Mortal, life is like a pun—the moment you understand it, we’ve already turned you into an anecdote.

~Ogma, God of Eloquence and Inspiration

It wasn’t long before Aleg’s roar of fury could be heard, and Crow, who hadn’t gone too far, could only shake his head and laugh. Night was coming quickly, which meant the beasts would be on the hunt. It was the wrong time to make a ruckus.

“Crow, I will find you!” Aleg bellowed.

Chuckling, Crow shook his head as he perched on the ridge overlooking the camp below. That buffalo would probably spit blood if he knew Crow was watching. He’d seen this bluff during the daylight hours, and the shielded cove he hunkered down in was on the leeward side of the hill or mountain. The wind barely reached him, and beasts wouldn’t be able to approach without alerting him.

Abandoning them was never his intent—it was a group task. It wouldn’t reflect well if he went off on his own, but there was a scheme afoot. Crow needed time to puzzle through the group dynamic they’d put him into. Other than Aleg, the others hadn’t threatened him, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that none of them helped him either.

Even now, he could see them arguing. At times, even hear the occasional shout and angry gesture. Aleg pointed at the fire, but Ryan just laughed—until Aleg slapped him.

Although Ryan was older than Crow, he was the smallest of the group. Out of the group, he was the most mysterious. Crow wouldn’t even have known his name if Aleg didn’t call it out when he was assembling them for their meeting.

The slap knocked the short guy on his butt, and Ryan scrambled towards Lonny—who remained sitting there impassively. Aleg was faster and had almost reached the smaller boy when Mara shoved him back and stood between the two.

Lonny’s stoic nature gave away nothing of what he felt or thought, but Crow saw him turn to look right at him. He couldn’t say for sure if it was a coincidence or not, but Crow felt in his gut that Lonny knew right where he was.

“…Trash. You whore! I’ll…” Aleg shouted once more.

Mara’s body tensed and a barrier of lightning formed around her fists. Aleg struck out, and a surge of red power crackled before his fist smashed into Mara’s. Crow had no idea what that red energy came from, but it felt wrong.

Crack!

Crow could feel the impact a second later, even smelled burnt ozone. The lightning on Mara’s hand sparked and popped before fading away. Both of them blasted apart, leaving furrows in the ground as they’d knocked each other back a few meters. Mara, distracted by the pain in her hand, ignored Aleg as she checked her injuries—confirming she had no broken bones.

Crow saw the sword come free and Aleg’s complete disregard for the woman in front of him. It was a look he recognized, one that lacked emotion and wouldn’t hesitate to kill. Not one member of the camp thought for a second Aleg would charge—

Errhheeeeee!

The screeching sound caused Lonny to look up sharply, and Aleg stumbled to a stop. An arrow struck the ground right before his feet with a heavy thunk, and the blunted end tore up the turf. The impact was enough to break Mara out of her dazed contemplation. Had Aleg not stopped, the Screaming Arrow might have broken his leg. It did precisely what Crow intended, and he calmly drew a standard arrow and waited. The next one wouldn’t be a warning.

All of them stared at the arrow quivering in the ground.

Lonny stood up and stared right at Crow. He’d also hunted since a young age, but Crow’s talent had far exceeded his expectations. The accuracy, timing, and ability to read the scene were things that someone perfected with age. He had already roughly guessed Crow’s location and now knew exactly where the boy was. Elevated position, distance, and timing—it was a hell of a shot.

“You little bastard! Don’t think I won’t kill you.” Aleg screamed, and everyone looked at him strangely. Mostly their eyes strayed towards the sword held aloft, poised to strike Mara down. Even Boot shifted uncomfortably.

“I’ll be leaving in the morning,” Lonny said before ducking into his tent.

“Y-you can’t. We are a team,” Aleg stammered, but he knew that wasn’t true, not really. The tokens counted individual contributions and tallied the numbers for the team, but the bonus for cooperation was almost negligible. “If we don’t hunt together, we’ll lose points.”

“Should have thought about that before you attacked half your team,” Ryan said and climbed to his feet before heading off to his tent as well.

Mara just stared daggers at Aleg, and she too went off to her tent.

Only Boot and Aleg stood by the fire. The big guy panted heavily through his nose and could only blame one person for this mess—Crow. If it wasn’t for that little bastard, none of this would have happened.

The night passed with no more incidents—from man or beast.

In the morning, Crow’s snapped open, only then realizing he’d fallen asleep. Lonny stood nearby, with Ryan slightly behind him. No one said a word as Crow packed his gear. He knew why they came.

“Do you want an apology?” Lonny asked bluntly.

“No.”

