(In the town)
Kaida was walking with her father, buying the necessary equipment for the upcoming hunt.
"Kaida, you know you won't be alone in this hunt, right? The other kids your age will be there with their families," Mikhail said to his daughter, grabbing a short sword to see if it fit her build.
By this age (10), children are allowed to participate in village agricultural activities such as hunting, farming, cooking, and construction, as well as healthcare. They first go on a trial run to see if they can handle the job they choose. If they can, they start working for the village.
At 10, Kaida had matured. Her cute baby face had transformed into that of a semi-mature girl, and her two different-colored eyes were still prominent. Her hair was now tied in a ponytail, with the indigo color more vibrant in contrast to her black. She was 4'11" and had a flexible yet slightly muscular build. She was currently wearing long sweatpants with village slippers and her father's shirt (the one he wore when she was born). She had a tail that resembled a cat's tail but was thicker and stronger than a normal cat's, with the fur of a bunny tail.
"I know, Dad, I just don't want to see Zach... He looks at me weirdly," the young Kaida said, feeling uncomfortable being in the same area as him. "I know, honey, but we have to be respectful as he is the mayor's son," Mikhail said, understanding her feelings.
The next day, Kaida was woken up by her father at dawn to begin their physical training before moving on to theory. This step is called the evaluation phase, as there are several types of hunters:
* Game hunters: They catch prey for food.
* Plant hunters: They look for rare herbs and spices to bring back to the town for cultivating.
* Livestock hunters: They hunt for animals that can be domesticated and used for food in dire situations.
The young children wishing to become hunters would be divided based on their physical abilities and comprehensive skills.
Kaida and her father finally arrived at the training center, which looked like a giant field of different types of land ranging from desert to grassland to ice caps and even swamps and muddy pools. There were only a few people there when the father-daughter duo arrived, so they decided to stretch and warm up with some basic exercises, as all the other families were doing.
Just after the sun rose, the mayor's family arrived. Since being promoted to mayor, the great elder had regained some of his youth. His family consisted of two children and a mother, who were not half-breeds, unlike most of the bestkin in the town.
Their first son, Zafa, was a 5'2" giant of an 11-year-old. He took after his father and was a wise mouse beast man.
Their second son, Zach, was a different case. He inherited his mother's race but was born as a variant (a stronger subrace of wolves), a wolf of shadow. Zach looked just like his mother but was more manly and a bit taller. He had a bratty personality and tried to get women to be his bride by using his father's authority as mayor.
"Finally, everyone has gathered. We shall now begin with our training, but first, the kids must introduce themselves and why they are here," the elder spoke softly but loudly enough for everyone in the field to hear. As some of the other kids introduced themselves and their reasons for being there, they were given training equipment. The equipment consisted of long, sturdy pants, a jacket made of the same material, and all-terrain boots.
As the kids got their equipment, others were introducing themselves. Then came Kaida's turn to speak.
"Umm, good morning everyone. My name is Kaida. I am the daughter of Mikhail and Liora. I am to be the best huntress of my generation," Kaida said. After that, for ten full seconds, the training grounds were relatively quiet except for the occasional whisper within other families. In the end, they gave her a round of applause while giving her an encouraging smile.
Zach, however, didn't look at her with hopes of her becoming a good huntress. He only saw her as a freak who should be his slave and made his desires known when it was his turn to speak. "Hello, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Zach, and I am the son of the mayor and his wife. My only goal here is to show how superior I am to your half-breed children," Zach said in an arrogant tone of voice and clicked his tongue. The parents looked at him with shock, as the only half-breed was Kaida. They realized that his last remark was aimed at her. The families still gave a round of applause, but unlike all the other kids, they did it in a forceful manner as they were afraid of what the troublesome child might do if they hadn't.
After the introductions, the kids began doing their written tests, which would help determine which class of hunter they would fall into. Most kids passed with average scores on both animal and plant life, while a squirrel beastman girl named Alice passed with the best marks in plant life but the worst in animal life. Alice had already shown which sector of hunting she would fall under. Kaida got excellent scores on both animal and plant life, while Zach got the highest in animal and the lowest in plant life. After getting their marks, Zach saw Kaida talking to her father and called her out, saying, "The only reason you got those marks is because you're a half-breed! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH." He said it loudly enough for her to hear but not her father. She shook it off as she didn't take him seriously.
