Evelyn raised her weapon until it was at eye level.
Turning to her hands, Evelyn sees the string of her bow become taut. Her hand was steady but the arrow on the string was slightly shaking.
Evelyn takes a deep breath and calms herself.
Bob was beside her observing the same animal she was hunting.
The two of them were hunting an important creature. It was also going to be their dinner.
Observing their prey, Evelyn aims the bow at her target, an adult goros. The goros was a boar-like creature that had a nifty evolution. Unlike the regular boar, the goros evolved in a way that allowed it to draw a lot of adrenaline from its body when in danger. With the power of their evolution, the goros can easily escape from dangerous predators or kill their dangerous predators due to enhanced strength, stamina, and speed.
Michael rarely hunted these creatures due to the hassle and dangers they presented. Today was a different case. As part of their training to kill the Draco, Michael told Evelyn to practice her bow and arrow skills while looking for a creature called the goros. He described its appearance to her so she could easily find it.
Whatever it was for, she didn’t know.
Despite not knowing, Evelyn still did what Michael told her to do. She knew that Michael was creating a plan to kill the Draco. What it was, she didn’t ask. Despite not asking, Evelyn knew that Michael would fill her in when it was needed.
All she needed to do for now was focus on the task at hand.
Once again, Evelyn looks at her bow. The string was taut with unreleased strength. For a moment, there was silence then Evelyn let go of the string.
The stone arrow flies through the air without much resistance. It glides through the air and the goros squeals in pain as the sharpened tip pierces its body. The goros immediately runs away.
“Fuck.”
Evelyn missed the goros’ vital organs by a few inches. Bob facepalms as Evelyn fails to kill the goros in one strike, forcing them to chase it.
The two of them grab a nearby vine and swing forward.
The goros ran at a speed that did not fit its girth and weight.
Evelyn held the bow with one hand while her mouth was biting on an arrow. She used her free arm to swing through the forest.
The goros is quick but the forest’s roots and trees prevented it from running in a straight line. It slows down every once in a while, allowing Evelyn and Bob to catch up.
Swinging forward with enough force to lift her past the trees, Evelyn sees the plains.
FUCK!
As the Goros quickly approached the plains, Evelyn’s chances of successfully hunting it were slowly going down. She needed to put it down right now.
As the gap between the hunter and the hunted kept getting smaller and smaller, Evelyn started to look for an angle. She was above and behind the creature so she needed to find a way to pierce its back and strike its lungs. Once the arrow punctures both of its lungs, the creature would fall to the ground dead.
While mid-air from a vine swing, Evelyn takes out two more arrows and puts them in her mouth. Jumping off the vine she was holding on to, she immediately grabs another and continues the chase.
As they approach the plains, Evelyn finds that her chances of hunting the goros are getting slimmer and slimmer.
She kept looking for angles and eventually saw the edge of the forest. Then she sees a large tree that has a branch that’s leaning to the side, which reaches past the edge of the forest.
That’s it!
Once Evelyn lands on the large tree, she quickly runs through the branch. For a moment, she stops giving chase and simply runs through the curving branch.
Evelyn sees the end of the large branch. She pushes her body and runs at full speed then jumps at the end of the branch and catches a vine. Using her momentum, Evelyn swings forward. When she’s about to reach the end of her swing, Evelyn lets go of the vine and her body flies forward.
For a short moment, Evelyn flew through the air and allowed her to see the goros’ flank.
Time seems to slow down as Evelyn’s mind works overtime. She immediately notches her three arrows. Each arrow was meant to pierce three different vital spots, the goros’ lungs, heart, and spine.
Then she lets loose the barrage.
The three arrows fly towards the goros and strike their target.
The goros’ sprint was suddenly stopped and it falls to the ground, tumbling and rolling forward. At the same time, Evelyn lands on the ground with grace. Slowly standing, Evelyn looks at the dead goros then she turns to look at Bob, whose jaw was hanging down in surprise.
Then she widely smiles.
“Hehehehe.”
Bob makes happy noises.
“THAT WAS SO CO-”
Bob shushes her.
Evelyn gives the little monkey a sheepish smile. She immediately signs.
+THAT WAS SO COOL!!!+
Despite shushing her, Bob agreed with Evelyn. He was just as excited. He wanted to jump up and down as well.
He signs back to her.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
+Cool jump!+
Bob mimicked it by jumping up and down on Evelyn’s shoulder.
