The children were still asleep. Now that they had felt safe they were more relaxed, a few more hours and they would be home. A day has already passed since they were saved. Since they were already a large group they had to travel a short distance and prepare camp earlier.
It seemed that the old man was nice to the kids, only harsh to the ones he was training. Just taking care of the kids and training was already taking time. That’s why instead of arriving earlier they were just taking their time.
They were also attacked by some wolves once, they were fended off by the old man and Simon with ease. Jedi was the one who guarded the cart.
…
“Girl, continue your pace, I will leave Simon there with you… I have to go on ahead…” the old man suddenly said. Jedi nodded… although the old man was really not clear about his ways, she had developed a strong trust with him.
Simon was on the back of the cart also sleeping along with the kids, they had grown closer to him. Still, the boy didn't open his eyes around them, he didn't want to scare them.
Jedi knew how to drive a carriage since he was taught by her parents before…
…
After a few more hours of travel, Simon suddenly sprang out into action, it spurred the children as he jumped into the front of the carriage.
“Jedi!! STOP!!!” the boy said, it seemed that Simon accounted for the distance for the horse to stop moving so she had the time.
“Boy!!! Who are you!! Those kids?!! Where did you get them” a voice suddenly came out of nowhere.
Simon was calm looking around. He was reacting to the blood lust he was feeling, using his eyes he started pinpointing the location of the voice… there were 4 of them.
“He is not human!!!” one of the voices echoed in the air, but its direction remained obscured.
They started firing arrows at Simon. The first batch of arrows was dodged by just bending his neck a little and sidestepping in one move, it spurred the hunters to fire more but it missed, all of it. The boy was dancing through the stream of arrows.
The arrows landed on the ground, Jedi saw the arrows and were familiar with them.
“Stop!! Stop!!!” she screamed. Finally, Simon’s dance stopped.
“I’m Jedi!! Jedilyn Marcia!!!” she screamed.
Simon felt the danger dispersed out of the air. Finally, the four hunters registered to the boy, he could now tell where they were and they were actually close by. The boy shuddered at the ability of these hunters to hide themselves.
Four shadows jumped down the trees, they began running towards her, although they ran at such speed Simon didn’t stop them from approaching them, he didn't feel any ill intentions from them.
“Jedilyn Marcia!?-” one of the hunters asked to confirm but her hair was enough proof, the nobles of Marcia had reddish hair, a unique trait to them. “-This is bad” one of the hunters spoke.
Simon noticed a trotting of the horse. It was the direction where the old man left. There were 2 of them riding a horse.
“Simon take Jedi away!!” the old man commanded the boy pointing his hands to the east
The boy complied carrying the girl like baggage. Kibas the leader of the hunters was riding the horse along with the old man, he had tribal clothes and ornaments hung on his neck. He whistled, and that whistle was immediately understood by the hunters.
One of the hunters rode on the carriage, he urged the horses by flicking the reigns. It provoked the horse into snorting as they immediately responded.
He checked the kids “Hold on!! Hya!!!” the children grabbed onto their seats. The children were quite shocked but the red-haired girl’s demeanor kept them calm.
The other 3 hunters with the lead of Kibas’s first arrow started firing in a direction westerly.
“Sir Alphecca… sorry for getting you in this shit,” Kibas apologized, he knew of the old man.
“No problem… this would be good training for Simon,” the old man spoke.
It must be the small kid that took Jedi away Kibas thought from the words of the old man.
From the forest emerged a hulking, sheep-like beast with an unnervingly thick coat of matted fur. It was a Kaveron. Its body was devoid of arrows, a chilling sign that either the shots had missed or, more likely, the arrows had been swallowed whole by its impenetrable hide.
But the worst thing was the things that were hanging on its neck.
“Fucking hell… it's wearing its trophies!!!” the old man said in a disgusting voice, it seemed that it would not be a simple hunt.
“It's going to chase Lady Jedi!!!” Kibas screamed.