By the time all the kids were done with the written test and getting their papers to review, it was noon, so the kids were given a one-hour break before starting the physical test.
Unlike the written test created by a dryad who acted as the chief non-combat hunter, this one would be monitored by one of the mayor's personal knights, who unfortunately for the children was a demidragon beastkin, meaning the physical test would be very difficult.
After an hour, all the kids came back to the gathering place where the demidragon beastkin was. "Alright, little ones, I don't care where you come from or what race you are. Today, I'm simply testing whether or not you are physically cut out to be a hunter of any kind. NOW LET'S BEGIN!" he yelled in an intimidating voice as he led the group of kids into the training area.
During the physical test, death came very close but never reached the kids as they climbed mountains, ran long distances, got burned by the sun in the desert section, and frozen in the tundra section. Finally, at sunset, they all made it back, the demidragon doing just fine while the kids were battered and bruised all over, some with cuts, others with scrapes, but none were fatally injured.
"DID YOU KIDS REALLY THINK THE TEST IS OVER!? WELL THINK AGAIN! AFTER TAKING A QUICK 1-HOUR BREAK, YOU ALL WILL BE FIGHTING ME TO EVALUATE YOUR NATURAL AND POTENTIAL SKILLS IN THE ART OF COMBAT. IF YOU FEEL LIKE GIVING UP NOW, IT'S OK. THERE ARE OTHER PLACES THAT WILL APPRECIATE A YOUNG TALENT LIKE YOU LOT. NOW GO REST AND TALK ABOUT IT WITH YOUR PARENTS. WE MEET BACK HERE IN AN HOUR!" The demidragon yelled once again as he looked at the kids with a worried and encouraging look and looked at the parents with a look that said to encourage their kids to do what's right for them and drop out if they needed/wanted to.
By the end of the one-hour break, more than half of the kids had left. (There were at least 30 in the beginning, now there were only ten left.) These 10 included Zach and Kaida, who seemed to be a slight cut above the rest but were still kids in the end. The demidragon came back from his break as well and instructed the kids to come at him one at a time.
The first one to go was Zach, saying he was going to show all of his age mates that he was different from the rest as he was a variant.
He engaged the demidragon in a fierce fight, showing how he could easily outspeed him. However, that was his only strong point, as no matter the quickness of his combos, he could not deal a decent amount of damage. This cycle repeated with all the others, as they were all mainly wolves and some cats, but all of them only had one true focal point, whether it was speed, strength, or defense. Kaida was last as she was one of four girls who remained, and unlike the others, she was a jack of all trades, not being as fast as the others, not as defensive, or as strong, but she had the ability to adapt on the fly and thus proved to be a much more difficult opponent to deal with. In the end, she was defeated by the demidragon, who was rather impressed with this generation's crop and said he would look forward to training them in the future.
Each parent hugged their child for dear life due to how worried they were. Kaida rushed to her dad and hugged him tight, as she was proud of herself for taking the advice he gave her a few days before the test. "Daddy! Daddy! I did my best! Let's go tell Mommy. Let's go, let's go!" Kaida yelled while pulling her dad's sleeve. "Alright, alright. Let's go tell Mommy how well you did and make her proud," Mikhail said while holding Kaida's hand, thinking to himself how proud he was to be her father and how surprised he was to this day by how much flexibility she had in combat for a 10-year-old.
Elsewhere, in the deep forest:
Sounds of meat being torn apart could be heard as screams of pain filled the usually quiet night of the forest. Upon closer inspection, multiple dead beastkin bodies could be found stacked on the forest floor.
"God, please help me. Please have mercy on me. I have a family to return to!" A desperate cry filled the air before a blood-curdling scream could be heard as the individual was ripped limb by limb by a giant, wild-looking wolf the size of two town houses stacked on top of each other. Its fur glowed a golden ghost-like glow under the moonlight, and its fangs and claws were as sharp as razor blades. Ruby-red glowing eyes appeared as it howled in the night.