Experience

''You want to know how to hunt the winter beasts?'' She shakes her head before continuing. ''It is impossible for you Caspian, there is no way for you to face one of those things and survive''.

Obviously, I don't want to know how to fight them but how to kill them. A very similar yet different concept.

''You misunderstand me, madam, I have no interest in fighting the winter beasts, what I want to do is scare them away from the forest. As long as they are gone we can start gathering wood again.''

She ponders on my words for a bit before sitting back down and instructing me to do the same. ''Take a seat Caspian, I will start by telling you that I did not hunt these things on my own. I was part of a hunting party many years ago, this party was composed of a dozen experienced fighters''.

I figured that you did not go around killing winter monstrosities lady, I only wanted to know your opinion on them.

''I understand, do not worry madam, I will not ask you to venture out and help me deal with the creatures, what I ask is that you can tell me all you know about these things so that I can make a proper plan''.

She seems somewhat relieved at hearing my words, I am not surprised, imagine a man you just met a few weeks ago suddenly comes and asks you to put your life in danger for no actual benefit. I personally would not help them, but if all they want is some information I wouldn't mind giving some of my time. This is what I was aiming for, and it worked out.

''Very well Caspian, as I said before I am quite busy, but I will make time for you''. She coughs to clear her voice and starts talking, I do not interrupt her.

''If you want to know about these creatures then let me tell you a little story about my time hunting them. As I said before I was once part of a hunting group formed by a dozen other people, this was years back, even before I met Olan''. As if reminiscing she continues.

''We were a friendly group, our goal was to make coin by hunting all sorts of forest crawlers, nothing major mind you, some things no normal being can take on on their own.'' Makes sense, they most certainly never faced monsters, except for the tinier ones of course.

''Hunts would last for very long times as some of the creatures we were after were quite elusive, the first time we ran into a Vulnog was in the middle of a different hunt'' She sighs.

''We were overconfident in our abilities so we extended the hunt as long as possible, we did very well but on our way back winter came. It started snowing and we could not see ten steps ahead of us''. Makes sense they were probably stranded in a forest or mountain with low visibility so they decided to stay there.

''Our group did not want to linger in the forest but we had no choice, we had to wait for the storm to pass, and we did, we holed up in a small cave for two days, feeding on the little we carried on us''. Called it.

''When the weather calmed we decided it was time to leave, so we did. The snow and ice made the journey a lot more dangerous but it was nothing compared to what we would face later. I remember it very clearly still, It was midday and the sun was high up in the sky. The light that reflected on the snow blinded us, many could only walk while looking downwards and covering their eyes due to the pain''. Snow blindness.

''Four Vulnogs were stalking us and just waiting until we showed a moment of weakness. When we stopped for a break almost everyone sat down and covered their eyes due to the pain. This is when they struck. It was quick and deadly, two died in the initial attack, heads now missing''.

I feel bad for making her remember this stuff, she looks quite uncomfortable telling me about it.

''If it ended there, things would have been fine, but it didn't, Vulnogs are not mindless beasts, after attacking they immediately retreated into the white forest, we had no way of seeing them even if we wanted, their long legs seemed to float on top of the snow, leaving almost no marks''.

That is why they are pure white, natural camouflage, they strike when travelers are either affected by snow blindness or tired. This allows them to run around hidden even in the middle of the day.

''Long story short we ran, lost a total of 4 people before we got out of the forest, almost half of us died due to our overconfidence in our skills. This was our first encounter with Vulnogs''

After a moment of silence, I open my mouth. ''My condolences madam''. She nods. ''While your story was truly awe-inspiring and a true lesson for hunters, may I ask how this relates to these pelts''. I point at the rugs. ''You made the creatures sound unbeatable, and yet they are not''.

''Unbeatable? No! Vulnogs are apex predators, they rule the frozen forests, but they are still beasts!'' She said this with a lot of vigor, it seems that recalling what happened to her friends brought back the hate she has for these things.

''They are beasts and so we treated them as such. After we left the forest we headed to the nearest town to prepare, we would not forgive those things and we also had to recover the remains of my friends. These things started it and we would make sure to end it''.

''When we reached the city we started looking for ways to effectively kill Vulnogs, the only one we found was potent magic, magic which we did not have. But we did not give up and kept looking, eventually, days passed and our opportunity came. We got reports that a monster hunter would visit the city, so we made our move''. Ohhh a monster hunter, so he probably told them how to deal with the Vulnogs.

''When the elven man reached the city we ambushed him by the gate and started asking him questions. At first, he seemed somewhat alarmed, but when he learned what happened to us he offered to help. We believed he would accompany us into the forest yet he told us he had no time but he will instruct us on how to defeat the creatures''.

With a tired tone, she says. ''Caspian, I will tell you the same thing he told us back in those days. He told us we had no chance in traditional combat so we should immediately discard this idea. The way he told us about is not the hunter's way of killing, but the human way of capturing''. That's surprising.

''He told us that if we wanted to catch a Vulnog we needed two things, a well set up trap, and most importantly, live bait. Quick, loud, human-shaped live bait''. At this point, she got up from her chair and started hitting the desk with her finger.

''We needed someone to head out into the forest at night and bait the creatures into the trap, normal animals would not work, so we needed a fast fearless runner. We did not get one so we had to settle on a fearless person''. After saying this the wind seems to have blown out of her sails so she crashes down onto her chair.

With a sigh, she tells me. ''Caspian, this is why I said you could not do it. The only reason we even tried was that one of us was willing to become live bait for those things and the reason why she agreed was because her brother was one of the dead. Is there anyone willing to risk their lives for you Caspian?'' Obviously not.

We wait in silence, my mind wandering over the possible solutions. Things like paying someone to do it, lying, stealing, intimidating and others keep coming up, yet none of them are feasible.

In my distracted state, I start tapping my fingers on the armrest like what I am used to at home. I did this hundreds maybe thousands of times in order to control my magic so it comes naturally at this point.

Forgetting where I am and that the madam is watching I create a small bird to entertain me while I think. With a purple flash, the small sparrow starts flying around the room.

A loud shout wakes me up from my musings. ''Caspian! What do you think you are doing, put that away right now!'' What?

''Even if you are angry at me there is no need to use magic, I am sorry I could be of no more help!'' What? It is a small bird with the resistance of a wet napkin. Seeing her panicked expression I remember that giants possess no skills in magic whatsoever so this must be quite surprising, to say the least.

Feeling somewhat mischievous I make the bird fly straight towards the missus's face, call me immature but seeing her jump out of the chair and fling her arms at the purple bird makes me feel a lot better.

As expected the moment her arm came into contact with the bird it exploded into a rain of purple sparkles, similar to fireworks. Seeing her startled expression i start laughing, doubling over in my chair.

''Caspian! Explain yourself!'' She walks towards me. ''Stop laughing!''. I am well in grabbing distance from her. ''I said stop laughing and explain yourself young man!''

Ouch.