One Year

Adjacent to the large property of the Clarke Estate, was a huge and sprawling forest that stretched far beyond the bounds of Beckton. Unknown to most, the entirety of that forest was owned by a powerful man named Eudes Clarke.

Residents of the town of Becktown were strictly prohibited from trespassing into the woods, whether to hunt, log, or for any other reason. And yet, this day, a total of 32 children, all quite young and yet frighteningly mature, made their way through the foliage of the woods.

Among them, Thirteen could be found, grouped together with Nine, Forty-five, and two others. They each wore a dark green cloak, with a quiver and sword by their waist, a pack on their backs, and a bow in their hands. Thirteen in particular had his bow strapped over his body as he shouldered a greatsword as long as he was tall.

Thirteen had been at the Clarke Estate for more than a year now. When their first year came to an end, the instructors had kept to their word and exiled those who didn't meet their standards. Currently, the 8th generation consisted of only 32 of the original 47 children from day one.

At this moment, the eighth generation had been split into groups of four and five, as was normal when they entered the woods. Every month since they began learning of survival and the wilds, they were required to go on a hunt without the instructors. They were given a target animal that they had to hunt down and kill, and were not allowed to return to the estate until they had done just that.

The first time it was small game, "Any rabbit" or "Any squirrel". Each month it got exponentially harder, from "Any deer" to "An adult male boar" until finally they were tasked with things like "Female Lynx marked with a blue dye on her left ear".

What made today special, was their newest assignment: "A Clawed Deadwood Serpent".

'We need to hunt a monster. And not just any monster, but an ambush predator wider than a man.' Thirteen lamented as he looked warily at the trees around him. They weren't told any details about their quarry, only its name. They were then given time to find written material on the monster using the library's index, and research what they needed.

No two groups were given the same target, which meant that every group had its own monster assignment today.

"We should be getting close to its hunting grounds, keep an eye on the deadwood" Thirteen whispered to his group as he moved ahead of them.

From what he could find on the Clawed Deadwood Serpent, it was an incredibly large serpent who's body had the texture of dead bark. Within its hunting grounds, the creature would completely, or partially knock over trees, creating an environment in which dead, upturned trees leaned against each other or lay flat on the ground everywhere, giving the creature plenty of places to hide in plain sight.

Currently, Thirteen was employing his lifesight technique to scout ahead. He no longer suffered from blurry vision when using this ability, but everything remained monotone.

Back with the group, Nine was employing his second stage Mind's Eye to detect movement within 360 degrees with near perfect accuracy. Its range was limited so it wasn't great for scouting the woods, but it did allow him to immediately respond in the case that the serpent snuck past Thirteen.

As he carefully advanced, Thirteen began to match his breathing to that very first breathing technique he ever learnt, the one that calmed him and allowed him to better sense the surrounding qi. This unnamed training tool had become second nature to him now, as he often used it to calm himself or escape from stress.

Using it now, Thirteen relied on lifesight and the breaths enhancement to qi detection to scout.

Like this, the group continued to travel for hours, always on edge, always watching the surroundings. 'I never want to hunt an ambush predator again' Thirteen thought to himself.

'The thing can stay still for an entire year if need be, how am I supposed to track it?'

When night began to fall, the group accepted the fact that they wouldn't find it this day and began to set up camp. They couldn't return to the estate without a dead serpent.

"This isn't going to work, we need to set up camp before it gets dark" Nine decided.

"Alright, head back to the last checkpoint, I'll start collecting firewood."

"Alright, see you in a bit"

'Checkpoints' in most cases, were just good spots to make camp they found as they travelled. The last was actually very close, so Thirteen saw no danger in having the others head back first.

His eyes brightened as he observed the surroundings, keeping an eye out for any prominent sources of life as he collected firewood.

When he was happy with his yield, he began making his way back to their last checkpoint. 'I've definitely gotten better at finding my way around.' He thought to himself. On his first hunt, the group had gotten themselves completely lost and had to camp for two days even after hunting their small game.

When he reached the checkpoint, Forty-five could be seen building a campfire, as Nine kept watch, and their two other group members, Twelve and Thirty-nine were finishing setting up tents.

Twelve and Thirty-nine were in fact blood brothers who were brought to the estate together. They were decently skilled, but often kept to themselves, and had taken somewhat of a backfoot in this hunt.

