Rustle Rustle the noise spooked him, quickly he climbed above the tree to look for the source of this noise. After waiting for a while, the man saw a silhouette of an animal which he recognized as that of a wolf.
As the animal closed the distance between him and the human who noted that something was wrong with the way it was walking realizing that it was injured.
The man came down from the tree and started approaching the wolf trying not startle it he took out a piece of meat from his provisions to lure the wolf towards him and signal a friendly gesture.
As the wolf started feasting on the meat the man could see the setting sun behind him thinking that he should retreat back and start again in the morning.
After finding a clearing nearby he started to set up a fire and tend to the wounded wolf who started following him everywhere but he didn’t mind it as company was hard to come by in these parts of the forest. It was odd however he thought for a wolf to not be with its pack especially around this region perhaps it got separated
“Its been two weeks since I started this hunt and I still haven’t even caught a glimpse of this tiger”
The man closely inspected the wolf’s body and found that these injuries were not a result of an accident or even another wolf but a beast big enough that a single strike alone had shattered a bone in the leg. A beast big enough that it likely attacked the whole pack at once and this one wolf got separated.
As he was examining the wolf he noticed a few glowing eyes in a distance, immediately realizing who they were he stands up as quickly as the wolf’s ears with his hands in the air showing an unthreatening gesture just as he backs up a few steps the pack of wolves comes out of the shadows to expose itself.
“figures”
He noticed that some wolves in the pack also had minor injuries which meant they had also been attacked fairly recently.
A single wolf came towards him from the pack, the man could tell it was the oldest one and probably the leader of the pack. He crouched down looking the wolf into the eye and with a bit of a shock he saw the memories of the wolf’s encounter with the beast and how they barely managed to run away. While running away an injured wolf who couldn’t keep up was left behind who he later found in the evening.
“beast……..danger…..fear…..on rampage” rumbling words came to his mind
“you can communicate telepathically?” it came as a shock to him although it is a known fact that a few species of mammals in desperation or in a state of alarm can do that
The wolf nodded
“I see, I am a hunter who has been trying to track a beast for the last two weeks I believe it’s the same one that attacked you, again I mean no harm” he said wanting to pass the sentiment
The wolf growled and went back to the pack which made them all a lot calmer than before, it was nice but this put him into a dilemma. He now had the last known location of the beast thanks to the wolf pack and if he made haste he could potentially track the beast using his tracking skills but engaging the beast at night generally put him at a disadvantage.
Usually he would prefer to hunt under favorable condition.
“I have a plan, I think this is worth a try” he said even after knowing that the wolf will likely not get anything
This caught the attention of the leader who made a gesture of confusion
A few minutes later
The miracle of sentience Alan thought was that even though the wolf had no capability to render speech of any sort and likely did not understood anything it still got the gist of it
Alan followed the wolves to the place where they got ambushed. The place looked nothing less than a war zone he could see trees with multiple claw markings, on them, the good thing about the jungle he thought was that it never lied the smell of blood in the air around him, he could feel a distinct killer instinct that convinced him the beast had been here and it was out for blood.
After tracking the beast for an hour Alan came upon a narrow gorge which which didn’t came as a surprise, the villagers had told him about one. He decided to not go too far from here it was already too late and it would too unnecessary of a risk to take, he signaled the pack to halt and wait, from here on he would go take a look on the other side.
It was getting dark and he never liked to light a torch because it messed with the depth of his vision
Soon after he climbed up to a tree top using the branches to support himself, his physique made that task as natural and easy as breathing
The beast was in the vicinity he knew it, but he had some cards up his sleeves too. He concentrated the magic into his eyes giving them a leopard like glow using the ability of “night vision” as he called it, he started searching the nearby area for any signs of life.
“chip!”
“what was that” the sound of wooden twigs chipping breaking caught Alan’s attention, he had already gambled hard by continuing to hunt at night and was in an exposed position the risk was too much and it was now or never.
“now!” Alan signaled the wolves telepathically to began their part in the plan. The plan was simple, Alan would do the actual hunting but the wolves will create noise at just the right time to draw that beast out in the open, preventing him from leaving the narrow gorge
The wolves started to howl and bark in the middle of the night hoping to lure out the beast. Suddenly out of nowhere the four legged beast jumped out of the thicket into the clearing and Roared so loud it could be heard miles away.
The beast in question was an Imperial tiger that is usually found in the far lands out west but this one was different, it was bigger than average and a lot more aggressive. Any normal person would get cold feet around such a beast but for Alan such was life.
He took aim from the tree branch at the tiger's neck clenching his bow tight before releasing the arrow soaked with poison he made himself. The arrow zips towards its target hitting it dead center
It seems as if the tiger itself wasn’t much troubled by the arrow but it did start running away back into the thicket. Seeing the tiger making a run for it Alan knew he should haul ass before he lost it.
