Hunting: The Dawning

Chapter 4: Niu Pa Meow

"Ouch, ouch, ouch..."

When Gordon sat up, clutching his arm, it was already late at night.

When he realized that he, who should have died in the fierce battle with the Great Wild Boar King, was now lying safely on the bed in the hunter's camp, and his right arm was even fixed with wooden boards, it was impossible for him not to be surprised.

He frowned and thought for a while. The strange horn sound he had heard before losing consciousness made him vaguely understand something.

"Meow! You're awake, meow? Are you okay? That's great, meow!"

At this moment, a furry face with a pair of cute big eyes squeezed into his line of sight.

Somewhat startled, Gordon blurted out, "Ai... Ai Lu?"

"How rude, meow! If it weren't for our timely rescue, you would have been trampled into a pancake by that big fat pig, meow!" Facing Gordon's surprise, the owner of that face seemed a bit dissatisfied.

"Ah, I'm so sorry. Oh, no, I should say thank you very much for saving my life!" After the initial surprise, Gordon immediately sat up straight and formally thanked the little fellows gathered around the bed.

What they said was true. He, who had lost his ability to move in front of the Great Wild Boar King, would surely have died without a doubt.

Ai Lu, also known as the Felyne, belonged to the Beastmen race like the Khezu tribe.

Compared to the brutal and surly Khezu tribe, the gentle and industrious Felynes had a very close relationship with humans.

These little fellows, who were a little over half a meter tall when standing up, were used to walking on two feet like humans. Their hands were very dexterous and they could use all kinds of tools and even weapons.

They produced and lived together with humans. In human settlements, their figures could often be seen, and even in a remote place like Kokoto Village was no exception.

However, judging from their clothing and the cleanliness of their fur, these Felynes who had saved his life probably didn't belong to those who lived permanently in human villages or towns.

Instead, they were from a group living in the wild.

"That's more like it, meow!"

Seemingly quite satisfied with Gordon's sincere attitude of thanks, a relatively large Felyne, who looked like the leader, hugged its paws and nodded its head with satisfaction.

Then it stretched out its little paw towards Gordon.

"According to the agreement with the Hunter's Guild, meow, the Felynes who save a hunter in the hunting ground have the right to receive a reward equivalent to one-third of the task payment, meow!"

Looking at the little paw in front of him, Gordon remembered that the instructor did seem to have mentioned this to him.

The Felynes were small and agile. They could climb trees and burrow into holes, and it was difficult for monsters to really harm them. Considering the Felynes' nature of being close to humans, the Hunter's Guild negotiated with the Felyne tribe.

They would lend a helping hand when they encountered hunters in danger in the wild, and the price was a part of the hunters' payment.

Naturally, all hunters couldn't wait to agree wholeheartedly.

Although whether one would have the chance to be saved by the Felynes depended entirely on luck, even just the possibility was a great thing.

When it came to life, no one would be stingy with money, and Gordon was no exception.

However...

Looking at the wounds on his body that had been carefully bandaged, he felt rather embarrassed.

Since he had taken an assessment task, the payment was only a symbolic 300z. One-third of that would be 100z, and if one wanted to have a more luxurious set meal in a restaurant, the charge would be about 100z.

In other words, he had bought his life with the money for a meal.

After showing his task document to the Felyne leader, the latter's expression visibly stiffened, and its originally perky triangular little ears drooped down.

It sighed in an old-fashioned way: "What bad luck, meow. But rules are rules. Hunter sir, you only need to pay 100z, meow."

Gordon handed over the money rather hesitantly. Even though he was the one who seemed to be taking advantage, he still felt it was a bit too much...

"The payment has been received, meow. Hunter sir, please have a good rest, meow." The Felyne leader put away the money and was about to leave with its dejected clansmen.

"Ah, sorry, please wait a moment!"

Suddenly remembering something, Gordon stopped the Felynes who were about to leave, and then quickly walked to the storage box and started rummaging through it.

Inside were all kinds of materials he had collected along the way during the hunting in the past two days.

There were ores, herbs, mushrooms, bones, insect materials... everything.

This was a habit that most hunters had. On the one hand, it was to accumulate materials needed for equipment and items, and on the other hand, it could also earn some extra money.

After a while, Gordon took out a few seemingly ordinary fresh branches, and the Felynes' eyes instantly lit up when they saw what was in his hand.

"Meow! Catnip!"

"It's actually catnip, meow!"

This plant was just one of the ordinary medicinal materials for humans, but in the eyes of the Felynes, it was an extremely precious luxury item, probably like high-quality fine wine in the eyes of drunkards.

Handing the catnip to the Felynes, Gordon scratched the back of his head and said, "Although it can't be regarded as payment, it's just a trifling token of gratitude.

My name is Gordon. Although I'm still just an insignificant apprentice hunter, as long as you need help, just come to Kokoto Village to find me. I'll do my best."

The Felyne leader excitedly patted Gordon's thigh with its little paw and said loudly, "Hunter sir, you're a really nice person, meow! My name is Niu Pa Meow! If there's a chance in the future, you're welcome to visit us, meow!"

Gordon also bent down, shook Niu Pa's paw, and said with a smile, "It's a deal."

After bidding farewell to each other again, the Felynes left, bouncing along with the catnip in their hands, and the hunter's camp became quiet again.

Returning to the tent, Gordon sat down on the edge of the bed and slowly let out a breath.

He first took out the only three bottles of Potion from his backpack, drank them all in one go, coughed hard a few times to cough up the blood clots in his trachea, and then sat quietly for a while. Immediately, his right arm, which had been in great pain, and his internal organs felt much more comfortable.

This didn't mean that his injuries had healed completely.

The three basic Potions were not enough to heal all his injuries, including the cracked bone in his right arm. Moreover, it would still take some time for the effects of these potions to fully take effect.

Now, he was faced with a choice again.

Due to the appearance of the Great Wild Boar King, he hadn't been able to collect the tusk of the last big wild boar, and the hunting task hadn't been completed.

Unlike ordinary big wild boars, the Great Wild Boar King, as the leader of the group, had a certain level of intelligence. Under its call, at least within the time limit of the task, it was unlikely that he would encounter a lone wild boar again.

Give up the task.

Return to the village and explain the situation. The appearance of the Great Wild Boar King during the hunting task was an accident. No one would blame him. He could wait for next year to take the assessment task again. After all, he was still young.

Taking a deep breath, Gordon lay down heavily on the bed in the tent, staring blankly at the top of the tent.

Or, directly hunt the Great Wild Boar King and use its tusk as part of the task item to complete the task beyond the quota.

Gordon turned over and sat up.

To be honest, even he himself was startled by the "overreaching" nature of this idea.

He picked up the shorts word leaning against the foot of the bed.

On the round shield, a c***k almost ran across the entire surface. No one knew how many more impacts it could withstand.

The bone-made Hunter's Dagger was still sharp, but when he slashed it at the body of the Great Wild Boar King, the feeling that it was like chopping at a mountain rock and almost bouncing back was equally disturbing.

Was it really possible for him to hunt the Great Wild Boar King?