Lunesday, 2nd of Aprillia, 470th year of the 5th Era
The sky was bright as what looked to be the sun was shining brightly upon a large clearing within a field of jungle woodland and trees. Within the field, a pack of wild boars were grazing about on it, eating the plants, insects, and some even digging up the roots of some shrubs to look for more food or to drink from the pond in the middle of the clearing. By what could be seen, there must be over two dozen of the beast's roaming around, from the young juvenile hogs to the largest matriarch of the pack. However, unlike most of the beasts that could be found in the wilds of the Halakland jungles, these monstrosities were much bigger monsters.
From the shrubberies of the jungles surrounding the clearing, if one were to look closely, they would notice a group of dangerous predators hiding among the shadows.
Josias was perched up on a rather large tree within the jungles, mounted atop his tiger companion while in his right hand he held a long-barrelled flintlock musket, a magnificent weapon of Terradomian origin which was powerful enough to level the playing field between a peasant and even a second-star or perhaps even a third star warrior. He was very fond of the Western firearms that the merchants would trade them with and its unique mechanisms even if it was rather unwieldy and a little bit of a hassle to reload, but this new flintlock gun that was brought to the village as a gift by one of the newer Missionaries from Feldonia a few days ago was a far more brilliant weapon than the matchlock arquebuses he was used to and he was ecstatic to try it out on this latest hunt he was on.
Josias was eyeing the boar herd from afar, waiting until one of them would stray a little closer to the range of his gun so he could deal a more accurate shot to kill the poor bastard. Josias gave a few looks to the positions of his other companions who were also preparing their weapons, most of them also carrying firearms of the matchlock variety while all of them Had their spears and sabres equipped to their side or packed on their tigers.
Josias was currently accompanying his father and a party of about a dozen other warriors on their usual weekly hunt to one of the dungeons just a short distance from the village. He had always wondered how the dungeons actually came to exist as from what he had heard after asking the more learned missionaries and other folk of the village, dungeons have been a feature of Orbis since the first era over four thousand years ago. Apparently the Westerners had divided the age of the world into Eras, but regardless it meant that these things have been around for at least that long. In the ancient stories of the Halak, it was said that the eponymous ancestor to all the Halak peoples - Si Raja Halak - had emerged from the dungeon on top of the hill on Dolok Mulajadi. But regardless of the exact origins of dungeons, they were a part of daily life as well as a source of useful resources for the people.
The dungeon he was in currently - known as the ‘Haranganaili’ - was one of several dungeons within the Realm of Goria and it was a personal property of the Sigumogo Clan. It was a forest dungeon that was under a thousand acres in size with its borders made up of an impenetrable mana barrier. The dungeon itself was capable of spawning all sorts of animals similar to that of the outer world but its main inhabitants were the Boar Monsters. This particular dungeon had been around for ages by that point and since it regularly spawns the boar monsters, was used by the village as an effective source of boar meat to both feed the villagers, but most importantly the tigers that they raise as companions for both war and hunting. The taming and use of Tigers for warfare was an almost uniquely Gorian practice among the Halak barring some exceptions in the other villages where they perhaps had a couple of tamed tigers but not to the extent of Goria where they had kept almost a hundred tigers. That was what made the current hunt so important. The Gorian tigers themselves had been heavily influenced by the mana of the dungeons and so meat gained from hunting within the dungeons were far more fulfilling for the animals in comparison to other sources of meat.
And so with that in mind, the Gorians were determined to hunt at the very least the pack of boar monsters that were currently in the clearing while leaving the other packs on the more remote part of the dungeon alive so that the monsters would respawn quicker through the natural process of procreation. Usually, dungeons like these would have a particular monster or beast that was designated as the ‘Dungeonlord’ that acted as the strongest creature within the dungeon, but the warriors had already slayed it a week earlier and it would usually take the dungeon several weeks to a few months for another beast to be designated as the dungeonlord.
And so with baited breath, Josias had already placed his sights upon what looked to be a more juvenile boar monsters and was only waiting for his father's signal before he pulled the trigger. From afar, after steadying his arms upon his weapon, Josias glanced towards his father who was crouching on the ground with both a Javelin and a spear in his hands. The other hunters were on different vantage points spread throughout the woods surrounding the clearing as they had also readied the aim of their guns towards the boars that were on the peripheries of the pack. Just as time felt like it was stopping and standing still all the while the guns had been readied, Josias saw his father standing and aiming his Javelin at the older matriarch of the group as he slowly walked out of the forested area and with the power of a peak Fifth-star warrior on the brink of becoming a blade master, gathered red-coloured mana energy into the javelin before throwing it with all his might.
