Uno finally reached the end of the village. Right next to the village was a large plain filled with nothing but soil and a few trees. This was the perfect place for the hunters of the village to teach and train the new generation of hunters.
During the first few years of training, Uno and the others were only allowed to strengthen their bodies. They were taught how to beat each other up using their bodies, making their muscles grow larger and stronger.
After a few years when they got older, the youths were finally able to hold their weapons. They could either choose a sword, a spear, or a bow. Most boys chose swords or spears because that was what they considered to be manly.
The boys who didn’t perform all that well in their sparring reluctantly chose their bows as their weapon. Luckily enough, Uno was physically fortunate enough to be able to excel in using a sword. He was one of the talented youths that most hunters agreed would become a fearsome comrade in the future.
Simultaneously, they were taught the different kinds of animals they were hunting, prey and predator alike. They needed to know the difference. If not, then they could end up trying to eat a rabbit and end up waking a tiger.
Then, after teaching the boys to exert the best of their strengths, they were taught how to conceal their bodies. Most of the hunt was spent in the shadows.
‘If you were forced to fight your prey, then you already failed’, the experienced hunters reminded the boys.
One of their teaching tests was when an experienced hunter sat in the middle of the field, and the boys would try to sneak up on him. If they made a sound, the experienced hunter would know who it was and where they were without even opening his eyes.
After a few years of training, Uno and the rest of the youths were nearing the day when they would be allowed to join the hunting sessions. All of them were excited, especially Uno since he knew that it was his responsibility to hunt deer for his family.
He couldn’t let his mother wake up in the night to search for food anymore.
Uno walked up to the group of youths who he considered his friends. But recently, they started showing their backs to him. Whenever he tried to speak to them, they would only reply with a few words and turn away from him.
He wasn’t stupid. He knew that it was because everyone considered his father dead. Without a father to provide for their family, they were already considered as damaged goods. It was only a matter of time till they all died of starvation.
Even though it didn’t make sense, the other children didn’t want to catch their ‘curse’. So, they kept their distance from him even though they were once the best of buddies. Practically nothing changed, but unfortunately, everything did.
“Hey,” Uno tried to talk to them despite their attitude towards him.
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However, they just ignored him. Uno thought this was weird because yesterday, they at least gave him a nod as an acknowledgment. But now, they treated him as if he was air.
Uno couldn’t ask them why. He was fully isolated from everyone. Not even the experienced hunters who he considered his teachers ever spoke to him. They only gave him the smallest of teaching moments as if they were forced to.
“Okay, boys. I know all of you are excited since we are nearing that fateful day,” the instructor said as he looked on at the boys sitting cross-legged in front of him. His eyes looked at each one of his students, but when he got to Uno, his eyes just glazed past him.
“However, you are all still not ready. The wilderness is not a playground like training. It is a real battlefield where any of you could die at any moment. Are you ready to die?”
The rest of the boys shook their heads. “No, sir!”
“Good! For today’s lesson, I want to show you that preparation is half the battle. If you have prepared enough, you can even hunt a bear without moving a muscle!”
Uno’s eyes gleamed with excitement when he heard that. It was exactly what he needed. Hunting a bear without fighting and risking his life was the best thing he could do for his family. He needed to hunt without dying.
If he died, his family would have no one to depend on.
When his father left for the mountain, he made sure to pass on the torch to him. He was the only man left to make sure that the family was safe and sound. He needed to hunt and provide while his father braved the harsh and cold mountain for a cure for Quatro.
His father had a mission, and he had his. He made sure to keep his ears open to learn this technique that the instructor was trying to teach them.
“That’s right. The preparation of a Spike Trap is essential to hunting predators and animals that you cannot defeat with your strength.”
The instructor then walked backward and stopped after 5 steps. Without looking back, he pulled his left leg back and lightly touched the ground behind him. Uno didn’t know what he was doing because there was nothing different with the soil. Everything was uniform.
However, as soon as a little bit of pressure was put on the soil, it collapsed into a pit filled with dangerous spikes. All the boys gasped when they saw this. Even they didn’t see that trap behind the instructor.
It was the perfect setup. This was something that could even catch a bear!
Uno couldn’t help but praise the instructor for his skill. He couldn’t help but get excited at the fact that he would be learning this trap from the best of the best.
“Now boys. It’s your turn to show me your Spike Trap. Show me that you are prepared to join our hunt, the hunt of men! If I deem it to be good, then you can join the hunt tomorrow!”
As soon as the instructor’s words finished, the boys got up from their seats and started to grab the equipment and spikes gathered on the ground. They moved with purpose and speed as if this wasn’t the first time they were doing this.
Uno was the only one left sitting on the ground. He was left speechless. He thought that the instructor was just about to teach them how to construct the trap. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the instructor just sent them to do the trap as if they already knew how to do it!
And after a few seconds when he saw that the other boys were already digging holes on the ground, he realized that they did know how to do it! But how?
Uno never missed a single class. He was there in the morning and left with the others as the sun fell to the horizon. So why was he the only one who didn’t know how to do it? Was he the only one left out?
When Uno looked over to the instructor, he noticed that he already left. He couldn’t find him anywhere. There was no one he could ask what was happening.
Uno needed to know how to do the Spike Trap. If he failed this class, then he would be left behind in the village as the rest of the boys join the men in their hunt. That can’t happen! Uno needed to be a hunter, now!
“How do you do this?” asked Uno to the other boys. However, they just ignored him. They were extremely focused on their assignment. They didn’t let their focus be broken because of him.
“Tsk.” One of the boys, who was considered to be one of the top future hunters in the class, berated Uno for trying to disrupt other people. “Shut up, Uno. If you can’t do a simple Spike Trap, then just return home to your mother’s breasts!”
Uno glared at Tucko. Since the beginning, both of them have been rivals. Before Uno showed his talent as a hunter, Tucko was the one considered to be the next elder hunter, the guy who led the whole hunt. However, Uno showed an even greater talent than him, so Tucko was pushed to the side.
Because of that, the Tucko had always been bitter about it. He would tease Uno all the time. He never got too far though.
Only when the whole village found out that his father died on the mountain that everything changed. He lost his friends, and his enemies got even fiercer.
“Blame your father, Uno. He’s the one who’s supposed to teach you how to create a Spike Trap.”
Uno bit his lip. Because his father left for the mountain, he didn’t have the time to teach Uno everything about hunting. That included creating the Spike Trap.