On the following day, nine groups of four students marched to the northern forest where Mount Jehhu was located, past the mountain ranges was the unprotected zone. The northern forest was a hunting ground for new slayers. Only low level varaes lived there. Lead by Master Senx and some seniors, we entered the forest.
" Beware of that group, " Dan pointed to a group of three females and one male. " That guy is a Yen ranker, his name is Quillen and the rest three girls are all Ren rankers. Especially, that guy is a genius, he is a quick learner and also good at fighting, "
" Who is he?, " asked Ellena.
" I heard his father is a grandmaster slayer, " replied Dan.
" So our competition is Quillen's group, huh." Ellena said as she stretched her back.
" I think that group will be more troublesome, " said Zenora. I almost forgot she was in the group. Then she pointed to another group of four males students. I recognised only one of them, he was a Ren ranker.
" Why? None of them are Yen rankers, " said Dan.
" That guy with long hair, he is very strong and I heard his father trained him before entering the academy. " explained Zenora.
" hoo, you know him?, " Ellena asked.
" Yes, his father was a regular customer to our shop and my father told me his stories about how he was training his son from a young age to become a slayer, " Zenora seemed interested in him and he was also quite handsome.
" Interesting ! So what is his name?, " Ellena said.
" Gira Bren, " Zenora said.
" Lets see who hunts more ! " declared Dan.
I brought my dagger and a sword I borrowed from the academy's workshop. Everyone was assigned a basic enhanced sword, however I refused and borrowed a normal sword instead and a bow. On my back was my bow and sword and a quiver full of arrows hanging around my waist. Normally, slayers won't use bows as magic spells could do alot and better, it saved time and was highly efficient. However, I learnt a little of archery from my late father and I was ready to employ everything of my survival skills.
" Anyway , what's up with the bow?, " Dan said looking at me curiously.
" haha, just in case, " I said humbly.
" You know, it will be hard to hit one since red hounds are extremely agile, " Dan replied.
" Hmmm.. we just have to fight head on then, " I said and laughed off.
I could tell they were finding my strategy a bit silly but it also made sense since they knew I have no affinity, so in their eyes I could see pity and naturally they were underestimating me. I didn't blame them.
" It's okay, I also know some offensive spells, " Zenora announced.
" Offensive spell? Really? but those are level three low tier spells. " Ellena said in shock.
" I learnt some from my brother, " Zenora responded proudly.
" Amazing ! this will be a piece of cake then, " Dan rejoiced.
Right, I knew they didn't expect much from my bow and a normal sword but I was confident I could hunt at least one Red Hound even without magic.
At last, the marching stopped as we reached a slayer outpost in the middle of the forest.
" You have until evening, track down red hounds and hunt them as many as you can and bring them here. We will be waiting here, few of your seniors will be spread out here and there just to monitor you, so no funny business amongst yourselves. Fair play, slayers. Your time starts now, " Master Senx announced.
As the announcement ended, I saw many of the students activating some spells and scattered off into the forest.
" Lets not lag behind, okay people activate sense boost and wolf steps , " Dan said.
" Cast sense boost, " said Ellena and a white light glowed from their body and dimed. " Cast Wolf steps,"
Dan and Zenora did the same and white light glowed from their body.
" Try to keep up, Lan. We will head North near Mt Jehhu slope, Chances are high for a Red Hound nest being there, " Said Dan.
I nodded and they quickly darted off to Mt Jehhu direction and I followed them. To my surprise, I was grateful that they kept a low pace for me to keep, I was able to maintain the pace with them, three of them ran in front of him but I must admit those low level spells were quite awesome, they were quite fast for any ordinary person.
Ellena glanced back at me and then Zenora too, I simply followed them.
" Hoooo, so you are able to keep up?," said Dan.
" Thanks for keeping the pace slow, " I replied.
" Hah ! " exclaimed Dan in excitement.
I smiled and we ran for another three minutes and the forest opened up to a grassy plain and a river. We stopped and waited for Dan's next plan.
" So what do we do now?, " I asked.
" We wait, we are sure to find a pack of Red Hounds here, " Dan said.
" You mean the river?, " asked Ellena.
" Yes, they are sure to come around for some water and we have till nightfall, " Dan replied confidently.
It was not a bad plan, however I was not very sure of it, I wanted to suggest we look for footprints around here and my senses were very good so I was confident I could track them down. We stayed out of sight near the edge of the grassy plain behind a bush waiting, I quickly climbed up a nearby tree and positioned myself on the height ready with my bow.
" I'll keep watch of our surroundings, " I said.
