A year has passed since we last saw kou.
And the time has finally come for him to go on his first hunt.
However the continent of Versa'al has never been one to remain silent and peaceful. The Raju Express have started to hire mercenaries in mass, to the point that even several officials of the Aseriul Empire have been ordered to keep their eyes on this suspicious activity.
4 months earlier during the summer festival within the wildfire plains, the Raju Express sent endless streams of caravans through the desert hoping to overwhelm the purple eyes with sheer numbers.
The Kuh however used their knowledge of the desert to aid them in their desperate struggle to keep the outsiders away from the vicinity of the ruins.
The last thing they needed was to have a outsider catch even a mere glimpse of the ruins.
That would truly lead to disaster.
As one could imagine, it was a very tense time in the village.
A crowd was formed in the inner ring as Elder Ru talked to the crowd.
"These outsiders have no idea what their folly is capable of causing! We cannot let them get near the ruins!"
Many of the crowd in the inner ring agreed with the Elder.
....
For most of the year Kou did morning training, read countless books, and bullied Rufra simply because he liked to look at his crying face...
In order to become an adult within the Kuh, you must go on a total of 3 hunts during different times of your life.
The first hunt is usually conducted at the ages of 7-10, and is more of a group type of activity than a real solo hunt. Dipping their feet in the water so to speak.
The second hunt is conducted at the age of 13-14, the participants this time however are split into a buddy system. For the next few years you will be stuck training, fighting, and eating with your partner. This is done to help give the young a motivation to advancing their strength in this perilous time.
The third hunt is the last and final test of adulthood in the village, It is the most dangerous of the hunts, a complete solo hunt, no one will be supervising you or will have your back. In order to pass the third hunt, you must at least bring back 2 E ranked monsters, or 1 D ranked.
Normally the first hunt is supervised by a team of 3 adults, normally the village chief will always accompany the youths on their first hunt.
However dragging around a wounded man with a group of youths would be like ringing a dinner bell for all the creatures that roam the area.
....
A lone caravan entered the outer reaches of the desert of the forgotten one, not full of common goods, but that of armed men.
Distinctive sounds of a group of Kyr (A type of tamed giant lizard often used as mounts within the desert. ) could be heard as they shouldered the extra weight of the armored men as it added to the already heavy sand wagon.
The stench of sweat could be smelt as it lingered in the air, the soldiers hiding within the caravan had all chosen to wear a type of plate mail armor that still allowed fluid movement of the joints, although it wasn't very heavy the desert is a very unforgiving place to the unprepared. And they had been given a contract that if they succeeded they would have enough coin to join the ranks of nobility how could they back out now?
"Kagr."
"Krga."
Their webbed feet dug into inches into the sand with with lifeless eyes as every step brought the caravan closer towards the uncharted territory of the purple eyes.
The Elders of the Raju Express have had enough, this time the Raju Express would strike back against those damnable purple eyes even if it cost them a arm or a leg.
....
The supervisors for this hunt would be increased from the original 3 to 5 for added safety measures. The last thing they wanted was to repeat last years failure of a hunt.
On this hunt a couple familiar faces will be joining us.
Mae, Rik, and cry baby Rufra.
Once the skyfire was midway within the sky, the familiar voice of Kal the demon resounded throughout the meeting area near the west section of the outer ring.
"Today we shall be taking you all on your first hunt." He said as he indicated with a hand gesture to his surrounding companions who would be also supervising this hunt.
"In honor our our leader who is unable to come here due to injuries.. I shall say his piece for him."
"The greatest dishonor is dying before your enemy does."
"No one is allowed to act stupid understood?" Kal said it almost too perfectly as if he had imitated Rai many times before.
The small group of youths nodded their heads, this years batch was one of the smallest, compared to last years this one would only have 4 youths in total.
Mae, Rik, Rufra, and Kou where the only ones who would be going on this hunt.
The small group and their 5 supervisors headed out of the western gate of the village.
Kou ran little bit ahead of the group, as he left through the gate upon exiting the village he could feel the burning sensation of the sand between his feet, finally he would be able to go on a adventure!
... Even if it was a supervised hunt..
"KOU! GET BACK IN LINE NOW." He called he was visibly angry by Kou's recklessness.
Kou sheepishly turned around and let out a sigh as he returned to his spot, still enjoying the sensation of sand between his toes.
The first hunt would normally be taken in the safest hunting ground of the Kuh, however due to the appearance of last years void serpent, Kal and the others decided against going there for this hunt.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
Today they would be going to the western hunting grounds, E through D ranked monsters could be found within these grounds as well as some of the original species of the desert.
