Kawao woke up drenched in sweat. He had a nightmare.

One like he'd never had before.

He found himself suddenly in complete darkness.

In front of him appeared a purple vortex, growing larger and larger until it swallowed him. At the very last moment, a blood-red hand shot out from the vortex and grabbed at him.

Then he woke up.

He glanced briefly out the window before getting up.

Today was sunny, with a few scattered clouds. As he got dressed, he wondered about his dream. It wasn't the first time he'd forgotten the content of a dream shortly after waking.

He sighed and left his room. "If I don't remember it, then it probably wasn't important," he thought, as he entered the main room of his hut.

He had lived there as long as he could remember with his parents.

They greeted each other as he sat down next to his father, who was sitting at a small wooden table. His mother was preparing breakfast in the meantime.

After enjoying the quiet for a moment, his father spoke up.

"So, today is your big day, huh?" he began.

"Yes. Today is the day! Today I will become a true hunter!"

"But only if you pass the test!" his mother replied.

"Do you have any doubts?"

"No, of course not. But not everyone passes, you know?"

"Yes, but I’m the best in my class. I’ve got this!"

"You know what they say: Pride comes before a fall."

"And before pride comes success," he proudly retorted to his father.

His father just smiled at him and said, "Come on! Get going! Make us and your village proud!"

"I will! Father, Mother, I’m off!"

They both wished him good luck as he left the hut and was momentarily blinded by the bright sun.

Then he made his way to the village chief.

The chief lived in the largest hut in the village. As long as he could remember, Kawao had known nothing but his village and its island. As far as he knew, there was nothing beyond it. It was forbidden to question this.

But those who did were bound and placed in a small boat, then banished to the open sea. They were never heard from again.

When he arrived at the marketplace, someone suddenly grabbed him from behind.

It was a boy named Kin. For some time, Kin had admired Kawao because he was the best young hunter of his year. Kin always talked about how much he wanted to be as big and strong as Kawao.

"Today's your big day, right?" Kin asked.

"Yes. I'm on my way to see the chief."

"Do you have a moment to go to the beach?"

"I think I have a moment. But I can't stay long."

Kin smiled at him and ran off. The beach wasn’t far since the village was built right next to it.

The houses were anchored deep in the sand with strong bamboo poles to prevent damage or flooding during storms. The village lay next to the open sea and a large jungle that covered most of the island. There was also a massive mountain in the east and a gorge that started at its base, dividing the island into northern and southern parts.

Kawao and Kin now stood on the beach not far from the village, silently watching the sea.

Finally, Kin spoke up.

"You'll do great!"

"What?"

"I mean the test. You'll do great!"

"Why is everyone worried about me? Sure, the test isn’t easy, but that doesn’t mean my chances are bad."

"Yeah, I know! But the chances of passing are only about 15 percent."

"That’s just a general estimate!"

Kin sighed and stared thoughtfully out at the sea.

"Do you remember three years ago? When we found your vest here on the beach and you instantly fell in love with it?"

"I didn’t fall in love with it! I just think it looks really cool!" he replied, blushing slightly.

He was wearing it today. It was a gray vest with a black-and-red flame on the back. It had washed ashore back then.

"If there really isn’t anyone else out there, where do our clothes come from?" he wondered.

From time to time, various clothing items would wash up on the beach, which, once dried, were worn again.

"I’ll miss these times," Kin continued.

"You don’t have to!" Kawao replied.

"Next year, you can join the training too, and in three years, we can have adventures together again!"

Kin just smiled tiredly. A few tears rolled down his cheeks. He quickly turned away so Kawao wouldn’t see him like that.

"Go on! Pass the test!" he said before starting to sob.

Kawao quickly headed off.

"It’s probably best if I get the test over with quickly," he decided and ran to the village chief's hut, which stood prominently at the northern edge of the marketplace, towering over the other houses in the village.

At the entrance, the other candidates were already lined up.

Since the chief wasn’t there yet, he wasn’t late. He quickly lined up among the others, pretending he’d been there all along.

"Where were you?" one of the candidates whispered to him.

"I had some things to do."

"Shh!"

Slowly, the village chief emerged from his hut.

He was very old and needed a staff for support. He calmly surveyed those standing before him and cleared his throat.

"My children!" he began.

"Today is the day when it will be decided whether you become a hunter or a guardian!"