While they all needed to know how to create a makeshift shelter, the children were no longer required to do so when they hunted. Pleased with their ability to do so if needed, Instructor Norman showed a small mercy in providing very basic tents and enough dried meats and bread to get the group through one and a half days on their own; Any longer and they'd need to hunt or forage.

After setting down the timber, Thirteen sat next to Forty-five and fished out his flint and steel striker as he got to work igniting the tinder Forty-five had already gathered and assembled.

Once they had ignition, Nine joined them around the fire as Thirteen began to build the flame further.

"We'll keep watch" He heard Thirty-nine say as the two began to patrol the camp.

Thirteen and his friends watched silently as the brothers left before speaking. "They're still uncomfortable around us." He commented.

"Leave them be, as long as they have our backs it's not our issue if they keep to themselves" Forty-five replied as she began to hug her knees in front of the fire.

"Seriously, I'm tired of being left out in the cold."

"Then find that clawed serpent" nine stated matter-of-factly.

"Please. I doubt they expected us to find it on the first day, the forest is huge and the thing has multiple hunting grounds. I'm half tempted to just head to that town, Beckton, and leave the bloody estate." Forty-five grumbled.

"Dont be stupid. What future do you have outside? There's a reason we strive not to be exiled. Besides, it's only because of the estate that you could cultivate, I doubt they'll just let you leave with your cultivation intact." Nine replied, a slight frown on his face.

"Are you so blind? We were already metas before coming here. They only took us away from home BECAUSE we were metas. Surely we would have achieved something out there on our own, they just want us to achieve it for them. That's why they took us!" Forty-five argued.

"And how would you do that exactly? How would you even cultivate? Tell me, exactly how many cultivators did your village have? Any?" Nine too was becoming heated now.

"Town! And my father cultivated! I would have too! I'd have gone to an academy!" Forty-five yelled, to the astonishment of Thirteen and Nine.

"Your father?" Thirteen interrupted. "You weren't an orphan?"

Forty-five was visibly upset, but stifled any sobs as she replied "Of course I was. Eventually."

Thirteen wanted to press for details but could tell she didn't want to continue that conversation so he fell silent.

"What about you?" Forty-five's voice came quieter this time as she repeated again and turned to look at Thirteen. "What do you think of all this? The estate, our homes."

Thirteen paused for a moment to think. He thought back to the village of Rehall, to Headmistress Helga, who would let him call her mother when the other kids weren't around. He thought of his friends whom he used to play with so carefreely. It had only been over a year and he had already forgotten their faces.

Then he thought of the village's hunters. Any unskilled man, when coming of age would either work manual labor or become a hunter. Unskilled hunters often suffered serious injuries, on occasion even death. Yet here he was, still a child and yet with skill equal to or greater than most village hunters, searching the woods for game they wouldn't dare. Was this a benefit or detriment?

He was mightier than he would have been, but he was also in more danger. He could ensure his life in most cases, and yet had to risk it and couldn't enjoy it freely.

"Thirteen?" Forty-five called out softly, interrupting his thoughts. His friends had all grown accustomed to his tendency to let his thoughts wander, and had come to expect it.

"I… don't know" Thirteen replied slowly.

"All I know, is that if I want to go home to Rehall, or if I want the freedom to live as I please, that starts by getting stronger, and earning my true name."

"Sigh… don't even get me started on these 'true' names" Forty-five mumbled quietly, her head down.

After a pause, Thirteen looked out into the woods and spoke once more. "If the deadwood serpent was around here, it's probably more than aware of us now."

At that, Nine and Forty-five both let out a sigh of defeat.

After eating some of their dried meats, Thirteen stood and left the warmth of the fire. "I'll be right back."

Thirteen wandered into the woods with the intent to take care of his needs, but could hear the brothers moving about nearby, so he moved further out. Of course, he kept watching for lifeforms so as to not put himself in danger.

When he finished his business, Thirteen began to head back to the camp, picking up any bits of convenient firewood along the way, when he heard the noise of someone moving in the distance.

Looking in that direction with his lifesight active, Thirteen could see two sources of life moving in the distance past many trees. 'Not beasts.' He confirmed with a relieved sigh. 'Why are the brothers all the way out here?' He thought as he began to approach the distant auras.

The closer he got, the more detail he could make out. 'Definitely human, but they're taller than the brothers. Is another group still hunting through the night?'

When finally he got close enough to identify the two figures, Thirteen immediately lowered himself to the ground, hiding out of sight and making no noise, as he took in their details.

'Those are definitely not from another group.'