Chapter 8 First Hunt

Two weeks had passed since Fang's confrontation with Hydrax and even though his burns healed he could still feel the pain in his arms. However it was much more bearable than when he had to be helped by Neo and the medical staff.

He had missed a few days of training because of that. Fang then went outside to see hundreds of students swarming around the teachers who would be sending them all to the wild part of the Grasslands continent. The combat teacher then raised his left hand into the air and slowly turned it to form a gigantic vortex around the students.

A strong wind passed by the crowd and was now spinning around them. Even though Fang was still on the ground there was still a sensation that reminded him of taking off on a passenger plane.

After four minutes the vortex had ceased and Fang now found himself in a row of acacia trees only a few meters wide. His short black hair was covered in several grains of dust and uprooted grass blades.

He went around the trees noticing what seemed to be a large dragonfly perching on another tree in the far distance. Another thing he realised was that Neo was no longer with him and Fang was now stuck with the Hydrocrystals and Kongqis.

This group was being led by the Geography teacher who unsurprisingly was familiar with the terrain. He then pointed his finger to the crowd's left.

"There is a swarm of giant locusts feeding on that side." he said

"Your job is to try to catch and kill one via using your powers."

He demonstrated how to navigate through the tall grass by crawling under it. All of them followed his method and moved through tall grass unable to see what was infront or behind them until they reached the swarm's feeding ground.

Fang took a peek at the giant insect chewing the grass with its mandibles while making a constant crushing noise in its jaw. Others including Hydrax had taken their positions ready to catch one of the locusts. Fang took this time to warm up the grass to start a fire to burn the locust. Finally he had a chance to kill something without worrying about the consequences.

The heat on his hands and the ground started to warm rapidly before a veld fire ignited while using the trailing method that he did on the komodos. The locust immediately sensed it and flew off. Fang continued to let the fire chase the insect before it would be too high for the flames to reach. Unfortunately the locust had gotten away unburned , the dragonfly he saw earlier immediately swooped past the students and caught the locust in its mouth before resting in another tree. 

Fang got frustrated and wished Neo was with him. However he was busy learning how to kill instantly other insects with the camouflagists where they were he didn't know.

The fire had caused other nearby locusts to fly to a safer place.

Shino had also lost her potential prey because of Fang's mistake. Her whirlwind could only reach 3 metres (9 ft) and the locust flew higher than that. 

After two hours the only one who got a successful catch was Hydrax who went on to remove the ice shards embedded into its eyes and legs.

All the groups had come together to share and cook their fresh kills near a river bank.

Jamilia then placed a large worm that she had caught on a grill and showed Shino how to do the Islamic preparation of food.

Meanwhile Fang had his first experience of cooked locust which had a crunchy texture that he loved. The locust itself would feed his entire group for the whole day.

Hydrax began to take off her shoes and jeans revealing the shorts she wore underneath. Once she put her bare feet into the cold water her legs suddenly binded and before she knew it she was pulled into the water.