It is the 4th sunshine now. The 2 are quite near to the village now. As proof, there in front of them now stands a patrol of hunters from the village. From the looks of it, the hunters are just heading out for a hunt when they tracked the 2 strangers just outside their village.
As it is, the hunters are looking at the 2 with faces painted with shock and fear. The fear is so palpable that 2 of the hunters have already nocked and aimed their bows with the rest of them not that far from it that their hands are already grabbing their bows and are only waiting for their leaders command to nock and shoot.
"What kind of demon are you?!"
The leader, Adika, challenged them. The fear and distress among the hunters are very palpable.
"Brother Adika, please, it is me, Garim!"
Garim pleaded.
"IMPOSSIBLE! GARIM WAS TAKEN BY THE HARMS! I WATCHED MYSELF AS HE WALKED THE EXILE TO SAVE THE VILLAGE! DON'T ATTEMPT TO RUIN HIS BRAVE SACRIFICE, DEMON!"
Adika screamed at them.
It is quite understandable. It has been more than 15 sunshines now. The longest recorded time for a survivor of the Harms before he lost control and started running amuck was 8 sunshines. And yet here standing and talking calmly in front of them is the same boy who everyone saw was bitten by that maddened hunter. To make matters worse, some of the hunter that escorted the boy saw the signs of the Harms starting to manifest before they left the boy alone to his fate. As such they couldn't understand what is in front of their eyes.
They could only understand that this is either a demon apparition or a ghostly specter here to take revenge on the village.
"No brother Adika, I am Garim. This powerful person has saved me and cured me from the Harms!"
Garim stepped aside and introduced Zuman towards the hunters.
Only now do hunters remember that the boy isn't alone. He has come escorted by the unknown man.
"How can that be? There is no cure for the Harms! There is only death as the end, either from succumbing to it and refusing to take water or being killed by the people around you before you inflict worse harm towards them!"
The hunters are unable to understand this new fact. Generations of watching the Harms wreak havoc have left them unable to believe that it is, in fact, curable.
"I don't understand either brother Adika. I only know that this man has saved me from dying. I owe him my life now."
Garim replied to Adika.
"Garim, move aside for now. I think it is better if I explain this."
Zuman motioned Garim to move aside. Then he continued talking.
"Adika was it? Pleased to meet you. My name is Zuman. As you have gathered earlier, I am the one responsible for curing this boy. I found him dying on my doorstep and as I dislike having to bury dead people, I went ahead and cured him. Was that understandable so far?"
Zuman explained in a very nonchalant way, as if curing something like the Harms was quite normal for him (which in all fairness, it is).
Of course, this very nonchalance itself only further fuels the disquiet among the hunters.
"Sir… Zuman, was it? You will forgive us if we find this quite hard to accept."
Adika retorted while the rest of his hunters are aiming their bows at Zuman now, perceiving him to be the bigger threat.
"It's ok. I understand perfectly, but that would leave us at an impasse now. Would you tell me how I can convince you that I mean no harm?"
"I cannot make this decision myself. I would need to….. Wait, what's…. that….. !!!!!"
Adika was halfway through his reply when they all heard the noise of something big breaking through the underbrush and heading towards them.
From afar, the silhouette is reminiscent of a bear. A very big bear it seems. And now this massive bear has managed to surprise them. Usually the hunters would have been very alert and wouldn't have let any animals come this close without any preparations, but their fear and anxiety earlier has robbed them of the alertness they usually have.
"RUN! IT'S TOO NEAR TO ENGAGE!"
Adika screamed at his hunters to run and make some distance before re-engaging the bear.
Then he noticed the 2 haven't moved from they are.
"RUN! BOTH OF YOU!"
"No need. Tsk. Annoying bear. To come crashing in when we're at an important juncture of negotiations."
Then Adika saw the man lift up the stick on his back and point it towards the bear.
"Are you crazy? That is a Crimson Fur Bear. You don't engage it in close combat unless you have a death wish!"
