On the Hunting Trail

"How's your personal healer doing?" asked Hans Muller.

"He's fine, attended the Political Science seminar. Modest, attentive student. Accurately performing his duties at the hospital," replied Hannah.

"Gut," smiled the man.

Lee Long was fine. The humble boy had performed ten healing activations with the miners.

He smiled at his accomplishments. Today, September 11, he achieved a new qualitative leap in his healing skill! The skill has qualitatively changed 2 times already. At level 3, the skill qualitatively changed for the first time. Level 3 healing requires 2 mana to activate but restores 3 health points. The next jump occurs at the 6th level. Level 6 healing requires 3 mana and heals 5 health points. A mana reserve of 300 mana points allowed for 100 activations per day. Ten days to get a new skill level! Lee planned to bring Healing to the top in 7 weeks.

The skills of espionage and diversion were eating up mana fast. The little duelist grumbled, "No way to fill my piggy bank with credits. Fifty mana for Intimidation! Robbery and discrimination against a human child. The pirates and bandits of Ferin can feel at ease. The great Healer Lee Long does not notice you. I must finish the healing skill. And take my time to develop the Ice Arrow. It is hard to be a genius of magic. Great opportunities stimulate great appetites!"

His status was pleasing to the eye,

[Lee Long

Race, Earthman

Type, Duelist. Mage.

Level, 21. 671800/839800

Strength, 4

Dexterity, 4

Intelligence, 30

Endurance, 30

Health, 300/300

Mana, 300/300

Skill, Appraisal 3 level. Duelist Balance 1 level. Water Magic 1 level. Healing 6 level. Ice Arrow 1 level. Short Blade 2 level. Race Dance 1 level. Mental Hegemony 1 level.

Available Characteristics point, 29

Available skill point, 0]

For a full set of all attribute points, he needed to steal 23 points. Lee suddenly thought it would be interesting to feel like a superman. He should set his strength, dexterity, endurance, and intelligence to 30 points! Activating the Balance skill would make him the most powerful child of the human race.

The boy threw aside his dreams and fantasies, he hurried to the academy. A daily sparring conveyor belt in the arena. Collecting experience at 100 points for winning a duel. Lee rubbed his nose and greeted his new sparring partner.

A dozen minutes later, he was pretending fatigue, sitting against the wall and planning. 1680 duels to a new level! That number of opponents didn't bother him. Lee Long realized that level 40 required paying too much attention to fights. He relaxed and decided to limit the rapid increase in levels. Of course, he wanted the reward of level 30. The system's new skill could prove to be a significant new advantage and support for his development. There are a lot of System development options in the various fantasy books. He wanted system dungeons. It's new types of monsters and lots of experience to develop combat skills. It's variety and adventure! Spending time slaying zombies is cool. Very often the system helps the player. Time in a dungeon is different from real-time. This allows faster development! Right now, he was missing 24 hours a day. He was wasting mana faster than it was regenerating. The gift of the system beckoned and made him remember that he wanted to lead the life of a teenager.

Lee Long suddenly remembered that he hadn't been hunting in two weeks! This is a disgrace. It's a loss of respect in the tribe. And he missed the smell of grass and the voices of the planet that greeted the cat on the hunting trail.

The little duelist got up and hurried home. He went straight to the garage and stroked the plastic steering wheel of the old flyer. It was a hunting model. A single-seat machine with a narrow and short hull. The driver's seat was elongated and allowed him to use the area behind him to transport his prey. He and his girlfriend learned to fly in this flyer. The machine had accompanied them on hundreds of hunts and trips around the planet. Lee Long undressed and stashed his clothes in his inventory. He pulled out a hunter suit and put it on. He shouted,

"Maria, I'm going hunting. Do you want me to bring you meat or game?"

The woman in the house froze. A smile appeared on her lips. She had forgotten how obnoxious this boy could be.

"Bring your ass home before sundown!" she shouted back.

Lee laughed and sat back in the seat. He pressed a button on the right rudder handlebar and lifted the machine into the air. The energy sensor showed that he had three days of flight time to spare.

