Learning from the hunter

The sun is now shining brightly over the landscape. Upon leaving the church, Bythos immediately headed over to the hunter's shop, thinking that it is surely open by now. He knocked the door and Marcus opened it for him rather quickly.

Once inside, Marcus lead Bythos up to the second floor, into the kitchen. From within, the smell of roasted meat wafted into Bythos' nose, instantly triggering his appetite. Walking into the kitchen, Bythos saw on the table a big pot filled with cooked meat.

"I don't want to waste the meat, so I wanted to share it with you since you're the one who hunted them after all." said Marcus.

"Thanks, I haven't had a bite to eat in some time." replied Bythos.

After a while, they finished the meal, and Bythos ended it with a satisfied burp. Marcus took the empty pot and after washing it, said to Bythos, "How does it taste, an animal that you've killed yourself?"

"Pretty good, if I'm perfectly honest. I was hungry though." replied Bythos.

"You're lucky that you handed in the quest today. I was planning to head back to my house once the day ends. I don't like to stay in the city for too long." Marcus said to Bythos, and continued, "The three wolves you handed me before dawn were quite a bit of work. I'm still not finished with them yet."

Marcus stared out the window as if in deep thought, then said, "You know, my quest has been up on the board for quite some time and no one else wanted to take it."

Marcus continued, "Do you want to try your hand at hunting? I'll teach you for free, in return you'll just need to fetch me an animal once in a while to me at a discount."

"Why not?" replied Bythos. "I have not much else to do at the moment."

"Great, that will save me some fees at the adventurer's guild." Marcus beamed. "Don't worry, it would only take a few days. The rest you must learn from practice."

Marcus stretched his hand forward for a handshake, and Bythos took it.

"Let me formally introduce myself then. My name is Marcus Venand."

"And I'm Bythos."

"Great, now let's pack up and leave."

Confused, Bythos asked, "Now? Isn't it a bit sudden?"

"I don't intend to stay here any longer than I have to. I've packed up most of my stuff already. Let's go."

Marcus led Bythos down the stairs, leaving his shop. After locking the shop, Marcus whistled and his horse came trotting by from the back, with several bulging sacks hanging from its saddle. Marcus got onto the saddle, then pulled Bythos up to sit behind him. Once the both of them are sitted, Marcus gave the reins a light flick and the horse headed off.

On the way out of the city, they passed by the adventurer's guild. Outside the guild, a large crowd was gathered, showering whoever they're surrounding with praise.

Had Bythos been walking on foot, he would not have been able to see who's in the centre, but now that he is sitting on higher ground, he can clearly see who it was. It was the trio of heroes that he saw on the first day.

Noticing that Bythos was staring at them, Marcus asked, "You may not know this, but they're the new star in town. Within the span of a day, they managed to become gold rank adventurers."

Nonchalant, Bythos replied, "Interesting."

"You're not the least interested?"

"No. Maybe if I had been a hero I would be." replied Bythos.

Marcus gave a laugh and said, "I was about to give you a bit of advice regarding them too, but now I think it's not necessary."

Curious, Bythos asked, "What were you going to tell me then? I don't mind hearing it."

"Oh nothing much. Just for you to not be jealous of heroes, because they are blessed by the goddess to be better than us."

"Well you hardly need to tell me that."

"Exactly." said Marcus.

Afterwards, they carried on quietly towards Marcus' home, while Bythos noted the landscape around him, so that he wouldn't be lost in the future should he wish to travel to and fro.

They arrived at a small rundown village after riding for a while. The entire village looks to Bythos to be entirely abandoned. Bythos asked Marcus, "You live here?"

"Not exactly. I live over there at the house that's the closest to the forest," replied Marcus, pointing to the far edge of the village. After reaching his house, they got off the horse, and Marcus led his horse into a makeshift stable.

Carrying with him the one of the bags which he previously put on the horse, he said, "Let's go visit the village elder first before we go hunting."

Bythos shurgged his shoulders and said, "Sure, it doesn't really matter for me."

The village elder's house is the only house in the village that doesn't look completely rundown compared to the rest. Marcus knocked on the door, and the old man inside opened his door and greeted him with a smile.

"Nice to see you Marcus," said the old man while squinting his eyes, "and it seems you brought a friend along too. Hey...aren't you the lad I met yesterday?"

Bythos stepped forward and gave the old man a closer look, and he's right. He does recognise him.

"What a coincidence, come on in then! We don't have much guests in the village." the old man gestured for them to enter.

Bythos and Marcus took a sit around a table, and the old man brought out some hot soup and some bread for them, then sat down with them.

"You came just in time for dinner. What did you bring this time?" asked the old man.

Marcus placed the bag on the table and opened it, revealing the chunks of smoked meat within. Then all of them began eating the meat with their soup and bread. Seeing this, Bythos followed them and ate his fill, although the food isn't the most appetizing. The soup is watery and the bread bitter. After the meal, the amount of meat leftover is still pretty sizeable, so Marcus tied the bag up again and handed the rest over to the old man.

"Thanks a lot Marcus. Without the meat you always provide us I don't think we would be able to make it."

Marcus waved it off and said, "Don't mention it, you helped me a lot when I was young too, it's only natural for me to help you in turn."

The old man gave a weak smile and fell silent for a moment. Then he said to Marcus, "Who knows how long it will go on. We're the only ones left in this village."

"Wait, he's passed on?" asked the shocked Marcus.

With a nod, the old man replied, "While you're away. Sometimes I wonder when it will be my turn."

Whispering into Marcus' ear, Bythos asked, "What's going on?"

Not intending to hide it, Marcus explained, "The last of our neighbours passed away. Now the only ones who still lives in this village are the ones still present around this table."

"Why is this so? It's a bit weird for a village this empty. There hasn't been raids or anything of that sort, has there?"

"No, no none of that. Most of the young people all wanted to seek their fortunes elsewhere and left. None of them returned thus far."

Overhearing the discussion, the old man asked Bythos, "Do you have anywhere to stay? If you don't mind you can move into one of the houses. They may be old but they're still useable."

"If that's the case, I don't mind moving in." replied Bythos.

Marcus gave a hearty laugh and said, "Now one of the house is getting good use. Welcome aboard."

Marcus and the old man spent some time catching up before leaving the house with Bythos. They went back to Marcus' house, with Bythos waiting outside for him to grab some stuff from his house. After a while, Marcus retured with a longbow, a pair of bracers and a quiver of arrows.

Passing the items to Bythos, Marcus said, "These are better for hunting than your sword. I'll be training you how to use this before taking you hunting."

Marcus glanced into the sky and continued, "The sky's still kind of bright now, so let's have a go at the bow first. "

Marcus brought Bythos around the back of the house where a bunch of targets are hung. Bythos put on the bracers on and started practicing on the targets. The bow is surprisingly hard to draw, and after a firing a few times, Bythos' arm is too sore to use the bow again.

"Your arrows are all over the place, but it's not the end of the world. I'll give you some pointers tomorrow. For now, just go home and rest." Marcus said, before taking his equipment from Bythos and heading back into his house.

Since the village elder didn't specify which house he can use, Bythos just picked a house that he fancies and went in. The house is not as bad as he had imagined, just a little dusty. Bythos went into one of the bedrooms and lay down on the bed, drifting into sleep.