Not only was the raktuf’s body buried under the hill of earth, but so were the remains of our comrades. I hesitated, unsure about what I should do about this. Now that I had acquired the beast’s blessing, my magical energy was partially replenished. Closing my eyes and focusing on myself, I believed I had about sixty percent left. Since I considered myself part of the ones possessing the most magical energy in the tribe, it proved how strong the creature had been. With that, I could move the earth again to unearth the corpses, if needed.
“What should we do?”
Hearing my question, the two warriors thought for a moment before one of them responded, looking sad.
“They returned to nature. May the spirits bless them.”
“May the spirits bless them.”
The second nodded in approval, and I soon followed after them.
“…May the spirits bless them.”
In other words, we would leave everything as it was. It wasn’t because they were lazy. It was the way humans handled their dead in this world. Being close to the wild, they believed dead bodies should be touched as little as possible and left as they were, so they could return to nature. For those who died inside the cave, they would carry the body to a forest and leave it there. There was no concept of burying or burning the dead here. Everything was just part of the natural cycle.
That didn’t mean we weren’t sorrowful. Warrior Aldrui always treated me well and taught me a lot. The other two warriors, while not interacting with me as often, were still not bad people. It was a shame they lost their lives in such a brutal manner.
The two surviving warriors, maybe more used to death than I was due to having participated in the recent raid on the Mival tribe, quickly shook themselves back to action.
“Let’s take back one beast’s corpse with us. Can you carry it, Keon?”
The question took me out of my reverie.
“…Yes, warrior.”
I took hold of one of the two beasts we had hunted before arriving at this cursed place, and we went on our way. There was no point in unearthing and taking the raktuf specifically, either. It was a smaller beast, but more importantly, once the blessing was transferred, it became no different from any other normal raktuf. All the characteristics that made it exceptional were lost, which was why the only reason warriors had to hunt blessed beasts was for the increase in their strength when they killed them. Speaking of which, I had a question about the one we encountered.
“Warriors, are blessed beasts always that strong?”
They shook their heads as we walked, their spears still out because we weren’t safe until we reached the grotto.
“No way. We hunted a few to get stronger in the past, and we never met one as strong as this one.”
“It was cunning and powerful, a truly dreadful beast.”
This reassured me a little. At least, not all of them were as powerful. It was truly bad luck to have come across this one. Even if the warriors in our group weren’t the best, warrior Aldrui still was considered an elite one, and the rest were seasoned experts. Even then, they all got one-shot by the beast like they were nothing.
Still, this meant it wasn’t impossible to meet such dangerous creatures. I would need to think of ways to counter them. My wall of earth had been more like a desperate measure than anything else. I had tried to combine defense and offense in one move, but musing back on it, it was extremely inefficient. Only one small part of the wall ended up crushing the raktuf, making 99% of what I created useless, with the corresponding magical energy loss.
Fortunately, the fight had given me new ideas, and I would need to try them out to see if any were applicable.
We met some normal beasts on our way, but carefully avoided any confrontation. After a few hours, we were back in the cave, safe for now. The guards noticed we were only three and questioned us.
“What happened?”
“We met a powerful blessed raktuf. Three warriors died.”
“I see. May the spirits bless them.”
“May the spirits bless them.”
While death wasn’t that common, it also wasn’t unusual in this dangerous world. The guards accepted the situation quickly, letting us come in after that.
“What are you going to do, warriors?”
They looked at me when I asked, seeming pensive.
“We’ll try to join another hunting group.”
“Yes, we’re not strong enough to create one. And no young warrior would want to join us anyway.”
“I understand. Good luck.”
“Thank you, Keon. You did great today. We survived thanks to you.”
The other one nodded, and we parted in that manner. I was also a bit in a bind. After resting for a few days, trying to shake the fear of death, and testing new potential skills, I went around the existing hunting groups to try to see if any would accept me.
Unfortunately, the same situation as the previous time happened, with all of them rejecting me. And this time, there wasn’t any warrior Aldrui to take me in. Even the groups that the two warriors had joined refused me, no matter how they vouched for my strength.
What I feared had finally happened. I was fully solo, with no group willing to teach me how to hunt, and probably no group ready to accept me when I became a warrior in the future. This was truly frustrating because I had always obeyed orders well and tried my best to learn everything that was taught to me while also pulling my weight when I was part of warrior Aldrui’s group.
However, in this closed society, not being part of a training group affiliated with a hunting group was fatal. After asking every single group in the tribe and being refused by all, my stress level reached a maximum.
At least, I knew the best person to release it with and quickly made my way toward my target.