Evelyn chuckled.
“Okay okay, that’s enough. Let’s tie this thing down before something decides to steal our meal.”
Bob nods.
Evelyn stored her bow then she pulled out a length of rope. Usually, Michael or Evelyn would butcher their hunts to make the travel back home easier but in this case, Michael specifically told Evelyn not to butcher the goros.
This order confused Evelyn. She would still follow Michael’s orders but it still annoyed her.
Easier said than done…
After securing the goros, Evelyn kneels forward and slowly lifts the heavy creature. Wild boars on Earth had an average weight of 75 to 100 kilograms. The goros was a creature that had a similar appearance to it and weighed ever so slightly more compared to Earth’s wild boars.
Evelyn struggled for a bit but after safely raising the boar, she starts to move swiftly. It’s not quick enough to be considered a jog but enough to be considered brisk walking.
If Michael saw Evelyn’s feat of strength, he would be surprised since the distance between the plains and the waterfall was not a short walk by any means. If Evelyn continued to brisk walk at this pace, it would mean that her body was slowly reaching the next step of human evolution.
While Evelyn continued to walk, Bob hung from her side which was a bit uncomfortable but this was the best they could do for now.
The two continued their trek back home.
----------------------------------------
Michael finished tying up a long length of reinforced rope to a tree branch. The rope was taut and the moment it was released, the tree branch it was tied on would snap forward, capable of unleashing a bone-shattering strike.
Despite this trap, that was not its main purpose. Michael turned his eyes to the sharpened pieces of wood attached to the edge of the tree branch. They were made out of a weak material but with enough force, at least stronger than Michael’s arm strength, it could wound the Draco.
Finishing this trap, Michael turns around to survey the booby-trapped forest.
Looking at his handiwork, he finds that the forest looks exactly as it was before he filled it to the brim with traps.
Michael was satisfied with his work. This didn’t mean that he could fool the Draco or equally dangerous creatures which had sharper senses compared to humans, especially if they evolved. But if the Draco was panicking or angry, the traps might just hit their target.
After checking the traps, Michael turned his head towards the north.
Evelyn is hunting a goros. That’s good. If she gets one, it increases our chance of winning. I already have a supply of midnight stamen extract. The sacks of flour took time but I’ve prepared those too. And… if I’m desperate… I can use that stone…
Michael thought of all the preparations and was thinking of how it wasn’t enough.
No. This is just the right amount of preparation.
The Draco was still the most powerful creature on the planet. If he relaxed even a bit on any of their preparations, they might die. That’s not the worse part. If Michael’s theory, that other humans will be coming to Teremarae is true, then they really need to kill the Draco. It was the only way to protect incoming humans.
Following the forest floor, Michael observed the telltale signs of his deadly traps.
On a nearby tree, there was a hidden net full of clay pots that were filled with flour. If Michael timed it right, he could cause an explosion that would damage the Draco’s body. If Michael caused the explosion inside a tightly enclosed area and he had enough flour, he could vaporize the Draco’s body.
Underneath an area with thick foliage, which most animals avoided, was a spike trapped tipped with venom that didn’t lose much of its potency in the open air.
A large tree had a hole in its trunk which contained a rope that anyone could pull. Once the rope was pulled, a crudely sharpened piece of metal attached to a heavy rock would fall from the tree. Using its weight and the force of gravity, the sharp metal could cause serious damage to the Draco.
There were other lethal traps as well and other less advanced but still useful traps present everywhere else.
Michael slowly made his way out of the forest, remembering all of the traps he set, an advantage given to him by his superhuman body and mind.
In the distance, Michael hears the roar of the Draco.
You’re becoming a father now, huh?
Michael frowned a bit. He knew that the creature was a danger to his future but he also felt bad killing a creature that was far more intelligent than any normal animal.
If it was a bit more intelligent… maybe I could negotiate with it… find a compromise… a middle ground where I don’t have to watch behind my back every second of my life.
Then Michael thought of Evelyn and Bob. He couldn’t bear to see them get hurt or worse, die. Bob was his best friend and Evelyn was a friend.
The Draco would not be merciful even if it knew what that concept meant. It had its offspring to think off and because of that, it would kill Michael and Evelyn in a heartbeat.
Despite knowing that, Michael also knew that he was more intelligent than the Draco.
Was there a way he could let the creature live without endangering them?
