Everyone was astonished by Ulf's answer. No one expected it.
"Ulf, are you sure of your choice?" It was the chief who asked Ulf first the reason. "Maybe the weapon made from the mountain rhino's horn will be very strong and beautiful, but it will have plus use for you, The tools like those are more suitable for the leader-rank hunters. "
"You are right, chief, but I still want the spear made from the rhino's horn. Everyone thinks that I am talented, but what I have seen in the past few days was that I was very weak. It wasn't a good feeling, but also not something that I want to forget about. That's why I want that weapon. It will always remind me of my weakness until I will be able to fully master it." Ulf gave a long explanation of his choice.
"It's... It's a bit of a weird way to make the goal, which you want to accomplish. Perhaps, You are right, but still aren't the fruits more important? They can help you to make your cultivation time shorter. This way you will achieve the leader rank sooner. The weapons suitable for the leader rank hunters can be better than the one you are using, but I think you should change your choice." The village head wanted to make Ulf reconsider his decision.
"Ulf, the chief is right. It's a very rare chance, maybe there won't be another one like that for us for many years. You will get the good weapon from the tribe when you reach the leader rank." Ursa helped the chief too in the persuasion of Ulf.
"Yes chief, but I still prefer the weapon." It was clear that Olf wouldn't go back on his words.
The teammates and the chief were watching Ulf and as they understood that it wasn't possible to change his mind, finally gave up.
"Hah... So be it however you want. But it will take some time to create the tool you want. I will tell our weapon masters to make it fast." Olaf sighed and continued.
"Then if we have finished, you can go out. I must leave for some work outside too."
When everyone went out some of Ulf's teammates were still trying to advise him. Some of them were in the mood to joke.
"Hahaha... I was really wrong when I said that you were an opportunist Ulf. Sorry man." Bo was making fun of him."However, let's leave the joke aside. It's good that you have a plan for the future. but if you want to have any future at all, first you must survive."
'I know it man and my method is to achieve it as fast as I think it's possible.'
It was really like that. After the first hunt, the weakest point for Ulf in the fights against the beasts or animals was his spear. It could hold if the opponent was an animal, though when Ulf used it against the rhino he felt like was using the stick to pierce the steel. If he would try to use too much inner qi it was possible that the weapon wouldn't be able to endure the pressure brought after the clash and break.
Ulf had a plan for the future he would try to hunt alone. So he needed to get a good close combat weapon that would let him use his full power. After seeing all those strong creatures, he was sure that even one little mistake can lead him to the netherworld.
Soon a few days had passed. All teams came back to the village. Some of them had little, unfortunately, events, but no huge tragedy had happened. Of the fourteen groups, which left the village, around fifty warriors had died in the wild. The families felt the sorrow and the pain, however, the village itself was used to these activities.
After every group had come, it was time for the sacrifice for the tribe's gods. At that time every adult would go to the temple. Ulf as the warrior had a right to take a part in this ritual too, even if he was just twelve years old. Nevertheless, his mother had never joined in that kind of event, others also hadn't expressed any will to invite her. From Ulf's understanding, even if Inga had been living here for many years, because of her unknown origin, she wasn't entirely regarded as a member of the village. Ulf didn't like this fact at all.
On the day of the ritual, Ulf went early to the temple. He didn't have much interest in the sacrifice but wanted to use this occasion to study the drawings on the walls there. The first paintings he saw were all about hunting, so he had been searching for something different. However, to his surprise, the vice-chief Dorgon appeared next to him.
"It's good to see the Hadda tribe's new star in the house of our deities."
"Greet you, vice-chief Dorgon." Ulf bowed.
"No need for a formality. Me and your father were very good friends, so just call me uncle." The vice-chief also started looking at the paintings."I have heard about your adventures in the southern forest from Ursa. The whole group's brave actions are really admirable.
"Most of the credits go to leader Ursa."
"Of course, Ursa must have done his part as the solo leader rank hunter in the group. However, I got the information that you were quite active too and gave good advice to Ursa."
"I said it because of my naivety. Thank god I was right." Ulf wanted to show that he felt awkward due to the vice-chief's commendation.
"Haha, why are you embarrassed? When you deserve praise." Dorgon started smiling, after seeing Ulf's face. "I also got news about your choice of the prize from Ulf, as he was very astonished. But I think if it's your decision, so be it."
"Thank you, uncle Dorgon."
"I am just saying what is in my mind. Okay, and what were you looking for in those ancient paintings of our ancestors? Perhaps, I can help you." The vice-chief tried to bring their conversation toward the next subject.
"Tell you the truth, I wanted to know the history of our tribe or even old periods." Ulf thought it wasn't that much of a secret to hide. Perhaps, the vice-chief could help him.
"You are a weird young man. Our blockhead youngsters usually don't care about it. Mostly only older generations come here for that reason." Dorgon breathed out and continued. " However, it's not hard. Follow me, I will try to make it more interesting for you then."
The vice-chief dorgon started moving toward the corner of the left side wall.
"Here it's the first painting I want to show you."
Ulf found the one that Dorgon was pointing to. There were ten red figures in front of a big cave in the middle of the big forest.
"A very long time ago there weren't any villages or tribes. Everyone was living like vagrants today. The people were moving from place to place. There were groups of humans and each group had no more than a few dozens of members. The reason for it was that we didn't have any strong opponents that possessed a strong threat to us - humans."
'I know that much. It's like the copied history of the earth, just move on to the main topic.' Ulf thought.
"Although everything had been going like that for a very long time, because of a sudden incident everything changed! Now, look at this one."
'Here we go. Finally!' Ulf saw the next painting. This time humans were away from the cave and there was an animal that looked like a deer. However, the weapons of the hunters were on the ground and the hunters had their hands pointed toward the sky. The cause of it was the phenomenon that was occurring up there. Several bright objects were moving from up to down.
"The rain of fire. It was how our ancestors called it. The huge fires had appeared in the sky and moved toward our land. They thought it was the punishment sent from the gods, so started to pray for salvation."
'The best solution in that kind of situation.' Ulf sarcastically remarked in his mind.
''However, those fires didn't come to us. They headed in two different directions, toward the north and south. The ancestors believed that the gods showed mercy and spared them. But, the real disaster emerged soon."
In the next illustration, the humans were again in front of the cave, but there were huge creatures around them. They wanted to invade the cave. The humans were trying to defend themselves, but in the end, they were becoming the food for big creatures.
"Out of nowhere many strong and merciless existences came out. They looked like the animals in the forest but also were much stronger and more terrifying. That was why we were kicked out from the forests, we couldn't longer stay there to live."
'First forced step for creating a more advanced culture.' Ulf added.
"That was the fundamental reason why our tribe had been created and the village had been built. After that, bit by bit they grow in number. More and more ancestors had to face the harsh reality and changed their ancient lifestyles. They had the ability to barely survive at that time."
"Soon they started to take the next step and it was knowledge about the cultivation. No one knows where the methods of cultivation came from, but the fact is that they clearly saved us. The creatures in the forest were becoming stronger, often coming out from the forests, attacking and destroying our settlements. Huge changes were needed for the humans too. Nature sided the animals and we were outcasts. After gaining the cultivation methods..."
"Please everyone, gather. It's time to start the ritual." The shamaness came out from the inner part of the temple.
"It seems, we must finish our little lecture here." The vice-chief smiled.
"Thank you, uncle." Ulf nodded.
"No need. If you need anything, come and look for me." Dorgon patted him on the shoulder and went ahead of him, toward the shamaness. His status in the village was much higher than Ulf's, so Dorgon must have stood in front of the crowd inside the temple.