The spear penetrated the boar's leg and dragged it in its trajectory for several meters. The boar was still breathing when he found it but already immobilized.
Drenched with sweat and heart still beating wildly, Anthony stood in front of it and readied himself to perform the coup de grâce. He summoned a spear in his hand, and without using any skill, he aimed for the head.
The dying boar could not evade, and the spear plunged into its brain.
[You have killed a Wild Boar]
[Mastery Points +30]
Bathing in a pool of its blood and wounded all over, the sight disturbed Anthony, now that his mind and body had started to calm down.
He blamed himself for not being good enough. If he were a better hunter, he would've been able to kill it without torturing it first.
[Used 'Butcher']
[You have obtained Good-Quality Pork x56]
The wild boar yielded more meat, as it had obviously more flesh in its body. The same reason it was so hard to finish in one blow.
[Are you sure you want to sell Good-Quality Pork x56]
[Obtained Token x2,240]
Each kilo of pork sold for 40 Tokens, twenty tokens short when compared to venison. But because their meat yield was greater, each dead hog could sell more than each dead deer.
However, given, how hard they were to catch, it was not an imbalance. Furthermore, it was his first time seeing it, so he assumed the forest had a small boar population.
[Available Tokens: 9460]
Before he even realized it, he had reached almost 10,000 tokens. Even just one small deer, the size of his first catch, would lead him to his goal's completion.
The day was far from over, and he could continue his hunt. That's if he solved his problem first. He had strayed a little too far from the trail and had lost sight of it.
The forest was thick and wild, and would show no mercy to those who found themselves lost in it.
However, he was not lost. He always had a sharp sense of direction.
He knows his east from his west, and this he can do by observing the position of the sun past the shade. Because it was noon, it had gone a bit to the west. He also knows where his north from his south because the boar had not made turns all throughout the chase.
Thus, he retraced his steps by walking in the opposite direction the boar's carcass was facing. And in this effort, the trail of blood he had seen earlier, helped.
He emerged from the undergrowth, more disheveled, dirtied and bloodied than when he went in, but also two-thousand tokens richer.
Just as he planned, Anthony would continue to stay in the forest to hunt one last game. If he could finish everything that day, then there would be no need to come to the forest the next day. It will be his last night in the village, and they could leave tomorrow.
So, he disregarded his aching joints, and his depleted strength.
He first bought a Waterskin to, at least deal, with his thirst, and right after entered work-mode again.
The heaven seemed to be on his side because did not need to wait long.
Another White-tailed Deer crossed his path before the day could grow late. And unlike the boar, he was able to hunt it down with a single spear and without leaving the trail.
[Are you sure you want to sell Good-Quality Venison x31]
[You have obtained Tokens x1860]
With that he reached his goal and called it a day. He walked home excited to tell Irene they would be leaving for North Alendia at first light.
To make him even happier, he was able to come upon a flock of pheasants on his way home. He was capable of taking down one with his Spear Throw skill, and take down two with his basic skill shots after four tries.
Three pheasants to bring to the village and this time a parting gift. Tomorrow they'll be leaving without saying goodbye, as a merchant wagon out of nowhere would be too hard to explain.
He emerged out of the trail expecting to see villagers peeking out of their windows to welcome him back, and children flocking to see his catch up close, but he found a silent reception.
It was late afternoon, so it was odd that a part of the village was almost without people.
As he walked towards where he was staying, his question was answered. In the village square, he saw people gathering around someone, and one of them was Irene.
A worried look was plastered on her face while she joined the others looking at something in the middle.
As he approached, he heard hushed whispers, and stifled crying. Instantly, he got a bad feeling.
"What happened?" Irene didn't notice him when he approached and so when he asked she was startled.
But it was soon replaced by a face brightened. It was as if a ray of hope dawned on her.
Even more curios, he took a look. And there in the middle of the circle of villagers was the village chief tending to a child as pale as birchwood. The boy was propped up by his mother, sitting up on the ground as Basil put leaves on a portion of his foot.
"He was bitten by a snake. The village chief is trying his best, but I heard that it would be hard for him to make it. They don't have an antidote." she finally answered.
"That's unfortunate." he replied. Even in the modern world, if someone is bitten by a venomous snake somewhere far from a hospital, the odds of survival are almost zero.
Anthony noticed it in the corner of his eye. Irene looked at him, long and hard, as if she was trying to ask a question.
"What's the matter?" he said.
"Is there... something you can do?"