The old man was already on his way, although the curse mark was removed by a Pam, this Kaveron was in a different league than normal ones. ‘Why the hell is this thing here anyway?’ the old man thought.
<--->
The forest inside the domain of the Marcian was large. It was almost as large as the Dark Forest and there was even a dormant dungeon that was on its northwestern side. The Marcian were originally hunters of the eastern continent.
In this domain, the hunters and adventurers that the Marcia's employed were experts and knew the forest as the back of their hands. These hunters had been working under the Marcia family for a long time now.
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A few weeks earlier. Kibas and his group of 5 hunters including him began hunting down the Kaveron. The Kaveron; was a very intelligent sheep-headed monster. (Looks like Mareep in Pokemon but has brutal facial features). The hunters had been going on for weeks even before that had tracked down the monster.
Not only it did kill the head of the Marcia family, the wife brutalized, but it was also the cause of the disappearance of their daughter.
After discovering its tendencies and speculating on its thought process, they were ready for an ambush. He sent the four hunters ahead; he would lead or even chase the Kaveron toward the direction of the ambush. Kibas had been taught to think like his prey.
He could tell that the monster understood it was being hunted, and if Kibas were the monster, he was certain the Kaveron would head to the main roads to use humans as shields. This sheep was despicable like that.
While he was getting ready he noticed an old man directly approaching him where he was hiding. He was thinking about his next actions but as the distance decreased he knew who it was, he was quite surprised to see him.
“I knew it… Kibas,” the old man said, he knew exactly where he was hiding.
“Alphecca? You are still alive?!!” to his surprise. The old man would be a great addition to the hunting.
“We found some children… I assume they're from your town,” the old man immediately informed him.
“Children… what do you mean?” Kibas wanted some clarifications.
The old man began telling him the situation.
Kibas placed his hands on his waist “... That’s bad… oh and we are in the middle of the hunt for the Kaveron,” he widened his eyes, the situation was calling for a disaster.
“You said they are coming with a carriage right?!!! (Whistles)” with Kibas’s whistle horse stomps were coming closer. “We have to warn the guys!!! They set up an ambush south!!” Kibas said.
2 horses arrived, and the old man flexibly grabbed one of the horses and rode on it, the same was done by Kibas.
“I see, we better hurry!!” the old man said but he was calm since Simon was there.
Then the two noticed on their right, to the western side of the main road (They are facing south)… a shadow moved like it was racing with them… it must be the Kaveron, was it listening to them?
<--->
Fast forward to the present.
The Kaveron was running at its peak… it was having fun… it loved hunting humans… especially the children. The red hair… the scent… it was hoping to break its bones and hear its screams and of course, a chance had appeared.
The boy was running together with its prey… the boy would be a good addition to his spoils. He could hear the adult humans screaming behind him, they were also running since they couldn’t use the horses to chase him in the forest, all by his plans. Running through the forest was a big mistake for the boy who was taking his prey.
Then the boy threw the girl far… the Kaveron immediately stopped and the boy tried to attack him… was the boy trying to be heroic? Well, crushing small boys was a pleasure the Kaveron would surely enjoy, it showed its teeth smiling.
And a sharp pain in its forward right leg. “Grahh!!!!” the Kaveron screamed in pain. One of its legs just broke.
…
A few moments back.
“Simon!!! Bait it! Don’t run!!! Buy us time!!!” the old man was screaming as the hunters together with him tried to catch up.
Simon heard this, he looked farther away… there was an open spot where there were no stones… relatively safe for Simon.
“I’ll throw you away!!!” Simon warned Jedi.
“I’m ready… KYAHH!!!” but still Jedi was quite surprised as she was thrown really far.
Simon using his feet drifted and stopped… upon confirming how the Kaveron looked he immediately aimed for its right leg. The Kaveron smiled showing its yellowish teeth, it was underestimating him.
“Jedi!!! You will kill it!!!” Simon screamed, although he was a bit asleep when Jedi told her story, understanding that the girl wanted revenge was easy for him.
Simon made the Kaveron scream with “Grahh!!!!”
