Chương 23: First Kill

There were seven hyenas in the pack, brawling over the fresh meat of a dark antelope, thoroughly unaware that a group of inexperienced hunters were peeking at them from up a high vantage point, no more than two hundred metres away. Ember knew little about hunting, but even he could tell the scout had literally gotten them an opportunity on a silver platter. Yet Sunny and Talon bickered about who would take the lead, or how they would go about the hunt.

As far as Ember was concerned, both of them were getting at the same point, just one more eloquent than the other. Tearing his eyes off the pack, he gazed at his aunt.

"What is it, Little Flame?" Zephyr asked, smiling down at him. After her initial mistake, she seemed to have settled on the nickname and had addressed him as such ever since.

"Can you tell me those hyenas' relative levels?" he asked.

"They are all around level 10." He nodded in thanks. Level 10 meant they could still be hunted with a common bow and arrow. With that thought, Ember nocked an arrow and stepped beside the bickering kids.

"Quiet, you guys," he said.

"You are going to scare away the pack." Ember didn't believe his voice would carry much weight among the kids, and yet, surprisingly, all four of them stopped and turned to eye him.

"What do you propose, nephew?" Sunny asked. Ember suppressed a sigh.

"There are three of us with archery skills and equipment. I think it's best if we catch them off guard, shooting arrows from the plateau, while the—""But if the arrows miss," Sunny interjected, "all the prey would scatter."

"Let me finish," he glowered at the boy.

"While we would be shooting arrows, two of you: Talon and..." He eyed the pigtailed girl.

"Autumn," the girl said, scrunching her nose, probably irritated that he didn't even know her name.

"You want us to position in the other direction," Talon said, narrowing his eyes, "to intercept the fleeing beasts?"

"That sounds like a good plan," Autumn agreed. Now that the majority had come to an agreement, Sunny didn't bring down the party and took a position with his bow and arrow. Ember also managed to catch the other boy's name, Lark, during a conversation between the two, sparing him another moment of awkwardness. Thankfully, the ground duo hadn't alerted the beasts before it was time in their over-enthusiasm. Perhaps he had given them too little credit. These were, after all, the cream of the crop.

They had some inkling of what to do and what not to. The three of them took position, too, nocking their arrows, when Sunny asked, "What is your archery at?"

"Six," Ember answered, imbuing a breath of mana into the arrow, increasing its toughness. The metal arrow would have had no problem penetrating the hyena's hide regardless. He just liked to be thorough. His little uncle clicked his tongue.

"Mine is only at four."

"I have archery at seven," said Lark, puffing out his chest.

"So what?" Sunny snorted.

"I have mana sense at eight. But have you seen me showing it off or even mentioned it to others?" Actually, I have, Ember thought, though his gaze remained on the game.

"Eyes on the prize, boys," he said, aiming at the pack. There was a good distance between them. The shots weren't going to be easy. But Ember was not concerned. Even if he lacked natural talent for archery, his heightened focus, Meditative Muse, and Keen Mind provided all the necessary conditions for steady hands and aim.

"We will probably have two chances to make a shot before they scatter," he said, pulling the string, which wasn't as taut anymore.

"On my count of three. One. tw—" He hadn't even counted to two when an arrow hurtled downward, falling at the very centre of the pack. Immediately, Ember released his own shot, followed by the other boy.

"Sorry, my finger slipped," Sunny apologised, but Ember had no time for that. While both their shots had struck, they weren't severe enough to kill them. With swift motion, he nocked another arrow and aimed at the scattering beasts. He waited for a clear shot, his breathing calm, almost completely still. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. His second shot whispered through the air, missing his aim by a few inches, only to lodge into the hyena's backside.

The beast still scurried away, the arrow stuck in its body.

"They are fleeing!" Sunny shouted. I can see that. With rapid motion, he shot again, while Sunny let go of his bow, reached for his magic wand, and charged towards the scattering beasts without a care in the world. Down below, Talon and Autumn had already intercepted one beast each. Talon even claimed the life of a hyena that their arrow had wounded. Looking at Sunny flinging fireballs and mana bolts at the beasts, Ember wanted to join him in charging with his wand as well, but he suppressed the urge.

There would be many more opportunities, he reasoned. It was not even a couple of hours into the wilderness. He shot again, shifting to his right for a clearer path, Lark moving in tow, having good instincts. Together, they made eight more shots. Half of them struck true, though none managed to claim a life. Still, it made things easier for the others flinging spells. [You helped slay 2 Copper beasts: Wild Hyena Level 8, Wild Hyena Level 10.] Talon had managed to kill two, and wound another before it fled into the deep wilderness. Autumn dispatched one too, without incurring any injuries. Whereas Sunny took too much time to cross the distance and could only watch the beasts darting away. [Archery (Common) +6 → 7.] [+7 EPs.] Practising archery on live targets is certainly more effective, he thought, clenching his jaw. Just two more points. He was two more points away from Tier 4.

