Another night was as uneventful as they come.

Linden slept until He was no longer tired, and prepared himself for another day.

This time, He loaded his blunderbuss with round balls meant for his revolver, making it buckshot of sorts. He tied his shoes, put on his clothes and holster. He looked at his backpack, but shrugged instead of decorating his back with it.

They tried to find a kihaki pig several times already. Unfortunately, they failed every time.

On the bright side, several useful herbs and fungi were found and picked in the process, including some mustached lichen.

On a less bright side, what they already finished hunting and foraging was the easy part. Kihaki pig was quite elusive, as the boys were forced to admit.

It was pretty obvious they needed to do something differently. Like cover more ground. And so this time around, heightened mobility would be the name of the game.

Which is why, Ed wrapped his bedroll with two pieces of cord, and strapped it to his back without taking the backpack. He put some necessities into the rolled up banner of warmth and comfort, and set out to the meeting place.

Lukas was, as per usual, already waiting. "Could you come early at least once?" He asked, visibly irked off.

"I don't remember making an appointment for a specific hour."

"We were supposed to meet up in the morning."

"Morning is right now."

Lukas slumped his shoulders.

. Linden shrugged, and both boys moved towards the towns' exit. For purposes of tracking, Ed borrowed a kihaki pigs' pelt, and sniffed the lights out of it.

It still surprised him just how sharp his sense of smell could get. All scents were complex, and his nose gave him much more information than it ever could, as far as He remembered.

Honestly, He could probably compete with some dogs.

But of course, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Even the lightest stench was enough to make Edward physically recoil. Fortunately, smell of animals didn't count as overly unpleasant, or He would be very tempted to seal his nose off with wax or something.

That being said, his nose remaining clear was a good and useful thing, as was quickly proven by the fact that after several hours of walking, He caught a familiar scent. He gestured for Lukas to be quiet and on guard, and headed in the direction from which the smell felt the strongest.

It wasn't long until Lukas noticed tracks of a kihaki pig.

. 'Nice'

They continued quietly stalking their would be prey. They almost didn't notice large holes skillfully concealed within bushes.

Fortunately, wind was in their favor, and kihaki burrows were quickly sniffed out.

"So? What do we do now? Smoke them out?"

"Nah, there is no way they don't have emergency exits. Better wait until they come out themselves."

"Wind blows in our direction, they shouldn't be able to smell us. As long as we are quiet, there is no problem."

"Well, there is a little one. They are nocturnal, we'll need to sit on our asses for several hours."

Linden shrugged. "So we will. Patience is a virtue, you know?"

Lukas showed him an improper gesture. Both boys fell silent, and made themselves comfortable behind the stupidly short pine trees, which are one of a few things that are willing to grow at the kind of elevation they finally found kihaki nests at. (Honestly, It's kinda wierd to call them 'trees'. More like 'glorified bushes)

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

It was time for patience. Now, being patient isn't exactly something ten year olds tend to be particularly great at, but both Ed and Lukas knew just how much was riding on their silence.

Of course, that doesn't mean they simply waited like some twenty year old venerable elders.

It started when Linden showed Lukas his middle finger. The other boy instinctively understood what the gesture meant, and retaliated with his own. Edward couldn't simply admit defeat, especially after He started it.

There was only one direction all of this could go. Hundreds of very creative and silent insults were exchanged. It only stopped after the boys started to have trouble seeing each other’s fingers.

In other words, after it got dark.

Their attention shifted to the burrows. An animal came out of it. The kihaki pig reminded Linden of a love child between a capybara and a hog, blessed by an ant eater.

His blunderbuss was already cocked, but Linden didn't shoot. An interesting thing about kihaki pigs was that supposedly, when attacked, they would always run forwards.

If the hunter was behind the pig, it would run away. But if they were in front of it, kihaki pigs would charge the hunter.

And no one likes being charged by something that has claws long enough to scratch your back through your stomach.

Well, maybe not quite THAT long, but still.

Taking all that into consideration, Linden had to wait until the last kihaki walked behind them, and then shoot the rearmost one.

The one thing the boys forgot to consider was that once the first pig waltzed behind them, the wind would no longer work in their favor.

The leading kihaki cried out a warning, and started running.

Linden barely managed to shoot the rearmost pig when it was running away at full speed. Fortunately, He nailed his prey with a quartering away shot, so it collapsed after running around hundred steps.

The rest of kihaki pigs vanished in the darkness. It was time for some field dressing.

The boys dragged the carcass lower, and cut off a big branch off a tree. Lukas got rid of the needles and smaller branches, while Edward got to butchering the corpse. He began by cutting the stomach, careful to not damage the entrails.

He worked around the anus, and throat, so that nothing would spill when taking out the guts.

Obviously, He saved edible parts, like the heart, liver, or kidneys. Then, He skinned the thing, and wrapped the offals using pig skin.

When that was done, Lukas brought his branch over, and tied the carcass to it, in a way that allowed them to carry all of it easier.

"You know what? Walking in the darkness with all this weight on our shoulders sounds like a pain. Let's make a camp." -Lukas couldn't just admit that He deemed it a bit too dangerous, and felt so tired, He might as well have been forty.

Fortunately for him, Linden felt the same. He nodded, and the boys set their stuff aside.

Lukas went to gather firewood, while Ed stayed to guard their stuff. Once Lukas returned, they quickly built a fire, and Linden set up his bedroll. They whipped out their food, and filled their stomachs to the best of their abilities.

"Who gets the first watch?"

"Me. As you might've already guessed I'm not much of a morning person. You can use my bedroll, if you want."

Lukas nodded, and didn't waste any time trying out the relic.

Linden sat down, and focused on his surroundings. He no longer needed special circumstances to see swirls of maelodor here and there. This apparent progress encouraged him to continue training his senses.

Any foul creatures living nearby steered clear of boys’ camp, most likely due to Lindens’ eagerness in feeding the fire.

Once the night got a bit brighter, signaling coming of the dawn, Linden woke up Lukas, and went to sleep himself.

He woke up after a few hours.

The boys picked up their things, and started carefully walking in the direction of the Town of Promise.

Once they got to the butchery, it was already past noon.

Their minimum requirements for green key promotion were met.

Linden was quite surprised to see just how easy it was. This surprise lasted until he was reminded that a normal trainee doesn’t have any firearms, and even a good knife isn’t quite common.

‘Yeah, hunting a kihaki pig barehanded would be something quite life threatening.’

That being said, apparently, it was unusual to get an assignment involving hunting, due to how deadly some creatures could be if the trainee screwed up.

It was more common to assign lots of foraging, which is safer, but takes much longer.

‘I think I know who pushed things in this direction.’

Once Linden walked out of the guild building, he was proven right, as he was greeted by Nepizze.

“G’day, kid. Got your first key?”

“As you can see.” Indeed, it was hanging off his neck.

“So, what are ye gonna do now?”

“Eat something, and sleep some more.”

“I’ll go with you. I heard you live with Lisa.”

“Aye. And I heard you know each other.”

They walked over to the house.

Linden grabbed some leftover breakfast, and began eating it. Before he got to bed however, he was yet again caught by Nepizze.

“ I heard you decided to come with us”

“Well, yes. It doesn’t seem like a bad decision.”

“Good. We will be setting out in two weeks or so.”

“Wait, isn’t winter coming? Everything will be frozen shut.”

Generally travel through wilderness shouldn’t be done in freezing cold. Ask Wermacht.

“Yeah, that’s what we’re counting on. Go to sleep, and meet me at Inn’teresting once you’re done.”