Let The Hunt Begin II

Thud.

Kyne fell to the floor panting heavily. It felt like if he didn't breathe that way, his chest would explode. There were claw marks on his body but he had won the fight.

"I… I won." He tried to shout but he couldn't even speak properly without breathing between the words.

"Yeah, you did. Get some rest." Luke replied.

"Kyne…" Luke called him.

"Yes?" He answered, still lying on the floor.

"You did great." Luke praised him.

"Thank you." He replied with a smile. But Luke's next words killed every ounce of joy in him.

"You'll be doing this twice a day throughout the week. That's why I previously said you should get some rest." Luke walked close to Kyne.

"I should've known he was up to something when he praised me." Kyne muttered.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again. Get some rest. I'm going out to bring more training dummies." Luke walked away from Kyne who was on the ground.

"It would be better if you climbed up the tree. There's no telling what might happen when I'm not around." Luke advised.

Tiredly, Kyne peeled himself off the ground and wobbled to the tree. He climbed it lazily and when he got to his usual branch, he collapsed on it and fell asleep.

'Well, he did great but he still isn't able to fight two healthy ones. I better drop their health before bringing them back. Now, off I go." Luke walked away from the huge tree. It was noon and the sun was blazingly hot.

"Damn, it's really hot. I guess I'll visit there first." He changed his direction.

After walking for a while, he arrived at the pond he had found. Taking off his clothes, Luke walked into it.

"Haaa. It's refreshingly cool like I had expected." The cold water washed away the dirt on his body and brought down his body temperature which had risen due to the sun's heat.

After spending a while in the pond, he walked out of it and wore his clothes before heading in another direction.

"There seems to be a lot in this area. I'll be back to the base in two hours if I'm lucky." He placed his hand behind his head as he walked around the tall grasses and trees.

After walking another thirty minutes, he heard a scream.

"That sounded like a human right?" He rushed in the direction of the shout.

Another scream sounded in the same direction.

'I'm getting closer.' He ran faster towards the sound.

When he arrived at the scene, he saw a lady and a guy being attacked by four rabid jackals. They were originally three but one of them had ended up dead and the other guy was seriously injured too. The lady also had claw marks all over her body.

"I don't want to help them but I found the training dummies. I'll just kill two and take the remaining two back for Kyne. I'll ignore the people too. I don't wanna get involved in frustrating things." He murmured.

While he was talking, the two party members were continuously taking damage.

"Ah! I'll just do what I want." He ran towards the beasts attacking the guy. He was the one who needed help the most.

With a dagger in his hand, he cut the front limbs of the first beasts and attacked the second one. He stabbed at its neck while it was still focused on the man it was attacking.

He rushed toward the ones attacking the lady and punched them. He didn't wanna do much damage so he tried to make the beasts unconscious. Hitting them continuously on their heads, they became dizzy and fainted.

He walked back to the first beast but the guy had already stabbed into its heart.

He looked at the dead beast before walking back to the fainted two. "Now, how the hell am I supposed to take them back?" He sighed.

He still hadn't spoken a word to either of the two survivors and they just looked at him as he walked left and right.

The lady, a beauty with scarlet hair and black eyes, and pink lips the kind Luke had never seen before seemed tensed. Her white clothes had been dyed with red here and there and there were claw marks over her white skin. "Um, excuse me." She spoke with a trembling voice.

Luke turned to look at her. 'She seems to me my age.'

"Yes, how may I help?" He asked.

"Thank you for your help. We would've died if it wasn't for you." She dipped her head into a bow.

"It's fine, but why is he staring at me like I killed his grandparents?" Luke pointed to the man who seemed a bit older than Luke.

"Ah, that's Sihlon, my guard. We didn't expect to run into the beasts here and we're caught off guard. My other guard died and now, Sihlon is being overly cautious." She explained.

"Sorry for the late introduction. My name is Aurora Daveon from the Daveon family." She bowed again.

"Ah, I see, so that's why he's still glaring at me." Luke nodded and the guard hurriedly looked in another direction before his mistress would yell at him. "Anyway, I'm Luke. The family's name isn't important, right? It's a pleasure to meet you." Luke bowed in return.

"Ah, do you by any chance have a leash or rope strong enough to hold those things?" Luke asked.

"You want to keep them on a leash? That's dangerous." She tried to persuade Luke.

"I know they're dangerous, but I need them for something important. Don't worry, they won't be able to do a thing to me so just help me with a leash or a rope if you have any." Luke wasn't convinced by her persuasion.

"I do have it. But I'll only give it to you if you answer one question of mine." She replied.

'Oh, you're not willing to give me a leash even after I save your lives? That's great. It's just a question anyway.' Luke wanted to say it out but he spoke calmly. "I'm all ears."

"What do you plan to do with the beasts?" She asked.

'You should've asked something important.' Luke sighed. "Ah, it's just for training. Anything more than that, I cannot tell you. I've answered your question, now please, the leash." He extended his hand to receive it even though he hadn't seen it.

"Fine. Sihlon, hand the leash over to him." She ordered her guard. He walked over to a bag and took out a thick rope about twenty meters long and handed it to Luke.

"Thank you very much. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm leaving." Luke rushed to the unconscious jackals and tied them.

"Um, Luke, pardon if I'm too forward but can we go with you?" That was the question she had wanted to ask at first but she didn't dare to do so then so she changed the question. This boy, who seemed her age or would only be a year or two older had easily taken down four rabid jackals which had taken down her party of three.

"That's why I didn't want to butt in." Luke murmured."

"My lady, that's absurd. How can you ask to go with a total stranger?" The guard who had been quiet the entire time finally shouted at his mistress.

"Quiet Sihlon!" She shouted and the guard went shut.

Luke just stood scratching his head for a while. "Fine, you can come along. I could do a thing or two about security but I won't be responsible for your feeding though." Luke finally agreed.

"That's fine with us." She smiled at Luke and turned to her guard. "Get our bag and let's go."

The guard picked up a huge backpack and wore it, then held two smaller bags in one hand. He left the other hand empty so he could use his sword In case of an attack.

"Since you're ready, let's go back." Luke started pulling the unconscious jackals back to their base.