The javelin that had been loosed from his father's grip unleashed with a raging power that it was burning like flames leaving a trail of fire and smoke in its wake. It traveled so quickly and powerfully that it immediately pierced through the skull of the matriarch boar, killing it in that instant. At this sight, confusion was immediately stirred amongst the boar beasts as many started to fled while others were running amok trying to find who did it and when they saw Lord Parulian walking calmly from the forests, sabre in hand, several of them immediately tried to charge at him with their large tusks.
As many of the boars were charging towards his father, coming closer to his range, Josias had quickly changed his sights towards them as he said a prayer before pulling on the trigger. Just as his musket roared as it shot, a cacophony of the other hunters firing their muskets rang out in a thunderous chorus as all of them shot at the beasts. Greatly wounded but still charging, there were about three beasts left charging at Parulian while another had been shot in its eye, disorienting it greatly, and two more had been shot dead by the initial volley. Parulian immediately rushed towards the beasts, his right hand holding his spear with power while his left hand was on the hilt of his sabre. With the strengthened speed and durability that his aura granted him, Parulian in quick succession cocked his body before stabbing the spear through the skull of the first beast, killing it immediately. He immediately chained his attack to the next best as he slashed the boar’s neck with his sabre while simultaneously pulling it out of it's scabbard before in quick succession he had struck down the remaining boar.
Josias too had exited the forest into the clearing while riding his tiger followed by the other hunters. He had quickly aimed at the blinded boar with his reloaded musket before pulling the trigger and killing it instantly as his musket ball pierced through its other eye and skull. As the beast fell, Josias wasted no time immediately reloading his gun, which he could do in under thirty seconds while he rode his tiger to close the distance with the rest of the boar pack.
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As the other boar beasts had recomposed themselves and we're fast approaching their new enemies, the sudden appearance of the other hunters upon their tigers made the hogs hesitate in their attack and some looked like they were about to flee. And so seeing this, Timotheus who was among the hunters immediately raised his hands as it glowed red and summoned a wall of fire to appear behind the pack of boar beasts to prevent their escape. Taking advantage of this, Parulian - who had pulled out another javelin and was aiming it towards another beast among the crowd - shouted, “Men, fire at will and kill these bastards!!” Before he threw it at the beast, creating another fiery projectile killing the beast. At his order, another volley of musket fire rang out towards the beasts and had decimated another half dozen of them.
With only a little over a dozen of the boars left, Josias had put away his musket to his back as he unsheathed his sabre towards the remaining boars. “HAMATEAN!!!” he shouted as he charged at the beasts with full speed upon his tiger followed by the other hunters who had done the same. In less than a minute, they had already closed the gap between them and the boars and as the tigers jumped and tackled the boars with their supreme might, the hunters on top of them stabbed out and dealt the killing blow to the beasts with their sabres and spears. In less than another minute, the hunt with the beasts had ended in an overwhelming victory for the hunters. Josias relished in the feeling of victory as he rubbed the fluffy fur around his tiger's neck. In the next moment, he could hear his father giving another round of orders.
“Great work, boys! You can let your tigers feast on the big bastard while you lot help me prepare the rest of these to transport back home…” Parulian said before he pointed to Timotheus “Son..- I mean Reverend Father- I need you to get back out the dungeon and grab some more boys to help us move these.”
“As you command, Bapatua!” Timotheus said with a slightly embarrassed snicker before turning to leave on his tiger. Josias could only laugh as his father teased his cousin like that.
And so there were a total of twenty five Boar beast corpses upon the field. While the corpse of the matriarch and a couple other smaller juvenile ones were put to the side for their tiger mounts to feast on, it still left work for them to prepare for transport over Twenty boars. Regardless, Josias merely stretched his body before helping with the other hunters to get the corpses ready to be returned to the village.
It was another hour before Timotheus had returned with about a dozen extra pairs of hands from the village and the work to put the beasts on wagons pulled by oxen quickened greatly. The dungeon had a dirt road built by the ancestors of the villagers from the clearing all the way to the entrance of the dungeon for ease of transport for the meat on wagons. After packing all the corpses that they could and after the tigers had their full share of a meal, the hunters and villagers immediately made their way following the trail to the entrance of the dungeon.