After a bit of thinking, Michael shakes his head.
No.
That was the answer that Michael got.
If he lets the Draco go, it would spell their doom.
Steeling his resolve, Michael exits the forest with purpose.
He eventually reaches the waterfall. The elevator was not at the bottom which meant that Evelyn was already back.
Looking up, Michael sees that the sun was still high.
This early? She managed to hunt a goros this quickly. That’s good. It means, she’s getting better.
Since the elevator was on the top, Michael took a long walk up the staircase.
Once on the top, Michael sees Evelyn relaxing on a naturally carved stone chair. He also sees the body of the dead goros by her side. As per his instruction, Evelyn left the creature intact.
When Evelyn sees Michael, her face brightens and she smiles.
Evelyn quickly calls out to Michael and waves her hand.
“Michael!”
Michael can’t help but smile at Evelyn’s energy. He walks towards her
“So, I got this thing and…”
Michael notices Evelyn’s excitement.
“I DID THE COOLEST SHIT EVER!!”
Michael raises an eyebrow and gestures for her to continue.
“Okay okay, I was hunting the goros right?”
Michael nods.
“Then I failed on my first shot.”
Evelyn moved her body as if she was reliving the moment which simply made Michael amused.
“After chasing it for a bit, I finally reached the edge of the forest…”
Michael continues to listen to Evelyn while she recounts her amazing experience. Evelyn finishes her story. The whole time she was telling her story, Bob was on the side nodding, laughing, and making monkey noises. Michael was just smiling, nodding, and gesturing for Evelyn to continue.
Once she was done telling her story, Michael talks about the task at hand.
+The goros’ body has a special evolved organ that provides it with an extremely large amount of adrenaline. If we extract it while it’s still warm, we can get a large amount of pure adrenaline.+
“Ooooh… so we’ll be doping against the Draco?”
Michael is surprised to find out that Evelyn, the amateur athlete, is not against drugs.
+Who would’ve thought that the athlete would be interested in drugs?+
“Are you kidding me? There are the druglympics! It was created when humanity managed to figure out how to create almost effect-free drugs. Athletes wanted to see how far we can really go if our bodies. Aren’t you curious to see top-tier athletes perform in top condition but also be boosted by body-enhancing medicines? It was 90% safe except for the few idiots who brought in illegal military grade-drugs.”
Michael was stunned. He was such a hermit in his previous life that he knew nothing of sports except the ones shown in the news.
+Okay? And… you were a drug athlete?+
Evelyn shakes her head.
“To be even considered as a drug athlete, there were strict criteria that you needed to follow. One of them was being extremely physically fit. I did not fit those criteria.”
Michael was confused by that.
“Oh, don’t mind it. I had an accident that deemed me physically unfit.”
Michael nods.
+With your current body, you could probably overpower most people in that contest.+
“Hey, don’t underestimate them! With a peak physical body and the power of drugs, humanity managed to top its records repeatedly.”
Michael sees how fired up Evelyn was and decides that this was not an argument he wanted to deal with.
+Anyway, we’ll be using the goros adrenaline to remove any exhaustion and strengthen our body when fighting the Draco.+
“Is that it?”
Michael smiles then he shakes his head.
+The goros adrenaline was just something we didn’t have. We have more drugs in the storage room that can help us.+
“Wait… you always had them??”
Michael nods.
“Then why haven’t we used them before??!”
+Because they have nasty side effects?+
“Oh.”
+Yep. But despite that, the risk is worth it if we can kill the Draco. Also, the side effects will mostly affect you unless your divine gift also prevents you from feeling sick.+
“What about you? Won’t you feel just as bad?”
Michael smirks.
+Nope, you seem to forget, I’m not a normal human. I can resist the side effects better now but due to that, they also won’t strengthen me as much as they would strengthen you.+
“Wait, that’s not fair!”
Michael shrugs.
+Well, it is what it is. Now.+
“Now?”
+You carried the goros here before nighttime. I’m impressed. You’ve definitely become stronger.+
Evelyn blushes a bit when her strength is praised.
“Hehe, thanks.”
+Now, I need to see how strong you’ve become as part of our preparation.+
“Okay? How will we do that?”
+Dodge.+
“Wha-”
Evelyn feels a force strike her stomach as Michael kicks her.
+Well, that was a bit slow.+
Gasping a bit, Evelyn curses Michael.
“Fuck you, Michael.”