Chapter 10: The Hunter

When Tobias woke up, he expected to see the green leaves of trees, and light filtering from the light canopy a forest provided him.

What he didn’t expect was waking up underneath a tent. He idly stared at the textile covering, made of some kind of fabric that he wasn’t quite knowledgeable on. He was trained by a soldier, not a tailor (unfortunately). But he did know it was dyed blue at the very least. Nice.

He looked at his arms, and found that they were bandaged. And then, he remembered what happened earlier, and let out a groan of mild annoyance.

Damned wolves really did a number on him...

But he was still alive, right? So all was not bad. But he still had two questions at the very least. Was the deer still intact? And who (or what) put him underneath a tent?

He let out a hum, before deciding to sit up. His arms ached slightly, but he ignored them. He spotted his leather bag and belongings just in the corner on the smaller than expected tent, and let out a pleased nod. Then just in front of him was the opening to the tent, and he crawled towards it.

Then he stopped. The scent of something being cooked wafted through the air, and hit his nostrils. When he opened the tent, he found himself staring at a great fire pit, with an iron grill just on top of it. The sets of metal skewers which were fixed in a way to allow optimal grilling were scorched black, and had great chunks of grilled meat on top of them.

And tending to this fire, was an older man. Not as old as Magnus, but definitely older than Tobias by a few years – maybe five, at the very least. His eyes shone a dark green, and bore a neutral gaze on the fire and the grill. His hair was golden, and trimmed very shortly. He wore a coat of various shades of dark green, and by his back was a long bow and a quiver of feathered arrows.

Ah. A Hunter then, was he? If the coat didn’t give it away, then the bow and arrows definitely did.

And just as expected, the Hunter turned to face him. His gaze was speculative, but not hostile. Tobias let out a friendly wave.

“Awake now, are you?” The Hunter said, although the way he phrased it made it seem like it was a comment to himself. “You feeling alright now, boy?”

“Mhm.” Tobias hummed, but nodded. He idly looked at the sky, and found that it was dark enough to not be afternoon, yet still had enough light to not be night. It was dusk, then. “How long was I out for?”

“A few hours.” He replied, and returned the gaze back on the grill. In his hand was a small pair of tongs, and he flipped one of the meat pieces. “Wolves tried to steal your game, did they now?”

“Yeah.” He nodded. He really was just minding his own business, but then those wolves just came out and tried to steal it from him. “Did I kill all of them?”

“Well, you left some alive, but they weren’t in a good... condition.” Hunter shrugged. “And if the barks and howls didn’t get my attention, then their whimpering did. One hell of a fight you gave them.”

“Yeah.” Tobias gave a nod. Then he idly stared at the grilled meat, and nodded to himself. It was worth it, especially with how it smelled like. The scent of meat being grilled was a rare scent to him, but it was saliva-inducing nonetheless. And he could smell the subtle herbs used to season the meat. “I’m hungry, when is it going to be ready?”

“Aye, a few more minutes.” He said, and flipped another piece of meat with his iron tongs. “By the way kid, where you from? Haven’t seen your face from the village.”

He idly wondered if it was a good idea to disclose his village, before letting out a shrug. With how close these two villages were, then surely they already know of each other’s existence, right? “I came from the village with golden fields and hills.”

Hunter stopped moving. Then he stared at Tobias with some hesitation and confusion. And then, he let out an appreciative whistle. “Damn kid, that’s a few villages away from here. And to think that a kid from a farming village would be able to drive off a pack of wolves like that... Sheesh.”

Tobias blinked. “What do you mean a few villages away from here...?”

“Hm? Oh, right. With how deep you were in the forest, I’m not surprised that you passed by a few villages. Kinda surprised you didn’t get to the bad lands, though.” He gave a shrug, and returned to tending the grill. But Tobias only gave him a slight head tilt of confusion, and he gave a sigh. “For reference, you passed through four different villages. A village of blacksmiths, a village of miners –”

“So that explains the mountain.”

“It really does, doesn’t it?” Hunter agreed, accompanied by a shrug. “Where was I again? Right. A village of leather workers, and another village of farmers, except they harvest fruit.”

Tobias gave an appreciative hum at his ability to nonchalantly return to his track of mind. Then he began to think to himself, and after a few moments, he spoke. “I’m more amazed at the fact that I somehow went in the wrong direction entirely.”

Hunter gave a questioning expression. “Where were you supposed to go to, anyways?”