The boy quickly typed a code on his communicator and the roof of the garage opened. The flyer took to the sky and stopped over the house. Lee closed the roof and gripped the steering wheel tightly. He didn't like flying too fast. He liked looking at the landscape of his home planet too much. Today his flyer was flying at the speed limit. Lee Long was in a hurry to get to the tribe. He was anxiously awaiting the encounter with the familiar kittens. Shame! Today they would have every right to call him a bald worm.

It took him about an hour to fly to the nearest permanent stop of the Ferin tribe. Cats respected humans' right to peace and desire to live by their own laws. It was hard to feel at ease if another race lived nearby. In such cases, one could not avoid conflicts, unnecessary connections, and misunderstanding. There were three settlements of the Ferin in the area of Europe 9 colony. The distance to each was about a hundred kilometers.

Lee Long was a familiar visitor to all the parking lots on the planet. He traveled the world with the Black Star. The patriarch was a wise cat. He allowed his daughter to go through a long test of will and strength. Lee Long was annoying to young cats and kittens. Everyone wanted to point out the human pup's place. Friends flew from settlement to settlement, from sea to desert, from forests to endless meadows, from mountains to riverbanks. The planet was a great place to live. It preserved its wilderness. Cat settlements had no industrial industries. All industrial activity was conducted in space. On the expanse of their home planet, cats welcomed the spirits of their ancestors. The cats hunted and spent their time in competitions.

Lee Long landed the flyer on a special stone platform. He turned off the engine and walked toward the low cabins by the river.

The settlement had no walls. Ferin had no fear of attack by aggressive animals.

The boy approached the old hunter's house on the outskirts. The old cat was sitting in the sun. He was basking and drinking milk from a rough clay bowl.

"Good hunting, old Mraun," bowed the boy.

The cat was in no hurry to reply. He set the cup down on the grass and looked toward the river. His purr was quiet and mocking,

"Has the bald little healer come to heal my bones? Good kitty."

"You're always complaining about your weakness. I will not be fooled by your cunning. I'm not ready to beat you yet."

"It's good to hear that you're getting ready to fight me," laughed the cat.

The boy sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. He felt great. The absence of his girlfriend by his side didn't cause pain in his heart. He had always liked this kind of life. Lee had been used to the company of cats, nature, and danger from an early age.

"I relaxed. I became a lazy and silly kitten. Magic is wonderful. But it made me forget the hunter's trail. It was wrong."

"There's a good place. A good shila. For a strong hunter. Dangerous for a worm like you," said the cat.

Lee opened his eyes. It was an interesting challenge. The Shila was a big snake with a big snout. The shila's mouth is filled with fangs. On the head of the snake, a longhorn grows from the back of its head. Shila is a worthy prey for a worthy hunter. Its meat is delicious, its skin is tough, and its bones are used in making weapons. Shila is a fair opponent, she has no venom, she fights with her body. Shila lunges at her enemy and wraps her victim's body in a strangling embrace. Her fangs tear the victim's flesh. Then the Shila feeds on itself and waits for a new victim.

Lee Long squinted his eyes. The shila hunting season was coming to an end. The leaves on the trees were green, but already had flecks of yellow and red. The shila had a permanent skin coloration, the shades of brown helping the snake to camouflage itself against tree trunks. The snake was highly visible against the green foliage of bushes and young trees.

"Show me the place where the shila hides. I will bring you its skin and bones and delicious meat."

"All the bones and all the skin. The big piece of meat you can keep for yourself," clarified the ferin.

"Those are good words. I like them," the boy smiled.

"I like that you're back on the hunting trail, kitten. Do you remember the tree you fell from when you were looking for honey?"

"Yes, I remember the place."

"Go. And come back with your prey," purred the cat and closed his eyes.

The little hunter got up and ran toward the forest. He didn't feel tired and ran fast, sparing no effort. At the edge of the forest, the boy looked around and started picking familiar leaves and herbs. He rubbed the plants into his face and hands. Long herbs were twisted into flagella and threaded into special wooden rings on the suit. Cloaking and concealing the scent are good friends of the hunter. A sturdy trusty knife and experience are good friends of the hunter. Lee Long had grown into a good hunter. He didn't even think about increasing his strength and dexterity. He was confident of victory.

