The first thing I had to do was make Oakres blood.
Oakres Blood was a rare concoction, known only to seasoned hunters and herbalists. It was used to poison elusive prey—creatures too swift or cunning to be taken down by ordinary means.
This time, I was using it to kill a spirit beast.
I gathered all the ingredients I could from hunting and foraging. The only thing I had to buy was Crimson Vein Tree leaves and making the actual "blood" was easy.
The last step was preparing the wooden stakes. Bronze would have been stronger, but it was too costly and too slow to make. And in the end, it wouldn't kill—just wound. Wood would do just the same.
Even with the extra demands on my catches, I was still able to deliver beavers. If not for this spirit beast, I'd only use another week to finish the job.
I made sure not to tell Henley and his family. There'd be no point in having them know only for them to try and stop me.
I'd get a few rations from the bakery and leave at dusk. I'd make sure to either kill the beast, or have it kill me.
For that, I needed weapons. I could make the wooden stakes myself, but they'd be crude and unreliable. Or I could go to Big Randy.
The obvious choice was definitely Big Randy.
So, that was my second stop.
Big Randy was in the forge. A few apprentices surrounding him.
I waited a few hours until they finished. I felt bad about asking but I was going to go get that beast no matter what—and I wanted every advantage I could get.
Big Randy walked out drenched in sweat, his singed eyebrows giving him a sort of permanently surprised look.
"Ahhh, Khan, what are you doing here? " he used a cloth to wipe the grime from his face.
"You here for the last installment?"
'Aaah,' I'd forgotten. Previously, I had made a deal with Randy—monthly silver installments, on top of the 100 I'd already paid. This last installment was 20 silver. That'd mean I had a 2/3 stake in our enterprise.
"No. Not today, I wanted to get some wooden stakes, something I could stick in the ground firmly."
He raised an eyebrow, "Are you still hunting beavers?"
He looked me over, noticing the scars that hadn't been there before.
"I know they are hard to catch, but I'm sure they aren't that hard."
"Yeah, I had some problems catching them… another predator. "
"Ahhh, I see, you think you can handle it?"
He sat down next to me, patting the chair next to me so I would sit down as well.
"You remind me of men I used to know. Always thought they had one more fight in them, more juice than they could squeeze… until they didn't."
I've known plenty of those types of folks throughout my life. Skilled, stubborn. You know what? I've never seen any of them survive their own overconfidence."
We've made a deal, and if you cannot fulfill it, then you can just negotiate new terms. Nothing is worth losing your life over. "
I was taken aback. Why was he being so nice? "It's not a problem, I've dealt with predators before."
He looked into my eyes. "That's the look of a man I used to be friends with—Ji Lan. He had that same gaze before he told us to escape."
It's not a look for a boy like you to have"
"I'm just trying to get my quota up. Nothing serious"
This was starting to bother me. Was everyone here decent? Had I just stumbled on the only nice folks in this place?
I thought about my cultivation talent and scoffed. 'Hah! If I had good luck, then the skies had a twisted sense of humor.'
This wasn't his business. I'd given my word, then tried to flee like a coward. That was the kind of thing that put shame in a man's blood. I wasn't raised like that.
Cowardice breeds weakness. Weakness invites death. I'd seen it enough times back home.
I'd hunted with men like that—the few men in my village who did more than drinking, sleeping, and scavenging for scraps. Men much older than I was.
Hesitation today meant a knife in the back tomorrow. No, I'd made my choice, and I'd see it through, no matter the cost.
He patted my shoulder. "Fine, but if you can't get the beavers, just say so. You're young, no one expects you to get it right the first few times.
I nodded my head. "Will you be able to make the stakes, though?
He sighed. "I have a few in the back. If you want more than that, I'll have to get my apprentices to make them. Can you wait?
If there are enough stakes, there's no use in waiting. Can you show me then?
It turns out there were enough stakes. Good. Then I didn't have to wait
It was time to hunt.
The first thing I'd have to do was prepare the traps.
The best place was to put them at one of the spots the beaver had previously hunted at. That way it wouldn't come looking for me. At least not yet. It would expect me at the places that still had beavers
I set up 3 traps, all close to each other and one on the other side of the river.
