Novels2Search

Chapter 1 - War

Chapter 1

In the heart of a dense forest, a large deer drank water from a flowing river.

The bank reflected its golden eyes and yellowish marks on its silver fur; it seemed distracted as a pair of bright green eyes stared at it from among the bushes.

A bow was drawn, an arrow nocked, greenish traces emanated after a brief moment of charging, and the arrow was released, creating a cutting wind followed by the cry of the animal struck in the ribs.

Instantly, the animal's eyes gleamed, emitting a yellowish aura that dispersed like an explosion, hitting the surroundings and unleashing a strong wind that revealed a boy with white hair and green eyes shielding himself with the wind-bow.

Seeing a chance to escape, the deer turned and fled as the archer clicked his tongue in disappointment.

Beside him, another voice spoke.

"Alma, remember when I said you shoot well?"

"Shut up, Viktor."

"Forget it."

Next to the archer, also emerging from the bushes, stood a boy with brown hair and eyes, a medium-sized sword at his waist, gazing at the fleeing animal.

"And there he goes." Upon hearing this, Alma readied the bow and began the pursuit. "So, you go after."

The archer started running while Viktor simply chuckled, shortly after his eyes shimmered in yellow, a faint aura enveloping his body.

With a single leap, he took off from the ground, both chasing the animal racing deep into the woods at high speed.

While running, Alma prepared another arrow and leaped; once again, the arrow was surrounded by greenish traces and shot, hitting the deer, which cried out but continued to run.

Alma clicked his tongue seeing the animal's ability to keep running, witnessing Viktor moving even faster alongside him, leaping through branches, advancing further in pursuit of the now slowing deer due to its wounds and bleeding.

As the deer glanced back, it could clearly see the two bright, green, chasing eyes, urging it to hasten its steps, futile as it was.

More arrows struck the deer's flesh, yet when the chase seemed to persist, the animal saw ahead the same boy with short brown hair blocking its path.

His sword was unsheathed on his shoulder, a smile playing on his lips, while the increasingly exhausted deer lowered its head, displaying its horns as if to attack. Viktor whistled in surprise, noticing the yellowish marks on the deer's fur increasingly shining along with its glowing eyes.

It was ready to fight for its life, and Viktor maintained his smile, placing the sword upright with just one hand, using the other in front of his body, eagerly waiting.

The yellow glow in his eyes intensified, widening as he saw the deer a few meters away from him.

With a swift move, Viktor jumped, his sword wrapped in a yellow aura already aimed, and in the blink of an eye, the thrust happened.

Viktor leaped over the passing deer.

As he landed, Viktor grunted, Alma arrived, observing the deer slowly halting its run, making the archer furrow his brow.

"Did it have to be so dramatic?" Alma asked as Viktor laughed, putting his hand on the wound, watching the deer slowly collapse to the side. "Yes, it did."

The deer's slow stride turned into a stumble, and the animal fell to the ground with a dry thud, dust rising, both gazing at the now lifeless creature with a wound on its forehead from the thrust.

Gradually, the glow in both their eyes faded, Alma's turning a light green and Viktor's returning to brown.

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"Let's hurry before we stumble upon some really dangerous monster."

As they approached, both simultaneously touched the animal, its last physical response emitting a transparent aura that entered both and disappeared into their bodies.

Viktor smiled once more at this sight, and without wasting time, Alma grabbed one of the deer's legs while Viktor, always smiling, took the other.

They began dragging the giant creature through the forest.

Despite being a familiar path, both remained alert, scanning their surroundings as they walked, until they stumbled upon a dirt road.

"Where did you leave it?" Viktor asked, focusing on the surroundings, while Alma walked calmly to a bush and retrieved a wooden handcart. Seeing this, Viktor smiled and said, "Ah, there it is."

With some effort, they managed to place the animal on the handcart, each holding a side and pulling together, keeping their weapons in hand.

They followed this path, and gradually, more rays of sunlight penetrated the forest, reaching a small clearing where the village they lived in could already be seen in the distance.

Viktor grinned broadly, and Alma sighed in relief as they arrived safely.

