*Three days later*
Jensen lay flat inside a thick bush, trying to hold his breathe.
The leaves scratched his neck, but he did not move. His eyes stayed fixed on the small clearing ahead.
It had taken him less than half a day to find them.
One boy, one girl and three men.
Newly awakened cultivators and his target.
The son of a wealthy merchant who had recently awakened to the Mind Path.
And he was loud about it too.
Why searching for a way to get new techniques Jensen had heard him bragging about the expensive technique his father bought for him.
He wanted that technique.
He had done his homework the boy's family which consisted of only his father had money, but not real power.
No strong backing or Immortal ancestor for him to be worried about.
His father was one of those men that struck gold young and instead of squandering it, he capitalized on it.
That made him safe to hunt.
Jensen's fingers brushed the low-grade spatial ring on his hand.
Maria had given it to him, after the police left their house and it contained everything, she was able to save while their life fell apart.
Inside were basic notes Jack made when he was far young on Use of Telekinesis, a sword, a spear, two daggers, and a little over ten thousand Coins.
That was all she managed to hide from Jack before he sold everything else and over the years as well.
Jensen's expression did not change as he watched the group ahead.
The three men carried themselves like trained men and from what Jensen gathered they were mercenaries hired to protect the boy
The rich boy had clean fancy clothes that was honestly not suitable for their current situation.
The rich boy was trying too hard to impress the girl that stood beside him. She was the daughter of one of his father's business partners.
***
In the clearing, the mercenaries had surrounded a mid-level Rank 1 bear.
The beast was large and covered in dark brown fur. It roared and swung its massive paw, forcing one mercenary to roll to the side.
Another stabbed forward with a spear, grazing its shoulder.
"Watch the left!" one of them shouted.
The third mercenary moved in with a curved blade, slashing at the bear's leg. Blood sprayed onto the grass.
The bear roared again, but it was slowing down.
The rich boy stood behind them, breathing hard even though he was not fighting.
The mercenaries worked together carefully, wearing the beast down.
A deep cut opened across its flank and one eye swelled shut.
Finally, a heavy strike to its back leg forced it to collapse onto its side.
The bear growled weakly, trying to rise, the mercenaries stepped back slightly as they observed the beast.
They did not kill it.
Instead, the rich boy straightened his clothes and walked forward.
"Make sure it can't move," he said, trying to sound calm stealing glances at the girl.
One mercenary pressed his boot onto the bear's wounded leg while another kept his blade ready.
The young man placed both hands on the bear's head and closed his eyes.
Jensen narrowed his gaze.
'A control skill?' he thought.
Interesting.
Mana stirred around the boy. It was weak, but steady causing the air to tremble slightly.
The mercenaries stayed alert at first, scanning the trees.
The bear's body began twitching trying to resist the control skill.
Slowly, very slowly, it stopped resisting.
The boy's face tightened with focus with sweat rolling down his forehead.
"Rise," he said loudly.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the bear's body shook and it pushed against the ground and forced itself upright.
Its movements were stiff and almost unnatural.
The girl gasped. "You… you did it?"
The boy laughed, relief flooding his face. "Of course. I told you I could. I am—"
The mercenaries relaxed and that was the moment Jensen had been waiting for.
A dagger shot out from the bushes like a streak of silver.
It pierced the back of one mercenary's neck and came out through the front.
The dagger came out entangled in blood, scraps of meat leaving a massive hole behind.
He didn't even scream before his body dropped instantly.
For a heartbeat, nobody understood what had happened.
Then the second dagger flew but this time, the targeted mercenary managed to react, and he twisted his body out of the way.
But he was not fast enough.
The blade tore through his shoulder, punching through muscle and bone.
He cried out, falling to one knee as blood poured down his arm.
If no one stopped the bleeding soon, he would die.
The clearing fell into chaos, the controlled bear swayed unsteadily, and the rich boy's eyes went wide.
"Ambush!" the last healthy mercenary shouted, drawing his weapon and scanning the trees.
Inside the bush, Jensen's face remained calm.
This was only the beginning.
Jensen finally walked out of his hiding position. A sword appeared in his hands, and he pointed it at them.
The rich boy and girl's eyes widened, and the rich boy stumbled backwards.
"Wait, let talk we can sort this out… I have no grievance with you." He shouted.
Jensen smiled, "Yes, let us talk." The sword in his hands vanished and he walked closer.
The rich boy calmed down seeing the sword vanish while the injured mercenaries back away from him slowly.
The rich boy's eyes darted towards the girl; he could see that she was trembling in fear and he tried to pose.
"Just state your demand, I am rich and my father will pay."
Jensen nodded and got even closer till he reached the corpse of the mercenary. At this point the rich boy realised something was wrong.
There was no reason to come any closer, so he immediately orders the bear to attack.
At this point Jensen had already reached his goal. He used his telekinesis to grab his dagger.
Jensen jumped backward in time to avoid the bear's smash. He spun the blade around him withing his range gaining momentum before throwing it.
He did not aim for the bear but the rich boy. The rich boy saw the blade coming towards him and tried to turn around and run.
His eyes moved around frantically searching for the mercenaries but all he saw was the back of the two men as they ran away.
"Please hel…"
Those were his last words before the dagger pierced through his neck, killing him.
The bear suddenly froze in its place before slumping unto the ground.
Only the girl was left, she was still frozen in shock that she did not react as Jensen slashed off her head.
He took the rich boy's spatial ring and picked up his two daggers.
He kicked all three corpses to the bear, which was breathing heavily on the ground before sending a message to the bear's mind.
'Eat.' He wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart or anything, he was just trying to erase the evidence.
He waited a few minutes for the bear to begin chumming down before going after the two mercenaries that fled.
Not only were they exhausted from their fight with the bear but one of them was bleeding out.
Honestly Jensen couldn't tell what was going through their mind. It might have ended far better for them if they had just stayed and fight together.
And truly they didn't get far before Jensen caught up to them. A dagger shot killed the uninjured mercenary and Jensen simply walked up to the injured one.
The mercenary begged, he really did but Jensen truly didn't care. He chopped off his head as well and grabbed their corpses before making his way in another direction.
The bear would most likely be full from consuming the three people in front of it, not to mention it would have also left the scene if it wasn't dumb.
'Time to find the lucky beasts that gets a free lunch.'