They nodded and continued the wait. I looked around and with my nose, I picked up no varaes smell so far, we were safe for now but as I looked around to the left of us, far away I spotted a group just like us hiding behind a bush and from what I could tell, they were of the same plan as us.
" 10 o'clock, another group behind a bush, " I said.
" Really? Haa, so we are not the only one?," Dan said.
" Activate Vision boost, " Ellena casted a spell.
" It's Quillen's group, " added Ellena.
" Let's not let them steal our prey !, " Dan roared with a thrill.
Half an hour later, nothing really happened. Quillen's group was also waiting with their eyes flocking here and there, It also seemed they had spotted us a few minutes ago as one of them whispered to Quillen and pointed at our direction.
Suddenly, I picked up a smell coming from our right flank and I alerted them, " Right flank "
And only one Red Hound appeared out of the trees and not a full grown Red Hound, it was only as big as a normal wolf. I took out an arrow and loaded on my bow. The Hound slowly walked over a stream that was stretched out from the river and it was closer to our position.
" Wait, I'll do this, " said Dan and unsheathed his sword and approached the unaware varae.
" Be careful, there could be others nearby " I warned him because I didn't pick up a single scent.
Dan approached the varae from behind and he charged at the unaware hound who was still drinking from the stream, however at the noise of his charging the hound turned around and found Dan's sword almost slashed its neck, the Red hound was extremely agile, it quickly dodged Dan's first diagonal swing but suffered a slight scratch. It stepped back and growled and lunged at Dan swiftly, however Dan's finished it off with a powerful vertical strike.
The immature hound lay at the ground bleeding and Dan raised his hand waving at his team behind the bush and grinning foolishly as usual, " Told you, it would be a breeze, " He shouted at them. However, while he was basking in his victory, a pack of Red Hounds emerged from the trees, quite of them. There were eight of them. To the development, Ellena rushed out from the trees to help Dan and somewhere from the bush, Quillen's group were also rushing forward to the fray. To the sight of the dead pack member, the Red Hounds howled and charged at Dan, Quickly, Ellena was behind Dan back to back. The pack quickly circled them and started attacking them from the opposite direction, Zenora from the bush casted boost spells on both of them. Ellena and Dan were having a hard time fighting off when an arrow wheezed out from the trees and killed a hound, the arrow hit its eyes from sideways. The pack was attacked by Quillen's group from behind and they were getting an upper hand but also were evenly matched, the matured hounds were much more powerful and agile, they could hold their ground but they were not able to find the opportunity to land lethal strikes.
As Dan was busy wrestling the hound who was trying to claw his neck, another hound jumped at him from an unsuspecting direction, Before its jaws reached Dan's neck, an arrow pierced through its unprotected mouth and it dropped dead on the ground. Dan and Ellena in the fray couldn't help but be impressed by Lan's archery. In Short time, with the help of the wheezing arrows that wounded the hounds, They gained the upper hand and slayed the remaining hounds, Dan and Ellena slayed two hounds while Lan's arrows killed three and Quillen's group slayed three.
" Thanks for the help, Quillen. " Dan said while panting heavily.
" Likewise, we wouldn't have gotten the chance to hunt if not for you guys, " replied Quillen and shook Dan's hand.
" By the way, who was that shooting arrows ?, " said Pera, a girl with a twin blade strapped on her back, she was also the shortest girl in Quillen's group.
" Ahhh, It's Lan Gwen Ethren, " said Dan proudly.
" That no magic guy? Wow ! he has some insane archery skills, " said Quillen as he was dumbfounded.
" Yeah, I was quite shocked, he shot at the hound's eyes from the sideway and he said he only knew a little of archery, that bastard !, " Dan said while looking at the tree where Lan positioned himself.
" Without his help, we might not have won this fight, " said Ellena acknowledging Lan's archery skill.
" True, " replied Pera.
" Alright, I'll go help them carry the hounds, " I said and descended from the tree and approached them. To my surprise, They greeted me quite friendly and complimented my archery skills, although I was not sure it was that impressive to get flattered by everyone. Quillen introduced himself to me and we shook hands, the short girl whose name was Pera also introduced herself and said " Let's be friends, ". Dan and Ellena appreciated my help and praised me, I won't lie. I felt quite good but I did what I could do at the moment. However, Zenora didn't even say a word and continued casting spells quietly during the battle.
Quillen's group took three hounds as they slayed three of the whole pack and we carried five hounds back to the outpost and it was almost evening by the time we reached our destination and with the sun setting down, the rest of the scattered groups were also coming back with their hunts.