Knock! Knock!

“Ahjussi you there?”

Ryn called Gideon knocking on his smithy door, which was strangely locked today.

Knock!

Knock!

No answer came from the inside.

“Is he not here today!?”

Ryn stepped back from the door, his eyes skimmed the sign above the door that had the name of the smithy, Millennium Blessed Hands.

He checked the windows at the side of the door and he couldn’t see any movements from inside.

“Wait!!” Ryn just remembered something he forgot

‘What if he went with the exploration...’

Since most prominent members with diverse expertise were chosen to be part of the exploration team, Ryn thought Gideon was probably already out of the village, only to realize he was just there yesterday fixing his dagger.

“Sigh”

Ryn sighed audibly for he was anxious about not being able to finish what he had to do before sunset, and he felt the time was passing too fast.

‘Let me just try it one more time.’

Ryn walked up to the door to knock it one last time and see if Gideon answers. But suddenly the door jolted open, he was just lucky it opened inside or else he would've slammed his face into the hard wood of the frame.

“WHO IS IT? I told you if my door is locked it means I am not working.”

Gideon opened the door furious on who was disturbing him on his resting day.

“Huh! Ryn?”

Moving his eyes down, he saw the little boy adorned in hunting clothes standing at the door.

“Yeah Ahjussi, it is me.”

“What brings you here, Ryn?”

“Ahjussi, by any chance do you m–”

“Just come in first, I don't want people to think my shop is open.”

Gideon cut off Ryn before he could finish his words and invited him inside. He didn’t want people to think he was open for work since the door opened.

That was how his smithy worked. If his front door was open it means he is open for work and when it was closed shut, it meant he was off work.

After some time passed by, Ryn came out of the smithy with a big satchel on his back, bigger than the one he had before.

‘I should hurry now.’

Ryn spurt into run after he tightly secured the satchel on his bag so it doesn’t swerve and disturb him while on the sprint.

It didn’t take him any time before he left through the open gate, and hastened his way through the farmlands outside the gates and hit the path that goes down the mountain.

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“I should take a breather here.”

Ryn arrived by the lake and decided to rest there while also planning his next move.

He could’ve just meditated to recover his energy and stamina, but that would also make him hungry and he didn’t bring any food with him this time.

And this wasn’t even that exhausting compared to his every morning regimen.

“Let me see what Ahjussi gave me.”

Ryn didn’t examine the contents of the satchel in detail when Gideon handed him what he asked for. It wasn’t that he didn’t need to check it; rather, he simply didn't want Gideon to feel disrespected and possibly take the items back.

After all, Ryn had only managed to persuade Gideon to lend him the materials by promising to bring him raw materials from a Moonhowl wolf.

“Hm, i still have time.”

After spreading the items on the shore of the lake, Ryn observed the sun and calculated the approximate amount of time he had until sunset.

Now that his plan was set he just needed to act.

‘I should start with the digging first.’

He picked a small shovel and extended it to his size.

‘I should take this one as well.’

He also grabbed a rope and put it over his shoulder, and headed towards the direction where the nest tree was. Which was the closest location to the lake on his way to where he left the bodies of the Knightshade and the kittens.

‘No one will come here right?’

Ryn turned around right before he disappeared into the trees and scanned around the lake and his tools and satchel which he left them displayed at the shore of the lake.

‘Hm! It's strangely quiet. I guess no one will take them then.’

Maybe Ryn was so used to the eerie quietness in his mind realm that he has been lately experiencing, that the stillness; eeriness and the devoid of other presence around the lake didn’t alarm him.

Ryn went on with his plan and arrived at the tree where the nest was located.

“I will be back for this one after I am done with the other ones.”

Dropping the rope there, he headed towards the bodies of the Knightshade and their mother.

His plan unfolded in stages: first, he would dig graves for the Knightshade mother and its kittens, laying them to rest before cleansing the area of blood and battle remnants. Next, he intended to transport the Moonhowl bodies to the lake for disposal and preparation.

In the second phase, his focus shifted to the Stonewrath bear and the Dreadcoil snake. Their hides, fangs, and claws held value, motivating him to carefully skin the creatures and salvage whatever worthwhile treasures lay within their carcasses just like he did with Moonhowls.

As the plan progressed, his attention turned to the SilverMist. With meticulous care, he aimed to safely lower the majestic creature from its perch using a rope, preserving its grace as he interred it near the Knightshades' final resting place.

The culmination of his efforts involved marking the grave site with Knightshade marks and remnant waste from their den, crafting an illusion of the area as part of the Knightshades' den territory.

“That's a lot of things to do, with so little time.” Ryn sighed, feeling overwhelmed from what he had to do.

"But I have to do it," Ryn steeled his thoughts.

No one was forcing him to undertake all of this; he was doing it out of his own volition.

Even with the carcasses of the Stonewrath or the Dreadcoil, he could have simply left them there to likely disappear by the next day. However, he wasn't willing to let such a valuable opportunity slip away easily.

Hailing from a hunter village and being the son of a hunter, he understood the rarity of stumbling upon such providential game that required no hunting. Thus, he was determined not to overlook or abandon it.

He planned to salvage all that he could and leave behind what was unnecessary.

"Let's get this done before sunset!" Ryn exclaimed loudly, motivating himself as he began digging right beside the Knightshade's body, where its blood had pooled.

The sun, edging towards the horizon, painted the sky in hues of amber and gold as it made its slow descent towards the waiting arms of twilight.

The landscape bathed in a warm, golden glow, casting long shadows that stretched across the earth, signaling the approaching end of the day.

Birdsong filled the air, a melodic backdrop to the sun's graceful farewell, as the world prepared to transition from the brilliance of day to the serenity of night.

For Ryn it wasn't a normal sunset, it was the time-up sunset.

This marked the end of his tasks and now it was time for him to return to the village.

“It’s almost sunset!”

Ryn looked up, surprised at how quickly time had passed, and glanced around to assess how much of his plans he had accomplished and how much remained undone.

He was done with skinning and salvaging what was valuable from the Moonhowls, even though it was unlike what he had memorized and seen in the books.

Even though the first one took most of his time, he managed to salvage both of them. However, he now didn't have enough time to do the same with the remaining carcasses of the Stonewrath and Dreadcoil.

“It can’t be helped then.”

Ryn put off whatever he was doing and sat cross legged and started meditating.

By the time Ryn was done with his meditations the crimson shape of the sun was touching the horizon and was about to go down.

“I should make it before they shut the gates.” Ryn resolved himself and spurted into a run towards the direction where the nest tree was.

That was also the direction that led to the route out of the Knightshades den territory.

RUSTLE!

Ryn skidded past the tree and grasped it to a halt, yet his subsequent actions did not hint at someone hastily departing the area.

He swiftly gathered the ropes and dashed off once more, this time veering in the opposite direction of his previous trajectory.

Moments before steadying himself against the tree, Ryn's gaze caught the paw prints of the KnightShade mother alongside the shattered eggshells - remnants of the Swiftbeak's theft from the nest the day prior.

Though intrigued by the scene, Ryn pressed on without pause, propelled by urgency. Skipping past the graves, he vanished into the dense undergrowth leading back to the original Knightshade den.

And just like Ryn disappeared into the bushes, the sun disappeared on the horizon.

CREAK!

“WAIT!!”

Hearing the sound of the gates about to be closed Ryn shouted from the distance running and heavily out of breath.

“WAIT!”