Nine more years passed in the blink of an eye. Orion changed a lot physically and mentally during those years.

In his childhood, he was a kind child, his face was always beaming with kindness, and knew nothing of the world's hardship.

This changed when he had to kill his first prey. The weight of taking a life pushed his emotions in a tug of war between his kind part and his developing hunter mind.

Hunting was a necessity, to eat and to craft warm clothes. When he realized that nature was a hunting ground, he decided to hunt only the threats of the village, and what was necessary to feed the village.

He was now eighteen, having experienced the difficulty of becoming a skilled hunter. After receiving his first crossbow from Dylan, he worked hard in improving his strength, which was needed to use the weapon in the first place.

Even though pulling the string was easier with time, it took four years for him to finally manage to hit a target correctly. It was a tricky weapon to begin with.

The positioning, the speed needed to chain shots, the recoil, the maintenance of the weapon, so on and so on... Everything was a new experience that required his full dedication.

He also had to build a crossbow from scratch to improve from the small one Dylan gave him.

Using the 'Eagle Eye' ability combined with the crossbow wasn't easy either. When he focused on the target, the arrow always grazed it instead of hitting.

The difficulty of merging everything together took him six years.

When he finally managed to hit consistently, he was overjoyed. His efforts were showing results.

He did not neglect his studies, either. He better understood all the knowledge Dylan and Keith brought to him, and all of this made him the strongest, most intelligent, and devious inhabitant of Auro.

Orion also learned Keith's ability, the man who possessed the 'Calm Analysis' ability. He taught it to Amelia too, who managed to learn it with more difficulty.

The ability was simple, it slowed the perception of time and let the user see the small details around them.

For example, if a bolt shot by Orion flew directly to Amelia, she needed to activate the ability, observe the bolt's direction, and look for a solution to avoid it or deflect it.

Orion and Amelia were great students. The only thing missing in them was the possibility of using magic. They were both considered adults, but never showed an ounce of magical energy.

Magical energy was the power to bring elemental effects to your attacks, or create an object or weapon you knew how to use.

If someone knew how to fight with a fork, and they were able to bring out water magic, they could either surround the fork with water, or create one from water. The usefulness of the ability was depending on the amount of magic energy they had at their disposal.

Now, Orion was currently hunting a few animals to eat for dinner. After perfecting his abilities in the remaining three years, he slowly became the 'Hunter' of Auro. Protecting the surroundings of the village, as well as bringing any game he managed to hunt to the village's butcher.

A beastman was strong to begin with, they had innate abilities that could easily kill a boar. The main reason they rarely hunted was the danger. It wasn't a necessity, and getting hurt could become troublesome, as the cost of healing salves, and bandages weren't cheap.

It wasn't worth the trouble in the end.

Having a member of their community doing both jobs was something to celebrate. To support Orion as much as they could, they crafted his bolts, helped maintain his crossbow, and created equipment for him to use.

Mainly, a quiver made from the pelt of black wolves, some leather armor parts from the strong skin of boars, and a cape made with leaves to hide him when he got out of the village.

~

'How many bolts do I have left?'

Orion put his finger in his quiver.

'Alright, I can hunt three more heavy preys with the remaining bolts.'

He felt five bolts with his finger.

Sitting on a tree branch in the thick forest surrounding Auro, he observed the area for any movement.

'Nothing's around. I should move further ahead.'

As he was about to continue further inside the forest, he stopped.

'I don't usually venture this far out of the village. Let's forget about that.'

He had no necessity to proceed further. With already a few kills waiting to be collected nearby, all that he needed to do now was return home.

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'Wait, I heard something.'

Orion looked to his right and activated 'Eagle Eye'.

'What is this, this is the first time I've seen such a beast.'

He was astonished. A bear with elephant tusks and a horn was eating the remains of a black wolf quite far from his position.

'I never saw this one in the books Dylan brought me. Should I hunt it now, or do I speak to Keith about it?'

An answer appeared immediately in his mind.

'I should hunt it. This is definitely a threat. It might be too late if I let it slip away.'

'I'll be careful though, I need to watch what it is capable of, and then act accordingly.'

The massive bear was about to put a show in front of Orion, just as he hoped for.

He moved from the tree he was on, jumped to another branch, and repeated this quietly while getting close to the beast.

'It's still eating. This is weird, usually, bears don't eat the whole carcass. What's stranger is the way it looks.'

Orion analyzed the bear carefully now that he was closer.

'Grey fur, two protruding fangs, a horn. And those paws, they are huge. This is no normal bear. My gut feeling was right, this is a new threat.'

'I can see three places where a shot would penetrate. The problem is how tough the skin and bone is. A misplaced or ineffective shot could sacrifice my stealth advantage. Depending on the bear's wits, it could realize I'm here immediately.'

At that moment, two wolves appeared and surrounded the bear.

'Oh? This is a helpful outcome. Show me what you can do, wolves.'

Both wolves growled at the bear for a minute, while the latter ignored them and continued to eat the now unrecognizable wolf remains.