Quickly, they continued on their way, arriving at the village, and in an instant, the gazes that were on the streets turned to the animal being carried.

Confronted by the creature, an overweight man with medium brown hair stopped them, smiling, and spoke.

"Wow, a magical deer, Viktor?"

"Yeah, we've been on this thing's trail for a few days."

"Incredible, it's an authentic one and practically unscathed. You can make a fortune from this. Are you really just 14?"

He approached and touched the animal's fur, seemingly engrossed. Some other villagers turned and formed a circle to observe the animal.

While Viktor appeared more relaxed, as he glanced aside, he saw Alma, furrowed brow and seemingly in a hurry, making the swordsman nervously widen his eyes and say, "Well, maybe I'll sell it, but we need to go soon, Mr. Smith, good day!"

He swiftly diverted attention and spun the handcart toward Alma, who, despite the furrowed brow, followed, prompting Viktor to smile as they hurried away from the crowd.

"Still upset because I said you don't shoot well?"

"I already told you... shut up." Alma clicked his tongue and sighed as he continued walking. "You know that's not it."

"Hm?" Viktor looked surprised for a brief moment, but soon his smile faded, and he turned his eyes forward, saying, "In the end, it was all an unjustified fear, mainly because of your light hair and eyes. They went a bit easier on Nina since she has black hair, but they're still good people, just a bit fearful."

"I know you like them, but it's still unpleasant, getting all those looks, either of strangeness or being ignored." Alma reached for his head, lightly tousling his hair as he said, "I didn't ask to be this way; it's annoying."

Viktor glanced sideways, seeing his friend's distant expression, prompting him to maintain a serious face as they continued along the road.

They crossed a wooden bridge in the middle of the village over a calmly flowing river; on other bridges, people could be seen lowering wooden buckets with ropes to fetch water from the river as the two proceeded.

Upon crossing the bridge, they passed a few more houses and soon spotted a larger house, standing out from the others as it was slightly farther from the village's center. The place seemed to be a larger field, and in front of that house, there was another, smaller yet similar house with its doors closed.

Alma looked calmly, and Viktor continued with a smile on his face; they stopped midway between both houses, and Viktor placed his hands on his hips, looking at the animal.

Now that they were in a clear and safe place, they could both see the magical deer, which was much larger than an ordinary deer. Its body was oddly light, yet they could clearly see a good amount of meat, making Viktor smile as he said, "Well, it's much larger than I expected, so I guess it will take some time."

"We've been chasing it for quite a while, so a few more hours in its company won't hurt." Alma also placed his hands on his hips and sighed, saying, "Shall we?"

"Of course."

In unison, they bent down and reached for the right boot, quickly pulling out a simple and clean knife. As Alma approached the animal to remove the fur, Viktor looked at the knife with a furrowed brow and said, "Why don't we just carry it on our belts? If it's meant to be a backup weapon, it shouldn't be so difficult to retrieve."

"You never know when you might need it. Besides, I'm not a craftsman; I just made a hole in the boot for the knife to stay hidden and not pierce our feet."

"That doesn't sound like something an archer would do..."

Shortly after, Viktor joined Alma, separating the skin, meat, and other parts of the animal, organizing what could be sold and what couldn't.

Alma took pieces of meat, cleaning them of fat and storing them in leather bags. They watched as the remaining blood of the animal flowed into the sand, and Alma said, "Do you mind if I take the leather too? Even though it doesn't have much fur, it will still be useful... and I'll also want the bones. You can have a larger portion of the meat if you want."

"You talk as if you've never asked for this every time we hunt." Viktor gave a slight smile and then resumed cutting. "But you never told me what all this is for."

For a moment, Alma remained silent but then looked back at the deer's leg as he said, "I need to leave something for her when I'm gone. Because of our age, I can't take her with me, so at least I can try to make life easier for her... The meat I can sell, and these bones can feed me if I cook them right. I just need to leave some coins so she can eat well until I start receiving my pay."

"I see..." In the end, Viktor waited for that response, and with the conclusion, he stopped cutting, focusing solely on the deer and then lifting his head, asking, "Do you still want to fight this war?"

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