36. Warming Up to Hearth Village!

Red moved like a bullet through the woodlands.

Her impressive speed allowed her to chase down deers head on. Elusively light steps concealed her movement as she closed into an unsuspecting boar.

It sat in an open field, grazing on the roots of a lonely apple tree. Its leaves shuddered, as if in pain.

Even the wind did not carry her scent. Snow had [Cleansed] her before the hunt, removing all traces of civilization as nothing but mud, filth and the early dew stuck to her skin.

It was much larger than ordinary boars. Needles ran between its fur at vital areas, such as its neck, belly and even its limbs. They were a species of boar called the Spiked Boar, a pest that ruined sections of forests due to their developed taste of plant roots.

Trees were not spared, and the land they pillaged was often left unfarmable. As a result, they fetched quite a high price when sold, and their needles were quite valuable as well.

However, due to their sheer size, they were dangerous and often disastrous for villages.

LEVEL : 30

Spiked Boar

ORIGIN : Animalia HP : 750

ATT : 150

MAG ATT : 0 AGI : 20

You’re mine now!

She brandished her red hunting knife, bursting forth from the tree lines and into the opening. Her leap alerted it, and it immediately turned its head to face her, readying its spikes to impale her.

However, Red’s trajectory was off. She did not plan to assassinate from above. Rather, she had lunged in a way that allowed her to transition into a slide. She slid beneath the Spiked Boar and dragged the blade from its neck down to its hind legs, all in a single swipe.

She had expertly avoided the barbs in that split second. All she had to do was follow the bloody trail, and the results spoke for themselves.

The boar was gutted and drained simultaneously.

“See that, Agate!? That’s how it’s supposed to be! I don’t get why Corrupted can’t just go down if you slash their neck.” Red complained as she huddled beside the toppled boar. “Annoying spines. Why does the tastiest meat have to evolve with stuff that makes them annoying to eat? If you’re going to be a living sack of meat, then at least have the dignity to let us eat you in peace!”

She began cleaning out the barbs hidden beneath its fur as another figure emerged from the tree lines. Suddenly, an arrow impaled the head of the boar.

“Firstly, put it out of its misery. I didn’t take you to be the sadistic type.” The Huntsman kicked the arrow deeper. When the kill was confirmed, he retrieved it and cleaned the tip of his arrow. “Excellent knifework. I thought it would be too shallow for most game in these woods.”

“You just have to close the distance to make up for it.” Red reasoned, causing the gruff man to laugh.

“If it only it was that easy.” He sighed, smiling as he reloaded his crossbow. “Two catches in an hour. Not bad.”

“Too long?”

“No. Too quickly. I even laid traps to slow them down. I’m not used to your brisk way of hunting.”

Indeed. The Huntsman and hunters usually had an elaborate system when it came to hunting prey. It was never as simple killing prey with a single strike. They focused on disabling their prey and stalking them until they either lost enough blood or gave up entirely.

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This of course only applied to much bigger prey. Deers and lesser animals could be hunted with a single arrow. But when faced with a strong creature, it was easier to whittle them down.

And Red agreed wholeheartedly with this philosophy, even though she was the kind of huntress to go in headfirst. The Huntsman inspected Red’s knifework closer. Skilled huntsmen seldom used a knife at all outside of small game, or to butcher their prey.

“Not a single tear. It was cut all in one fine stroke. It would take me at least fifteen different cuts to achieve something remotely close to this. Another mystery of the world. The younger they are, the stronger they become. Either that, or I’m already getting too old.” He complained but seemed happy regardless. “Good work. Let’s call it early.”

Catching even one Spiked Boar took hours of persistence. To finish so quickly was a nice change of pace for the man, and he had Red to thank for her hard work.

It had been like this for three days now, and Red was slowly getting used to life in the village. Her role was like the Huntsman – a hunter-gatherer and the Village’s security team. So along the way, she and the Huntsman hauled various wild fruits and herbs into baskets.

At the same time, Rockie carried the two carcasses with ease, trailing closely behind. Due to its intimidating presence, they did not have to worry about random encounters or attacks by animals.

