Chapter 22 - Choice

Ulf arrived at the home and greeted his mother and sister.

'It's good that he has not heard about the loss of our group yet or it would be a really troublesome situation.' Ulf thought.

His family members were very happy about his return. Hilda made Ulf tell her his story, what he had experienced outside of the village. This girl became a little inhospitable and aloof toward most of the villagers after Bjorn had vanished. She felt disdain for how some tribe members had cast aside her family. Even though, with Ulf and Inga, she was still like her childhood.

Ulf didn't have any choice, but to tell everything, how it had happened. He had to let them know about his group's gains and losses. It wouldn't matter if he would have hidden it from them, because they would get the whole story from the other villagers. They became worried, but nothing more than it, due to the reason that nothing would be changed if they would worry endlessly. They could also understand that Ulf wanted to rest in his home and not be influenced by their anxiousness.

When Ulf laid down on the wooden bed covered with animal fur, he started thinking about his journey outside of the village. It was a really good experience that had its pros and cons. It would help him greatly in future what he had undergone for the past four days.

He learnt more about the animal stage creatures. Ulf got to know they weren't easy prey even for warrior rank hunters, as for the novices into the village, they would have a slim chance to win against them. It made clear how unfair this world was toward humans. They had to reach the warrior rank in order to have a very strong body and also access to using the qi. It was when the animals already had very tough physics and some of them may rival Ulf's fellow hunters even if they used the external qi.

The wolf pack was a very good example of it. Their cooperation was excellent. The wolf had enough intelligence to wait until the hunters would show its weaknesses. That was why the pack's loss wasn't many. Peak warrior rank hunters could handle them one on one but also had to help others from time to time or also Ursa's group would have suffered more and there wouldn't be just three dead hunters left behind. Ulf was sure that he and Ursa would be able to survive, but couldn't say the same for others.

As for the beast rank creatures, they were something that couldn't be easily taken by the leader rank hunter. The warriors wouldn't stand almost any chance against them. They just should be very lucky, if some of them would survive from such hilariously strong beings. The speed, power, agility- they had superiority in every aspect. The humans had an advantage in intellect, but Ulf could feel that the beast-rank wolf and the rhino were more clever than the other creatures they met. though they had still mostly depended on their instincts.

What had been most dangerous for them was the ability of the rhino to manifest the qi on his body. The already strong beast could become at least 4-5 times faster and tougher. Ulf wouldn't have any chance to win against it. His inner and external qi could stand on the same level as Ursa, beyond it would be hard to fight. The good thing was the mountain rhino was a variant between the beasts or Ulf would be in despair.

As for the second beast they had encountered, Ulf's odds of survival against it in the forest would be very high, even fighting like Ursa wouldn't be hard. But Ulf would need to use the advantages of the environment for defeating it. This gave hope to Ulf that he was still in the game and had an acceptable position too. However, it wasn't still sufficient and he had to increase his mind and body cultivation.

For that Ulf needed the resources. Mind cultivation was very hard to make good progress. The core of the mountain rhino was the best material for him, but the probability of obtaining it was small. Ulf would even risk robbing the tribe for it, if not family members of his.

Ulf also noticed something that had not come to his mind till now - the quality of qi. The grade of qi could be increased and the purer it was, the more power it would contain inside. Qi in the core was the simplest example of it. From Ulf's point of view, purity was the reason why the rhino could manifest the coloured qi. He also felt that his inner qi was cleaner than the external one. The quantity of it under his control was not as much as the external qi Ulf could feel that Ursa had to absorb. However it wasn't all qi inside his body, it was rather the opposite. There was a huge amount of it in the inner parts of him and replenishing those stocks after every breath was the automatic process.

Ulf just needed to have more spiritual energy to expand it more dominantly. That was because he struggled with the choice of the most appropriate reward and what could have the village provide him.

For the next day, Ulf went to the central part of the village. He met the hunter Broderick there.

"Ulf, you are here. Just right in time." Broderick smiled at him right after had seen who he was.

"Good to see you, uncle Broderick. What is happening?"

"You left early yesterday, so maybe you don't know about the reward?"

"I got some information from Bo. What kind of rewards will we get?" It was what had intrigued Ulf.

