Tales Of A HUNTSMAN

THE TRIALS

“Academy… Hunt? I asked confused at what he said.” “this is the Northern Academy, all around the continent the are academies one in the south, in the west, in the east, and finally the academy in the center of the world. You asked to become like me and the way to do that… is to be a huntsman.” As I came to grasps with what he said I was first stunned but then I was happy.

I had heard of the huntsmen growing up, I mean every child had and how couldn’t they, when the bards constantly spread their tales to every nook and cranny of the continent. Their roles in their tales varied, from heroes saving towns from monsters, to destroying entire villages sometimes saving princesses sometimes beheading nobles. The views all around the world differed on the huntsmen but one thing was constant, they had enough power to be both feared and adored by the masses and now I was one of them.

“that’s that mean…” I began excited but then he doused my expectations as quickly as he lit them, “hold your horses boy, for now you are but a member of the hunt. It has yet to be seen whether or not you will live long enough to be a huntsman.” When he was finished I had calmed down for he was right I was still weak and had a long way to go.

Seeing his words had had a desired effect he smirked then spoke up once more. “normally this would be asked before you even step into an academy but you were… well unconscious so I’ll ask this now. During your time here you will experience the trials and your life is not guaranteed.” His face turned solemn when he spoke those words before continuing “take heed that once you agree your life is no longer yours and there is no going back.”

The atmosphere became more and more tense with each word, once he was done he looked at me with his piercing gaze, without a shred of hesitation I returned his gaze and shouted “yes!”. My determination was evident in my eyes and seeing this he broke into a grin, “then from now on you are my disciple and I Gareth of the Hunt claim you as a disciple” then the serious atmosphere completely disappeared with his next words “now get dress it’s time for food.”

I got up ignoring my bandages, got ready and went into the hallway to follow him, my clothes were leather made from the hide of a beast I did not recognize. As we headed to the dining hall to eat I took in the beauty of the architecture all around me, it was hard to believe these were the work of mortals. We soon arrived before the dinning hall which was just as fascinating, making me seriously begin to consider that this place was truly a product of the gods.

I sat behind a table and Gareth fed me a bowl of food. Seeing the food which had never look so appetizing I grabbed a wooden spoon and quickly took in a mouthful which I spat out even faster, the taste was the most horrid taste I had experienced, it was as though a dish made by mistress dusk herself and loved by Hades.

Seeing my reaction Gareth burst out laughing proving he had a hand in this, looking back I should have realized something was wrong when I saw the devious smile I often saw on Hogun in the village. “what in Borvvuk’s name was that?!” I asked glaring daggers at him, “seeing that he just laughed even harder before speaking up. “that boy, that was the first trial an initiation of sorts, oh and it doesn’t just taste like s**t that is actual poison.” He continued laughing but seeing the look of horror on my face, he decided to explain.

“the fist trial is eating nothing but poison food for a month, every huntsman went through the same thing.” “why would you do such a thing” was the first thing that popped in my head and it came out of my mouth the minute it popped in my head. “ to build poison immunity, when, no if you go on hunts you won’t always have the privilege of poison free food this is preparing you… though I do have to warn you this trial has a death rate of 60%”

“WHAT?!” my eyes opened wide when I heard his words, “don’t worry this trial has the lowest death rate amongst all the trials” hearing his words I grew paler by the second which only served to amuse him more.

I sulked as I ate the disgusting thing called food, I could feel my taste buds die with each spoon, it was at  this point I remembered my mother’s words “looks can be deceiving.” I continued eat when I came to a certain realization, “Oi! You keep mentioning other huntsmen but how  come you’re the only one I’ve seen. Are they on a hunt or something.” With those words his face wore a somber look “…you don’t know?” at his words I shook my head, after looking at me for a while he  sighed then began. “twenty years ago, most people only remember it as the year the year the twelve empires declared themselves empires and waged war against the kingdoms, but before that an event occurred, one I would never forget… all kingdoms on this continent unanimously agreed on something for the first time ever. They called it the purge, they waged war against the hunt, it was so sudden none of us were prepared the elders tried but no matter how hard we fought we were still mortal in the end. After ten years of struggle we lost. I managed to retreat here but I was alone since that day I have yet to see another…”

He stood up abruptly and left but when he got to the door way he stopped and spoke one last time. “sleep early, training begins at dawn and remember something, a huntsman is after no one, if a god stands in our way a god we shall slay. I’m gone”