Chapter 1: Hunter's Catch

Squatting on a large branch of an oak tree was a young man donning an outfit made of leaves sewn together to blend well with the surrounding greenery as he observed everything below him in silence. Except for his bright golden eyes, and the bow and arrow on his hands, everything else could not be seen at first glance.

Due to this, and the fact that he was high up on the oak tree, the earthly-colored moose wandered around without sensing danger. The large majestic animal standing over three meters in height, with white branching antlers, loitered on the forest floor, munching on the tall grass from time to time.

Valier, the young man, smirked under his camouflage as he saw the moose facing towards the side. He had found his perfect moment to strike, and he did not hesitate to grab it. Exerting strength into his arms, he pulled the bowstring so hard that the wooden frame curled, with one his eyes closed for his aim to be more precise.

Swish!

When his fingers freed the string, the arrow flew in a straight path, towards the moose's left eye. Before the moose could even notice, the metallic tip was already inches away from the target, leaving no chances to dodge.

Pluck!

The arrow pierced through the eye with so much force that the tip popped-out on the other side of the head, instantly taking away all the moose's ability to see. With everything around it plunged into total darkness, and agonizing pain, it ran in circles, while forcibly shaking its head, and it collided on a tree. It fell on the soil heavily, and it trashed everything in the ground using its antlers.

While that took place, Valier placed down his bow and returned an arrow into the quiver strapped on his back, and observed for a while. After a few minutes of the moose going rogue, its movements became slower and slower, and eventually unmoving, while shedding blood from its sockets, indicating it had left the living realm.

But Valier did not leave his spot just yet and remained observant towards the silent forest for minutes. He was checking if there were other animals, dangerous ones, around, before deciding he was completely isolated and climbed down from the tree in leaps. Despite being young, he had a robust body, and strong arms that he could support his body as he gripped the branches from time to time while descending.

With this way of getting onto the ground, he reached the forest floor in a minute as he landed on his two feet without staggering. Afterwards, he cautiously glanced around him while lowering his posture and heightened his hearing. Step by step, he got closer to the moose.

When he reached the animal, he went for its head first while taking out a dagger from the belt strapped around his waist. He held the antler with one hand as the other, with the blade, chipped the beam until the antler came off cleanly. He did the same thing to the other antler, before he began pushing the moose's body to flip it over.

The creature was larger than him, it was double his height, and its weight was times more than his own. Fortunately, he had strong muscular strength that he was able to flip the creature over with heavy effort that left him almost drooling in exhaustion. It was no longer laying on its stomach, but its back. Giving him the place to work with.

Taking a deep breath, he took off the hood covering his face to wipe his soaked forehead, revealing his short dark brown hair, and his face, which was red in exhaustion, but this did not make his youthfulness dissipate. Although he has sharp brows, a tall nose, and a vertical scar on his left eye, and defined jawline, that made him manlier and mature-looking than he should be, his face still retained the youthful adolescence he should have to match his age.

After the short rest, without wasting any more time, he made a cut on where the heart of the creature was supposed to be, which was in between its front legs. He first removed a section of the fur coating, before opening the flesh and exposing the rib cage that protected the heart. He then carefully removed some of the rib cage using a one-handed saw, which took an hour to accomplish by himself.

His skill was not comparable to those with a decade-long experience in hunting, but the result was satisfactory to him as he did not damage much of the moose or puncture some of its organs, making him sigh in relief as he rested beside the animal for a few minutes. When exhaustion lessened, and his energy returned, he got up from his sitting position and squatted near the bloodied chest of the creature. Afterwards, his hand plunged through the ribs.

Since his hand is now so close to the heart, he did not move his hand carelessly to avoid accidentally damaging it. As he tried to locate something, he felt the warmth of the warm-blooded animal on his arms, which made him sweat profusely. Luckily, he no longer had to endure the heat as he finally found what he was looking for.

"Gotcha!" He exclaimed with a wide happy grin while gripping the hard round object, not willing to let it go. Slowly, he dragged it out from the moose using his arm, which was now covered in crimson blood. When he opened his palm, there it was— a small spherical object coated in blood— that he excitedly wiped on the grasses to see its clean form.

But after removing its crimson coating, his beaming smile slowly died down looking at its brown color that almost matched his hair. It was a crystal, but due to its color, it would undoubtedly not worth much more than a penny. These crystals only had a few uses to begin with, and being transformed into a piece of jewelry was the most common. But merchants would only acquire those of lighter color. So to say, he was greatly disappointed.