They instinctively feared Rockie over Red.

“Tch. You’re more cute than terrifying.” Red pouted. “If I had muscles like you, Mr. Huntsman, then I’m sure nothing would touch the village!”

“You’d be surprised. Appearance accounts for little to animals unless you’re overwhelmingly larger. They rely strongly on instinct. Smear the scent of a bigger predator, and you’ll get the same effect.”

“It depends. Not all prey are dumb like that.”

“Indeed. An animal with some sense of rationality is worse. Then you have those that forsake both or carry both like they have nothing left to lose. Hah.” The Huntsman smiled softly. The triangular roofs of the village emerged from the tree lines ahead.

“I did not think I’d enjoy a conversation with someone as young as yourself. I’m curious what experiences you had before stalking forests like ours.”

“Right!?” Red beamed. “I’d tell you, but maybe you’d get stronger than me. Heh. Ahh! They’re here!”

Children gathered at the edge of the village as soon as one pointed at them. A dozen tiny hands waved at Red, and she happily hummed in response.

“They’ve been livelier since you came. I’m thankful for that. This Village never does see new things, so it can feel like time has stopped at times.”

“What can I say?” Red smugly grinned.

Then, she hoisted her stacked baskets above her head, shouting:

“Who wants redberries!?”

And assortment of “Me!”, “Medium sister Red!”, and “Over here!” filled the air. Many hands dove into the basket, taking handfuls to wash and wipe on their clothes.

Overjoyed faces exclaimed how sweet the berries were. Red knew it was because she was the one who plucked them, so of course they’d be sweet.

Suddenly, a small, three-legged wolf sat before Red as the Huntsman and the children wandered off.

“You again? What do you want?” She coldly spoke, looking into her basket where only a handful of berries remained.

The wolf didn’t ask. But it was clear what it wanted. Red had no reason to give the wolf anything.

These berries belong to her and Snow. Some mutt wasn’t going to take it from her.

“Look at it, trying to beg for my berries. You’re a wolf, so go get your own.”

She was about to leave it here. No, her body did not allow her to leave it. Despite it being a wolf, it still did not beg for food. It simply waited, wagging its tail.

Then she realized.

“You’re not here for food?” She asked, and it barked happily. “Just here to greet me? What are you, a kid?”

She crouched down to level herself with it, although she was just slightly higher to assert her dominance.

“Nah. You’re a pup. A damned cub left all alone. I wonder if you were like this too when your family left you.” Red whispered, taking a few berries, and placing them on the grass before the wolf. “Just waiting and waiting… and waiting all alone in the dark… Tch. Don’t look at me like that. It’s gross. Wolves like you should be strong.”

She placed another small handful of berries in front of it again. This time, it was in front of its paws that lacked the feral claws of a normal wolf.

“So grow and become stronger so I can have a reason to hate you.” She tapped its head, and its tail wagged stronger than ever.

As she left, she felt Rockie brush against her back.

“Now what?”

“Brrr!”

“Yeah, yeah. Like I’m going to care about what happens to a wolf. If it gets dangerous, then I can always kill it. Like how I’m only keeping you around so I can eat you.” Red hummed, only for Rockie to playfully bump into her yet again. “Idiot. I’ll really do it.”

Red eventually returned to Snow’s hut after distributing the rest of her assortment of berries. She held the basket of redberries in one hand, offering it to Snow as she hurriedly greeted her with a smile.

“For me? Thank you, Red! Um. Is there enough for you as well?”

Red, now realizing that she had given her own share to Three Paw, mentally clicked her tongue.

A wolf had once again taken something from her.

“I had my share. That’s all for you! The children stole more than I thought they would. Ugh. Do kids really need that much to grow? It’s so complicated. Just eat strong animals and boom, you grow bigger.”

“If that’s the case… then how about I bake a pie! For just the two of us!”

Red’s mouth suddenly watered.

“Pie!? What’s that!? It sounds delicious!”

Maybe giving the berries to the wolf was a blessing after all?