A twig snapped under Eva's boot and she internally cringed. 'I am definitely going to get in trouble for that,' she thought.
Lucas had insisted on resuming her training today. He had woken her up shortly after dawn. Despite her protest that he was still injured, he insisted on continuing her training.
'Excuse me if I still don't believe you've healed enough,' she thought.
The mission he gave her was to find game for dinner and to not make any noise. At some point Lucas had blended into the forest around them, leaving Eva to feel completely alone.
'How does he do that anyway?'
She made it a game to try and figure out his location, but so far she was unsuccessful. No matter how hard she glared at the trees around her it all looked the same to her.
'Maybe he just left and went back to the camp.'
This realization seemed far more likely than him being hidden somewhere near her. Surely after this long she would have been able to pick out a single figure in a canopy of trees by now.
'Or I am really just that bad at this.'
That thought seemed to depress her as she realized that was the real answer.
'Why am I still so bad at this?'
Lucas had given her his bow to hunt with. Even she could tell that the bow she had found and brought with her was crude compared to the one she was now holding in her hand. She had been working diligently to increase her strength to make the draw easier.
She rubbed the light embellishments that made it feel like a real masterpiece.
'Are all bows this fancy?'
She wondered who made this bow and if all elven bows were pretty. Or maybe she just had no experience with picking out good equipment.
Still, she had seen Lucas use this one masterfully, taking down prey in a single draw.
'How am I supposed to go back to a regular bow after using this one?'
A shift in the sunlight in front of her brought her attention back to what was in front of her. The sun seemed a lot brighter up ahead. As she approached the clearing, she found the prey that she had been tracking for a few miles.
'Is this a stroke of luck?'
Drawing the bow she felt her arm shake a little from the weight. Determined to pass her test today she gritted her teeth, aimed, and let the arrow fly.
Eva held her breath. It was like watching the moment in slow motion. The arrow arched through the air and hit slightly lower than where she aimed, but the deer immediately fell to the ground.
Releasing the pent up breath in her chest, a small rush of accomplishment filled her core.
A rush of hooves suddenly exploded from the clearing as the grazing animals sensed danger.
Eva had never seen so many deer together all at once. Had she just gotten lucky? She shook her head and approached the felled deer. The small accomplishment made her feel happy.
'I did it!' she cheered to herself on the inside.
"Fail."
Lucas' usual light voice felt heavy at that moment. He was kneeling beside the animal, inspecting the shot of the arrow.
'How do you move so quickly without making a sound?'
The light feeling sank into her stomach and she became nervous. Lucas felt different today. More serious. The heavy feeling confused her, but his hood remained over his head so she could not read his emotions.
She didn't know how it was possible for him to take teaching her more seriously, but he managed to leave that impression.
'Did something happen to cause a change?'
"Explain why you failed." Lucas folded his arms against his chest and waited.
Although she wanted to ask him about it, she tried to focus on the events following her first step into the forest to begin her hunt.
"I did not remain completely silent as I tracked. My shot was a little low… Um, I can't think of anything else." Eva felt the heat on her cheeks as she struggled to think of everything she had done wrong.
'That was everything. Right? I don't think I forgot anything else.'
The small feeling of hope that nothing else had been done incorrectly must have shown on her face, because Lucas lightly flicked her forehead.
"Ouch!" She cried out before covering her forehead with her free hand.
Lucus ignored the motion as he began his explanation without mercy.
"You are correct that you became careless while walking. However, the main thing was the tracks you were following were too old. You got lucky to find this prey. Tracking is about looking at all of the signs of the forest. Lastly, you forgot to thank the kill after felling it." Lucas' voice was harsh as each sentence put more pressure on Eva.
Eva felt angry at herself. Angry that she missed so much despite all the time Lucas spent training her and angry that she allowed herself to feel hope despite all she had learned.
She had let her thoughts get sidetracked as she hunted. Losing the trail several times and he was right that she only got her kill based on luck. She needed to hone her survival skills.
Maybe she would never be as strong as Lucas. However, she needed to work hard so she could grow strong as an Adventurer.Eva clenched her fists at her side. All of this was to achieve what she wanted most, revenge.
"The ritual?" Lucas asked, bringing Eva's thoughts back to the present moment.
Eva remembered the long prayer of thanks that Lucas made her memorize after their first hunting trip.
"I give thanks to the bountiful forest for the sacrifice given." She opted to shorten the long prayer. A slight grumble could be heard behind her.
"Don't forget to leave part of the kill for the forest." With that remark he walked back into the forest.
'You could at least help me,' she pouted.
Taking out the hunting knife in her belt she began to clean the first clean kill she had achieved.
******
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