Chapter 64: The Hunt

“Okay guys, let’s go,” Gina said as she led the way.

The group’s destination this time was to the western district of the academy. Teo and the others had never been to the western district before since it was forbidden for any student that was not a fourth year or above to venture into that area without supervision.

This area was called a district, but to be precise, it was actually a thick forest within the academy grounds. Here, several animals and beasts were bred by the academy to simulate “wilderness” for students to train themselves in foraging and hunting in a controlled environment.

Although they were in a controlled environment, there were still some risks involved when entering the area. This was because the beasts living inside were not merely weak animals waiting to be slaughtered, they were bred to test the limits of the students. In order to enter the forest, you needed to pass the physical test at the end of the third year. That way, if you did not know how to fight, you would at least be able to run away.

Since the southern district became filled with many foreign guests, students were instructed not to enter randomly, and if they were to enter, they were to be mindful of their actions if they were to enter the district.

Rowen and Gina began lecturing as they brought the Teo and the group inside the forest to experience hunting. Aside from bringing their usual weapons, Rowen carried a bow on her back and a quiver on the waist. She also carried a sack while Gina had carried a backpack with many different materials. Teo and the rest carried some supplies and several empty bags.

When they arrived at the forest’s entrance, a group of guards briefly stopped and checked their equipment before allowing them to enter the forest.

“Supervising the young ones? Be sure to keep an eye out for them. Does each person have a repellent on them?” The guard asked Gina and Rowen.

“Yes, we have two bottles of repellents per person,” Rowen replied.

The repellent they were referring to was made from the Ash Horned Skunk that Teo and Windle were very familiar with when Teo had Windle acquire it for him when he made the mini stink bomb array. Although when used on academy grounds, the potency of the repellent was weakened as the beasts of the forest were very weak to it.

“Hehe, you rascals need to be careful in this forest. Even though we’ll just be hunting at the edge of the forest, these will animals are not that weak and will injure you if you let down your guard”, Gina said

“We’ll be in charge of initiating and weakening the animals while you guys will be in charge of dealing the final blow,” Rowen smiled as she said it.

Lia’s face turned a little pale.

‘Blood...’ she was still a little squeamish of the thought.

“Teo, Windle, help me set up a few traps along the way. On our way back we might get lucky and catch something”, Gina ordered.

….

While many students took advantage of the cancelled classes to enjoy themselves out in the city, the northern district had many students going to the training grounds and the arena.

A large gust of wind appeared out of nowhere startling many students who were currently training.

The area darkened suddenly, as a large quick moving shadow appeared on the ground. People instinctively looked up towards the sky and saw an extremely large bird flying up in the air, heading towards the central district of the academy.

Many people gasped at the sight, as soon another bird appeared

…..

Within the central district, there were many students and other visitors that were quite worried, but Elon and the rest of the elders were quite calm.

The city lord, Elon, and many other important people stood side by side waiting outside the central office near the flower garden nearby.

Several powerful gusts of wind blew by, uprooting many flowers within the garden. The large birds flapped their wings in preparation to land and as the mighty birds landed, the earth quaked from their heavy weight.

Only the flower garden was large enough to both accommodate such large creatures and was close enough to the central office. Some of the elders quickly fixed their messy appearance, while Elon and the rest used their Qi to shield themselves from the intense winds.

In the distance students were seen flocking around the garden, attempting to look at the giant birds.

The birds were as large as two-story buildings, one was a gray feathered beast while the other was white. The first sight of these gigantic birds caused one to become frightened but surprisingly, these birds seemed to be very docile.

Suddenly figures jumped down from the top of the birds, the figures flowed like water from the back of the bird and soon there were about thirty or so men that had landed.

“Everyone kneel.” Shard’s voice whispered through the crowd and everyone kneeled onto the floor.

“Honorable guest, welcome to our humble city.” The city lord took this opportunity to act as the host for the arriving guests as he bowed down.

There were twenty armed guards covered in scaled armor. Their armor was glossy and tinted in a shade of dark green. Their shoulder plates were engraved with a majestic spiral symbol. Their aura powerful and intimidating as they stood in straight columns. They were led by three men who wore full plated armor.

In front of them were eight figures, dressed in majestic clothing. The clothes of the branch chief Cody of the Emerald Pavilion were like rags compared to theirs. Behind these eight were a few servants, carrying several luggages and boxes.

The eight figures looked down at the people that welcomed them but did not show much sign of respect. The eight exuded an air of importance around them.

The person who stood in the middle of the eight waved his hand, and the kneeling group rose as one.

“Ah Shard, is that you?” One visitor’s face became friendly as he recognized Shard.

Shard stood forward and saluted before smiling “Your grace.”

…..

News of the Imperial family quickly spread throughout the city.

After receiving the falcon from the Mirth city lord, the Imperial family had sent a few envoys to check the validity of this news and to provide support and order within the academy.