Jumping from tree to tree like a monkey Alan used his second ability called “tagging” which allowed him to know the position of a living being relative to his own, to tag someone Alan just has to focus on it hard enough when he sees it. The ability has its limitations as it does not work beyond a couple kilometers and that the tag wears off after a few hours.
Like an animal himself he followed the beast and kept shooting poison arrows whenever he got a chance keeping the pressure on it. Finally the beast slowed down as the poison started to kick In, he jumped from the treetop right infront of the beast to stop him from running away knowing the beast was at its limits now.
Unsurprisingly it plunged on him the moment it saw him making Alan jump sideways in order to avoid it and just as the opportunity showed itself he let off another arrow straight into its head.
The beast was off balance now, it had lost even if the hunter didn’t kill it the poison will. Suddenly it stopped attacking the hunter and started to drag itself away but, Alan knew it was his job to finally put the beast out of its misery. He pulled out his 12 inch bowie and ran towards it only to tackle the four hundred kilogram beast down and slashing its throat killing it instantly. Here he showed his third passive ability called “Wilderness” and it temporarily gave him a massive boost in power output increasing his strength and sharpening his senses to a point he could tackle a tiger to the ground with no problem although it gave him muscle stiffness afterwards
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The poison had severely weakened the beast he judged and all that running burned away most of its stamina causing it to become docile at the end. After searching its body Alan found several scratch marks and bite wounds which it probably got from fighting all these wolves.
“It is unusual but its not unheard of imperial tigers attacking human settlements but this one really had the knack for it”
Alan went on to search the surrounding area for most of the night only to find several human corpses some new almost a week old but many looked more than a month old he made sure to keep a count of them none the less.
After examining all the corpses Alan noted that almost all of them had been attacked from behind and the fact that they were from different villages meant that the beast moved between villages as too not draw too much attention from a single one. The tiger itself had no noticeable physical deformities as to why it had gone rampaging these lands killing humans was another question, usually it was out of desperation due to some critical injury which prevented them from hunting their natural prey which was the deer, pigs, goat or even porcupines
Another odd thing Alan noted was that tigers usually hid the carcasses of their prey to protect them from scavengers but this one didn’t almost as if it didn’t matter he assumed it could be due to human body not having that much fat compared to other preys.
The sun dawned over the horizon and the young hunter started to make his way to the nearby village to inform them about the demise of the devil but while on his way he found his wolf companions again, as it appeared they had ran away back when the beast roared at them.
The leader wolf came at the front again
“the beast is no more you all can go back now” he said as he patted the wolf
The wolf nodded and went back to the pack, another wolf came forward which Alan recognized as the one he had saved the prior night, it still had an injured leg but it was more cheerful now he could tell.
He crouched down patted It on the head perhaps to thank it for the company he got even for that very limited time.
The wolf and the hunter finally went on there separate paths.
A couple hours later
The village of Sikorsky was home to around 600 inhabitants[it was one of the bigger ones] and the region the more inland you went itself had many other villages just like it largely populated by humans not to far from each other.
The village had a head who was largely responsible for communication with the outer world and other villages but sometimes in special cases like these when there is a beast loose in the forest and is killing people indiscriminately they would contact the government for support
The authorities responsible usually sent people some from the army, local law enforcement sometimes even sportspersons and put bounty up in order to get rid of the threat. Alan had delt with them too some were decent most were not professional hunters there had been a time where he had to request the constabulary to clear the area of any such people so to prevent some no good booty chaser from actually shooting him. It was a shame he thought if the governments could contact him as soon as such cases appear or any other pro hunter for that matter slot of lives could be saved instead of sending in an army detachment that are neither qualified nor have the motivation to deal with something like that
The villagers were beginning their day just as usual and didn’t pay any attention to this young foreign hunter with a bow and quiver passing by, the children playing amongst themselves or helping with work was a sight that Alan had seen many times and even watched them for hours on end at time and the little peace after every expedition made it worth every second.
“Oh look!, that’s a weird man with a hat”
“what?” Alan looks behind only to see a little boy curiously observing him as if he had never seen someone in green clothes.
“Tako!” Suddenly a woman comes rushing towards the boy only to scold him with a dead serious face.
“I have told you to not call people not from the village as weird, haven’t I?”
This did put a smile on Alan’s face
“Oh that boy is something”
“I take it not many foreigners come across here” Alan said with the same smile
“Indeed, the children are always curious whenever they see someone new here”
“I was looking for the elder of this village, any idea where I could meet him?”
“He should be nearby taking a stroll, that’s what he does first thing in the morning”
“I see, anyways thank you. I shall go now” Alan was about to walk away
“are you a hunter by any chance?”
