On the third day without quests, Ryu Sei was planning on abandoning the village project and go back to the sect, maybe he would go to another village and start everything anew after resting for a week. In these three days of the closed village, he got a lot of free time which he used to get along with people.
He played games and heard stories, every once in a while they have to shut down the entrance and lock themselves inside the village, in these periods they have to spend time until the beast goes away since most of the jobs require them to go outside.
Ryu was having fun while locked, especially the time he spends with Mary, she often comes to the tavern to make him company, but, no matter how pleasant this time is this was not the reason he came here. If there are no quests to do his permanence it's meaningless.
Stay, for the fun will make him fall behind his peers, the exp he is getting is apparently bigger than the one that those who remained in the sect are getting, but there is no way to know what is happening there. Maybe, the last lesson he missed provided useful information and their strength are soaring.
Thus, he was deciding to leave, he went to sleep making a plan to leave the next morning. However, very early on the fourth day, when he was still sleeping in his small room, at Susan's tavern someone knocked on the door.
Ryu woke up in a hurry and went out of the room in a jump, it was the first time someone came to his room, his thought was naturally that the village should be under attack of the iron skin boar. But, on the other side of the door was a calm man.
"I waked you. Sorry." this man is called Leoric, Ryu met him in the last three days, he is a short and slender kind of guy but muscular, he works doing transactions of commodity with other towns and cities, but his main occupation is a hunter.
"There is no problem Leo, I just thought the village was under attack."
"It is about this that I am here, the village is closed and people are afraid of going outside, consequently they can't work. The problem is that winter is coming, and we are not prepared for it yet. I am planning to go hunt, to store some food. I want to know if you wish to come with me?"
It was a surprise which Ryu was not expecting when he was thinking of leaving the opportunity of a quest he really wants to appear at his front door.
"Certainly, but can I ask what we will be hunting? We can end up meeting the iron skin boar, you can deal with it?"
"Hell no. The boar was tracked on the east, this is why we will be going west. About what we will hunt its mostly normal animals and weak rank 0 beasts that I can take down with my bow. But if it is both of us we can face stronger rank 0 beasts if this is what you want."
As Leoric finished explaining the hunting Ryu noticed a composite bow at his side together with a quiver containing a dozen arrows. Immediately he understood how it would be the hunt, he had no experience using a bow, but it is an opportunity to learn and there is also the possibility of combining strength to hunt a stronger beast as Leoric suggested.
It was the perfect situation he had been expecting since he left the sect, the opportunity to reach higher grounds has come.
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Quest: Go hunt with Leoric and help him gather food for the village.
Reward: 500 exp + Bonus exp*
*Bonus will be calculated according to the type of beasts hunted, danger involved, and fighting prowess.
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These two hunters went to the forest and started to seek prey, Leoric was guiding Ryu instructing him on how to track an animal, how to move to make the least amount of sound, and how to orient in the jungle.
Ryu was eager to learn, for each minor thing Leoric taught him, his excitement raised more and more. He was feeling like a real cultivator for the first time since he came to the sect and awoke the system to start his cultivation.
It wasn't long before they found prey, it was an animal of medium size with yellow fur and six feet, Leoric guided Ryu behind a tree. He got his beautifully decorated white bow, made out of the horn of some big animal, from his back, place an arrow, and pulled the string. The bow had such tension that Ryu could see Leoric muscle hardening, and the arrow was set free-flying to hit the animal at such speed that the animal didn't even saw how it has died.
The place was filled with normal animals and with Leoric skills with the bow, they caught some small animals. But the bigger animals that could provide a stock of food for the winter were still lacking.
Leoric was teaching the bow to Ryu but no matter what he says Ryu's shot kept missing the prey by far. He is so bad with the bow that even when taught by a bowsman the skill refuses to appear, which left him in a loop, he needs the skill to improve with the bow but needed to improve with the bow to get the skill. At this rate, his only chance to use a bow will be buying a skill when the shop unlocks at level 10.
Sometime later, they were walking among the trees when Leoric suddenly paused and grabbed Ryu by the side, he made a signal to follow him. They found a rank 0 beast, it was a forefront coyote, strong and ferocious with a bite that could crumble bones like a loaf of old dry bread.
"What do you think? Can you handle it or we should leave?"
"I can take it, its only the bite that scares me."
"No worries, I will place an arrow on the front shoulder, it should slow down the coyote."
Leoric instructed Ryu to attack from the side, right after he launches an arrow. Ryu walked to the side and found a good place to hide, he made a signal to Leoric shot when he was ready.
When a sling sound broke the silence, an indication of the strong Leoric's bow being shot, Ryu jumped out of his spot and rushed to the coyote. The moment he started running heading for the beast he saw the arrow landing on the target, the coyote lost its balance and blood started to spill out of the wound, unfortunately, the arrow force was not enough to penetrate deep into the skin on the beast.
The coyote turned in the direction where the arrow came looking for his attacker. However, Ryu was coming fast from the side with his sword ready to strike, when the coyote realized its mistake it tried to jump back to get away, but its wounded shoulder messed up its plan.
Ryu did not miss the opportunity, when the coyote jump failed Ryu stopped his running just one meter distant from the beast. His left foot on the front and the right one behind making a strong stance to land a critical strike. The sword raised above his head, holding it with both hands and an erected posture he was ready to take the beast's life.
The sword started to descend, in Ryu's hand, the sword started to get heavy like it was being dragged to the ground by a mysterious force, a gush of windblown in the direction of the cut made the trees behind Ryu bend the branches slightly to him like they were being sucked by his presence. It was a move from his immortal grade skill.
The slash found its way opening a deep cut, red blood gushes far and the beast falls dead on the ground. This fight ended very fast, it was an experience completely different from his first fight with the berserker hound dog.