The hunters were specially trained warriors who procured food and other essentials from the jungle and the sea. Their training lasted two years, and only those who could keep up were honored with this role.

The guardians stayed in the village all their lives, maintaining it. Food processing, hut repairs, and clothing making were just part of their work.

"But unlike during your training, anyone who fails the test today will not be able to re-enter the village. Those who fail will die. Those who succeed will live. This is the test you face today.

I will now explain the contents of the test. Then you may begin:

You have until noon tomorrow.

By then, you must reach the other side of the island and bring me a tooth from Lu'Gosh.

Anyone who does this will have passed the test."

As soon as he finished explaining, the first candidates rushed off, eager to be the first to reach the goal.

Kawao was at the forefront, charging through the jungle thicket with the others.

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

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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.

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.

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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.

After Lu'Gosh had made his way through the reef, he rushed towards Kawao at breathtaking speed. His mouth, filled with razor-sharp teeth, was ready to shred him into bite-sized pieces.

But Kawao remained calm.

He aimed his spear directly at the oncoming mouth and, just before it could snap shut, he threw it with all his might into the shark's throat.

Lu'Gosh roared in pain as he tried to remove the spear from his mouth. He bit it in half but couldn't pull it out.

Kawao seized this moment.

He swam quickly towards the shark's face and punched him in one of his eyes. Once again, Lu'Gosh let out agonizing screams and shortly after, he went blind in both eyes.

"Now or never!" Kawao decided.

He took a sharp stone he had tucked into his pants and struck the shark's gums while holding onto its nose.

Lu'Gosh went into a frenzy, trying to shake him off, but Kawao held on.

He kept hitting the tooth and the gums until he felt it loosen.

"Just a little more!"

But he had underestimated his opponent.

In a final moment of frenzy, Lu'Gosh managed to shake him off and, in the next moment, bit down on him.

The shark thought he had finally won, but suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his mouth.

He opened it wide, and Kawao, in the nick of time, pulled the spear from his mouth and rammed the tip into the already loosened gum.

The tooth was now very loose.

Instinctively, he grabbed it and yanked it out of the creature's mouth in one go.

Lu'Gosh hesitated briefly before spitting him out.

Without further attempts to catch his prey, the shark swam away, glad to be free from a prolonged battle.

Kawao was relieved that the shark had decided to retreat because when he was bitten, he hadn't come out unscathed. Some of the razor-sharp teeth had pierced his arms and legs.

He could still move them, but the saltwater was starting to burn in his wounds, and he knew he had to get out of the water quickly before he bled to death.

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A short while later, he heaved his injured body out of the water.

He needed to treat himself quickly and limped towards the jungle.

He gathered some leaves and picked a few purple plants. He crushed the plants and applied them to his wounds, which he then covered with the leaves.

"I have more than enough time to get back. I should take the opportunity to rest and heal my wounds."

He went back to where he had buried his vest and dug it out.

As he dusted it off, he noticed something unusual.

He turned towards the village.

Thick black smoke clouds were rising from the area!

"What’s going on? Did someone accidentally set a house on fire?" he wondered.

"Maybe I should hurry."

Limping, he made his way south, still holding the broken spear in his hands.

But he didn’t head back to the destroyed bridge; instead, he headed towards the large mountain in the east. There was a tunnel that ran through the mountain, providing an alternative to the bridge.

However, this tunnel hadn’t been used in years.

"Who knows what’s living in there now?"

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He quickened his pace despite his injuries. His wounds didn’t bother him at the moment.

Before long, he reached the mountain and began searching for the tunnel. Shortly thereafter, he found it.

A small natural entrance in the massive rock. Without hesitation, he entered.

Inside, it was pitch dark. Even though he couldn't see anything, he ran forward and immediately banged his head against a wall.

"Damn! I should wait a bit to adjust to the darkness," he decided.

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A few minutes later, he proceeded cautiously. He could see better now. At least well enough to find his way.

As far as he knew, this tunnel had been dug over a hundred years ago.

But since it had hardly been used in recent times, he could only hope it hadn’t collapsed in the meantime.

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After what felt like an eternity, he felt a fresh breeze. He was nearing the exit.

But at the same time, he also heard an increasingly loud screeching and squeaking.

"I should hurry!"

He started running. By now, he had adjusted to the darkness.