“To the town called Meadow... something.” He trailed off. He wasn’t good with names, so what was the place called again...?

“Meadowfield.” He helpfully supplied, and his comment was met with a well received nod.

“Yes, thank you. Meadowfield Town. Then after that, I’m supposed to go towards the City... The city with the big bridge.”

“Ordbridge?”

“Yes. Those are my destinations.” Tobias gave a small nod. Then his face contorted to one of disappointment, and he let out a sigh. “At least, until I got lost for the past week.”

“Don’t worry about it kid, happens to everyone at some point.” Hunter commented offhandedly, before his tongs expertly retrieved a well-done piece of meat from the grill. And with his other hand, he swiftly brought out a wooden plate (which belonged to Tobias, really) and handed it to him with a certain flair. “Eat up, kid. You hunted this.”

He received the offered plate with anticipation, and stared at the meat. It was perfectly brown, and smoke came out of it. There were black, charred lines – indications that it was grilled, and the scent of subtle herbs wafted to his nose. Tapping the fork against the grilled venison only rewarded him with a firm texture which would be a delight to chew, and an even more delight to eat.

He stabbed his fork into the meat, and took a large chunk out of it with his mouth. As expected...! It was tender, and chewing it while extracting its rich, meaty flavor was a pleasure by itself! The taste of meat from a pure vegetarian animal who only ate the finest, richest herbs gave traces of earthy flavor, imbuing it within the meat itself. And not the mention, the charred herbs which tasted of lemongrass offered such prime, delectable flavor, giving the earthy, rich meat a zest of its own which only complemented it in a way words failed to describe...!

Then again... Tobias had no way of knowing that. All he understood was that he was currently starving, and it was incredibly delicious. He idly wondered what would happen if the older man wasn’t around. Would his hunt be stolen while he was unconscious? Would he get killed by those wolves and get eaten instead?

No... more importantly, would this deer turn out to be as delicious under his unskilled hands? What a disaster! Imagining himself burning the delectable meat, and not knowing how to season – much less skin the deer was a nightmare by itself.

He let out a small shudder, and gave a quick glance towards Hunter. If there was a god up above, then bless this man for his knowledge on how to cook venison.

“You seem to be enjoying it.” Hunter idly commented beside him, having already served himself a plate of venison as well.

Tobias gave a flat glare. He finished consuming his food, before giving a small frown. “That’s an understatement.”

“Really?” His voice was amused, and his eyes were narrowed with some semblance of pride to himself. “Is it really that good?”

“Definitely.” Tobias nodded. Then he stretched out his plate. “Give me more.”

Hunter let out a hearty laugh to himself. “I was worried if any of this would go to waste, but it’s good to see you’ll ensure nothing would be wasted!”

***

“Ah... that was too good.” Tobias gave a satisfied hum, patting his stomach, and licking his lips. “You’re a Hunter, but why not consider becoming a cook or something.”

Hunter stared at the boy. “I have reasons to believe that your standards for food is lower than expected.”

“Hm.” He let out an apprehensive hum, then gave a nod. “You’re right. Unseasoned gruel everyday is pain. My sense of taste is probably just too sensitive. Still doesn’t change the fact that you cook decently, especially in a forest like this. Imagine what you could do with a dedicated pantry!”

He let out a grin, and seemed to contemplate what the boy just told him. “With how much you’re flattering me, I just might. But maybe when I’m older. Better use my strength while I’m still young, after all.”

Tobias let out a small nod at the words of wisdom given, before his eyes snapped open. He looked at his plate, where the remnants and bones of his meal remained. “I forgot to introduce myself, my apologies!” He said, and set the plate aside and gave a small bow. His mother’s etiquette lessons were coming in, full force right now. “My name is Tobias, and I thank you for this meal!”

The older man stared at him. “Sheesh, kid. You’re like an entirely different person.” He commented, before shrugging. “Anyways, the name’s Alex. Nice to meet ya, kid.” The newly named Alex let out a smirk, and held a hand out.

A handshake. Tobias took it, and gripped it as firmly as the other man did. Brief surprise crossed Alex’s face, but he only let out another grin. Was this... the sign of respect among men? Then after a few more moments, they let go of the hands with a firm nod.

“Anyways, what are you gonna do now, kid?”

Tobias thought to himself. The first thing was to definitely ask for directions on how to go to Meadowfield Town. But no... that felt too incomplete. What if he got lost again at some point? No, what he needed was...

