Chapter 5: Hunt - part 3
The boar continued to run leaving a trail of blood that flowed down his leg as he tried to escape from the young people who were chasing him, the animal saw bushes in front of him and jumped at them in an attempt to disappear in order to escape.
Seeing the prey flee, Arthur smiled, accelerating his pace, passing in front of Oliver and, like the animal, leapt through the bush, continuing to chase him.
Arthur drew his iron sword as he chased and Oliver readied another arrow taking aim while still running.
The swordsman was faster and ran with the sword pointed down ready to strike, and the boar seeing that the two approached ran desperately, increasing the pace seeming to look for something, Arthur saw the animal that continued to run through the bushes in search of something. to escape.
While the search continued and the boar's body began to weaken from the bleeding, the animal saw in its path a trunk that had been knocked down leaving only a small space for the animal to pass, but not a human.
Again the boar used its small body and ran towards the trunk.
Arthur continued the pursuit trying to increase the pace to chase the animal, but soon he heard the wind cut and an arrow passed by his side hitting the back of the animal that grunted when hit, but passed under the trunk breaking the arrow.
Looking back the swordsman saw that the arrow had come from Oliver who was still in shooting posture as he ran, he had an irritated look and noticing that he had hit it, he stared at Arthur who was smiling still feeling bad for the joke but soon returning to the chase .
Arthur looked at the log noticing that it was high enough that he couldn't jump over it and then to avoid that problem, he accelerated his pace and then pulled his body back lying violently on the ground, making him fall and slide.
Due to the speed that he was and the terrain Arthur managed to pass dragging under the trunk and after passing he propelled himself forward with his arms standing up, and again seeing the boar next to him he started running again chasing the animal.
Oliver also quickened his pace and approached the trees starting to run and jumping between them, passing right after by the trunk continuing the pursuit.
Even though Arthur had lost a little time to get up and chase the boar, the animal was already tired and injured which made his run much slower, the obstacles decreased and the two reached an open area in the forest with the boar stopping in front of a tree and turning towards his pursuers, appearing to be suffering and breathing heavily.
Arthur saw that the animal had stopped and noticed that the boar seemed to be suffering from bleeding and running, with a quick advance the boy again pointed his sword at the ground ready to attack, the boar already without choices advanced towards the swordsman.
The animal jumped so that it reached the opponent's stomach with its speed and weight, but it was in vain, Arthur defended himself with the sword making the animal hit its face on the bladeless side of the sword, with a strong impulse, Arthur threw the boar to up and a little behind and with a lethal thrust with the sword through the abdomen of the creature.
The sword had crossed easily and Arthur quickly knocked the animal to the ground already lifeless, Oliver saw it from above a tree branch and jumped, landing on the ground with both legs, keeping his bow and arrow that he would use, stopping at the swordsman's side.
"That one went far... he must have strong flesh, normally they can't take the second arrow."
"Maybe if you accept it in lethal areas they would die faster..."
Oliver heard the phrase and suddenly a vein stood out on his forehead as he lowered his brows irritably.
"I should have taken the bow out of my hand then, but I won't until you hit a stationary log..."
Arthur smiled and crouched next to the animal's body.
"You are the archer, I landed the cut."
And again Oliver sighed with a certain irritation, but he also crouched down close to the animal and taking his hand to the boot touching a small hidden support in the boot, from there he took a small and sharp knife, soon starting to sharpen the weapon on a smooth stone which gave off sparks when passed over the blade.
The archer raised his head and saw where he was, the grass and leaves seemed to be darker in color, in addition to the environment itself having few entrances to the sun with the trees preventing much of the lighting from entering and leaving the environment strangely cold.
Arthur shook his sword, cleaning the blood and looked at the surroundings with curiosity, the noise of the place was reduced to his own footprints kneading the grass and the sound of the blade being dragged on the stone.
It was strangely silent and Oliver looked around as if wondering, while Arthur continued to look around when he noticed a slight opening between the leaves that allowed him to look at the sky.
Oliver soon got up going to the swordsman and touching his shoulder to get his attention, Arthur looked confused when he saw the archer who looked worried and soon after kept his knife in his boot, speaking soon after.
"Let's go."
"What's the problem?"
"We're too deep in the forest, let's take this animal to the sun and there we'll collect the materials, we run the risk of some monster finding the blood trail it left."
Arthur heard the phrase and also realized that the forest seemed a little darker, in addition to the air being colder and without so many animal sounds, Oliver got up and took the animal's paw as he walked following the trail of blood that led to where they were. previously.
Seeing that, Arthur again looked around, but soon after he went back to following Oliver who was a little faster.
"Hey, Oli. I have never seen one of these monsters, what do they look like?"
The Archer was taken aback by the phrase and looked up as he walked, seeing the leaves pass through his eyes as he had memories about past experiences that brought lapses, but soon after, he lowered his face, looking forward again.
"One day you will see... monsters are not easily explained, but whether or not you are going to be a hunter or a knight, one day you will find one..."
As he walked right after his sentence, Oliver tightened his bow and Arthur noticed the behavior.
Once again he felt the cold on the back of his neck and looked back at the mist that moved strangely, but then, turning his eyes forward as he spoke.
"Can you show me one, Oli?"
The phrase made the archer take a heavier step and stop walking, Arthur got scared seeing that and retreated to avoid hitting Oliver who remained standing in his corner.
Moving his body to the side, Arthur saw that Oliver had a serious expression and looked a little irritated, which made Arthur step back a little more, afraid that he had irritated Oliver.
The archer still silent looked back and Arthur saw his green eyes seeming to shine a little brighter, which made the swordsman widen his eyes as he was stared at, but soon the silence was broken by Oliver.