“Not my place to fight your fights—”

“If that is your justification, you can leave now. This is a team event, and if you aren’t willing to fight for others, then I’d rather go off on my own. At least I know I can trust myself.”

Lonny paused, only now realizing that Crow didn’t fear the wilderness. He’d only stuck around out of a sense of obligation. Not as easy to deal with as he’d thought.

“You want terms then? An agreement amongst us?”

“If you are taking leadership… then, yes. That is exactly what I want.”

“Very well, I’d prefer having you by my side than that blustering elephant,” Lonny grinned, and Crow did the same.

“And kicking his tent in the fire was fucking brilliant!” Ryan laughed unreservedly. Which caused the others to chuckle a few times. “I won’t say sorry either. He was the leader, appointed by the elders. However, in hindsight, we should have said something earlier.”

“Terms then,” Lonny stated. “I will not unjustly nor unevenly divide tasks. The majority can overrule any decision I make. And I will not remain silent, nor sit back while you anyone is danger. However, will you listen to me?”

“As long as the orders aren’t stupid, and you all agree that we are an actual team,” Crow almost mentioned the scheme against him but suddenly felt a cautiousness take over. It was better if he didn’t show his hand or indicate he knew anything was afoot. If they weren’t plotting anything, then his cautiousness hurt no one.

“All three of us agree,” Mara said, stepping around one of the trees. “No schemes.”

“Not even to get revenge for your sister?”

“Nope,” Mara stared at Crow and finally said what was on her mind. “Crow, I disagree with what my sister did and think her actions were disgusting and unbecoming of a Teonet. But… she is my sister, and if I had to choose between you two, it’d always be her.”

Crow nodded.

“And thank you for last night.”

“Then we are all agreed?” Lonny asked.

“We are,” several voices spoke all at once.

“Alright. Crow, you take point. It appears you know these woods better than us.” Lonny said, and Crow didn’t argue. He turned and went northeast into the deeper section of the forest. There was a camp further in that was near feldspar deposits, the information he had said that Moonstones were abundant in those areas.

Besides, Crow didn’t feel the beasts around this location were much of a challenge. Further in, they’d find more third-rank beasts, but Crow felt that they wouldn’t pose any risks with some proper planning. Traps were more effective than arrows for killing beasts.

“Any preference on beast types?” Crow asked while they walked.

“No high defense or strength beasts,” Lonny said directly.

It made sense since Aleg was the only one that had picked a body tempering technique. The rest of the group chose an attack technique, except Crow. Even now, he barely made any sound as he hastened through the trees, and he hadn’t yet used his Ghostly Visage ability. Mostly because he hadn’t needed to and because he was overly cautious, so he didn’t want to reveal all tricks.

Faintly, the rustling sound of a beast reached Crow’s ears, and he stopped. The others hadn’t noticed and barely froze before running into him. Their eyes turned round as saucers when they saw him draw his bow and release an arrow all in the same breath. It was a practiced movement that came from years of training, and the others immediately recognized the difference in their skill levels.

“He’s a little monster…” Mara muttered under her breath, and she saw Lonny nodding his head in agreement.

Moments later, there was a loud crash and a horrifying screech. Afterward, the birds and insects had all gone quiet, so everyone could hear the wet huffing sound. Crow already had another arrow in hand, but he slowly put it back in his quiver after several long, tense breaths.

Taking slow and deliberate steps, he went toward the sound and turned to look at the others. He paused for a moment, and his mouth open and closed a few times as if unsure whether he should speak.

“Just say it,” Lonny commanded.

“Uh, well,” Crow started. “I’m not looking down on any of you, but a beast is the most dangerous when near death. They’ll burn up their core for survival. Unlike us, they have an enormous lifespan and no problems recovering their cultivation. My father said I should never approach one directly after a kill, but get close and wait. They can’t maintain that state for long.”

“We know,” Mara snorted.

“Knowing and seeing are not the same,” Crow snapped. “They rampage, and even the weakest of them can kill us instantly. I’m not trying to say you are not smart, but if any of you forget this rule, not only will you die, but you’ll take us with you. Have a healthy respect for the beasts, and you’ll be fine.”

The calm finality in Crow’s words sobered them up, and this time no one said anything for several moments.

“Alright, let’s see what you killed,” Lonny said.

Crow nodded. He might be fourteen, but he’d spent most of his life training and hunting. There were times his father took him to the forest for months at a time. Crow wasn’t sure how many beasts he’d killed, not anymore. Enough that the killing had stopped bothering him. Enough that he could react like he had just done.

He might not understand city life and its peculiarities, but the wild, a hunt, and tracking things down was something he knew. It was something he excelled at.