“Please...” Tobias bowed down again. “Teach me how to cook!”

Indeed. The true endgame... was with glorious cooking. It wasn’t everyday that he would come across a man like Alex, who knew how to cook and prepare a deer. The boy just wanted to know how to prepare some tasty meals. Stop judging him.

You try eating unsalted, unsweetened, unflavored oatmeal everyday for fifteen years and see if you wouldn’t get sick of it.

That being said, that thought made Tobias’ eye twitch. It was almost as if he broke some part of the fourth wall – whatever that thing was.

No, more important was Alex’s reply to that. So he looked towards the Hunter, and found an amused expression about the man’s face.

“Hahaha!” He laughed. As in, he was bawling with laughter, all while slapping his thigh. After a minute or so, he finally calmed down. “Can’t say I didn’t see that one coming. You really know how to make this guy laugh.”

Tobias sighed, and let out a frown. “Is that... a no, then?”

“Not exactly.” Alex said. Then he gave a sidewards glance, and saw the boy’s expression, then he let out a shrug. “You know what, kid. Today’s your lucky day.” Then they faced each other, with Alex bearing a grin on his face. “I’ll be more than happy to teach you how to cook, if you also agree to learn how to hunt.”

He blinked. That was... a better offer than expected. So he nodded back. “I accept then. Thank you.” He really wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, after all. It was simply better to just accept offers without delving into it too much. And besides, if the man had bad intentions, then he could have simply done them while Tobias was unconscious. So it was fine, he decided.

And just like that, another handshake was offered, taken, and exchanged.

Tobias learned the Art of War. Now, he will learn the Tools of the Hunt.

***

Before anything else though, the Hunter took Tobias to his village. They traversed through a small, winding path which seemed to lead nowhere. But at the same time, the path to take seemed obvious to those who knew what they were looking for. And eventually, they found the village.

It was night time, and the soft illumination provided by the lanterns and candles inside the houses gave a soft, almost ethereal feel to it. Speaking of houses, the houses were much more squarish compared to his village. Gone were the arching roofs and sharp angles, and were replaced by gentler, barely slanting red-tiled roofs.

In the distance, he could see some clearings. And the moonlight revealed running water streams, and he understood clearly what was going on. They had farms – much smaller than the ones at his village for sure, but they existed.

The path they took as they entered the village... it was made of square stone tiles. Square Stone tiles. While he was familiar with the concept of cobblestone-paved streets, it was his first time seeing stone tiles be used for pathway materials.

It was flat, even, and perfectly symmetrical. It had lines where a tile stopped and another tile began, and as he walked over the pathway, his instincts had demanded him to never step on the lines. He obliged, and his attention was focused on keeping his steps strictly within a tile, unto another, and never stepping on the boundaries between them.

“Mhm.” Tobias gave a pleased hum, as his steps never stepped on a line. Then he looked at his companion, whose steps were haphazard in comparison, and he shook his head. Impulsive was one way to describe him. “Ghrk...” So he had no right to judge the man who stepped on the lines every now and then, no matter how painful it looked to him.

“You alright, kid?” Alex asked, and Tobias turned around so his grimace wouldn’t be seen.

“I’m fine.” He lied. Then he shook his head again to clear his thoughts. “Anyways, now that I think about it, why did you offer to teach me how to hunt, anyways?”

“You sounded like you were going on a long journey.” Alex replied, and turned around to look at the boy. “Am I wrong?”

“No, not wrong. But what’s that have to do with it?”

“I dunno, I think I’m just getting old.” He replied. “And I want to pass down my knowledge while I still can, or something like that.”

“But you’re just a couple years older than me.”

“Shh. I might be young, but I feel old at heart. Anyways, to put it into more definite words... I’m straight up bored, and you seem like a good student.”

“I see.” Somehow, those words only reminded him of Magnus. “So that’s it?”

“Yep.” Alex nodded. “That’s it.”

“Hm.” Tobias nodded again. Really, it didn’t make too much sense to him. While it would be considered rude, he was even more curious about it. “Did you also happen to lose your son to an unimaginably powerful entity?”

Alex stopped walking. And then he stared at Tobias. “Sheesh, kid. That sounded too specific. But no, I don’t have a son as far as I remember.”

He wasn’t like Magnus, then? That gave him a bit more insight. “So you’re really just bored?”

“That’s what I told you.”

“I see.” Tobias nodded. “I personally thank you, once more.”

“... Sheesh. Learn to lighten up, kid.”