Later at Marcela's house
"Hey Sarah, are you really going?" Bernardo, sitting on the kitchen floor, asks upward looking at Sarah who is sitting on a chair with her legs crossed.
"I want to see what these hunters are capable of, who knows, maybe I will change my mind." She explains with a book in her hand, on its cover it says "monsters and animals."
"Man! I am jealous of you." Marcela, who is also sitting at the table, leans over an open book just like Sarah's. "All I know how to do is collect seeds and identify plants."
"Actually, you are very good at that, you even received the invitation for the collectors' guild internship, did you not?" Bernardo also flips through the same book as them while speaking.
"Do you think so?" She smiles while looking at him still with her head resting and her face hidden by golden strands.
"Marcela, you can stop right there! Have more confidence. I still want to see you plant your own passion fruits." Sarah places the book on the table and pats her head.
"Can you not just plant the seeds?" Bernardo even stops flipping pages while looking at both of them.
"No, those seeds are infertile. The real ones used for planting are extremely rare and expensive, that is also why the price per kilo is so absurd." Marcela begins to sit upright while looking at the book with a distant gaze.
"My mother said that you can only find these seeds on the black market." Sarah lets the words out while observing the figure of a boar on a page.
"That happens because the large passion fruit producers monopolize the seeds. There are recurring cases of mercenaries hired to kill those who manage to get some and try to sell them on their own." Marcela explains still with a vacant look.
"But you are not going to sell them, you are going to give them to me, right?" Sarah looks at her with a fixed gaze.
Marcela cannot resist and begins to laugh lightly.
"Of course, I will be your personal supplier." She moves from laughter to a confident look directed at Sarah and then to the book. "But now I need to learn to distinguish the levels of animals and monsters, otherwise I will mess up in the practical test."
"I already told you, did I not? Normal animals are those that are easily seen in daily life and in places of easy access. Rare ones are those that take long intervals of time to be seen and usually stay in places more difficult to access. Epic ones usually stay in isolated places and are very skittish when they sense unusual presences, that is why few people manage to see one." Bernardo even lifts his chin while speaking.
Marcela takes the opportunity to add.
"These are the ones that are usually seen when a hunter is tracking one specifically, right?" She is already flipping through some pages until finding the section that talks about them.
"That is right! Very good!" Bernardo smiles while looking at her fully concentrated face.
Sarah watches them in silence and even sets the book aside for that.
"Legendary ones are those that take years to see one, they live in hostile places and with high risk of life. As for the Heralds..." He is interrupted by Marcela.
"Creatures that you see once in a lifetime, they inhabit the most hostile and secret environments. And even so it is still difficult to affirm that they really exist, only those with concrete proof are considered real." She runs her finger along the lines of the book while reading.
"Good thing I will not need to take this test, I would get all the categories wrong." Sarah lets the words slip while looking at the ceiling.
"There you go again with those lame excuses." Marcela takes the opportunity and throws a sock at Sarah's face.
"Do you not shower?" Sarah gives a slight sniff at the sock and says it on purpose while forcing a grimace.
"You will see the shower." Marcela is holding a mug full of water.
"Do not forget the Mystics! My favorites." Marcela's father speaks from the living room in a loud voice, interrupting them while beginning to get up from the sofa he is lying on.
"Beings that, for the most part, there are no records of their existence except in tales, legends and myths. There are few whose existence has been proven." Bernardo finishes.
"Why do you like them, dad?" Marcela raises her voice.
"When I was a child, I heard the legend of the Anhangá, a white and furry deer that they say has such a divine appearance that just by being seen it already makes the person healthier and live longer." The father finishes speaking already in the kitchen, leaning against the fridge and with a distant look. His short blonde hair contrasts with the black shirt and green shorts.
"Mr. Cláudio, your feet smell." Bernardo says placing his hand on his nose.
"Hey, it is not because you are dating my daughter that you can make up lies like that!"
"But it is true, dad!" Marcela's voice even comes out nasal.
When he sees that both of them are also with their hands on their noses, he takes the trouble to smell more carefully and really confirms the obvious.
"You win, I will take a shower. Actually, I need to take you back home. Get ready!" He finishes speaking turning toward the living room.
Then they tidy up the mess and continue talking about some topics of the tests and some silly teasing.
Already at night, Sarah finds herself thinking about which weapon she will use and vaguely remembers those dreams. She can even hear the sound of glass breaking in her mind. But it does not take long and she leaves the choice for the next day, surrendering to sleep and the night.
The next day
The sun is already at the peak of its power when the action finally begins.
In a more open area in the middle of a corn plantation, a boar as big as a ten-year-old child and covered with black fur charges fiercely with its sharp tusks ready to pierce whatever is in front.
Further ahead, in the direction it is going, Lozar, a man of medium height and somewhat slender, wields a short sword while a black and round shield made from the scales of some animal is attached to his right arm.