"Everything that can be considered that is equal to our work in the hunting, mainly when we were hunting the mountain rhino. The reason why we had something from the tribe is because of the core. It's a very rarely seen object in the village. You may take some fruits that were brought from the north. They are much more useful for the cultivation compared to the southern ones we brought."

And because not many groups from the tribe can take a risk of going there, these fruits are becoming rarer. A few of them may help the warrior to jump from the beginner to the middle stage in a few months. " Broderick gave Ulf a long explanation.

"If those fruits had such miraculous effect, why would our hunters need so many years for advancement?" This question had been bothering Ulf.

"First, there are only a few of them. Second, no one is allowed to use his/her status in the village to take the fruit for themself. The elders won't permit it. You need to do something special for the village. Bringing the core is included too. Usage of those miraculous fruits we have is also limited. After eating several of them, getting more won't have any effect on you anymore. Perhaps, it will be possible after a few years, but the result won't be profitable like the first time. Got it, boy?"

"Yes, uncle. Thank you. However, are they the only ones we can choose?" Ulf gave the next question.

"What weird ideas do you have, kid? They can shorten 4-5 years of hard work for the normal hunter. Even if you are a genius you would still need more than 3 years to reach middle warrior rank." The peak warrior hunter felt that the boy in front of him was unusual. "However if you are still interested, yes, you can choose something equally worthy of it."

"Then what are we going to do now?"

"I was on my way to the main building where we can take whatever the village head is going to offer us. Others from our team must also be there. Let's go together if you don't have anything necessary to do." Broderick offered Ulf.

"No, nothing. Let's go right there."

Two of them moved toward the north part of the village. When they reached the destination, Ulf could see his teammates near the gateway of the main building. There was almost every one of them and Ursa was in the centre.

"Ulf, you have come too. Why did you disappear without even saying anything? I was curious if you were upset or something like that." Ursa greeted the Ulf with a question.

"I was a very tired leader and you were also busy talking to others so decided just to leave." Ulf had his excuse ready.

When everyone from the group gathered. Ursa led them inside. They turned to the right side and followed the corridor. In the end, in the corner of it were the stairs. The stairs were next to the wall and were made of stones too. When they reached the second floor, what surprised Ulf was the wooden ground. It was roughly made, but still an admirable creation from the stone age humans.

They once again moved to the middle of the passageway, Ursa opened the door. In front of them was the chief. It seemed this room was his own. The structure of the main building interested Ulf. It was almost like an old version of some modern construction possessed by the government.

The room itself wasn't anything special. There was one opening in the wall., which must have the function of a window, but was covered only by the thick animal skin. With it, the chief could observe every part of the village. There were several 'chairs' made of the wooden log. One of them, near the opening in the wall, was the chief's own as there was a table shaped from the very thick tree. This table should have been the most luxurious object inside the room.

"You chose good timing for coming. I was going to go out soon. I heard about the outcome of your hunting and was very happy. Congratulate Ursa." Olaf was observing each of them.

"It's too much chief. Even if we did something good, we still lost our comrades there. So, It can be said that we also failed." Ursa himself was trying to fulfil his role as the leader.

"You are right, but after hearing the whole story rather than bringing the core, I was happier that only three from the group perished. You were very unlucky meeting the child of the monster. I would have nothing to say even if you would drop the core and give it to that beast stage wolf. But You didn't do it and endured till the end and finished some other work on our way back."

"Thank you chief. It means a lot to us hearing those words from you." Ursa nodded to express his gratitude for the village head's speech.

"Okay, let's stop here and speak about what brought you here, the rewards. Tell me what kind of prizes you want for your outstanding merit."

After that everyone started to tell their selected rewards. Every warrior rank hunter, except the peak warriors, took the fruits that would help their cultivation. As for the peak warrior hunters, all of them wanted to be tutored by the elders for some time. The reason was simple, in order to advance on the leader rank stage. The elders themself were higher rank hunters and had very rich experience in helping the innumerable tribesmen and women to reach the next level in their cultivation.

Ursa himself didn't need the fruits that could only help warrior rank hunters or the teaching when his father was the captain rank vice-chief. In the end, he decided to take the bone knife suitable for the leader rank hunter.

As for Ulf, his choice left everyone in a daze.

"I want the spear qualified to be used by the leader rank hunter. It will be better if the weapon can be made from the mountain rhino's horn, which we hunted."