After about a mile of walking, they had reached the dungeon’s entrance as they could see a large portal of blue, glistening, watery mana that shimmered with a brilliant light and if one were to focus on it, they could see glimpses of images of the outside world from the portal. The hunters wasted no time walking through the portal as they had done so hundreds of times before and they quickly made their way out of the dungeon. Unlike the sunny blue skies of the dungeon, once they entered the open world, they were greeted by a crimson sky as the sun was setting down to the far west and the night was about to greet them.
The portal entrance to the dungeon was situated at the archway entrance of what looked like an old cave. Around the dungeon entrance were a few buildings and camps where Josias saw several guards were standing watch. It was the minimum amount of defense the village could afford in guarding the dungeon from any unwanted outside visitors. The dungeon was a valuable resource to the village that one would not be wrong to call one of the life forces of the prosperity of Goria and a disturbance to the dungeon would be a great blow towards the realm of Goria as a whole. And so the hunters set off to return to their village which was close by.
While on the road, Josias was talking to his friend Johannes who had been a part of the hunting party as they were striking up a conversation near the rear of the formation.
“So, how was it?” Josias said with a smirk
“How was what?” Johannes asked back with a confused tone “The hunt? Why’re you even asking me, you were there?!”
“Not that, you idiot. I mean how was your talk with brother Timo?”
At Josias' questioning, Johannes could only give a wry smile before answering. “It was… something…”
“Something? The hell do you mean, ‘something’?”
“It means that I told him if he wanted to get my blessings for marrying our lovely sister Maria, he'd have to at least show me some modicum of sincerity…” Timotheus, who had caught wind of Josias' and Johannes' conversation, immediately cut in with a smirk.
“Brother…” Josias shook his head as he looked towards his cousin “What did you ask him to do?”
“It wasn't anything difficult, honestly.”
“He told me to recite an entire new testament book by memory in front of him!” Johannes said exasperatedly
“...I mean that's pretty in line with brother Timo's character, honestly. A bit weird, but you could choose a shorter book like one of the epistles by Saint Paulus or the Letter of Saint Jude…?”
“I have to do it by tomorrow!” Johannes completed the explanation
“Oh…”
“I swear, not even the ephorus gave you that much of a hard time in courting Serena!”
“I mean…”
“Only the highest of respect towards the reverend Ephorus and his bloodline, but my sister is a member of the illustrious Sigumogo clan and the granddaughter of the King of Saorma from her mother's side. The price I'm asking for her hand is cheap in comparison to what she's worth!”
“Lae, that's not including the astronomical dowry I would be paying to your clan on top of it!” Johannes continued to protest.
“The affairs of our clan elders are out of my hands, Lae.” Timotheus easily shrugged off Johannes complaints to which Johannes could only give another exasperated sigh.
“You better keep your word, Lae!”
“A man of God always keeps to his promises.” Timotheus said as he made the sign of the cross. Josias could only laugh and shake his head at the tomfoolery his companions were getting up to. Well, at the very least there was not a dull moment to be had with them around.
Finally after half an hour of marching with the moon already appearing in the sky, the large hunting party had made it back to Goria with their hunting gains. As usual, when the hunting party returned with Lord Parulian at the helm and his heir Josias at his side, they were greeted with cheers especially at the sight of all the boar meat that they returned with. However, when they reached the great hall, they could already see many of the Elders had already made their way inside the Hall while Elder Marasi was standing at the base of the stairs awaiting for her arrival.
Josias and his father immediately got off their mounts at the situation as Lord Parulian approached the Elder.
“What is going on here? What is it this time? Why have the elders gathered? Is father alright?” Parulian immediately said with worry as he held onto the Elder’s shoulders to which the Elder only gave a shake of his head and a calming smile.
“Calm yourself, Ruli.” Elder Marasi said “The King is fine… relatively speaking, of course. No, the current situation is indeed serious but not for those reasons you're currently thinking of. Anyways, you need to come in quickly. The rest of you boys, too!”
With that being said, Josias only looked to Timotheus and Johannes before they followed along the elder inside the Great Hall. Josias had no clue what any of this was about, but he couldn't say he was any excited to find out either way. Whatever it was, he could only curse his fate because at the current time the only thing he was worrying about was what he was about to eat. Looks like dinner will be a little late for him that day.