Chapter 15 - Joining a caravan

As a map opened. Red checked out his options of travel.

Either by going to the North, Argus, to the city of Argus, and then traveling east around the lake to Windpath and then finally Mistral.

That already screamed several red flags. The snow would probably kill him before the Grimm did.

Not to mention the increased travel distance.

He'd have to take regular stops and go slowly if he wanted to traverse, even with caravans.

The second path looked much better.

Straight east through Shion, Higanbana and the ruins of Kuroyuri before making it to mistral.

From the travel guides. Shion belonged to one of the most liked travel destinations.

Tempted, but still concentrating. He found a caravan that would go east, restock in Shion for a day before traveling in one go.

The caravan didn't need any huntsmen and took people for the additional money.

Their lineup consisted of almost two dozen huntsmen.

Some apparently graduated from the Mistral Academy and had years under their belts.

Red talked to their team, and they took him in.

Thanks to some more money. He managed to hook in one of the seniors to help him out.

He could stay inside and wait for them to sort everything out.

That would work, however, the experience would become an effective zero.

But with an experienced huntsman. He might be able to hunt one or two weaker Grimm during breaks or small fights.

The contact with other people remained quite minimal.

Nevertheless, he got quite close to the senior. He had impressive muscles and used a giant axe that could employ explosives on its tip.

A huge alpha level Grimm disappeared with one blow.

When he first heard the bang. His ears almost bled due to the proximity of the attack.

He told him that he resembled his son. Quiet, quite determined, but also very stubborn.

Although he didn't approve of Red's young age and traveling alone.

He understood that this sort of thing happened all the time.

All he could do was to help him. Give him a fighting chance. During breaks, he sometimes took Red hunting.

The caravan didn't lack supplies.

Nevertheless, the less they need to spend, the better in case of emergencies.

When they got some free time. The man took Red to go hunting.

He changed right before him. From a pretty loud and friendly man to a machine.

Cold and calculating.

A few trails and signs, and he located his prey.

His footsteps perfectly hid from a couple of deer and not far away.

And with a surprise attack. He managed to slay two of them with his gun.

Then he taught him some trips and tricks he learned himself.

The best way to kill an animal was in the head. Otherwise it might damage the meat. How to skin deer and what to look out for in order to not damage the carcass.

Next came Red's first tribulation.

A fight against a one beowolf. At first glance, Red saw a juvenile and weak cub.

He took a deep breath and looked at his surroundings. Some trees blocked paths, but he could swing his spear just fine.

Chain mode he didn't dare to use. If he got it stuck, he might lose right away.

Instead, he carefully approached the waiting beowolf.

It didn't attack straightaway, but with one taunt. He managed to rail it up, and it sprung into action.

When it appeared a meter before him. He dodged to the side and slashed it.

It's missed strike grazed a tree and left a mark. His own blow did almost nothing.

Not disheartened. He took a stance and observed it again.

Kitting. His only option of victory. The opponent before him weighed hundreds of kilos and frontal combat would result in broken bones.

This time, he stabbed with all of his strength. The spear penetrated a fair bit inside before he retrieved it.

Muscles of the Grimm tightened as they refused to let go.

He activated the shredding as saw like spikes created havoc and forcing the Grimm to get rid of the weapon.

It didn't bleed, and its injury didn't seem to bother it.

This time, it charged again. He decided to try the same thing again except with a feint.

Sure enough, it wasn't dumb.

The moment he dodged the attack from the Grimm, his face met its jaws.

With the back of the spear. He knocked the beowolf down and retreated.

His blow did almost nothing as it chased.

Slowly, he began to feel a bit overwhelmed with the terrain now fighting against him, too.

A slip meant fatal death. These distractions didn't help at all during the fight.

But he did gain something.

Its lower jaw seemed like a weak point of the beowolf.

He turned his spear into a sword and a staff. The fight with a spear was a contest of strength to some extent.

That he didn't have.

Dexterity and ingenuity he did.

While the beowolf charged against him once again. It swiped with its claws.

He parried it with his pole before slashing a few times.

Its tough hide made it even harder to inflict damage with the sword form.

More force at once.

Although he inflicted a fair amount of injuries. Endurance was the last thing the Grimm lacked.

But his own started slipping. Annoyed at everything, including his own performance.

Red scanned his surroundings again. This time, he spotted two trees next to each other.

He slowly brought it near it before forcing out a bite attack. Its head slammed against the trees.

Ducking, he sprung up. The blade dug through its lower jaw almost near its throat.

"Not enough." He said out loud as the beowolf struggled.

Like a hammer, two blows from his staff to the embed sword finally penetrated right to its skull.

It struggled for a few seconds before smoke came out of its body.

He started to feel it. His heavy body, noodle arms and the lack of oxygen.

Everything broke down at once as he sat down.

"Good job, for a battle without aura. That was exceptional." The senior said and brought him some water.

Red nodded, not really listening at the moment. The fight began to play over and over inside his head.

On their way to the campsite.

He talked about the things Red could have done better alongside some tips.

Apparently, a great weak point that spears and long weapons could exploit proved to be the anus.

Even though Grimm didn't have normal organs. Their weak spots generally remained.

And the hole many spear users used.

Knocking the beowolf down to confuse it before getting behind it and performing an examination.

A swift and much less difficult job.

Of course, weaker Grimm like a beowolf didn't deserve such treatment.

But Ursai and major Ursai did. Another notable thing the senior pointed out.

His own spear relied on his strength.

Although growing, no one guaranteed that he would have a large, heavy body that he could use alongside the spear.

And although an aura granted superhuman strength, the degree depended on the person and their training.

For weaker Grimm, it didn't matter.

But the stronger ones would result in a similar struggle like today.

Trying to exploit their weaknesses. Throughout the years of evolution. Grimm oftentimes knew how to protect their eyes.

Therefore, many of their weak spots didn't really matter unless one found a good opening or had plenty of knowledge.

He didn't like the end result of the fight.

But it was the reality. At least he could fight off a singular juvenile beowolf.

Normal civilian armed with a cold weapon can't beat a Grimm.

That's a fact. Even soldiers without aura and just a gun struggle against smaller groups of Grimm.

So, the journey continued, and Red experienced quite a few battles.

Most of them of Beowolves or baby Ursa.

Baby Ursa got to half of his waist and exceeded his height when on their hind legs.

The fight would have ended with his loss if he didn't target its butt.

Its hide made it impossible to attack its back.

It didn't even leave behind scratches. Much less any kind of damage.

Ursai, although young, also refused to show its belly.

And whenever he attacked the eyes. It would just tilt its head or parry with its paws.

Another narrow victory that happened only because of tricks.

It kind of reminded him of the older days.

Where the new trainers didn't even know what weaknesses and strengths were and how he countered them hard.

But he felt better.

The fight, compared to the first one, went much more smoothly.

He dodged more than he parried, saving his strength. And even learned to brush attacks to some extent.

Another thing the senior taught him. Was the identification of some of the most common berries and fruits.

They were abundant, and people picked it up on the way.

The amount of deadly berries confused him. One time, he picked up a poisonous berry and almost ate it.

A helpful lady stopped him just in time.

Otherwise he'd have to spend a great deal of the break in the woods giving a fertilizer to the trees.

The difference between the edible and the poisonous was just a single line on the top of the berry.

But the days of travel helped, and they found themselves in Shion.

A beautiful landscape. Houses built in a drastically different style. People wearing one piece clothing.

When he saw the so-called cheongsam on a pretty lady.

He fled after staring for a few seconds longer than he should have. That sensation…

Red remembered it well.