Whispering Woods, the environment was dark.
By now Nolan had basically grasped the key points of a hunter's archery. In Draff's words, next was spending time practicing more to familiarize and master the various techniques to gain a foundation.
His character panel's Skills section now displayed "Hunter's Archery Lv.1 (0/100)", representing he could swiftly upgrade it using Adventure EXP.
Unfortunately, there are only 12 EXP, so it's completely impossible to do so.
Nolan carried a backpack, following Draff ahead of him. Suddenly Draff crouched down halfway, eyeing fresh mud prints on the ground and said:
"Wild boar tracks, let's follow them."
Draff's footsteps were very light, semi-concealing his form with shrubs and trees in a half-crouching stance as he proceeded forth. Whenever his body touched branches or leaves, he would steady them to prevent noises startling the wild boar.
Nolan imitated accordingly. By this point Draff could no longer vocally instruct him.
After all, Even slight sounds could alert prey after all. Observing attentively was essential for qualifying as a hunter.
After a few minutes, Nolan heard a boar's content grunts as it rooted around for food. The two hid themselves behind a large tree.
That wild boar had a brown-red appearance, same as the in-game model. This reminded Nolan of some unpleasant memories exploring Teyvat, randomly getting slammed by wild boars while traveling.
Draff turned and signaled at him, before removing an arrow from the quiver behind and nocking it on his hunting bow. His movements weren't rushed yet very quiet, intentionally letting Nolan observe and learn.
Nolan understood and watched earnestly.
Draff took aim at the feasting boar after drawing back the bowstring. In a breeze-like instant, the arrow shot forth without much noise, accurately piercing the boar's front hoof making it release pained squeals.
"Nolan, it can't escape now. I'll leave the rest for you to practice on." Draff said.
A hunter's archery originated from insights during the hunt after all. Hunting made for the best teacher.
"Got it!"
Nolan had been eager to try. He wondered how much Adventure EXP this boar would provide.
Recalling Draff's bow handling guidance, he nocked an arrow and took aim at the boar frantically crashing around whining from its injured leg. His Level 2 physique felt easy drawing the wooden bow, even impressing Draff.
As soon as he let go, the arrow flew out from the string.
Thunk!
It struck a tree, barely evaded by the boar's chaotic flailing. First shots understandably lacked some accuracy.
The second arrow hit the boar's hind leg. Nolan actually felt awful for making the boar suffer more.
The third arrow finally ended the rampaging beast by striking true through its forehead.
[Defeated a Powerful Enemy, Obtained 20 Adventure EXP]
The familiar notification rang out. A boar with 20 EXP was equivalent to two thirds of a small sized Slime, which wasn't bad at all.
Slimes were monsters wielding elemental energy after all, naturally somewhat stronger than wild beasts.
"I've taught you archery fundamentals already. You just lack practice for entry-level now."
"Wild boars are too heavy to carry far. We'll retrieve this one later when leaving."
Draff observed Nolan's shooting process and gave an approving nod, ordering them to conceal the boar first before continuing on.
Due to some unknown reason the wild beast numbers increased greatly around Whispering Woods and Stormbearer Mountains lately. Thus there were many hunters here hunting.
Most were residents of Springvale. They got to know this Liyue-looking youth. Regarding hunting they were willing to give pointers, benefiting Nolan tremendously.
"Phew~ It's dusk." Draff glanced at the setting sun while wiping sweat from his brow. "Let's call it a day and come back tomorrow."
"Very well, Sir Draff." Nolan slightly nodded.
Today's gains weren't bad. Aside from the first boar, two more got encountered later which Draff claimed as rarely seen luck.
Aside from those, one wild rabbit, two Fowl, and considering Nolan needed live practice for his archery, Draff would first injure the prey before letting him finish them off - granting better training effect.
The boar gave 20 EXP, rabbit 10, Fowl 10 each. In total, Nolan earned 90 Adventure EXP that afternoon.
Just two more days until level up probably. Meanwhile under Draff's guidance and practice, his Hunter's Archery rose slightly without investing any EXP.
Now it is "Hunter's Archery Lv.1 (12/100)"
If he did put in those 90 EXP, it could instantly boost to next level. But Nolan chose not to.
He preferred reserving precious Adventure EXP for level ups, while he could still ask Draff to teach him about Hunter's Archery in the near future, so a little bit of saving doesn't hurt at all.
Because of the excessive prey, Draff and Nolan couldn't carry it all back themselves. Luckily Springvale had its own transport team.
Return trips often had several carts collecting all hunters' quarries altogether to deliver into Mondstadt city. There were specialized merchants to purchase them. So no need to worry much.
Due to the good hunting harvest today, despite him clearly saying he didn't need Mora for following Draff to learn, the latter still split some profits with Nolan - 20000 Mora.
It counted as a day's normal income. And Nolan did lack money, so he didn't decline too much.
Anyway, between fishing and hunting now Nolan finally had sources of income. No need to worry about starving to death in this foreign world.
Both also provided Adventure EXP for his own growth - overall not too bad.
A long night passed away. At dawn, like yesterday Nolan went to collect his fishing net.
But upon reaching yesterday's location, he suddenly discovered the wooden peg used to mark and pull the net was gone! Nolan's heart skipped a beat.
Taking a closer look, the fishing net was missing too! What was going on?
Could some big fish gotten caught and tore the net away? Nolan examined the hole left by the peg in the soil. It didn't seem like the net got forcefully pulled out, but rather the peg got manually uprooted.
Surely nobody would take just a few fish right?
Clueless and frustrated, Nolan heaved out a vexed sigh.
If another dozen or more catches waited for him today, then he just lost at least several dozen Adventure EXP now.
And that brand new net bought with Mora - gone after one use! If he found out who did this, he would absolutely make them pay dearly!
After circling the lakeside fruitlessly for clues, Nolan gloomily prepared to leave. This bizarre occurrence made him rather reluctant trying to buy and fish here again. Only to get stolen once more, that would certainly feel awful since he couldn't monitor the net forever.
Unfortunately the distance from the gates made it unlikely any patrolling Mondstadt knights would notice this area.
Otherwise he could've asked if they saw anyone approaching around this spot, obtaining some leads to maybe locate the thief.
Nothing he could do now except swallow this dumb loss.
As Nolan moved to depart, pondering ways to salvage his Mora and EXP income stream, perhaps he could cooperate with local fishermen - use Mora to directly purchase catches, gain EXP after defeating the fish, then resell them?
No good, whether to sell at cost price or tacking on a small premium posed an issue. Too high and people would just go elsewhere better priced, too low meant no profits for himself.
Just then, his right foot seemed to step on something hard.
Glancing down after lifting his foot, a coppery metallic object got trodden on. He bent down and picked it up, wiping away the mud on its surface.
Its complete shape emerged—round, like a badge. There was embossing on it, the pattern depicting a bird curled up around something...
In the next moment, Nolan was struck by sudden realization. Wasn't this the Treasure-Seeking Raven Insignia he often farmed for treasure in-game?!
Treasures under raven's wing, identifying badge for members of the Treasure Hoarders! The Treasure-Seeking Raven Insignia!
(End of chapter)
To be continued...