Morning came and Michael quickly pack his stuff. He woke up a little early so The sun haven't risen yet. This is because he suspects that the lizard could be easily tracked at the start of the day. he ventured into the forest.
1 hour later
Michael could not find the alma lizard footprint. So he gets out his tree climber and starts to ascend the heights. about 10 meters up in the tree, he surveys his surrounding. Up here Michael could see a nearby river and a line up of trees however, he did not find the alma lizard trail.
A little disappointed, He gets down and walks to another tree. This one is decently far from the tree that he climb before. After he gets up there, Michael looks through the forest again. Sadly he didn't find the lizard trail.
Michael switches trees until he found them. lizard trail, he got down from the tree and follow it. Micahel could feel pretty new. He felt good!
- 2 hours later -
He found the lizard! As he expect the lizard could be easily found in the morning. It only took him 3 hours before finding it. Which makes him happy. The only thing he's missing now is bait.
Michael observed the lizard's behavior, it currently drinking water from a river. Micahel study its movement from afar while camouflaging his smell with mud. Looking at the lizard Michael has a bold idea. What if he could track the lizard?
'Hopper wisp?'
Michael ponders and scratches that idea. First, he don't know how to strap the wisp on the lizard, and second, he didn't have the queen wisp to track it down. So he shelves this idea for later use. Micahel quietly distances himself from the lizard and searches for the alma fruit.
- 2 hours later -
He found the alma fruit! after walking around and climbing trees he easily found the fruit! this trick is quite good for finding things!
Michael quickly travels to the fruit and covers it with mud before it attracts monsters. After reading more from the monster guide book Micahel know that most monster in Boniha could be fooled by this trick. The monster here usually relies on two senses to hunt sight and smell. With the mud covering the fruit, he could easily carry it around without much problem.
He picks up an alma fruit that was as big as his head. Its reflective surface was covered by mud making it look like a chunk of dirt.
- 4 hours later -
He travels back to his little camp and checks his traps. See if everything has been prepared. It was already late in the afternoon so Michael call it a day. he has to make sure that nothing was wrong with his trap and if he goes out now he would have to run in the dark. The last time he ran in the dark it almost bring him to the mountain.
During his three mouths hunting the first alma lizard, Michael has learned that a trap could easily be ruined by a curious animal and wandering monster. he didn't want to run back and see his trap ruined by a monster in the trial hunt. So he has to double-check.
He decides to go to sleep peacefully as the sky grows darker so he can wake up early in the morning.
- Next morning -
In the early morning when the sun did not grace the sky. Michael picks up his stuff and prepares to track the lizard.
From his observation, monster usually has their territories where they hunt or sleep so, Michael could easily track down the lizard he saw. The only thing he has to be concerned about is other competitors hunting his prey.
The rules of this trial state that they couldn't steal each other hunt but, the process of certification is by the participant and a guardian hunter's word. If both sides did not agree they would have to duke it out in the arena. Micahel wants to avoid this as much as possible so if the alma lizard is taken by someone else he would leave.
2 hours later
He finds the lizard...wait...
No, this time it also disappear like a cloud of smoke again. Michael forgot to ask Gurara about this.. his twelve-year-old brain seem to forget thing easily. Michael follows the illusion is arrive at the alma lizard footprint.
This time he arrives at a river and washes his bait so the alma lizard can smell it. walking more distance he could see the alma lizard footprint leading into the east side of the forest. Michael suppresses his fear and follows it. He doesn't want other people to get his prey.
30 minute later
he found that the alma lizard trail has gone up in the trees. However, Michael also found something interesting. Another monster trail. judging from the slitterling line on the ground it's most likely a Hamarr.
There are two monsters here!
knowing this Michael almost gives up and finds another target. If not for the fact that around him there was a trace of a battle. The roots of the tree are in a disarray and breaking in some parts. While the tree has a lot of marks on them.
'The lizard must be hurt!'
He decided to follow the track. The monster that survives is most likely the lizard since its track went upward while the snake track is gone. He squeezed his eyes trying to replicate the feeling of tracking the lizard. He wants to use his hallucination to track the alma lizard through the trees. It worked for him 2 different times so this time it should work too.
Not long after he could see that the lizard is battling something. It appears like a cloud and disappears the next moment. What intrigue Michael is the Hamarr, he knows that it's the hamarr from the evidence that it left behind but, he could only see its silhouette, not a clear image like the Alma lizard.
He doesn't know the reason but, he has some guesses. Michael decides to shelve it for later, he might find an answer in the future.
When the lizard won the fight it swallows Hamarr and climbs up a tree. Michael follows it. Not far from here Michael found the Lizard!
It looks like a normal lizard but this one is more cubby. Swallowing the Hamarr whole takes a long time to digest so it seeks refuge in the mangrove tree. getting close Michael could feel that it notice him.
Alma lizard turned to look at him. The smell of the fruit quickly attracts the lizard's attention. Normally when the alma lizard is full it wouldn't chase an alma fruit from another monster however Michael was no monster! At least not from his size!
With greed in its eyes, The lizard gives chase!