I woke up in a comfortable bed. It's been only a few days since I last had the chance to experience this kind of luxury, yet it seemed to me as if ages had passed since I last rested my head against a pillow.
'I wish I could wake up like day every day,' I thought, unable to chase off the feeling of foreboding. It was as if this kind of luxury was occasional rather than permanent.
I tightened my jaws to the point my teeth started to hurt. The pull of the warm sheets and soft pillow was that great. Yet, once I assembled all the willpower that I had, I pushed myself out of bed.
No matter how comfortable my night was, I could sense that the day was about to begin. It was a sixth sense that I developed over my diligent days back at the Skyladder sect.
I looked down, only to realize that I had failed to take my robes off when I went to sleep yesterday. It was a small mishap, yet it only proved just how tired I was back then.
'I would lie to say I'm fully rested now... But there is no time to waste,' I thought, moving out of the compartment of the tent.
For the sake of my own sanity, I decided not to question how this small thing could house such a massive area inside. Just like I didn't delve into the inner workings of a storage ring, I opted not to break my mind over this magical tent either.
Knowing my luck, sooner or later, the world would force me to figure it out on my own, so what was the point of forcing the topic right now?
I only managed to wash my face in the bail situated at the back of the common area when my Overseer appeared in the doorway to his room.
"Are you ready?" he asked shortly.
Right, we were going to hunt today.
"Any time," I replied, shaking my face to dry it off in the air.
There was no need for any further words. I followed after my Overseer, grabbing the spear on my way out of the ten.
Just like expected, the sun was already rising in the outside world. I had yet to spot it, with most of my vision covered by the woods all around, but the sky was slowly starting to brighten.
A perfect time for a hunt.
With not a single word spoken, we entered the forest.
This time, my Overseer didn't act the way he did the last time. He was moving without causing even the tiniest nose, as opposed to the ruckus he raised with his every step last night.
'Damn,' I thought, biting my lips to quell my jealousy. 'And here I thought I was the one moving silently,' I commented in my heart before focusing back on my steps.
Soon, it proved to be my first mistake for the day.
While I was focused on moving as silently as I could, my companion went and noticed two small monsters nearby. By the time I noticed his disappearance, he was already back, flashing two bloodied spiritual stones in his hand!
'Once again, just how the fuck are they holding them with their bare skin?' I thought, puzzled, only to shake my head. 'No, that's not what I should be focusing on,' I realized, reassigning my attention back at the hunt.
In all honesty, more than the sight of his spoils, I got annoyed by the smug look plastered all over that bastard's face!
I was just a damned newbie! This was my first real hunt! How I was supposed to compete with someone assigned to me... to make sure I would stay safe and could grow?
Quelling this outburst of annoyance, I managed to put my focus back where my mouth was.
Yet, as time went on, the score on my side remained at a flat zero while my companion continued to gain a greater and greater advantage.
'Is this how this hunt is supposed to look like?' I thought with stupid anger.
My Overseer didn't point out the prey for me a single time. Even when I managed to spot it once, he made sure to kill it before I could even make a move towards it!
With his ability to move through the forest unhindered by its density and without causing any noise at that, I was at a great disadvantage.
'Wait, isn't this another test?' I realized when I noticed the Overseer's glance. He retracted his eyes right away... But now that I knew what to look for, I started to see them pretty often.
'What could be his aim for putting me down like that?' I thought, accidentally losing the focus over my steps and scaring a nearby monster that I didn't even notice.
'Is he trying to see what I will take from this experience?' I asked myself, realizing the depth of my naive idiocy.
Why was I angry at my Overseer snatching all the prey possible?
No, that wasn't the right way to put it, even. In fact, this way of thinking was what blocked me from realizing the truth about the situation.
'He isn't snatching my prey. Instead, he is trying to teach me his abilities by showcasing them!'
The moment I realized that something changed in my mind, in my perception.
The Overseer managed to land another kill. This time, though, rather than getting annoyed by his smug expression, I focused on the way he placed his steps, the way his eyes proceeded every move of his.
'He is calculating at least seven steps ahead,' I thought after making some calculations on my own.
By the time my Overseer would step on a tree's branch, his eyes would be already looking for the seventh next move. When landing a hit against a monster, he was already scanning the area to see whether it changed or not.
Despite constantly keeping me in his attention, he managed to keep such a massive focus on his job...
'How is that even humanly possible?' I asked myself, overwhelmed by the realization. 'Human brain can't process information so quickly!' I protested, refusing to accept the reality before my eyes.
But this internal rant of mine lasted only for a second. Because I noticed a small movement with the corner of my eyes.
There it was. A small, capibara-like monster, hiding in a burrow roughly fifteen meters away from me.
'No, it's not fifteen meters,' I thought, analyzing the path separating me from it.
For a moment, I stood in place and turned my head towards my companion, who was on my left. It was a naive bet, a naive hope that the monster would believe I didn't notice it.
The time that I bought allowed me to transform the distance that I saw into a path. What my Overseer could do in an instant, I required some time to process.
But once I was done, I could do exactly what he did!
I pulled my body to the side, jumping from step to step. Everything could be my foothold, but I strictly followed the path I envisioned a second earlier.
Jump, jump, jump.
In twenty-one steps, I appeared near the burrow. I made another jump, allowing my momentum to carry me directly above it.
Right when my feet left the last footstep, I drove my mana towards my spear. Thanks to the extensive training over the last day and night, I managed to create the phantom blade in an instant.
It wasn't perfect by any means. The depth of the mana at its tip could use a lot of work, while the flow of the mana seemed to be ragged.
But it was enough.
I drove my spear down, right at the burrow.
It was a quick stab. A fast attack that I retracted instantly as my body continued to move towards the last step of the path I envisioned.
This time, I didn't care about making noise. I was sure that my amateurish moves startled nearby monsters anyway.
I turned around and cast a glance towards the burrow.
And there was no movement.
'Did I kill it?' I thought, feeling as if my heart was about to jump out of my chest in excitement.
I jumped down from the tree, my spear ready to stab again at any time.
But even when I got closer, the monster didn't come out to defend itself.
It was dead.
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