Chapter 3:Hunting

"Morrigan is currently 16 years old, and the Academy should start in a week," Jack said while eating his noodles. "It was also the time when the game began."

Aristotia Academy, located in the capital of the Holy Mary Kingdom, New Camelot, was where the events of the first season of the Game took place.

Many of the kingdom's nobility, including Prince Julias, Marcus, the youngest son of Duke Orkney, and Adrian, the son of Knight Captain Mikail, attended this Academy.

Also, Rachel, the daughter of the famous warrior Rahul from Wargan, and his son Richard were coming to the Academy.

This season began with the bullying of Alice by Harvey, the daughter of the first Villain of Otome, Count.

Adrian, Mikail's son, saved Alice in a clichéd manner, introducing players to one of the first romanticizable male leads.

Jack was more concerned about Morrigan than Alice.

After enrolling in the Academy, students were first tested to determine their Element.

In these tests, Morrigan was naturally expected to have the highest rating for Dark Magic since the Academy's founding.

Morrigan was to be executed, but due to Duke Alfred's threat, they couldn't carry out the execution.

Although Morrigan was not expelled from the Academy, she was isolated by everyone, including the teachers, and her grades were shown to be lower than they were. Eventually, Morrigan left the Academy in her second year and became a full-time member of the Hades Sect.

Of course, Jack would not allow this to happen. No matter what, he would keep Morrigan alive.

"Now, there's still a week left before Morrigan goes to the Academy. No matter what, I need to become stronger than I ever could be," Jack activated his Revelation ability and sent a message. "-Kill more animals."

After her father left, Morrigan sat in the living room. Thomas stood professionally by, with a smile on his face.

{Kill more animals.}

Hearing the voice of her God, Morrigan gently placed her coffee down and stood up. All the insects in the mansion had died. So she could only go into the forest to hunt.

"Thomas, prepare the carriage. We're going to the hunting grounds." Thomas didn't understand why his lady suddenly wanted to hunt but didn't question it.

After some time, Thomas entered the room and bowed slightly. "As you requested, the carriage is ready."

Morrigan nodded and then left.

The place they were heading to was a private hunting ground for nobles, located 1 kilometer from here.

Nobles typically came here to satisfy themselves.

Morrigan, after starting her journey in the carriage, arrived at the forested area at 7 PM, two hours later.

A bearded man in his 50s greeted Morrigan. "Welcome, my lady."

Morrigan nodded. "I want to hunt."

The attendant gave an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, my lady, but the wolves become aggressive in an hour. It would be dangerous for you."

Morrigan narrowed her eyes, not wanting to talk any longer. She urgently wanted to offer more sacrifices to her God. "I said, I want to hunt."

The man had no choice but to comply, not wanting to risk angering a noble. "Then I won't keep you waiting, my lady. Please, follow me."

Thomas and Morrigan followed the man as the sun slowly began to set. Shortly after, they reached the end of the path.

"Please wait for a moment, my lady. I'll bring your horse." The man bowed and said.

But Morrigan stopped him. She didn't know how to ride a horse, so she didn't want to take one unnecessarily. "I'll go on foot."

The man showed a worried expression. "But my lady—"

Thomas interrupted the man. "Let's not prolong this any further, please."

Thomas offered a polite smile and adjusted his glasses. The man could only hope Morrigan would refuse.

"No need. Thomas is strong enough," Morrigan said emotionlessly. The man nodded and stepped back. "As you wish, my lady."

Then, Morrigan and Thomas proceeded into the forest.

Morrigan, equipped with a bow, arrow, and a short dagger, slowly advanced, crushing every insect she saw. Since she hadn't yet learned Mana control, she couldn't use Shadow Manipulation.

In the world of Aure, the children of mages and noble families began learning theoretical knowledge like Magic Theory, Potion Theory, and supernatural plants from the age of 6.

When they turned 16, they entered the Academy, and if their talent in magic was discovered, they started learning Mana Control.

This wasn't the case for Morrigan. From the day she was born, she had a natural affinity for Dark Magic.

But, due to being ostracized by her family, Morrigan only knew about Dark Magic from stories.

Morrigan began to harness her potential in Dark Magic after joining the Hades Sect full-time at the age of 18.

Thomas smiled as he watched Morrigan. His eyes gleamed with satisfaction. "My lady is truly incredible."

She came to the hunting grounds just for fun and ventured into the dangerous forest without even riding a horse.

Unlike other girls, Thomas admired this aspect of Morrigan's personality.

Forty minutes later, Morrigan and Thomas were deep in the forest. The sun had already disappeared, and the only source of light was the moon in the sky.

Even after hunting every animal in her path for forty minutes, Morrigan wasn't satisfied.