Hopefully, he would have enough practice in the coming days to gain another level. Ember glanced at his aunt, watching for any reaction. If she was disappointed, she didn't show it. Then again, it hadn't been too poor. None of them were injured in any form. Shaking his head, Ember climbed down the hill to collect his arrows. A thick stench of singed flesh already hung in the air, courtesy of Talon's fireballs.

Autumn had backed off, standing alone, covering her nose, while Sunny was marking the dead hyenas, flinging mana bolts at them.

"Well, you sure have an infinite reservoir of mana," Ember commented as he recovered his arrows one by one. Lark joined him silently. They were missing an arrow on the scattered beast, unsure of whose quiver it came from.

"Aren't you going to collect your spoils?" Only at his reminder did the others seem to realise that, yet only Talon stepped forward to collect the tiny copper cores from the dead beasts. He recovered all three before tossing one to Autumn, but she evaded it, afraid it might smear her fair visage.

"Don't throw bloody things at me!"

"It's money, though," Talon complained. A copper core wasn't worth much in comparison to its iron counterparts, but it could still fetch a few copper chips, enough to buy a week's meal at a decent restaurant. The girl clearly had no need for that. None of them did. But he was certain they'd be bickering now if it were an Iron core.

"Well, if you're not taking it, I'll keep it myself," Talon said, picking it back up. After a moment's thought, he turned towards Ember and Lark.

"If not her, you two deserve one piece." Lark didn't seem to have much opinion about the spoils and waited for him to take it.

"Keep it to yourself," Ember said to Talon.

"We'll calculate the spoils at the end of the assignment." The first day of hunting carried on much the same. They found a few more hyenas, but the kids didn't seem to learn much from the first encounter. Worse still, everyone except Ember and Lark began flinging spells the moment they spotted anything that moved. Ember decided to leave them to their devices and focus on archery. The sooner he reached Tier 4, the better. He managed some good shots, hunting a couple of wild coyotes and some unawakened beasts.

But archery was not as easy to master as he had thought. Still, he didn't mind. If not archery, he'd get the evolution points from Keen Mind. From the very beginning, Ember had been observing his surroundings keenly. As much as it was for his required evolution points, he wanted nothing amiss in this assignment. He wanted a stellar record, which was why he kept track of everything in his vicinity, be it some harmless animal or one of his companions.

After the freebie, Zephyr didn't help much, be it by sending scouts or providing information. She only observed as a bystander from dozens of paces away, even when something huge shifted in the wild undergrowth to pounce its jagged claw at Sunny. Ember's body moved involuntarily as soon as a twig snapped. With Sprint Burst, he crossed over six metres to push Sunny away when a towering bear struck at him with a hammering paw.

Ember's instinct was to raise his arms to block, but that would likely have fractured his bones, considering the size and power of the thing. Good thing, his mind was still working. With a surge of mana, he triggered his bracelet, flaring up a layer of protection against the savage attack. The Tier 6 protective shield held against the grizzly bear, but the force of its paws sent a jolt through his body, shivering him to the core.

The deafening roar gripped his heart, his hold over the breathing art collapsing in a heartbeat. In panic, Ember, however, had not frozen. He swiftly fished out his wands from his waist. Under the onslaught of the beast, he collapsed onto the ground, the towering beast pinning him down. Having no time to choose one wand over the other, he poured mana into both, channelling far more than they could even take. The very next instant, the heavy bear was tossed into the air.

A shrill cry escaped its savage maw as blood sprayed in a fountain. As Ember regained his bearings, still on his buttocks, a severed arm dropped before his feet, dark scarlet blood pooling around it. The grizzly bear roared thunderously as it got back on its feet. Its deafening cries echoed throughout the expanse, then it turned and dashed off into the wild. With a surge of mana, Ember jumped to his feet.

He channelled his mana into the wand, this time only into the Wind wand, hurtling a tyrannical wind blade in its path. The potent spell was faster than the beast, which had already lost a limb. The wind blade bit into its thick fur and dug into its back, perhaps even fracturing its spine. The beast collapsed to the ground. It rolled and still sprang away, despite the blood it was losing. Ember wondered if he should give chase, only to notice Talon and Sunny were already after it.

"There's no need to go after it," Zephyr said, crossing the distance between them in a heartbeat.

"With the wounds, it will be dead in a moment." That was likely the case. Ember received the evidence before his heartbeat even calmed. [You have slain a copper beast: Wild bear Level 17.] That quelled his heart. With how quickly everything had unfurled, he hadn't even had a moment to catch his breath. Yet his concern soon shifted elsewhere when another notification window expanded before his eyes. [Sprint Burst (Copper) +8 → 9] [+90 EPs.] [Human (Copper → Iron) - Tier 3 (Progress: 2398 → 2488 /2400)]