I needed to find the spirit beast's children. I waited until I was certain it had gone hunting. I wouldn't risk meeting it when it was hungry and next to its kids.
For the next three days, I hunted beavers as usual, noting every time the spirit beast came around me, stealing my hunts, leaving specific body parts.
I'd check the time of day, how everything got quiet as it came nearer. It was now or never, I wouldn't get much more information just letting the beast stalk me.
Not to mention the nerves clawing at me every time that thing came close. Would it kill me this time? My hands trembled, gripping my knife tighter every time it got near, the blade wobbling against my palm, I could hear it making a weird sound—- "Oruuk, oruuk, oruuk," it was laughing at me!
But I forced myself to wait.
Now, it was time.
It was a full day before I was sure the spirit beast had left to go hunt. As someone who had been stalked by the thing, I was starting to become fairly sure of its habits.
I made sure to not waste any time. I had to be quick.
I knew that the beast kept its cubs next to the water. The first spot I checked was the place where I had first met it all those days ago.
Nothing.
The second place was the jackpot.
It was a litter of five. All yipping and bleeping, expecting food, I could see the rotting pieces of flesh and fish scales glinting in the muck, surrounding the den, flesh buzzing with flies. It smelt disgusting.
I sucked in a deep breath, too eager to think, then gagged as the stench hit me—foul air, thick with decay.
I retched and coughed, spitting up globs of saliva, quickly quieting myself, I was still on a hunt. This was a rookie mistake, the nerves were getting to me.
Thankfully, I had brought a rag, sadly it wouldn't be going over my face, I'd be using it to hold the baby spirit beasts.
Hurriedly I wrapped the rag around my hand instead of my face to scoop up the cubs. Did they count as spirit beasts as well? They didn't feel like their mother.
I shoved the thoughts away as I leaned down, forcing my trembling hands to still. Now or never, then scooped up the kid beasts. They yipped louder, squirming in my grasp as they realised I wasn't their mother, their tiny bodies warm against my palms. I rarely killed the young—there wasn't enough meat to make it worthwhile. Better to wait until they matured. But leaving them behind wasn't an option. Not this time. I exhaled slowly, tightening my grip.
Even if I managed to kill their mother, If I let them live, would they come back for revenge one day? Would they learn, grow stronger—hunt me as I had hunted their kind? I had seen it happen before. Many beasts were vindictive, especially if they saw you as a weaker form of predator. 'I might have to kill these ones.'
I ran back to the traps where I'd left my hunting gear, making sure to drop pieces of fur I tore off the unwilling beasts along the way, and little nicks of blood from the young things.
It wasn't my proudest moment, but it was kill or be killed now, and I wasn't in the mood to die, at least not without making the price on my head very expensive.
Not too long after, I was at the trap site, chest heaving, I huffed, sparing only a few seconds to catch my breath. I forced myself to move fast, carefully placing each one in a trap, keeping one with me, strapped to my body.
A small relief settled over me—I was glad I hadn't killed them yet —until a sudden yip shattered it.
Something behind me let out a loud sound. My stomach clenched. No!
I forced my legs to move faster. My lungs burned, my breath ragged. My hunting equipment was just ahead—just a few more steps.
Behind me, the beast's footsteps slammed into the dirt. Closer. Closer. My heart trembled with each step I heard. My breath ragged in my chest. A wet, rasping sound—its gills flaring—sent a shiver up my spine. My legs burned, I wasn't going to make it in time.
DUNNN! A sudden shrill cry, sent my body reeling.
My head shook. My heart slammed against my ribs. I could only hear a high-pitched ringing in my ears
"EIAAAAA""".
My vision blurred. The beast shrieked behind me, a mix of rage and pain. The first trap! The beast had fallen for the first trap, good, I had some more time before——
TRASSSSS...! I looked back to see mist coming off the beast.
'What was that?'
A sickening crack. The beast had torn free. Blood dripped from its side, a jagged piece of the stake still lodged in its flesh. More mist coming from its wound, the bleeding slowing unnaturally fast—as if the mist itself was sealing it shut. It wasn't stopping.
I pushed forward, staggering toward my gear—