....
The western hunting grounds were 7 hours away from the village and naturally this would be an overnight ordeal.
The other reason of choosing the western hunting grounds was the fact that none of the outsiders have ever been spotted entering it.
As they continued to walk among the countless sand dunes which made up the entirety of the desert of the forgotten. Kal had decided to 'impart' some knowledge about the hunting grounds to the youths.
"Within the western hunting grounds, there are some creatures you should watch out for if you ever enter the area without us guarding you," Kal said as he paused for a brief moment to rub some sand from his eyes before the expression of relief showed on his face.
Continuing.
"The lowest grade monsters in the western hunting grounds are mostly E ranked, the highest ever seen here is D ranked. Some of the E ranked monsters include, emerald lizards, Sand Spiders, and Sand Eaters."
"The D ranked monsters are; Rock Salamanders, and Ivory Sand Locus."
"For your first hunt we will be aiming for E ranked monsters only, if we do encounter any D ranked monsters I or one of the other supervisors will deal with them accordingly." As Kal said this he was currently staring directly at Kou, who was happily kicking the sand with his feet at Rik who was steadily starting to grow annoyed.
"What?" Kou said as he noticed Kal staring at him.
Sighing, Kal continued to move on as he continued with the dangers of the desert 'speech'.
"Emerald lizard's skin are as hard as sandstone bricks, giving their hide the toughness of stone but the weight and flexibility of common leather. This is why most of the warriors in our tribe use Emerald lizard hides for our armor."
"One single emerald lizard is able to be made into 2 sets of emerald lizard armor if handled by a skilled leatherworker and tailor." Mae, looked excited as Kal explained this. She has always liked the green colored armor most of the people within village would wear. Hoping one day to have her own.
"Sand Spiders, are one if not the most annoying monster to deal with as they often burrow themselves within the sand much like the Void Serpents method of hunting, waiting for the prey to come to them. The one thing you must watch out for are their extremely long fangs, while the venom isn't deadly, it isn't something you will enjoy."
"KOU KNOCK IT OFF!" Rik yelled as his patience had finally broke.
Kal turned and gave Kou a glare as he instantly stopped kicking sand at Rik while pretending to whistle as if he had done nothing at all.
"Kou, knock off your crap or I will send you back to the village with Ruka. Am I understood?" Kal said as he continued to glare.
"AM I UNDERSTOOD?" Kal said in a loud voice as he waited for an answer.
"Y-yes." Kou said as he reluctantly gave in.
The sounds of Mae giggling could be heard, as Kou instantly gave her a glare.
All she did in response was stick out her tongue and go "Bleh!".
The soft mumble of Rufra could be heard as he whispered the words to himself, "Bout time he got in trouble." A hint of a smile could be seen on his face.
"As I was saying. Ah where was I." Kal stood there thinking for before having an ahah! moment.
"Sand Eaters, are one of the easiest monsters within the western hunting grounds to handle, As their name implies they eat sand and usually mope around during the day only moving at night. they can be anywhere from the size of a small dog to that of a Kyr in size."
"Although their size is usually used to deter predators, they are actually rather defenseless."
"We will be reaching the hunting grounds soon, no more whispering among yourselves." Kal said as he made a signal to hush with his finger.
As they entered the western hunting grounds Kou's heartbeat began to skyrocket as the boring journey here was worth it, this would be a real adventure!
Minutes of silence soon turned into hours.
Not a single monster in sight.
Kal turned towards the group and whispered.
"This is very strange, we would have normally at least encountered a Sand Eater or a Emerald Lizard by now."
To his right Ruka also spoke up. "I've never seen it so silent here before, what happened to cause this?"
"I am unsure but be sure to remain by the supervisors you four." Kal said as hint of worry appeared on his normally stoic face.
Signaling Ruka and the others to follow, Kal continued his way onward deeper into the reaches of the western hunting grounds.
....
As the Kyr struggled to pull the sand wagons that made up the caravan, the soldiers inside have almost reached a baking point.
Finally removing their armor before dying from heat stroke although this was a dangerous move as it left them defenceless in the act of an ambush.
Relief, sweet relief.
The caravan halted, setting up camp for the night. Traveling through the desert wasn't a quick process, It was through much trial and error that the Raju Express found this route which decreased half the traveling time between the Aseriul Empire and the Valros Kingdom.
They had the option of going around the desert of the forgotten doing so would take them almost a year, which was an unsatisfactory amount of time for the merchants of the Aseriul Empire.