Several hours had passed since the test began, and Kawao was moving slowly but steadily through the undergrowth with a self-carved spear.

Shortly after the test started, he found himself in a competition in the jungle. The other candidates tried to stop him, but he managed to evade them all.

Meanwhile, he could hear various animals roaring through the thicket. Over the years, the wild animals had seemingly learned when the test took place and took the opportunity to hunt us. Along with the roaring, he could already hear occasional agonized screams.

But within minutes, the rest of the participants scattered, each searching for the quickest way to the other side of the island.

He had already encountered two wild animals himself. But he had no trouble killing them with his spear.

Through his two years of training, he knew how to handle wild animals. Tigers, snakes, poisonous insects, and many others—he knew how to fight them.

"I should be nearing the gorge by now," he thought, and the next moment, he could see it.

This gorge was dangerous because you couldn’t see it at first glance when running through the jungle. Many had already fallen to their deaths here. And today, too, he could see some fresh, unrecognizable piles of flesh at the bottom, with vultures feasting on them.

Some of the candidates must have forgotten in their excitement. A fatal mistake.

He looked around.

To his left, he could see an old wooden bridge in the distance.

It was the only way to cross the gorge directly, which was why there was often a discussion about renewing it. But the chief always said it was better for us hunters, as we had to move lightly on our feet anyway and could practice on the old bridge.

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But someday, it was sure to collapse!

Maybe today or tomorrow, and then it would be difficult to renew it.

He now stood directly at the entrance. For a moment, he listened to the sounds of the jungle. Apparently, he was the only one nearby. Good!

Slowly and carefully, he began to cross the bridge. With every step, the boards creaked ominously, threatening to give way and send him to his death. But he stayed calm.

He was halfway across when he suddenly heard a rustling. In front of him, on the other side, a candidate appeared. He smiled darkly at Kawao and quickly ran towards the bridge.

Kawao could just make out that the candidate held a sharp stone in one hand. He wanted to bring the bridge down. Without further thought for his own safety, Kawao ran.

He tried to reach the end of the bridge in time, but his opponent was too fast. Just a few meters from the goal, he felt the ground give way beneath his feet and he fell.

But by running, he fell towards the side of the gorge, and with a lot of luck and skill, he managed to grab hold. Behind him, the bridge collapsed and shattered against the opposite cliff.

"That was close!"

Slowly but surely, he climbed up. Carefully, he peeked over the edge of the gorge, but the candidate had apparently already fled.

Quickly, he climbed onto solid ground and tried to catch his breath.

"If I hadn't run, I'd be dead now!" he realized.

He had to throw away his spear to hold onto the wall, but at least he still had his life.

"Now I have to take a detour if I go back!" he complained, slowly getting up.

He cast an annoyed glance at the mountain to his left, then continued his journey north.

---

It was noon when he reached the beach on the northern side of the island.

He was the only one there.

The candidate who had destroyed the bridge was dead. Kawao had found his corpse, half-eaten by a tiger, on the way.

The northern beach, unlike the one at his village, was a large bay protected from the sea by a dangerous reef.

There was only one animal capable of swimming through it: Lu'Gosh, the great shark.

Every year, young hunters came to this beach to claim one of his teeth as a trophy. Either he would get another meal or a new wound, but every year he was ready for another fight for survival.

Kawao took off his vest and buried it a little in the sand. If he was going to fight a shark, he wanted to keep his vest in one piece.

Armed with a spear, he slowly entered the water, but soon a current grabbed him and pulled him into the center of the bay. He took a deep breath and then dived.

Through the somewhat distant reef, he could see a large shape quickly darting past.

But what he couldn't see was the deep-red ship appearing on the horizon, approaching the island.