntable in his mind, the mental energy balance displayed below reached more than 20 points again.
This time, however, he didn't intend to continue drawing environmental creature templates. Instead, he exchanged for a piece of burning coal and nibbled on it as a snack after his meal.
This combustible ore, rich in extremely high energy, can stimulate his body's affinity for the fire element, increase his tolerance to high temperatures, and enhance the power of his breath.
Long-term consumption will make him more powerful in controlling fire than other red dragons.
Once his stomach was almost full, he began to think about how to increase the number of his boar-men.
After much thought, the core issue boils down to food – the harvest from hunting can never compare to that from farming.
But where could he get good crop seeds? It seems that in the end, everything still depends on that huge spinning wheel in his mind.