Chapter 4

Thomas cursed himself for being so poor. His current wealth failed him to rent a competent horse. Instead, he rented a Pecko. A giant bird with immensely strong legs and tiny wings. All in all, it was designed purely for running not flying.

Currently, he was resting under a big tree at a roadside. It was his third rest ever since he left the city this morning. It was nearing dusk and he was just halfway through his destination, Alps Mountain.

"KWAAA KWAAA!"

The bird screeched loudly as it finished devouring the last sack of corn. Thomas glared scornfully at the bird. "Good thing that I need you as transportation or else you will be my dinner."

The said bird then curled its head and proceeded to sleep. Another drawback of using Pecko was that they were completely blind when the sun disappeared. Thanks to that he couldn't continue his journey at night. Sure the rent was cheap but it was so irksome.

It wouldn't do any good if he lashed out at the bird. He better prepared himself for the night.

The eighteenth year's boy rummaged through his rucksack. The rucksack itself was a piece of rune-enchanted equipment he created during his spare time. It was capable of containing up to four hundred pounds without adding physical weight. He pulled out a canvas tent and four stonewards.

He set the four stones according to the compass surrounding the area of 12 to 12 feet. It provided protection from bugs, mosquitoes, and other nocturnal animals. Anything set inside the boundaries turned invisible from the outside.

The canvas tent was set in the middle. The tent was another one of his creations. From the outside, it looked as if only fit for a child. But actually, it was enchanted with a series of expanding runic arrays. The interior was ten times wider than the exterior.

After making sure that the Pecko was tied inside the ward stones boundaries. Thomas entered the tent and prepared his dinner.

He set a rune-powered stove, rune lamp, and a sleeping bag.

Dinner was a short-lived affair as what he ate only consist of two boiled eggs, garlic soup, and stale bread. No companies so nothing to talk about. except that he got this weird idea of letting the bird join his dinner. He loathed the bird as it is so no chance.

He activated the warming rune in the tents and pulled up his sleeping bed. He was fast asleep not five minutes later.

...

"Excuse me, I am from Steel Hammer guild, did you happen to know a party of kids aged 14 and 15 from our guild?" Thomas asked a villager. He arrived on the Alps' slope right before dusk the next day.

"Kids? yeah yeah, twelve kids in total had been coming to this village since four days ago. Don't know from where they come, though." He said.

"Twelve? Are you sure?" Thomas asked in disbelief. He thought that the request to exterminate the wild boars was only commissioned to his guild. It slipped his mind that it was possible other guilds from other cities accepted the same quest. "Where are they now?"

The villager shrugged. " No Idea. The last party arrived two nights ago and explored the woods yesterday. I ain't seen them since."

After saying his gratitude, Thomas tipped the villager 2 golden coins. Enough to get a tankard of ale. The man gave Thomas a toothy smile and left happily jiggling the coins.

With nowhere to bunk in, Thomas went to the last place the boars were seen. It was an abandoned farm field in the eastern part of the village. The villagers no longer used it, thanks to the boar's frequent visits.

He set his stonewards and canvas tent. He wanted to prepare a night watch over a bonfire just in case the boars paid the site another visit.

Dinner left him hungrier than before he ate. Bread, garlic soup, and boiled egg didn't do enough to sate his hunger. He longed for juicy meats, any meats will do. If he was lucky tonight he would get big boar meats added to his menu.

He set his sleeping bag near the bonfire. He sighed contently as the warmth radiated off of the bonfire. When he got nothing to do, he began contemplating his life so far.

Since his father's sudden demise left him with a large amount of debt, Thomas' world had only revolved around how to make as much money as possible.

However, no matter how hard he thought, earning one million gold coins annually was near impossible. Except that he had a hidden gold mine somewhere. Plus he also had to think about the lives of his villagers.

If he himself had to bear the consequences of becoming a slave, he didn't think that was a really big deal. it's just that all the villagers are either too old or too young to be a slave and they also bear the consequences without knowing the problem.

SNAP SNAP

His mind when alert as the sound of a snapped branch echoed through the empty outskirts of the forest. He felt the ground tremble because something huge was moving. Thomas could confirm that it was not a group of boars but one fairly large animal moving slowly toward his current location.

From the sound and damage it did, this was most likely an enormous bear or something else of equal size.

Is this what destroys the villagers' land? Are the children hunting this animal? If true, there is little chance they will make it out alive after encountering this animal.

KAAAAAAK KAAAAAak

Crows fly because they are disturbed by the passing of the animal. Thomas himself could not confirm what animal it was.

A few moments later the animal passed his camp. Its bright red eyes raised a deep horror in Thomas's heart. The beast walked on all four legs. Two curved horns sticking out of the muzzle. Unknowingly Thomas' legs trembled with fear. The wild animal is indeed a wild boar, it's just that its size was five times bigger than a common wild boar.

"Bloody hell!" The eighteen years old cursed.