Chapter 48 - Hunt

Rightrump was filled with all kinds of animals which rarely ventured outside but when they did, they were often hunted or driven back into the forest.

There were lizards, snakes, frogs, boars and other animals that were without fur, those of the young Minks were grouped up or a few hunted alone as they had to deal with different types of opponents of different sizes and each faced their own dangers.

Several were bitten by a snake due to their carelessness while others were knocked over and sustained an injury after being bitten, scratched and gored.

One of the groups was many female Minks and it was the group lead by Felice, lots of her supporters and connections from other families had formed a group with her.

Felice stepped forward bravely and agilely avoided the charge of a large lizard. "I will keep its attention!"

As she passed by it, she made use of her families techniques which allowed for an accurate cut with her claws which inflicted a wound on it.

The lizard turned its body and went to bite her while its tail swung around behind it like a whip to cut off her path but Felice jumped away into the air then gained a little distance.

Just as it had revealed the side of its neck, one of the girls among the group charged forward and thrust a spear into the neck which made it struggle in pain for a short moment before spears and arrows pierced its neck and ended its life.

Felice did not seem overjoyed as she commented. "This is just one kill and we need one per person so we need to be more efficient in how we hunt."

She then decided. "While we cannot split up as it will only affect the chance of failures and injury, we can work on our teamwork better. Spread out more so that everyone can have an opportunity to land a fatal blow when a chance presents itself."

All the girls nodded as they felt grateful that Felice was their leader.

Felice was brave enough to take on the most dangerous role and she was well trusted so they had already trusted in her greatly.

They all collected the corpse and carried it out of the forest to where they were assigned to place it then headed back in as fast as they could.

Most of the animals on the outside layer of the forest were already being hunted so they had to venture slightly deeper to find more.

Through their teamwork, they had been able to overcome many close calls and defeat each of the prey they were selected to hunt.

However not every group was as cooperative as the group Felice was leading.

Maximillion did not lead his own group throughout the hunt and took less of an active role as he was much less used to making his own decisions on the spot. "Charge!"

Several young Minks along with Maximillion recklessly charged towards a boar but it was not feeling threatened by them due to its thick skin.

Their Electro only did so much to injure and slow it down but it came at the cost of them getting close enough to be shoved aside and then trampled.

Just as one of them was about to be stepped on, Maximillion jumped up onto the back of the boar and locked himself onto it.

Electro covered his claws as he increased his grip and dug them into the throat of the boar.

The boar fell onto the ground and landed on top of the injured young Mink who had just been saved.

When they were helped to get from underneath the boar, they stood up and smiled "Thanks for saving me."

Maximillion just shrugged. "I did not save you. I just saw my chance and took it."

Although he did not have the qualities of a leader, he had been trained by the family for some time which allowed him to gain his current strength.

Although he was clumsy taking his first life, he had been able to spot a chance then take it but that was only after a large amount of damage had been done to his group.

The young Mink did not mind and bowed. "I still wish to thank you. You still saved me."

Maximillion shrugged. "Do whatever you want."

He then turned his back on them and walked towards the boar as he started to drag it away.

After they encountered more prey later, they were able to work together better to lure the prey in so it would let down its guard so that Maximillion could finish it.

The group did not follow him or work together well because of his leadership skills, their trust towards each other or through excellent tactical abilities but it was that they had all come to learn that Maximillion could take down the prey if an opportunity presented itself.

Even if he struggled to bring the prey down, his actions allowed for the others to take action and end each of the preys lives.

While the group did earn some injuries like the other less experienced groups, there were still no deaths among those participating and those that had gained larger injuries were allowed to give up.

There were several safeguards put in place around the forest by the adults but not everything could be so foolproof.

Fighting against animals always came with dangers and the children were still experienced so anything could happen within the forest area.

Dangers not only came from the environment and the animals but they could also come from their fellow Minks who were participating in the hunt.