Jedi gained back her feet after she stumbled around to a surprisingly grassy field that cushioned her fall, she was not hurt, her spear which was at her height was still safely on her back.
The running she had doing had been paying off. Her legs were strong enough to stand again.
“Hya!!!” She screamed as she took her spear to her hands and as she practiced a thousand times already (Literally) using her footwork, positioning, and the sweet spot. She ran making sure that her momentum and weight would be at one point. In one strike.
Simon held the Kaveron making sure that the attack won’t miss.
She broke her spear in smithereens as it hit the left fore-hinds of the Kaveron it almost made the Kaveron slip as pain spread to its body.
“Outstanding!!!” the old man screamed seeing this.
Jedi gritted as she felt the pain on her wrist… she overdid it but she did it. She checked on the aftermath of what she did the Kaveron’s eyes looming at her. The trauma was still there as she felt her knees weakening.
That was the only thing the Kaveron needed, it was gaining its composure. The spear was not enough to enter the sheep’s coat. It saw red haired face and there was fear in her eyes. The sheep smiled even though one of his limbs was in pain, it released a malicious blood lust and it made Jedi stay on her feet frozen.
Then by that chance, the Kaveron tried to claim its prey using its mouth… Jedi couldn’t move out of fear.
“I will break you,” Simon suddenly muttered, and a bloodlust that was overpowering the Kaveron stopped it in its tracks.
The Kaveron noticed the boy's eyes… snake eyes… it had never felt fear but the eyes and the bloodlust were suffocating it.
It instinctively attacked Simon, it was so easy to kill something small. Simon parried the stomp of the sheep by crossing his arms and making it graze, redirecting it, letting its limb slide on one side, then using his momentum went closer and hit the forward right limb of the sheep making sure it would never heal.
“GRAHHHH!!!” the sheep screamed its pain into the air.
Simon parried the attack but it hammered some blunt trauma on his arms.
“Break its other fore hind!!” the old man screamed and Simon followed but the sheep was already on guard with the small child and it started countering Simon’s attack by using stomps.
The boy needed to hold his ground because Jedi was behind him. He did it by defending the stomps with his arms.
The old man instantly noticed its reactions and screamed another command “Make it look up!!!” the old man instructed again.
The old man then made eye contact with Kibas, he instantly understood and stopped the hunters with a hand signal, and the hunters were in position.
Simon spun to dodge stepping in closer to the Kaveron, he used his palm strike on the sheep’s chin doing an uppercut that made its half body float in the air while its hind limbs were still on the ground, and the boy didn’t hold back.
“Fire!!!!” Kibas said as he led, they were aiming for the ears or eyes of the Kaveron as it was wailing in pain.
“The only one who can abuse the boy is me you little shit!!!” the old man was already in the air… it was a downward slash to end it all on its neck.
But the Kaveron was a genius, he still had something on his sleeve… it was an instantaneous teleport, and its fur began to glow a little… magic from its fur dispersed the sheep then disappeared instantly as the old man’s blade bled its neck.
It wasn’t that far but it was enough to escape. The arrows missed and so thus the old man’s sword.
Jedi finally lost her knees and buckled down. The old man checked on her and then checked on Simon, the boy was okay and nothing was broken but the blunt trauma was coloring the boy’s skin with dark spots on his arms.
“Does it hurt?” the old man asked Simon…
“Yeah,” the boy said rubbing his arms.
The old man then looked at Jedi’s face… she couldn’t continue now.
“That was the first time I saw it use that… bastard!!!” Kibas said as he came closer to the trio… the Kaveron’s running sound faded into the forest.
“Simon… can you track it?” the old man asked.
“I can… it's going up north,” the boy said.
The hunters were a bit surprised not sure if it was true or not.
“Boys… I will leave the boy in your care… just track it down, Simon lead them,” the old man said and he carried Jedi on his shoulders.
“What are you going to do old man?” then Kibas asked.
“I know a perfect hunter for this one,” the old man said.