The wolf on the right couldn't bear to wait anymore, and jumped at the beast.

It tried to slash it with its front claws, but nothing happened. The bear showed no signs of injury. The second wolf followed that with a bite near the hind legs of the bear. Same result, no injuries.

The bear looked at the two wolves as if annoyed, and left his bloody meal to take care of them.

It was rather small while eating, but its true size when he stood tall was different. The bear was 3 meters tall, quite unusual for a bear.

Intimidated, the wolves jumped a few meters away from the bear.

The beast placed its two bigger than normal front paws on the ground, and roared angrily, stunning the two wolves in place.

He then ran to the wolf closest to him, grabbed it and threw it toward a tree, snapping the poor wolf's spine in the process. It was an instant kill.

The last wolf saw this scene and whimpered, probably understanding what his fate was going to be.

The bear rushed to the other wolf, lifted his paws, and crushed the last wolf under them. It then picked it up, and started to devour the body now that no one was around to bother it.

'This was a one-sided, gruesome fight.'

Orion winced at the carnage.

'I have no knowledge about a bear capable of efficiently killing two wolves and remaining unharmed.'

This fight, or whatever that was, showed everything Orion needed to hunt the bear.

'It is not that intelligent, apart from its killing methods. The problem will be its tough skin, as I thought.'

'I have five bolts. I can take it down with four. No, three.'

Orion imagined the hunt in his mind, in case a mistake happened, which wasn't impossible. He liked to have a few alternatives.

'Alright, it should be a smooth hunt. I have to bring this specimen to the village, and have Keith look at it.'

The hunt was about to begin. The bear was still eating the last wolf, unknowing of the camouflaged Orion that was readying his crossbow quietly.

*Click*

The sound of the string locking in place resounded in Orion's ears.

'The hunt begins.'

His ruthless side appeared. His gaze shifted to a serious and composed one, and his gray irises changed to yellow due to the 'Eagle Eye' ability.

He took two bolts from his quiver, placed one in his mouth, the other in the crossbow's groove.

'Ready... Go!'

The first bolt flew precisely in the direction of the bear's left rear foot.

The bolt, with the force provided by the crossbow's string, was incomparable to the wolves attacks.

It flew straight to the bear's foot, and lodged itself in the ground below, sealing its movement momentarily.

The bear growled in pain, and tried to move its hurting foot, with no success.

Orion pulled the string quickly, drew another bolt, placed it in the groove, and aimed at his left flank below the armpit.

'Now!'

He pulled the trigger, letting the bolt plunge its sharp metallic head into the bear.

The bear ignored the pain as much as it could, and glared at the place Orion was.

It managed to take the wolf's corpse, and throw it on the branch Orion was crouched on. All this was part of his plan. He jumped down from the branch and rolled on the floor.

The bear broke the bolt stuck in its foot, and prepared itself to run at him.

'Here it comes.'

Orion pulled the string a moment before the bear rushed in his direction. It tried to crush Orion like it crushed the wolf.

He took the last bolt from his mouth, slotted it in the groove, and aimed at the bear coming at him.

'Last shot. Don't miss, Orion.'

He pressed the trigger one last time. The bolt pierced straight through the bear's head, and into its brain.

Orion rolled out of the way of the now dead beast, avoiding its charge.

It crashed into the tree Orion was originally on, creating a small quake as the tree shook violently.

'Hunt successful. Another clean kill.'

Orion always praised himself or scolded himself, depending on the outcome. He was self-disciplined in hunting, which helped him improve each time.

"Phew, that was stressful! I never expected to see a different species of bear around here."

Orion's gaze changed to the calm and gentle one he had before the hunt, and the original gray color of his irises came back at the same time.

"This should give plenty of meat to the villagers... If it's edible."

Orion laughed while thinking of the villagers throwing a feast at the size of such a beast.

"Let's see if the bolts can be removed..."

He pulled the two remaining bolts from the bear, but only the one lodged in its side could be removed.

"Impressively stuck in the skull. I can't get it out."

He looked around, and saw that the first wolf that died was still mainly intact. No internal injuries seemed to have happened. A sweet bonus for the villagers.

"It's time to go home, I need to bring this one closer to Auro for the butcher to take it off my hands."

Orion tried to lift the bear, but it was exceedingly heavier than a normal bear. It was definitely a three-meter tall monster.

"Well, do I have to drag it instead?"

Orion put the wolf body on the bear, and dragged them both closer to the village.

...

"Phew, here should be close enough."

Orion brought the bodies he hunted all together, and prepared himself to enter the village.

'Something's weird. Why am I hearing screams? And what's this smell? Burning wood?'

The faint voice of panicked villagers entered his ears.

"What's happening in Auro?!"

"Damn it! When I was away hunting at that!"

Orion ran past the welcoming gate of Auro, leaving the hunted animals behind him.

Never, in his wildest dreams, would he ever imagine what this incident was going to reveal to him?