The next day he took a life.

He needed to be sure he could feed himself if he was in the wilderness. He still had enough supplies, but he needed to be able to take a life, if necessary. This would help him become used to the sight of blood.

He accessed basic bow instructions. Luckily he had some experience with bows at a summer camp. But it was a small amount of experience that hardly helped at all. So he took out his bow and quiver from his storage pouch. He tied the quiver to his waist, and strung the bow.

He began by loosening himself up. Then he began moving into the stances. Once he did that, he acted out his movements without the bow. Deciding it was time to try using the bow, he picked it up and nocked an arrow. Sighting in on his chosen target, a tree, he let loose.

The arrow struck, trembling in the wood. He stepped back a meter, and shot again. It struck, but was a bit off target. He decided to aim for his first arrow. Another meter back, aim, release. He was off by a smaller amount. Another meter back. Another. Another. By the time he ran out of arrows, his arrows had started to appear as if they were in a group.

Dahe collected the arrows. Bow in hand he strode through the forest, keeping an eye out for signs.

It was a few hours later when he found one. A fresh trail suggesting an Odoco was not too far ahead. He began to step carefully, reviewing his information on traveling through forests quietly. Foot placement, avoiding bruising against branches. He finally saw it after nearly an hour. It had its head down chewing on leaves of a nearby tree. Its horns were distinctive enough to give it away.

Dahe moved slowly, walking heel to toe, breathing evenly. When he was finally at a range he felt confident, he paused.

Breathing in and out he tried to focus his mind on nothingness. Without thinking, he stretched the bow out, pulling the nocked arrow towards him while pushing the bow away with the other arm. Meditating on nothingness, he aimed for what his information told him was the best target on the Odoco.

Release.

The shot didn’t hit perfectly, the Odoco was startled and wounded. Its blood was gushing out, and it ran in the direction it was facing, sprinting out of sight in a moment.

Dahe stood, a grim look on his face, and began following the Odoco at a trot. It was a pace he could keep up for hours. He followed the trail of blood as the wounded animal tried to escape. Finally the trail showed the Odoco was losing its strength and would die soon. He found it, collapsed to the ground. It tried to thrust its horns at him, but he caught them quickly with a single hand. Using his strength he wrenched the head back, and using his other hand cut its throat with his knife.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The Odoco finally died. Dahe kneeled, and rested his hand on its head. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. He decided then and there, that he would kill swiftly. To prevent needless pain. To people or animals.

He rose, and began to get to work. His knowledge was from a book, but he intended to do the best job he could. He began dressing the beast, according to the instructions. An afternoon later, he had the parts separated and wrapped in leaves he had found in the nearby forest. They would help preserve the meat. Everything he thought he could possibly use, he kept.

After packing his kill up in his rucksack, he marched on, intending to set up camp far enough away from the smell of the blood.

That night, he roasted a portion of Odoco meat over the fire, having seasoned it liberally. As he chewed on the delicious meat, he felt he had begun to become acclimated to being a citizen of this world, rather than his former one.

It was two days later that he finally began to approach the sect. He felt that he was ready, and that he could pass as a citizen of the world.

The first time he realized he was getting close, was when a voice called out to him. “Halt.” He stopped and looked around, finally seeing someone high up in a tree. He faced the person in the tree and gave him a bow. “Hello, brave warrior. I am Dahe Feng Ji, and I have come here, hoping to join the Flowing River Sect.”

“Dahe Feng Ji,” the sentry snorted, “and why do you want to join?”

“I have heard of the greatness of The Flowing River Sect!”

“Cease your nonsense. Why?”

“I have been told of the attitude of The Flowing River Sect, and found myself admiring it. And I also hoped to learn from Spear Master Fusang.” Dahe tightened his grip on his spear, to show he was serious.

“Yes, that’s reasonable. However, one of the things this sects values is patience. Do you have the patience to wait?”

“I do.”

“Very well. You may proceed, go towards the left of this tree, and walk straight forward. After a while, you will meet another sentry. If you do not, I will be forced to believe you have ulterior motives.”

“I bow to you great warrior, and will do as you say.” Dahe bowed once more, and walked in the direction he was told. A little ass kissing never hurt.

After walking a while he was met by another sentry. “Greetings great warrior. I have been told to come here to meet a sentry.”

“That’s me. You will wait here while someone comes to receive you. While we wait, we will talk.”

The second sentry questioned Dahe about what he knew, where he was from, and what his life was like before. Luckily the goddess had prepared a suitable background.

He was from an average town, somewhat far from the Sect, but not overly so. He had grown up with a father in a trade, but he hadn’t gravitated to it, so he began looking around for something else, and found the local martial arts teacher was a spear user. So he would watch him. Finally he tried joining. And found himself liking it, even though other students thought it boring and repetitive. Unfortunately his father and mother died, leaving behind a sad orphan. He had nothing else to do, and no apprenticeship, so his spear teacher recommended joining the Flowing River Sect. Because he had some talent with the spear.

His teacher’s name? Mei Ren.

The sentry had never heard of that person. Well, it’d be a miracle if they did, because Dahe had just made the name up.

The questions continued on, confirming his education, as the son of a person with enough money to be somewhat comfortable, but not well off. Finally, the escort arrived, and he was allowed in. He bowed again to the second sentry and then to the escort after being introduced. Then followed the escort in.