Still, Thomas enjoyed this and found it somewhat strange. Why did his lady constantly kill animals?

Thomas's thoughts were interrupted when Morrigan plunged her hand into a deer she had killed.

As Morrigan smeared the deer's blood on her body, Thomas's eyes sparkled, and he adjusted his glasses. "What a clever and bold move..."

"Are you using yourself as bait for the wolves?" Thomas admired his lady's bravery. It was admirable for a girl who didn't even know how to use magic to want to hunt wolves.

"Yes." Morrigan's answer was short and to the point. Even though her hair and hunting outfit were stained with blood, it was insignificant to Morrigan.

"Let's go," Morrigan said ten minutes after applying the blood on herself. Then, they advanced through the forest for half an hour.

Thomas sensed three wolves approaching and looked at his lady. "There are three wolves coming this way, my lady."

Morrigan nodded, drew an arrow, and nocked it on her bow. She took a breath, concentrated, and prepared for the wolves' arrival.

Two minutes later, three wolves, having caught the scent of blood, moved toward where Morrigan and Thomas were.

"Hmm, there's no alpha wolf among them," Thomas said thoughtfully, ignoring Morrigan's irritated glance. "They were probably cast out from their pack. Their bloodshot eyes indicate they're hungry. Be careful, my lady."

Morrigan ignored Thomas's warning, focusing entirely on the wolves. She slowly and carefully drew her bow. She took a deep breath, held it, and aimed.

Then, she released the arrow. The arrow flew swiftly and pierced one of the wolves' eyes.

The wolf whimpered in pain, letting out a pitiful cry.

"One down," Morrigan muttered. She wanted to kill her targets quickly before the other wolves could understand what was happening.

Once again, she nocked an arrow, pulled back the bowstring, took a deep breath, and released it.

The next arrow struck the leg of a wolf that hadn't realized what was happening.

The last, uninjured wolf figured out where the arrow had come from and lunged forward, its hunger-driven bloodlust increasing its speed.

Despite the approaching wolf, Morrigan calmly nocked another arrow. She took a breath and aimed for the wolf's head as it charged toward her. "This is the last one."

Morrigan waited for the wolf to get closer.

50 meters.

30 meters.

Even at 20 meters, Morrigan remained calm as the wolf closed in. Finally, she released the arrow.

The arrow shot from the bow pierced the wolf's forehead. As the wolf fell to the ground, Thomas clapped. "Congratulations, my lady. You've hunted three wolves."

Ignoring Thomas's words, Morrigan approached the wolf with a wounded leg, lying on the ground and whimpering in pain.

The wolf with the eye injury would die from blood loss even if it tried to escape. It would happen soon.

Morrigan drew her dagger and approached the wolf still lying there, its eyes trembling from the pain.

To spare the wolf from further suffering, she slit its throat and then stood up.

{Enough.}

Hearing her God's approval, Morrigan exhaled the tense breath she hadn't realized she was holding, feeling relieved. She looked at Thomas. "That's enough. Let's head back."

Thomas bowed and said, "As you wish, my lady."

Then they retraced their steps to return the way they had come.

******

Meanwhile, Jack was calculating his gains. His level had increased from 3 to 5. Killing insects no longer had much of an effect.

In addition to that, he gained two new abilities.

He acquired the abilities called 'Shield' and 'Karma Eye.'

As the name suggests, Shield created a magical barrier. This was Jack's first defensive spell.

Since it was at level 1, it wasn't very effective yet, but he believed it would become stronger over time.

Apart from that, Karma Eye was an interesting ability. It had a low mana cost—just 0.50 mana per second.

Karma Eye allowed him to see people's emotions, feelings, and the truthfulness of their words.

Although it wasn't an exceptional ability, it was decent enough.

Additionally, his mana reserve had increased to 500. That was quite good. He could now comfortably use Shadow Manipulation for more than 3 minutes.

Even though Shadow Manipulation hadn't leveled up, it had already become strong enough to pierce ordinary human flesh.

Jack believed that if Shadow Manipulation reached level 10, it would deal significant damage.

"Morrigan needs to learn Mana Theory as soon as possible." Jack knew that Morrigan had superior potential and mana reserves.

When she began learning Dark Magic at 18, she would gain power even faster than Thomas.

But it was still too early for that. "Oh right! Thomas!"

Jack remembered that Thomas was a Dark Mage. What if Morrigan were trained by Thomas? She would already be very powerful in two years.

"Damn it! When did it get to be 1 AM?" Jack cursed as he looked at the time. Sunday had flown by.

Reluctantly, Jack got up from his computer and did a bit of cleaning.

Even though he was reluctant, he still had to be at work by 8 AM. "Well, I guess I should get some rest."

Throwing himself onto the bed, Jack fell asleep quickly.