“Indeed, I had come to the region after being informed of a wild beast running loose around here”
“You mean that beast? most stopped going out at nights due to its brutality, I wonder for how long will this continue. Good luck on your journey mister although a few had come before you they left empty handed”
Alan didn’t know how to reply to her and his mind told him to just nod the woman off and be on his way which seemed wiser to him instead of revealing that he had already killed it. The carcass would speak for itself after all
A few minutes later
“Excuse me, do you know where the head might be? I have some business with him”
“What business could you have with me” the voice from behind caught Alan by surprise
Looking the old man in the eyes just as he did Alan uttered no words but simply took out a pouch from his pocket and threw it towards the elder. The elder caught the pouch curious who this young man might be? He knew Alan was a hunter because he was carrying a bow and had enough provisions to survive in the forest alone.
The pouch as he opened It contained a canine tooth bigger than anything he had seen ever. It was real he knew it, as real as a tooth can be but he still found it hard to believe that such a young hunter had killed a beast that had many others at at a loss.
“I see, so the beast of the is dead. My name is Marcel, may I know yours Mister”
Around these parts the tradition is that When an elder person tells someone his name before asking for theirs, it is a means to show respect and Alan knows that all to well.
“My name is Alan Woodman, by profession I am a hunter I believe a request was sent a month ago from this region, about a beast attacking groups of women”
“Indeed, many of the villages did send one but it is of no use, they sends some men who are good for nothing and they stick around for a while do some guard duty before running away” the elder said in a frustrated tone
“I see, I have also marked a few dead around the area, it would be ideal if you send some people there to retrieve those for a proper burial, the carcass of the beast is also there.”
“That would be ideal, it would be hard for people to believe it Is dead without a corpse. You have my gratitude for this service”
“thank you, also please inform other villages about this too and also to not leave corpses behind especially near sources of water otherwise it would increase the risk for an outbreak”
“Why don’t you stay for a while? The people would like to meet you. The children would like to hear your story”
“I would have very much liked to, but there is important business in the city I must attend to if I leave in the morning, I could reach town by night and city the day after”
After some thinking the elder replied
“My son is also going to leave for town, if you travel with him, you could make it to town by evening”
“That would be excellent indeed”
Half hour later
“So, you are the hunter? I see! Come you can put your stuff in the back and sit at the front” the man offered with haste
A textile merchant, eh? Not bad he thought
“Very well then” Alan sat right next to the man as they started heading for the town of Benzfield
“So, for how long have you been a hunter?” the suddenness of the question caught Alan off guard
“About 7 years now I guess”
“Have you heard about the protector of the north”
“Yeah, who hasn’t these days? The hunter who hunted the rogue Sapphire dragon which came from the valley of kings. That story is very popular”
“It has been 6 years since that incident and Nobody has ever came forward to claim it making it more of a legend, if he is real I would like to meet him”
“Maybe he still roams the forest, I doubt it but honestly who knows? Even amongst us hunters many do not think he is real and that it was most likely another dragon that killed him” Alan said with ignorance in his voice
“When I was a kid a lot of hunters would come to our village for various reasons, even I wanted to be a hunter and see the world for myself but my family never approved it. They wanted me to handle the village but I wasn’t cut out for it so I became a merchant, the next best thing”
“Hunting requires an entirely different kind of discipline some do it either for the glory or the money that comes with it some do it for both but I do it because I think I understand the wilderness as much as my prey and if that can be put to good use, then its all good”
“You don’t earn anything from open requests, do you? Why take it then?”
“Some take it as means to earn fame, if the beast is big enough that is, smaller ones are sometimes handled by villages themselves, if you are lucky enough the lord of the territory might even award you a good sum and you get to keep the fur”
“You look too satisfied for being that kind of a person, I can tell fame is not really your thing”
“Well, stealth is one of my abilities”
Both chatted and laughed while the horse cart made its way to the town. Soon the evening came
“We are almost there, just one more hill and we will arrive at Benzfield”
“What was your name again?”
“you can call me Alan” he said while munching on a piece of bread his companion who he picked up a few villages earlier had left long ago for home with a group of travelers
“I think I have heard that name somewhere…….. Didn’t you also fought off a group of wyverns some time ago?”
“I have fought a lot of wyverns up north that’s basically the only the region where they are abundant enough to cause a threat”
“I guess you are not as obscure as you think, the village people are oblivious to what happens outside the village but information spreads fast with townsfolk. Tell me, are Maneaters a common occurrence out there?"
"I wouldn't say they are common but they are more common than what many might think. when I was out west a couple years ago their were as many as four that existed simultaneously"
"What causes them to behave like that?"
"For this one I am not sure. perhaps it was brought up that way, it didn't have any noticeable injuries on its body"
"You perform autopsies too?"
"Not always only when its worth it and its nothing too fancy. Say, tell me did you ever had any disease outbreak in your village or any village near you for that matter i am talking like years ago"
"Not that i really remember"
"I see That blue carpet, that’s wool right?”
“Yeah, what about it?”
“How much for that?”
After thinking for a second the merchant said “26”
Without hesitation Alan paid the merchant.
“Thank you for the ride”
The merchant and the Hunter parted their ways