"At least I can sell the meat and fur of this thing." He looked at the bright side of things, the dead moose. Taking out a dagger, he walked to the side and cut many plants. Later, he carried them over and covered the moose's body with it. He repeated the process many times until he created a small hill of leaves and twigs that hid the moose completely.

With that, animals and other people would have a hard time finding the moose if they did not possess a keen sense of smell. After nodding approvingly, he erected a branch that was as tall as him, and tied a brown handkerchief that had his hunter signature shown clearly— a simple bow, but instead of an arrow, it was a vertical scar aimed skyward. This will make other people understand that this was his catch.

With everything in place, he covered his head with his hood, tied the antlers on his back, and glanced at the surroundings for a few moments before walking from the spot with silent steps. As he moved in a straight direction on the lush forest, he remained vigilant and prepared that his bow was readily loaded with an arrow.

Around him were large trees of various kinds with thick canopies that shrouded the sun from view, making the path dark and cold. This also made it difficult to clearly see at far distances in addition to the plentiful plants that covered most of his surroundings. If other hunters saw him using a bow and arrow in this place, they would undoubtedly criticize his bad decision making that could result in his demise.

Archery was his main hunting role, but using it to navigate his way in the forest was a bad idea due to the limited distance he could perceive. The moment he could see the animal that would attack him, it would already be very close that it would be better to use close-combat weapons with lesser chances of missing the target. However, he did not train in weapons such as a spear or a sword, he could only rely on his archery skills which was fortunately above average.

'I should really learn spearmanship… I should get an instructor.' He was somewhat hesitant in his decision, but he had no choice; he wanted to improve as a hunter. He had already someone in mind, but he grew concerned thinking about the price of hiring one.

Although he could try and learn by himself, it would take a longer training time and the techniques would be incomparable to those already proven by the testament of time. This instantly made him remember the man that taught him archery for free.

'I hope you're in peace, Ballic.' He inwardly prayed sincerely to the man he owned his current combat style to, who sadly passed away due to an unexpected disease just three months ago. As he remembered his days of training, and the proud expression of his senior brother upon hitting a bullseye for the first time, he felt a surge of sorrow.

Slap!

"Focus, or you're dead!" He slapped himself and stomped on the ground, realizing he almost lost himself in the middle of a deadly nowhere. Fortunately, he recalled his senior brother's words of wisdom that would always come with a slap. He mused, recalling the number of times he got beaten up due to his thoughts that would always wander off.

Snap!

Another sound echoed in the wind, and it did not come from him, he was certain. It was like a twig was stepped on, and broke in halves. In a heartbeat, turned towards the source, which was high up amongst the branches of a tall pine tree, and aimed the arrow while pulling the bowstring hard.

"It's me! Don't freaking shoot!" Seeing Valier aiming at him, the young man donning a similar suit as Valier panicked and called out desperately. But his sudden loud voice only caused a negative effect.

Swoosh!

"Fudge you!" The young man cursed out loud when the arrow was shot, and leaped out of the way. But when he landed, for some unlucky reason, his foot slipped on the branch, leading him to lose control and fall with a frozen expression of horror. He could not even manage to move for an attempt to hold onto something.

Realizing who the person was, Valier quickly ran over to the bottom of the tree and positioned himself to catch the young man. He could hear branches shattering, and the leaves rustling, along with the screams of pain from the falling person. Looking upwards, he could see the resentment in Galleon's eyes, making Valier smile in sympathy.

BAM!

"Arghh! My back, for fudge sake, Valier!" Galleon growled furiously while getting off of Valier, and rolling on the side. He curled there like a ball, whimpering hushedly.

"Ufff…" Valier winced painfully as he had absorbed most of the pain from the impact, but it only took a couple of seconds before he was able to stand his ground again, although he staggered side to side, feeling dizzy.

Leaning against the pine tree, he gazed at the young man questioningly. "What the freak, Galleon! Why would you reveal yourself like that!? At least take cover when doing so!"

Galleon rebutted. "You know I don't know much! I didn't know that I should hide when doing that!"

"Well, now you know! This place is dangerous, so don't blame others for being paranoid—!"

Snap!

The sound of a twig snapping reverberated, putting an end to their exchange. Both of them paused for a moment before looking up at the large oak tree at the same time. Seeing the creature unveiling itself from the shadows, it was as if the pain from the fall vanished suddenly as both of them readied their weapons in a snap.

"Damn… I know getting close to you is back luck." Valier mumbled while pulling the bowstring and gripping the frame tightly.

"Fudge be damned," Galleon voiced nervously, holding both his daggers while breaking in cold sweat.

"It's a freaking panther… wait, no…"