It didn't take him long to sneak through the woods. Familiar trails led him. Soon the boy saw a familiar tree. The tree was old and no longer had leaves. The trunk and strong branches stood out with light bark against the green vegetation. The tree rose high and spread its branches wide. The bright rays of the sun illuminated the area of the forest next to this giant.

At the foot of the tree, Lee Long saw another giant. He froze and smiled.

"Old Mraun decided to punish me. The old shila. Tasteless meat and tough skin and bones. And it'll fit five little lee longs."

He reached out his hand and drew the knife from its scabbard. In his left hand, the hunter held a sturdy simple spear. It was the hunter's old spear. There were often such spears on the trail. Hunters left these weapons in the woods.

Lee knew his enemy. One must strike the awl in the eye. When the snake gets ready to spurt it stands up on its tail. One can make a precise strike with the spear in its open mouth.

The boy smiled. How many shila's had he killed? About a dozen. They were all small, about the size of a kitten or a boy.

He applied the Appraisal skill and saw no details. "An unintelligent animal that is not artificially created. Always knew a shila had no brains!"

The snake was basking in the sun. It lay at the foot of a tree and was almost undistinguished from one of the roots. Luck was on the hunter's side. The snake's head was pointed away from the trail. Her large eyes were closed. But Lee knew that a strong throw of a knife or spear could easily pierce the skin of the upper eyelid. He took the ferin's knife in his teeth and pulled out another knife. It was a diversionary knife. The blade was small, a length and a half of the boy's palm. It was a great knife to throw. Lee slowly withdrew his hand with the knife, froze for a moment, and began the fight.

Throw! The hand immediately grabbed the second knife. The snake's head swayed from the impact. Shila hissed loudly and struck the ground with her tail. Its body lifted its head a couple of feet. The snake opened its mouth and a long tongue stuck out between its sharp fangs. Its head fluttered from side to side. Shila could not find the enemy. The boy withdrew his left hand with his spear for a throw. He tensed his body and waited for the right moment. As the shila turned its head a spear flew into its mouth. The stupid creature reacted habitually and foolishly. It sensed the threat and opened its mouth wider. The snake's body was interrupted by the blow of the spear. New blood spilled to the ground. Lee prepared to dance. Shila could die for a long time. He did not want to wait and hissed at his opponent. With an answering hiss, the snake lunged toward the boy. It was magnificent. It couldn't compare to the fight in the arena and the Legion Hall. It was real-life fighting for survival. Lee dodged a snake-head strike and managed to land a blow to the whole eye. He pushed back hard with his foot and made a backward leap with a swing of his arms. He jumped with a turn over his head and landed on his feet. There was no need to mess around with acrobatics. But Lee wanted to enjoy this fight. Lee knew the hunter's trail ended at the tribe's campfire. He would tell a good story. His reputation will be restored by demonstrating and repeating this fight. He wants to win handsomely.

Shila began waving her tail and kicking at the sides of the trail. The boy jumped and dodged the blows of the tail and head of the blind snake. This dangerous dance could not last long. The hunter struck three blows and struck vulnerable spots on the head of the shila. He could have slipped on the blood-slippery ground. That was the only real danger.

The speed of the weakened shila weakened with each passing moment. Lee Long felt no fatigue and enjoyed his strength and dexterity.

When the snake stopped convulsing, the boy stopped at the head of the shila and bowed to the old animal.

"Good thing I left the new flyer in the parking lot at the capital. This beauty weighs at least 200 kilograms!"

Using the inventory always put him in a good mood. It wasn't galactic magic; his system had its magic. He didn't touch the snake's body, he just wanted to put the snake in the inventory. He was sure it would fit in the inventory. The shila's body disappeared. Lee swung to the side and smiled. Great! The system was cool. Now he could quickly get back to the cat settlement. He has a great story for them about a great hunt.