Kurtan's group haven't been that far from the shed when they heard the little beggar's voice.
"So fast!?"
Wey flew together with Jeram. Both of them were lightweight so they have no problem lifting themselves up from the ground. Meanwhile, Kurtan and Tawn ran while reducing their weight. Tawn is not fat but instead, tall.
Wey and Jeram didn't care about the little beggar that much. Although they wouldn't like to see a dead kid being mauled down by a predator, they were more driven by the possibility that their game could've been taken away.
When they reached the place, they couldn't be more surprised by what they saw.
"Help me!"
The little beggar came running towards them in a frantic manner. As his looks suggested, there was a predator that came to attack their shed. However, they already saw the dead panther before the shed.
What happened?
Stopping their thoughts, Elihim "tripped" and fell onto the ground with a plop, "signifying his weakness" Blood covered him. It should be obvious that the blood came from him, however, the truth is far from their thoughts that they didn't doubt.
"Is that dead?"
Jeram cautiously went towards the black panther and inspected to see that it was ridden with injuries which it might've caused its death.
"Senior... that beast just came out of nowhere, already injured. It tried to take the dead boars... but... but..."
Elihim explained with tears on his face. He seemed so genuinely terrified that he was unable to continue speaking. Furthermore, what he noticed right now was that no one helped him stand up after tripped down.
'None of them care about me at all, do they...? There's no point in asking, the answer is pretty obvious.'
"That panther must be an escapist from another territory, probably from our Senior Reformers." Kurtan guessed but he found something very sketchy.
"This kid is very lucky..." Tawn commented in a low voice.
"Yeah, for the only predator out here to find him, he's pretty lucky." Jeram said in a joking and sarcastic manner.
"Hm, it should've been attracted by the scent of the free meat lying around."
Wey guessed and before Jeram could comment, she continued with a matter-of-fact tone.
"I mean, the scent of blood."
"True, hunting is more complicated than I thought." Kurtan spoke which attracted some questions.
"I thought Uncle Kurt has experience in this?"
Jeram asked but Kurtan only shook his head.
"No, this is the first time that the academy has had this kind of event in the wilds. Maybe, they realized that we are too sheltered."
Getting his pride hit, Jeram found an excuse.
"Sheltered? There is no war, I think it's more important to increase our value as Imagis rather than on the battlefield. Fighting isn't everything."
'Yep, they're sheltered...' Elihim commented in his head but he knew well why the academy decided for this kind of hunting event. Although they would hunt, which Kurtan is actually experienced, not in this natural environment. Previously, the experts would take care of the mass hunting while the students will just battle the beasts that the experts will bring in. It's quite redundant but killing the beasts takes more energy which the experts would rather use on capturing the beasts.
'It's two birds in one stone; training their students to fight against beasts while reserving the experts' energy. No, it's actually three birds since the principal wants to try and search the meteor once again. Which is actually, in short, me.'
After that, Kurtan made Wey made the shelter tighter so that even the scent of carcasses wouldn't let out. Since it would be a harder job, she was left behind with Elihim while the others went out hunting and bring back about two to three additional games every hour.
During this period, Wey didn't even look at Elihim, much less talk to him. Since Elihim didn't find talking necessary either, he just kept quiet like an obedient kid to follow his setting of being low in status.
When dusk arrived, one of the Academy Elites came to them to fetch them.
"As expected from the best of the Pups, you actually got about... twenty beasts."
The Academy Elite, a balding middle-aged man, praised and when he spotted a black panther, his eyebrows lifted.
"Did any of you receive any injuries?"
Kurtan enumerated and the Academy Elite was pleased that they were all just minor wounds and scratches.
"Good, good... but I apologize on behalf of the person who managed your positioning."
The Academy Elite slightly bowed which startled Kurtan's group.
"Sir Remon, please, you don't need to lower your head towards us." Kurtan was the first to speak. Hierarchy and images are very important in the higher social classes. For Remon, the balding Academy Elite to lower his head, this shows his sincerity.
"Yes, I guess I'm going too far. However, this error undeniably risked your life. You see, only at the stage of Spirits are you ready to take on strong predators such as this panther."
Hearing Remon's explanation, Elihim was bewildered.
'What!? Such low standards! With enough experience, even with you're just a Puppeteer, you can take on a couple of these panthers and even remain unscathed!'
"You are positioned in this area as the ruling predators here have already been taken care of by us..."
Remon then continued to explain that since their territories are located far from one another, the Academy Elites are too few to secure their safety. That's why just the distribution itself is already important so that even without supervision, the students will be safe.
Remon was puzzled by the appearance of the black panther that he didn't even notice Elihim. Meanwhile, the latter knows the cause of this.
'Oh, it must be because of my Bad Karma.' Elihim rubbed his chin. This was a problem for him, however, he didn't come unprepared, 'My Bad Karma influencing them signifies that I'm being tied to them. Later, I'll just compensate to neutralize this Karma Strings between up, thus, severing it.'
"Also, who's this child?"
Finally, Remon looked at Elihim with a strange face.