The sun is high in the sky, it is about noon, and two people are seen walking at a somewhat brisk pace north of Rivermouth.
They are following the river, and using the road which follows it.
Now and then, they encounter someone travelling by, and sometimes they greet people travelling in smaller boats on the river.
The duo consists of two people, one relatively tall and broad-shouldered man, clad in armour, weapons and carrying a backpack full of supplies. The other person is a woman clad in a wide black robe with silver details woven into it, and the robe covers her entire figure.
The duo is Jack and Dianne, who are making solid progress north while looking for the Riverbend Farm, as detailed on the backside of the contract.
"How's your leg?" Jack asks Dianne.
"I-It's fine, I can continue walking." Dianne says timidly, while refusing to take a break.
"Look, we can slow down if you want to. There is no point in hurting your leg even more." Jack stops and says to Dianne.
"No, really, I'm fine. I-I drank a health potion this morning, so really, I'm fine." Dianne says while she stops, before waving dismissively.
'A health potion, huh? I would really like to know more about how they work. If this world has magical health potions, then why do people need to drink them instead of just pouring them onto a wound?" Jack thinks to himself before answering.
"How does a health potion actually work?" He says.
"Health potions are a combination of alchemical ingredients with natural medicinal herbs. Usually, some of those herbs are also infused with mana, which makes the effect so much stronger." Dianne begins her long explanation.
"A health potion works in the same way that your body does, meaning that if you scrape your knee, your body will heal it by itself. A health potion simply enhances the body's natural abilities to heal itself. If the potion is made with lots of mana-infused herbs or has very strong mana, then the effect is that much stronger."
Jack notices how Dianne no longer stutters or makes awkward pauses in her speech. Whenever she starts talking about magic or mana, she becomes much more confident.
"So when a health potion is consumed, the effects enter the body, get absorbed and instantly help the body to fix itself quickly and efficiently. Some think that you can pour it on a wound, but that is not the same as a healing spell, as the potion only enhances the body's abilities, so if it gets concentrated on one spot, it will only heal that specific area. That can go really badly as big wounds often have lots of internal impurities that the body takes care of by itself." Dianne finishes her explanation.
'I wonder if they know about calories and proteins, because if a health potion increases the body's natural healing ability, it should probably increase the metabolism by an astounding amount? However, that theory only works as long as the potion itself isn't a calorie bomb.' Jack thinks to himself before asking.
"Do you know what a calorie is?" Jack asks Dianne, not really expecting an answer.
"W-what? A calorie? What is that? Am I supposed to know that?" Dianne starts quickly asking back.
"Never mind. Thanks for the explanation of a health potion. You made it very clear and easy to follow." Jack gives her a thumbs-up before continuing to walk.
Dianne becomes shy again and does not know how to take the compliment, so she starts blushing, and after a few seconds, she jogs after Jack, continuing their walk.
The river they are following has mountain ranges on each side of it going north. It creates a natural valley through which the river flows. The farm is placed on the eastern side of the river, with big plots of empty land stretching towards the mountain east.
The duo sees a sign saying "Riverbend Farm" and follows the road east.
As they arrive, they can clearly see how most of the land is unused, with big empty fields stretching towards the mountain and clusters of trees and shrubbery following the edges of the fields.
There are a couple of houses, a big shed, a storage barn, a main house and an outhouse.
As they arrive, they can see how a farmer is sitting in a rocking chair, dressed like he is ready to start tending the fields, but looking very gloomy.
"Good day, we are here for information regarding the big boar?" Jack yells out towards the man on the porch.
The farmer looks over in excitement, but upon seeing only two people, his mood instantly turns sour again, and his excitement fades.
"Are you scouts or have you mistaken the contract?" The farmer says as Jack and Dianne approach his porch.
"No, we are not scouts. How so?" Jack asks back confidently.
"The last group that arrived had to leave, saying the beast was way too big for them to handle. So, forgive me, but do you have the strength of more than five men?" The farmer asks back sarcastically.
'If only he knew, I probably have the strength of hundreds of men.' Jack thinks before he decides what to say.
"I am not going to claim anything outrageously, but I am pretty strong, and in combination with my very capable magic-wielding companion, we are sure we can do some good damage to the beast." Jack says while also nodding towards Dianne.
She looks around nervously, not knowing what to do or say and instead starts nodding aggressively.
"Well, I don't know much about magic, but fine. I'll give you directions, but you gotta promise me you won't die." The farmer says.
"I promise we won't die, now please, where did this last group track the beast? And roughly how many normal-sized boars have you seen lately?" Jack asks back.
The farmer gives a long explanation detailing where he has seen boars, the big boar, what he heard from the other group before and so on.