Adika screamed again at them.
"I have no intention at all in engaging it in close combat. Just a moment please."
The man replied him.
Then came a moment all the hunters will remember until their deathbed.
From the stick that the man is holding, came loud booms. They all only saw flashes of fire from end of the stick, as if the flames of hell itself have jumped out into this world.
None of them understood what happened.
Then, they all heard a groan. As one, all the hunters stared at the bear. This massive Crimson Fur Bear, which when standing on hind legs can reach a height of 2 adult men and is as heavy as 5 adult men, was stopped in its track, and was looking at them with anger, bewilderment and pain. Yes! PAIN! Then the bear starts to run towards them while roaring in berserk anger.
"Oh ho? That wasn't enough? Full auto it is then."
They could only hear this incomprehensible sentence from the man before he raised his wand again and pointed towards the bear.
After that, the booms and flashes from before came into being again.
They could only look at the bear as it stopped in tracks. In fact, it seems as if the bear ran into a wall before stopping. Then they could only hear a sigh from the bear before it fell over.
"That should do it then. Sure needs lots of firepower huh."
Zuman muttered to himself, while checking his rifle.
"He…. Took down…. A Crimson Fur Bear…. Alone????"
The hunters are all getting very excited about this. Even Adika, the most senior in the group could only gape at this feat.
"Ummm. Brother Adika, what is this Crimson Fur Bear. I don't recall you teaching me about it before?"
Garim asked. Adika, in his shock and awe, absent-mindedly replied to him.
"The Crimson Fur Bear is a very aggressive and very resilient bear. Usually if we encounter it, we just run away quietly. The village did manage to hunt this beast once before but it took us 2 weeks of harrying it and luring it into all sorts of traps before the beast died of exhaustion and blood loss. Our arrows do nothing to it. Oh sure, they hit and penetrate, but it's like watching rose thorns penetrate your thumb. Sure it's painful but it doesn't do much damage to you right?"
As Adika recounts this to Garim, he found himself and the surrounding hunters further horrified by this man before them.
(The whole village needs 2 weeks to exhaust a Crimson Fur Bear to death, but this man killed it in mere moments? My god, what kind of person did Garim encounter here?)
"Sir, please wait. I will go back to the village and explain matters to the elders. Would you wait here for a while as they deliberate on whether to you allow you into the village or not?"
Adika respectfully asked Zuman for his patience.
"Hmmm. No choice about it I guess. By the way, can you spare your hunters to help me in gutting that bear?"
"Sure sir. I'm sure they'll be honored to do so. You heard him men. Help him gut the bear later while I'm gone."
-
After Adika departed towards the village with 2 of his hunters as his escort, the rest started to help Zuman in butchering the bear.
As Zuman taught them the how to butcher the bear meat so that the meat stays fresh and supple, they kept glancing at the weapon slung across his back. This weapon is the one that killed the bear in such a short while.
Zuman noticed the many glances that kept shooting towards his rifle.
"If you are curious, then yes, this weapon can be used against fellow humans. I'm sure it's way more powerful against humans when compared to this bear. After all, as you all can see, the bear skin is quite thick. Though I have never found reason to use it against fellow humans."
Zuman explained casually, which of course proceeds to scare the living daylights out of the hunters present.
Garim could only gape at everything. After all, as much as he is forced to mature quickly, let's remember that he is still only 10 years old. He is again reminded just how much different is this Zuman compared to all the others he has known.
"How long do you think this Adika will take before he returns here?"
Zuman inquired from one of the hunters.
"He should be back by sunset. We only set out from the village this morning and we were pretty much taking our time when we were travelling this way."
"I see. Well then, what do you think are our chances of going to your village? I would really like to return this boy back you see. And also, I would really like to learn more about your village. It is a form of curiosity for me you see."
(You can kill a Crimson Fur Bear within moments and you want to learn from us? Something wrong with your head or what?)
The hunters present are rendered speechless by Zuman's statement.