"Zok, I have been meaning to talk with you about something," Skah was talking to Zok. However, he wasn't looking at him, which wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
"What is it about, Chieftain?" Zok did the same, and they acted as if they were focused on their meals while talking.
"Ahuli and I have been worried about your future. You might live in luxury now, but what will you do after I leave this mortal world? You need to gain practical skills, let it be hunting or otherwise.
Thus after a lengthy discussion, we have decided that from now on, you'll have to start training and become a hunter or a rider at the very least."
Skah continued, "I can no longer turn a blind eye to you and your entitled behaviour. I thought you would eventually come around as you grow, but seeing that you likely won't, I have decided to force my will upon you. If you want to stay in this household, you must do what the two of us tell you to."
Skah's tone could have been perceived as commanding Zok to do something. But for the first time in years, Skah had dropped his tough-guy demeanour in front of his youngest son and genuinely wanted to help him as a father and not as someone who found Zok's existence burdensome.
Zok was taken by surprise. He didn't know a thing about hunting. Hell, he couldn't even hunt down an insect, even if his life depended on it.
Also, being the deadbeat brat he was, he immediately started thinking of ways to wriggle out of the situation without considering that whatever Skah was doing was for his own benefit.
"B-But chieftain! I'm still a kid, for all intents and purposes. You can't possibly-"
However, his excuses were quickly shut down by Ahuli, who could no longer tolerate his brother's whiny attitude. His father might have been kind with his words, but he had no problem shoving the reality in his brother's face.
"If you are old enough to have a fiance, you are old enough to hunt. So stop whining like a bitch. Even your fiance knows how to hunt smaller direwolves by herself, and look at you?" Unlike Skah, Ahuli no longer felt the need to filter his words in front of Zok and went on to thrash him.
"There's not a single scar or tattoo on your albino body. Aren't you ashamed of yourself when you see yourself? I didn't want to say this, but I feel sorry for Sera because she was forced to be with a fcking deadbeat like you. If it hadn't been for father, not even the Tulak would let you around themselves-"
"That's enough, Ahuli." Skah raised his hands to tell Ahuli to stop before he turned to face Zok, "His words might have been harsh. But ultimately, he is speaking the truth. The way you are right now, you're more like a burden for me than a son.
If I knew that this was the kind of man you would grow into, I would've left you in the wilderness as soon as you were born. The Zukira's have no place for deadbeat cowards in their midst. So you can either become a hunter or leave the tribe. This is an ultimatum."
Zok didn't say a word and clenched his teeth tightly. He wanted to yell at them, but he didn't because deep down, he knew whatever they were saying was true. Every fucking word that came out of their mouth about him was accurate, and he was a deadbeat coward.
His father was right; their words did hurt him. But no matter how much Zok wanted to blame his father and brother for his misery, at the end of the day, even he knew being a deadbeat was only his fault and no one else's.
"Dear, don't you think it's a bit early to reprimand him? He's only a child-" Mirelia tried to intervene like always, but this time Skah wasn't going to let Zok off so easily. Even if it meant he became the evilest man in his eyes.
"Early? If anything, it's been too late already. And it's all thanks to you for sheltering him over the years. But enough is enough. It is my duty as a father to guide him through his life. Just look at how great of a hunter Ahuli turned out to be! Unlike this brat!"
Skah took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking again, "However, I know it might be tough for Zok as he'll be a late bloomer. For this reason, I think he should join the riders before joining the hunting party. In that way, you won't be in any danger and still manage to get some experience and knowledge regarding hunting."
Riders and Hunters. These were two significant classes into which the warriors from the Zukira tribe were divided. Basically, riders were precisely as the name suggested.
They used domesticate wolves or the six-legged horses known as Tulaks as their primary way of transportation. However, the wolves and horses were not used for the same purpose, so the Riders were further divided into two subgroups.
The scouts primarily used the wolves as they were faster and more intelligent than the Tulaks. Moreover, the wolves were trained to be fearless, which added to their ferociousness.
They were also picked for scouting because they were one of the strongest beasts the Zukira had encountered in the Wilderness. And as a result, only some creatures wanted to mess with a pack of wolf scouts.
In case the scout was in danger, the wolves were trained to help the rider evade death so that they could report their findings to the tribe in time and prepare to either defend or attack.
These wolves were also often included in the main attack force of the hunters. They were excellent at sniffing the prey out, and as a pack, they could handle monsters difficult for the hunters to handle by themselves.
The wolves had everything the hunters did and were quick to obey commands once tamed. They had claws and teeth sharp enough to easily pierce through most of the monster's hides. Sometimes a pack of tamed wolves were known to work better than the hunters themselves.
While the wolves had a variety of uses for the tribe, the Tulak, on the other hand, were used exclusively for one purpose: To carry essential equipment, weapons, rations and other stuff needed by the hunters.
The Tulak riders, unlike wolf riders, weren't trained for combat and thus were not thought of as troops. Instead, they were just a utility or a tool and nothing more than that.
While riders had to typically depend on their animal partners for help, the hunters had no obligation. They were self-sufficient in their job.
Moreover, they were further divided according to the type of weapons they used. There were Spearmen like Ahuli and Swordsmen like Skah. While there were also people like Sera, who were proficient in using the Bow.
Other than these were tomahawkers, known to use throwable weapons over a long distance. And lastly, there were Shield-bearers. Their only task was to keep the attention of the monsters on themselves while the others dealt with the beast.
Ahuli nodded in complete agreement with his father. Even though he started as a Rider, he was now leading his own squad of hunters. However, it was a different matter that he became a wolf rider when he was just 8 years old and was an elite hunter by the time he turned 14.
'I shouldn't expect Zok to do what I did. But at least it would be a start that'll hopefully motivate him to go further.' Ahuli thought to himself, 'Zok, the things you're hearing today may seem harsh, but these words are what will make you a better man in future. Whatever we are doing is all for your benefit only.'
Ahuli might have been strict and demeaning to Zok. But just like their father, he too was worried about Zok and his future. In the wilderness, no one knew when what could happen to Ahuli and their father.
They could leave to go on a usual hunting trip and never return. And if that happened, Zok would be thrown out of the tribe without hesitation.
The Zukira might think they had tamed the wilderness. But in reality, they had roughly explored about 10% of what nature had to offer. There were millions of things that they were yet to discover. Moreover, in Ahuli's eyes, the wilderness was still as unforgiving and ruthless as it had been two decades ago.
Ahuli also knew there were hardships in front of them. Only some people had noticed it, but the Wilderness they knew and adapted to was slowly changing.
It took them a decade to find some normalcy in their life. But now that everything was changing slowly, he wanted Zok to be prepared for the worst. Or when the time arrives for the survival of the fittest, he'll be the first one to perish.