Suddenly, he saw a light and sprinted towards it.

Shortly after he burst through the exit, a huge swarm of bats rushed out of the tunnel. They flew in circles for a while before racing back into their territory.

"That was close!"

But he had no time to ponder the animals. He had to keep going.

Something terrible could be happening in the village. At least, he had a feeling that grew stronger with every step.

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By evening, after several hours, he reached the edge of the jungle.

Now he could finally see what was happening in the village.

He was paralyzed with shock.

The entire village was in flames!

For a moment, he stood there motionless.

Then reality hit him, and he started running.

"What happened? Maybe there are survivors!" he thought as he ran through the burning rubble.

His injuries didn’t matter. He ignored the pain.

The only thing that mattered at that moment was the safety of the villagers and his family.

He came to a halt in the marketplace.

He sank to his knees.

In front of the burning house of the village chief lay a large, flaming pile of bodies.

At the entrance of the hut, the old man was impaled on a stake.

What was left of them was unrecognizable. He couldn’t identify his family or anyone else.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps behind him.

A stranger!

He was wearing a bright red uniform and carried a blood-stained spear.

"Hmm? Did we miss someone?" he said, approaching Kawao with his spear raised.

As he struck, Kawao dodged and rammed the broken spear into the stranger's neck.

The man collapsed, choking and coughing.

Shortly after, more people emerged from the smoke and flames. They all wore the same uniform.

Furious, Kawao stood up, holding the broken spear tightly.

"What have you done?"

"A survivor? He’s armed! Let’s kill him!"

They attacked him.

Instinctively, he dodged their spears and struck them down one by one. Gradually, they fell to the ground.

But eventually, they overpowered him and pinned him down.

They kicked the spear out of his hand and dragged him away.

"Are they going to throw me onto the pile with the others?" he wondered.

Desperately, he tried to break free, but it was futile.

Suddenly, they stopped. He looked up.

They were at the beach.

On the shore lay a dark red ship bristling with cannons.

But he didn’t focus on that; instead, he looked at the man standing before him. He was a fat man who barely fit into his uniform. He wore heavy black gloves that looked too heavy for him.

"Who is this?" the man asked his soldiers in an annoyed tone.

"We found him in the village. Apparently, he had been hiding!"

"Hiding, huh? I thought you told me you had killed everyone! Did you lie to me? Did you betray your country for nothing?"

"N-No, sir! I’m sorry. We must not have searched thoroughly enough!"

"Hmm. Yes, you didn’t! And now look what happened because of it. This piece of trash here killed ten of our men! And all because YOU didn’t search thoroughly enough for survivors! I will make you pay for your betrayal later!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The man now looked down at Kawao.

"And you, I will send you to join the rest of your people!" he said, holding the glove in front of Kawao’s face.

The soldiers held him down with their spears.

Suddenly, a fireball shot out of the man’s palm, just moments away from reducing Kawao to ashes.

,Fight!´

Suddenly, a white flash struck Kawao, and the next moment, he stood several meters in front of the fat man who had just tried to kill him.

In the spot where he had been kneeling, there was now a small crater.

"What? How did I do that? What is this feeling? It’s like I’ve become much stronger."

The fat man looked at him in surprise, but quickly regained his composure.

"Hey, you didn’t tell me this guy could use Nyd."

"We... We didn’t know either!"

"Oh, really? Go back to the ship! I will deal with him personally! I will deal with you later for your mistakes!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

The soldiers ran quickly to the shore, where some small boats lay, to get back to their ship.

The man turned back to Kawao.

"I’m surprised that someone out here can use Nyd. That also explains how you were able to overpower my men. It would be better if I took you seriously and finished you off here and now!" he said.

Once again, he aimed his gloves at him and fired several fireballs.

But now Kawao could easily dodge them. It felt like the projectiles were coming at him in slow motion.

Suddenly, he saw an opportunity.

Kawao ran at him and punched him with all his might in his fat belly.

The punch caused a small shockwave, and his opponent was hurled against his own ship, which exploded and collapsed shortly after. His men, who were back on the ship, died with him.

Completely out of breath, Kawao looked at what he had done, but it left him feeling cold.

Slowly, he walked back to the burning pile of bodies and sank to his knees before it.

Shortly after, he began to cry.

And he didn’t stop until the fire died down.