Jack listens intently, while also making sure to ask some questions to make sure he understands the situation correctly.
After a couple of minutes, Jack and Dianne start traversing the muddy grounds of the farmland, which has been mostly torn up by boars. They are searching for the tracks of the big boar.
They quickly notice all the dug-up ground that the boars have destroyed, stealing crops while looking for food.
But not long after, they start noticing the huge tracks left from a cloven hoof.
They are gigantic.
Jack spends a couple of minutes following the tracks until they eventually find some leading away from the fields.
The farmer also told them that the big boar has a hiding spot somewhere closer to the mountains, and that the other group that tracked it found it, but quickly left.
As boars are nocturnal creatures, none can be seen right now as the sun is right in the middle of the sky.
They start following the tracks leading towards the mountains, using both the information from the farmer and the tracks on the ground.
They leave the fields and walk into a somewhat dense shrubbery with clusters of trees.
They quickly find several areas with disturbed ground and even some broken trees, leading them right towards a larger area of broken vegetation.
A couple of broken trees and branches full of leaves are covering a giant boar, which is hiding in a dent in the ground.
The dent might not be deep, but it is still large as they spot the gigantic boar sleeping in it, covered in the broken vegetation and using it as camouflage.
"W-what do we do now?" Dianne whispers to Jack while staying a bit behind him.
"We scout the area, then we attack it while it still sleeps." Jack answers back quietly.
Dianne looks very sceptical of the plan, and stays in place as Jack travels in a circle around the nest.
Several other boars are sleeping nearby. They aren't right next to the big boar, but instead several meters away, sleeping in their own pack.
Jack decides that he should probably attack from the opposite side of the normal boars, as they will then most likely flee if the big boar charges out of its den.
As he gets back to Dianne, he starts talking and formulating his plan.
"Dianne, I want you to promise me not to tell anyone what you see here. I will try something, and you must keep things between us. Understood?" Jack says to Dianne.
"S-sure, Jack. B-but why? Y-you are not a warlock, are you?" Dianne stutters back, scared of what he might do next.
"What!? No, I mean just don't tell everyone what you see and make sure you don't get in the way." Jack answers.
'A warlock? Isn't that just a manly version of a witch? Or does she mean someone practising forbidden magic, curses and stuff?' Jack thinks to himself as he quietly removes his backpack and excess gear.
He grabs his shield and warhammer, slowly creeping out of the bushes and heading towards the boar. His armour is making a small amount of noise, but not enough to wake the boar.
As he creeps forward, he starts by moving quietly, aiming to reach the giant boar.
Jack notices how easily he can sneak. He instinctively manages to predict what noises he might make and avoids making them by moving differently.
His armour, which would make clanking noises, can be stopped by shifting his shoulders and stretching a bit to make it produce less noise. His warhammer and shield are held close, but not close enough to hit anything. Jack's unnaturally good senses help him avoid any branches, bushes or similar that his gear would otherwise come in contact with.
All of a sudden, he is standing in front of the sleeping giant boar, which is covered in leaves and branches, creating a sort of natural camouflage.
'I was hoping it would wake up and charge at me, so I could test my strength. But now I guess I have to wake the monster instead.' Jack thinks to himself.
As he approaches the boar, he can observe the beast between the branches and leaves, getting a much better look at it.
It is gigantic, probably spanning a couple of meters in length and height, having more similarities in its dimensions to a truck rather than a wild animal. The giant boar has a bristly, thick coat in a black shade which covers its bulky body. It has a straight, long snout and big tusks pointing outwards from its jaw.
As the giant beast is lying there sleeping, it breathes in heavily, its sides swelling gently, before sinking again as it lets go of the air. The snout is still and resting on the ground, as the giant boar is lying on its side.
Jack walks up to the sleeping beast and gently pokes the camouflage with his warhammer, trying to see if the giant boar will react. It does not.
'I guess I have to do this properly, I really want to see how strong I am.' Jack thinks to himself before he decides to act.
He steps back from the beast and prepares a mighty battle cry, screaming from the top of his lungs.
"LEEEERRRROOOOOOOOOOYYYY JEEEEEEEEEEENKINS!!!!!" Jack screams at the giant boar, instantly waking it up and all the other boars behind it.
The giant boar opens its tiny eyes, squints at Jack, and quickly stands up on all fours while shaking the shrubbery camouflage of itself.
It performs a mighty squeal, right back towards Jack, before it scratches the ground with its front paw and begins charging towards Jack.
Dianne is hiding a distance away with all the supplies, as she sees Jack shouting and waking the boar, she almost drops her staff in surprise, her face becomes void of any colour as she stares at Jack.
"Wha-what is he doing?" Dianne mutters to herself before taking cover, hiding from the giant boar and the fight that is about to start.