Four envoys were sent by the Imperial family. One of which was specifically chosen as he was familiar with the head of the red guards within the academy. The others were from other influential families that were on very close terms with the Imperial family. Two was from the Rizon main family while the remaining two were from the Luth main family.

In case the news was real, they all had brought several gifts to invite this eccentric to join the Imperial family’s faction. This was because such a talented inscriptionist could rival the previously peerless grandmaster Yula. They did not bother to compete for the shoes, but rather wished to meet the creator of such inscriptions.

They even brought several high level royal guards to test these shoes to gain the favor of the mysterious eccentric, as well as to keep the order around the academy.

“Your grace.” The branch chief Cody kneeled.

“Have you identified this eccentric inscriptionist?” The young envoy asked the kneeling branch chief as took a bite out of an apple.

“We dare not, your grace.” Cody shook his head as he faced the floor.

Cody respectfully explained the details of their encounter with the mysterious eccentric.

“A few days ago, the eccentric brought another batch of shoes. They were made of higher quality this time and the maker of the shoes was easily identified. It was a craftsman within the academy, but unfortunately, he did not keep track of who bought the shoes”

“Uncle what do you think?” The youth asked the middle-aged envoy who was sipping tea as if he had no cares in the world.

“Brother’s orders were clear. Since he is hiding his identity, let’s wait for him to appear for now. If we can peacefully invite him, then that would be best. But if he does not wish to join, we can just take his loved ones as hostages and force him to join.”

The middle-aged envoy took another sip and looked to the royal guards who stood near the door.

“Find this craftsman, and investigate him. If he doesn’t match the description of this eccentric, then ‘help him’ remember who he sold these shoes to, but make sure you keep him alive until we find out the identity of this inscriptionist. In addition, investigate this Deacon Quin that I’ve heard about. Make sure you keep an eye on him”

The branch chief felt a cold shiver down his spine as he listened. He knew what the middle-aged envoy meant when he said “help him remember”.

….

After the guests left, the branch chief headed to the fourth floor to discuss what happened with top executives of the branch.

“Chief what are we going to do?”

“We have two options, one is to warn that person before the Imperial family can get to him, or the other is to assist the Imperial family. One choice is profitable, while the other one is safe”

The chief’s eyes lit up as it was clear what he wanted to do. If they could warn the person, then even if he join the Imperial family or not, that person will still have a good impression of the Emerald Pavilion.

“The president will surely make the same decision as me, dealing with money always leads to danger so why should we be afraid?”

The others nodded in agreement.

The Emerald Pavilion dealt with information and money, two powerful things that could topple great powers. Although they were afraid of the Imperial family, the reward was much greater than the risk.

“Have our members spread this news discretely, we want it to look like a rumor.”

….

On the ground, a small immobilized boar laid out as it let out painful squeals. Two arrows were lodge into its legs.

“Go ahead, Teo,” Rowen said.

Teo stood before the wounded animal with a knife in his hand. Windle and Lia had pale expressions and blood smeared on their hands and clothes.

“Put it out of its misery already. The longer you hesitate, the more pain it’ll feel.” Gina stated remorselessly.

Teo took the dagger and drew it close to the boar’s throat. He took a deep breath and then pierced through the flesh as he struggled to cut open the throat. The flesh was thick and sometimes it would hit a bone but Teo slowly finished the job.

His first kill...

Although it was an animal, it was the first time he had ever taken a life.

“Good job!”, Gina happily praised

“Don’t worry Teo, you’ll get used to it,” Rowen said as she remembered her first kill as well.

They were mentally preparing the group to kill, so that in the future, the shock of killing a person would not be so harsh.

This was one of the tests required to pass the fourth year combat test. Not only were they to have the ability to fight, the students also needed the resolve to take a life.

“Come on, let’s keep going.” Gina happily led the way as the three youths still felt uneasy with killing.

….

After a long day of hunting, the group decided to return.

On the way back, they checked the traps that they had laid. In some of them were a few smaller animals, of one of them was a cute squirrel that Lia was ordered to kill.

“Can.. can I not kill him? He’s so cute!” Lia pleaded with Gina.

“Okay. Windle, kill it.”

“NO!” Lia shouted as she quickly grabbed the little squirrel and protected it with her arms.

“Gina, let’s skip this one instead.” Rowen persuaded.

So far today, everything that Lia had killed was snakes, rodents, and bats. She had refused to kill anything that looked “cute”.

Gina could only helplessly shake her head and move on.

[Edited by thisisnate]

[Author's note:

Perhaps a little clarification on the number of people who arrived on the two large birds.

20 Royal guards, 3 commanders, 4 imperial family members, 2 rizon family members, 2 luth family members + 4 servants, So 35 people. I used "around 30" because there were too many for people to count them all, and to be vague XD.

I will be posting the cultivation levels soon in my website's glossary, unfortunately elementalists are only classified by the cultivators they can beat/kill so no chart for them. Be warned there may be things that could spoil future chapters in this cultivation chart

Thanks for reading!]