Hunting: The Dawning

Chapter 5: The Courage of Humans

Gazing at his own hands that were covered with calluses, had thick knuckles, were much rougher than those of his peers, yet also far more powerful.

His injured right hand was still trembling slightly, as if mirroring the fear deep within his heart, a fear that he himself was reluctant to face directly.

Was he afraid of being pierced by those tusks?

Was he afraid of being crushed by those huge hooves?

He was just an apprentice hunter who had just turned seventeen and hadn't yet become a full-fledged one. It was quite normal that he couldn't defeat the Great Wild Boar King. He could just seek revenge when he became stronger, couldn't he?

Gordon tried to comfort himself, but such thoughts only made the knot in his heart grow heavier.

It was even more uncomfortable than the blood clots that had been stuck in his throat just now.

He took out his Hunter's Notebook and stared at the emblem of the Hunter's Guild branded on the animal hide cover.

Before the profession of hunters emerged on this land, in what state of mind did those predecessors face the monsters that were beyond human resistance?

There were no sturdy armors or sharp weapons.

There was no support from a variety of items and intelligence.

And there was no fallback option of "seeking revenge after getting stronger".

There were only the clansmen and homeland that had to be protected behind them, and the courage that was forced out.

What about himself?

Had his courage been completely shattered by the Great Wild Boar King's fierce charge? Even if he put on sharper weapons and sturdier armors later, would his hands stop trembling?

After retreating this time, would he really have the guts to stand in front of that guy again and even take the initiative to charge?

Walking out of the tent, by the bright starlight, Gordon examined the Hunter's Dagger that had accompanied him for a whole year once again.

The blade wasn't sharp enough, but it could still leave scars on the Great Wild Boar King.

The shield had cracks, yet it tenaciously remained intact.

Closing his eyes.

The backs of the pioneers, who were dressed in thin armors, held simple weapons, yet still shouted and rushed forward one after another to charge at the monsters, emerged in his mind.

A subtle yet bright emotion, like a spark, burst out from the depths of his soul.

It wasn't fear, nor impulse, nor hysterical recklessness, but something even more fervent.

Gordon opened his eyes, looked at his right hand that was still aching and numb but no longer trembling, and unconsciously murmured to himself:

"Is this courage?"

He slapped his cheeks hard until two rather comical red handprints appeared on his face.

Putting away the notebook that symbolized the identity of a "hunter", sheathing the blade, and retying the round shield to his right arm, he tightened the straps.

"Then, let's start again!"

...

Two hours later, Gordon returned to the camp.

Thanks to the effect of the paintball, he could roughly grasp the position and distance of the Great Wild Boar King. He didn't choose to approach it rashly. Before the formal battle began, he still needed to make some preparations.

During the time when he left the camp, he searched the nearby mountain forests and tried hard to collect all the materials that might be useful. And these seemingly insignificant things might become important weights in the subsequent battle.

At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground inside the tent, sorting out the messy things in front of him.

"Seven medicinal herbs, several pieces of honey, one Seed of Patience, four Blue Mushrooms, three Poisonous Mushrooms, two Paralyze Mushrooms..."

Some of these materials were just collected by him, and some were collected in the past two days and stored in the storage box.

"First, the Potion."

Gordon used a mortar to smash and mix all the medicinal herbs and Blue Mushrooms together. After adding a small amount of clear water and stirring thoroughly, he filtered it. The green liquid finally obtained was the most basic Potion.

Although the proportion of the materials wasn't quite right and it hadn't gone through proper extraction and blending, so the potion couldn't achieve the optimal effect, time was pressing and there was no time to worry about so many details.

Moreover, he was lucky enough to find a beehive and cut back a lot of honey.

According to the "secret recipe" of the instructor, he added a large amount of honey to the Potion. Doing so could greatly enhance the effect of the Potion and also make the bitter liquid taste better.

The amount of the Potion that hadn't gone through extraction and concentration was a bit large. Looking at the iron pot used for cooking soup that was filled with the potion, Gordon felt a bit overwhelmed.

Bracing himself, he gulped down half of the pot and then let out a loud belch.

These roughly made Potions were indeed not as effective or quick-acting as those carefully blended and stored in small glass bottles, but their advantage lay in the large quantity.

More than half an hour after drinking the liquid, he felt that the pain in his right arm had basically disappeared completely, and the dull pain in his internal organs caused by the impact was also gone.

With a little more rest, he should be able to recover to his peak state.

The remaining potion was poured into the water bag by him for easy consumption later.

Those large piles of miscellaneous mushrooms, which were local specialties, were also put to use by him.

He used to belong to the martial faction that disdained using too many items. But now, his idea had changed—any method that could increase the success rate of hunting was a good method!

Many hunters liked to use seasoned raw meat to attract monsters and induce them to eat it to weaken them.

For example, Paralysis Raw Meat, Toxic Raw Meat and so on. It sounded rather underhanded, but it was a very effective hunting means.

The Great Wild Boar King was an omnivorous monster. It ate meat too, but what these guys liked the most were the mushrooms that could be found everywhere in the forest after rain.

Gordon decided to set a trap for the Great Wild Boar King.

It would be best if it succeeded. If not, there was no loss anyway.

However, it wasn't that easy to deceive these guys that had lived in the jungle for generations, fed on mushrooms, and had a sense of smell even sharper than that of dogs.

Paralysis Mushrooms, Poisonous Mushrooms and the like, although they were also mushrooms, if placed in front of it, it definitely wouldn't even look at them.

It was necessary to carry out a certain degree of disguise.

For this reason, Gordon specifically took out from the storage box the most expensive settlement item he had collected in the past few days—the Giant Matsutake.

This strange mushroom that grew deep in the Schreiter Forest Hills had an extremely mellow and rich nutty fragrance. It was not only a rare delicacy for humans but also an extremely precious delicacy for the Great Wild Boar King.

Just one piece could be sold at a price several times higher than the payment for this task. Being able to collect it was as lucky as winning the lottery.

Gordon endured the heartache and chopped up all the Giant Matsutake. After mixing the fragrant mushroom paste with sticky honey, he smeared a thick layer on those Poisonous Mushrooms, Paralyze Mushrooms and Sleep Mushrooms.

He hoped that it could deceive the sense of smell of the Great Wild Boar King.

As for the appearance, it didn't matter. Everyone knew that when the big wild boar was foraging, it would just root around with its nose and gobble up whatever smelled good to it directly. It wouldn't use its eyes to look at all.

After making the devious bait, Gordon carefully crushed the remaining Poisonous Mushroom on purpose and evenly smeared the purple-black juice on his Hunter's Dagger.

This Poisonous Mushroom contained a deadly poison. It was so for humans, and it also had a certain effect on monsters.

He heard from the instructor that some hunters' weapons would use special monster materials rich in deadly poison to make their attacks carry the "poison" attribute and weaken the physical strength of the hunting targets.

His crude method that didn't even count as poisoning was definitely not comparable to those advanced weapons, but as long as it could cause a little more trouble for the Great Wild Boar King, it was worth it.

Looking at the sky, there were about four or five hours left before daybreak.

Gordon lay down on the bed.

Even though he was excited and his thoughts were racing, making it hard for him to fall asleep, he still forced his eyes shut tightly and tried hard to make himself fall asleep.

For the sake of the subsequent hunt, he had to reserve his strength and recover from his injuries.

"One Felyne, two Felynes, three Felynes..."

A few minutes later, only a slight snoring sound gently echoed in the narrow tent.