He pushed aside some brush using his bow and found an oasis of light—a small glade. A large rut extended about ten meters, and at the end of it was a Quill Beast. They were like little hogs, with quills all over their bodies and one of the deadliest beasts in an open area. Each one of those quills could fire out at a speed equivalent to an arrow shot by a cultivator with a Shield. In other words, none of those present could stop one from punching through their bodies. Not even bones would slow their trajectory.

The others saw the beast too, and Crow slowly let the brush fall back into place.

“We can’t approach that thing. If it has even a little energy, it will destroy this entire area.”

“How did you even bring that thing down?” Ryan whispered, fearful of waking the beast.

“Instinct, something you must hone out here. If that thing caught us off guard, we wouldn’t have survived. Normally they are fairly docile, but autumn is their mating season.”

“Those quills are worth a lot of money,” Mara said. “We can craft them into poisoned arrows.”

She wasn’t wrong. The hollow quills had toxins in them already. A numbing agent that slowed the brain and movement.

“Do we wait or move?” Lonny wasn’t looking at the Quill Beast anymore, but at the surroundings.

Crow hadn’t known him long, but the taciturn clansman’s caution was commendable. After considering the question, he referenced his mental map of the area and the dangers surrounding it. It really wasn’t an ideal location. Crow hadn’t actually seen the beast before he shot it, which was reckless. Honed reflexes were hard to fight back, and he put his group in danger. If it was just him, he was positive in his ability to escape.

After enough time for everyone to get restless, Crow sighed. “It really isn’t ideal to wait. See that plateau to the north? That is the broken mountain. It came from our world, and one of the beast kings rules there. That battle with the Ice Kings, most of this debris and damage came from it, at least from what I read. These bluffs and hills around us aren’t natural, but remnants left behind by that ferocious battle—”

“Who could fight an Ice King?” Ryan interrupted.

“This…I’m not sure. Those books remained very vague on the topic. Regardless, that beast king up on that plateau is more than enough to wipe us out before we can crush our tokens. They call that plateau the Fiery Wind Flatlands because of the Fire-Maned Lion that lives there—ruler of that entire plateau. Staying too long, we might risk getting noticed by one of his generals?”

“You are saying beasts have a hierarchy? Why haven’t we heard about this?” Ryan asked skeptically. He was a natural skeptic, but Crow didn’t mind because he felt skeptical minds helped keep perspective.

“Beasts gain intelligence through their cores. They can cultivate and become stronger and smarter—like us. The difference is with their life span and cultivation speed. They live much, much longer than us, but their cultivation speed is slow.” Mara filled in the gaps, and Crow gave her a surprised look. “What? I’m not an idiot. I read stuff too.”

“Enough, what about the quill beast?” Lonny asked, interrupting the conversation.

“I’ll… test it out. All of you get behind something big, like a rock or tree, and stay low to the ground.”

“You sure?” Lonny asked with doubt in his eyes.

“I’m confident in my ability to run.”

“You didn’t answer the question.”

“No, I’m not sure. If it was anything other than a quill beast, I’d be much more confident.”

“Then we are leaving. The quills are the only thing of value on it besides the core. Although it’s a rank two beast, the core isn’t worth the risk either. We’ll still get the points for the kill. Let’s go,” Lonny said and looked at the three under his care.

Crow pointed more to the west, taking an angle that would put them further away from the Fiery Wind Flatlands. A greedy part of him wanted those quills—poison aside, they made excellent arrows.

Lonny was right. Rather than debate it, Crow walked away and took the long way around the dying beast.

“But…” Mara spoke and looked back towards the quill beast. “You are going to listen?”

Crow knew she targeted this question at him, so he just snorted and kept walking. No point talking about it when he’d already clearly decided. Lonny could only shake his head at Crow’s decisive actions and follow behind.

“Where are we headed?” Ryan asked after they’d been walking another few hours. All of them realized suddenly that they’d never asked Crow this question.

“A hidden valley I read about. It’s about a hundred meters wide and twice as long. Only smaller beasts can even enter because the entrance is under a rock slide. It’s in a dangerous area, but we can use it as a base camp to hunt. Few people will go that deep.”

“You sure you can get us there safely?” Lonny’s eyes narrowed in thought.

“Yes. The terrain is shattered, so a lot of places to hide.”

“Shattered by what?” Ryan asked, looking worried.

“No idea, but you’ll see what I mean in a few moments,” Crow said, and his voice lowered. “This point forward, soft voices or whispers only—and watch your footing.”

They rounded a large boulder that rose nearly as tall as a tree. The forest ended, and a vista appeared that caused everyone to stop moving and inhale sharply.

Crow had only read about this place but seeing it left him breathless. “The Divide…”