With the [Flight] skill, it didn't take him long to reach the area of commotion. What he saw tightened his stomach.
Two bloodied corpses of villagers lay sprawled on the recently harvested corn field. Other villagers carried away six more injured people with crushed limbs. Someone tied the tourniquet to the injured limbs.
Contrary to his expectation Liam didn't fly towards the injured to tend to their wounds. Instead, his eyes followed the same creature Michael was watching.
A beast with bristling brown fur and beady black eyes pounced on the villagers that surrounded it. The earth trembled as it charged. The folks backed away, there was no fighting this creature. It was easily the size of an elephant, with a curved tusk dripping saliva.
It was a boar. But why was it so large? And how could that giant boar's relatively thin feet support its bulky body?
Someone shot an arrow that lodged itself on the back of the creature. It didn't bite deep into its thick hide.
The giant boar let out a guttural howl, trampling the crops beneath its feet.
Whenever the boar got close to the villagers, they waved burning torches before the creature, making it back away—they had quickly learned their quarter staff and other weapons were virtually useless against the creature.
"Why don't you go and help the injured?" Michael said.
Liam grimaced and shook his head. "The injured will only pile up if we don't take care of the beast first."
"I suppose I can't argue with that."
"Let me channel your Mana, would you?"
With a nod, Michael dispersed the veil of Mana that covered his Magicore, opening it for Liam to use. Liam had taught him this technique to protect his Magicore from direct attacks and outside influence.
"Do you know any offensive spells?"
"One," Liam said. "A basic offensive spell, Whispering Arrow."
Liam extended his hand, wind spinning around him. An arrow of air—almost invisible—shot out of his hand, followed by another, then another.
The first arrow missed the moving boar with a wide margin. The second arrow only grazed the animal. The third hit its mark, drawing blood, producing a hole in its back.
The creature roared and charged at the villagers, blind even to the burning torch. Michael struck out with [Wind Lash], the spell wasn't particularly powerful but it startled the creature away from the villagers.
Multiple arrows of air fell from the sky, each one purposeful, each to guide the creature away from the humans.
It was almost like a game of cat and mouse, Michael and Liam's spells forcing the creature to run around in circles.
Michael saw an opening when it was backing away from Liam's arrows of air, he hovered closer to the ground and lashed out with [Air Slash]. The slash of compressed air flew true, striking on its side. The skill detonated, producing not one but four gashes along its side, each wound bleeding rivers.
Now that the creature's movement was slow, each one of Liam's arrows hit true, poking so many holes in its hide that it eventually died of blood loss.
With the creature dead, Michael landed softly, dismissing his [Flight] skill.
Cheers and claps rose around him, but it wasn't what made him smile.
The announcement from the system came like a balm to his hurting body.
[Level Up]
Congratulations, You Are Now A Level 6 [High Practitioner].
[Level Up]
Congratulations, You Are Now A Level 5 [Master Hunter].
He had levelled up in both his classes. Wasn't that wonderful?
Liam landed next to him. "That was one powerful skill. What's it called?"
"Air Slash," Michael said. "I was lucky to receive it when I advanced to High Practitioner."
Liam sighed wistfully. "Did you level up?"
Michael Grinned. "You are now looking at level 6 High Practitioner. Did you?"
"It takes more than a boar for a Mage to level up."
Michael frowned, not because of Liam's answer but something else. Why was Liam talking to him instead of helping the injured?
"Shouldn't you go and tend to the injured?"
Liam's eyes widened, and he ran to do his job. He had forgotten about them, hadn't he?
"Michael, you saved us again," the villagers said on top of each other. "You and Liam did. We don't know what we would have done without you boys."
Michael scratched the back of his head, heat rushing in his face. He didn't know what to say.
***
Michael and Liam sat side by side in the mayor's meeting room, which was nothing more than chairs around a hearth.
"Great Boars do not attack people unless provoked," the Mayor said, his face red with the heat of his anger. "So, why did you hunt their cubs? You should have known better."
Other members of the village council murmured in agreement, voicing their own reprimand to the only [Hunter] in the village.
"But mayor, I—"
The mayor raised his hand, quieting the [Hunter], his glare so hot it should have burned the man to ashes. "Two men died! Six were heavily injured—three of whom will never walk again. What were you thinking? Why didn't you stick to the usual game? Birds and rabbits. Are you mad?"
"The rabbits are rare these days," he [Hunter] said, squirming in his chair. "As for birds, I haven't seen a single one of them anywhere near the village. Any birds I spot are distant, and they shy away from the village."
A council woman nodded. "He isn't wrong there. I, too, have noticed their absence after the landslide. Even the chickens are restless. Get them out of their coop and they run away as if a pack of wolves are after them."
Michael scratched his nose, something about this conversation…
Weren't the birds missing in the area around the cabin too? Wait a minute, they were missing even during his trip.
It can't be a coincidence, can it?
Michael's eyes widened, the realisation striking him like a hammer blow. There was only one correlation between him and the strange behaviour of the birds.
"I think," Michael said, hesitantly, wondering if he was stabbing himself in the feet. "I just figured out why the birds are acting so strange."
"You did?" Liam said.
"You see, I know a spell that can ward off insects. Why can't there be a similar spell for the birds?"
Michael pulled out the magical amulet he had found in the woods just before his confrontation with Nexus Shadow. "After I picked up this amulet, the birds seemed to disappear wherever I went. I didn't think much of it before … but now …"
"What do you think, Liam?" The Mayor said.
"It's plausible."
"Can you turn it off?" The Mayor said.
"I can try."
Liam took the amulet in his hand and remained still for a minute or two, muttering under his breath. "Ah, there it is."
Liam handed the amulet back to him. "It is done."
An awkward silence hung heavy in the room.
"Um," Michael said. "Am I in trouble?"
"You are not," the Mayor said. "You have done more good for this village than any harm."
"Besides," he turned his head back to the [Hunter]. "He should know better than to disturb the Great Boar, lack of birds or no. He did it in his pride and it has cost us dearly. There is no excuse for it."
"So, what do we do with him?" A councilman said.
"Friends and families of the deceased and injured are out for blood, but we aren't savages. We must think of something else."
The council talked back and forth, to decide the [Hunter's] punishment. The mayor even asked for his opinion once or twice, though Michael gave none. He had no business deciding a person's verdict.
In the end, the council settled on the banishment with a unanimous vote.
"It is decided then," the mayor said. "You will be given one week's worth of provision and you will leave within the hour. Maybe you will find some work at Naiker's Hold."
"So it is decided." The council murmured in agreement.
The [Hunter] protested. "Only one week? But it takes two weeks to reach Naiker's Hold. The provisions won't be enough."
The mayor glared at the man, shutting him up. "You have no say in this matter. You are a Hunter aren't you? Food should be no problem for you. We are being far too lenient on you, if you ask me. If this matter was left to anyone else, you would have been butchered."
The [Hunter] shivered and acquiesced. He left followed by two councilmen with thick arms that said, try me if you can. They were to protect him from the mob.
"What a day," Michael said.
"What a day, Indeed," Liam echoed.