"No, let's go soon."
Oliver responded immediately and continued to take the animal away leaving a new trail of blood wherever he went, Arthur was still surprised, but feeling that this could be the last chance to hunt a creature with the archer, he ran past Oliver and took the forward, then open your arms.
"It could be a simple monster, you've already hunted a few, you should be able to find a simple monster... we don't need to kill it, I just want to see one and it could also be ours..."
"I won't find you a monster, Arthur. I came to teach you how to hunt animals because you like it and you asked me to, but I don't want you to go hunting monsters alone."
"But I am with you."
"We are not a group, we are two young people who are not even adventurers, even if I killed some when hunting, I did not go hunting in a forest without company. I brought you here, Arthur, and I'm saying let's go now."
Arthur lowered his eyebrows as Oliver passed by without looking, just following the path of blood they were on earlier, leaving Arthur to follow with his head down as he put the sword back in its scabbard.
As they returned towards the village it was noticeable that the scenery gradually cleared up, the trees became a lighter green and the sunlight entered more along with the cold that diminished being replaced by a slight heat of the place.
The swordsman looked back at the region they were in earlier, seeing the forest even darker in the background, seeming to no longer see sunlight through its leaves.
But something unusual caught his attention, between the roots of the trees it was possible to see a dense fog that seemed to move while having some focuses of brightness as it seemed to move towards the two.
Oliver looked back and saw Arthur standing and looking back while he seemed distracted, the archer looked in the same direction but he didn't seem to see anything there, it was as if the swordsman looked at nothing or just didn't want to go back.
Soon he sighed and lowered his eyebrows, releasing the animal that made a sound on the ground and caught Arthur's attention who turned to the archer with a confused expression, it was possible to see a confused expression and then he looked at the animal.
Having Arthur's attention, Oliver would crouch down and pull his knife from his boot and speak.
"I said I'd teach you how to hunt, but you also need to learn how to gather materials. Do you still have the knife I gave you?"
Arthur still looked scared, but hearing the phrase, he soon smiled and then imitated how Oliver had done earlier, taking his hand to the inside of his boot and taking a knife from there.
The archer smiled and turned the knife in his hand, picking up the animal shortly afterwards and walked back looking at the blade of the knife, Arthur understood that he was going to learn something new and hurried the pace to follow Oliver towards the clearest part of the forest.
With the knife in hand, seeing that it was a little sharper while reflecting his face and noticing that the forest was clearer with the heat being felt again, he again stopped releasing the animal and pointed his knife.
"You should know that animals and monsters have their collectibles, most only give cheaper materials like nails or even some bones, but even the meat of some monsters or animals are more expensive because they are a delicacy or simply tasty. What do you think this boar can give us?"
Seeing the animal lying down, he could see some attributes and looked thoughtful, then said.
"I think his meat is fine, apart from some parts that can be sold separately, that's it, right? I don't think his bones are going to be worth anything."
Hearing the answer, Oliver smiled and spoke.
"Almost and indeed the bones are not valuable, but the meat makes up for it a lot, but it's not just that."
Oliver took his knife to the creature's mouth and opened it showing its fangs and teeth, he pointed at them and spoke.
"In addition to meat, their teeth are also valuable for potions and their fur is good for clothing such as fur coats, some parts of animals and monsters are good for magic items and have good value because they are important, but usually only in large quantities, but we're going to collect anyway."
Arthur looked attentively and saw the archer remove the animal's dental arch with the knife, removing some important parts along with the larger prey that were a little more valuable, then he pointed to the skin and continued.
"The fur is also important as I said, if you want a new coat or sell it at a good price you will have to cut it halfway between the flesh and the skin, remove it carefully."
The archer spoke with a smile on his face, touching the knife that Arthur was holding, as if ordering him to do the job and having the authorization, Arthur opened a wide smile and approached the animal with the knife.
Time passed following Oliver's instructions, Arthur managed to take the animal's skin but still with difficulty, despite having dexterity it was still difficult to do this service without ruining the skin, leaving only a few pieces of meat and blood on the animal's leather.
After cleaning, removing the pieces and blood, Arthur managed to leave a good piece of leather with hair and a little cleaner, Oliver took it from the swordsman's hand and faced the piece more calmly and then smiled seeing the piece.
"You did a good job, although it took a while..."
"You just complain huh..."
"Retribution for earlier, but I'm praising."
"How vindictive..."
Right after the short dialogue, Oliver took pieces of the boar separating by limbs and areas ideal for consumption, such as paws, snout, belly and the rest, removing only the disposable organs to leave a clean piece.
After that he would put the pieces in a lined leather bag, so that he could put the pieces in and then close it.
Oliver saw the swordsman keeping his knife still in his boot and with a smile looking more relaxed, then Oliver put the bag on his shoulders and started walking towards the village.
Seeing that, Arthur kept the knife and ran towards Oliver while he looked at the bag, Arthur pointed to the object and spoke.
"Can I take it?"
After the sentence, Oliver looked back and smiled, throwing the bag towards the swordsman who was taken by surprise, but still managed to get the bag, feeling the weight of the material and even the pieces still moving, appearing to be more viscous due to the blood, giving a strange feeling when loading, but still Arthur was smiling and following the archer.
Even after leaving, the feeling of strangeness did not disappear in Arthur and in the distance within the mist it was possible to see something forming, standing up and touching the tree.
The area the shape had touched began to rot, becoming more and more black, until it shattered and fell.
As he saw the young people leaving, the creature seemed to retreat but soon let out a little more smoke through its mouth and soon disappeared again in the mist.