2 – Let’s Hunt

[ Chhaya POV ]

After sending off my son, I started completing daily house chores, when a voice came out from behind me.

"Princess, young master seems to have changed... again!"

I nodded. It was not surprising. From the moment he was born, he was poisoned. Every year, he would have hallucinations, sometimes he flew into rage and destroyed all the items he could reach.

It had been becoming worse as time went on. From year to months, from months to weeks, until finally he fell unconscious.

I remember my heart stopping when I heard about it for the first time.

"Princess...?"

I looked up at Ashia, my maid-cum best friend. She has been with me throughout my childhood journey. Tears threatened to come out from my eyes remembering my horrid past.

"Ashia, its fine. He has already revived from death, and his poison is also taken care off. Now its his time to shine!"

"Princess, its all thanks to you. If you had not sacrificed your spirit energy, then-"

"Ashia, make sure to never mention it again."

"But Princess, you know its side-effects and still-"

"ASHIA!"

Ashia bowed down her head, not speaking any further. To be honest, I understand her. Giving up my spirit energy was not any easy decision. Specially when I was planning to take revenge.

But as a mother, seeing my son pushed down on bed, fighting for his last breath. What could I do? Still when I think I gave my whole life planning and plotting to avenge the homicide of my family, and now I had to sacrifice it all to keep my child alive.

That was a heavy decision to take. A heavy decision!

"Let's go, Ashia. We should also leave."

Both Ashia and me left towards the main house after a long period of 10 years.

... ... ...

[ Prateek POV ]

It took me around 5 minutes to arrive at the village gates. I was told by mother to come here for the first part of the ritual.

There were 2 guards placed at the entrance. I was about to go forward towards them and ask for instruction but someone interrupted before that.

"Brother, you're here!"

A sweet voice and its owner came in my vision. I quickly opened her information panel to see who she was.

Name - Shila Osborne

Relationship - Cousin sister

Bond - 40%

Skills - <No access>

Description - She is the daughter of the 3rd concubine of your father. Her mother and yours are good friends, hence she is here to support you in the first ritual.

My mother, Chhaya is the 4th concubine of my father, and had already told me that one of her friends' child will be here to support me. Looks like its her.

I checked her out of my habit. She had blonde hair, petite frame and overall an older sister vibe from her aura.

"Nice to meet you, sister Shila. I will be in your care."

"Hehe. No need to be so modest, little brother. I am here to supervise your hunt and help if need be. But remember, me helping you will deduct you ratings. So try to complete the task to the best of your ability."

Shila explained the rules of the hunt. It was the same as mother told me. I had to hunt a level E monster to obtain passing credits, and anything above would fetch me extra credits.

Monsters in this world are ranked from level E as weakest. Still, level E rat monster is more powerful than a lion or a cheetah back on Earth. So, its not easy.

But I'm prepared as I nodded to my sister. And we both crossed the village gates to start the first act of ritual - Hunt a monster.

... ... ...

[ Shila POV ]

I was leading Prateek, my brother for his first ritual act. I was shocked when I was told to attend his ritual as both me & mother were expecting him to die as he was a boy and would definitely not be allowed to participate in the ritual.

But the surprise came in a week ago, when I was notified by mother. Both Concubine Chhaya, and my mother are friends, and hence I was chosen to be his guide.

Still I believe he must have been handicapped or poisoned before coming here, so I will try my best to help him and clear the ritual.

It did not take much time, and after crossing the gates, we quickly arrived near the outskirts of Wispering Woods, the closest forest to our Breakburn village.

I still remember that in my ritual, I had fought against a level E parrot monster. We should pick something similar.

"Sister, I have some news for you - good and bad. Good news that we have found our target. And bad news that its a Level E Jackal, who also seems to have found us."

I quickly recovered and could feel a monster approaching. But I could not tell who it was. And just before I opened my mouth to question, the Lv. E - Jackal came out from the nearby bushes.

"I will be watching over you from above. Give it your best. Good luck."

I cast a wind-spell and moved to above the trees. Brother, show your sister how much you've grown. Good luck!