CHAPTER 42: CHAPTER 40 HUNTING

Although farming is a major strategy for Austin in the new year, under the current conditions, hunting and gathering are also essential stages for acquiring food.

Moreover, the ice and snow on the ground have just thawed, making it unsuitable to farm at such an early time.

While the climate of the Kawa Great Forest roughly divides into cold winter and hot summer, in fact, if divided more meticulously, it could also be distinguished into spring and autumn like on Earth.

However, these spring and autumn seasons are extremely short, just a matter of ten days or so, barely noticeable. The inhabitants of the Kawa Great Forest, mainly illiterate Beastmen, only treat this brief spring and autumn as a transition between winter and summer, without a specific name for it, thus conventionally regarding a year in the Kawa Great Forest as having only two seasons, winter and summer.

With different climates come different solar terms, and Austin naturally cannot use the solar terms knowledge from his past life in this world.

He has no idea when to sow or plant, but this problem is easily solved by simply mimicking the growth cycle of the wild rice. After all, the so-called seeds are just these wild rice grains.

And now, during this period, when the wild rice in the wild hasn’t germinated yet, the Blue Young Dragon naturally wouldn’t sow rice seeds or start farming agriculture at this time.

Taking advantage of these ten days of spring, along with the hungry beasts wandering after a cold winter affecting the safety of the Dragon Nest Tribe, this hunting expedition came naturally.

Among the forest hills, small animals hop around, nibbling at the tender grass blades while their large ears constantly twitch, listening for any sounds of danger around them.

At this time, with all things beginning to revive, the Kawa Great Forest started becoming lively again.

Especially Dragon Nest Territory, thanks to Austin’s deliberate attacks and the Beastmen’s deliberate hunting during winter, herbivorous animals have increased within the territory. More hopping rabbits, mountain deer, and wild cattle can be seen in the forest hills. Occasionally, when Beastmen were cutting trees to clear land, a gray rabbit might leap out from the thicket, only to be caught by the Beastmen and roasted over a fire for a meal.

Of course, although these animals have proliferated within the Dragon Nest Territory due to the heavy culling of higher trophic level beasts by the Dragon Nest Tribe, it’s not to the extent of overpopulation because, without the other predator beasts, these Beastmen also prey on them, effectively replacing the previously wandering wild beasts’ role in the food chain within the Dragon Nest Territory.

In the dense forest, as the ground ice and snow haven’t completely melted, tender shoots have already started emerging from the soil.

Suddenly, a shadow darted out of the forest, agilely leaping over stones on the ground, and swiftly dashed away in the distance with about eight or nine comrades in tow.

These are jackal wolves, inherently the rogues, the muggers within the natural food chain.

In fact, jackal wolves don’t solely rely on robbing other beasts of their prey for survival; more often, they coordinate and encircle those herbivores living near water and grass, being one of the bottom-tier hunters in this Kawa Great Forest.

Though just at the bottom tier, jackal wolves, through mutual collaboration, can snatch food from ferocious beasts like lions and tigers.

However, on this day, these fierce jackal wolves, daring even against lions and tigers, were fleeing frantically through the woods, disappearing in an instant.

Moments later, the forest hills became tumultuous, revealing a dozen or so Beastmen, each grasping a long spear and leading two half-grown Blood Wolves, pursuing them closely.

These two half-grown Blood Wolves kept their heads low, sniffing the lingering scents in the air, maintaining an unwavering pace, following closely in the direction the jackal wolves had fled.

After over a month of nurture, coupled with the terrifying dominance from the superior being Austin, these young Blood Wolves had thoroughly integrated into the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Due to the young Blood Wolves not fully grown and being scarcely numbered, Austin’s envisioned wolf cavalry hadn’t yet a shadow, but these half-grown Blood Wolves could still be put to use, such as now in tracking prey.

During the cold winter, Beastman patrol teams relied heavily on the keen noses of these young Blood Wolves while venturing out to eliminate nearby wild beasts.

"Over there, quickly follow up!"

The leader of this squad was Lizardman Rodney. After his tribe was defeated by the Jackal Wolf People, he led the remnants to flee to Dragon Nest Territory, intending to raid the then Kobold village. However, as he took lead, expecting to charge forward, he ended up crashing headfirst into the Kobold spear phalanx, resulting in a head-broken and bloody face.

After being hurled and heavily injured, his Beastman subordinates were quickly scattered, captured one by one by the Kobolds, becoming prisoners of the Dragon Nest Tribe.

Later, once his physical state recovered, Lizardman Rodney was thrown into the army for military training.

Though it was a tough period, after enduring it, Rodney developed a strong recognition for this Dragon Nest Tribe.

Thinking back then, when he gathered a group of useless figures to establish a tribe on his own, wasn’t it just for a safe place to live, hoping not to starve or freeze?

And now, with the Blue Young Dragon Austin’s protection, Beasty comrades who fought alongside him, and adequate food each day, life was much better than the precarious days before. As a muscle-brained Lizardman without grand ambitions, Rodney surrendered completely under Austin’s rule, becoming one of Austin’s many followers.

During the previous Blood Wolf hunting war and cold winter hunting purge, due to his towering strength overwhelming the Beastman team, he performed exceptionally in battles and was appointed as a squad leader.

This time, leading a team out, he was tasked with the purging mission in this area, whether it be vipers, ferrets, or various jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, all carnivorous predators were to be purged.

With the Blood Wolves’ assistance, they swiftly amassed achievements, but then encountered trouble when faced with a pack of jackal wolves.

Unlike those jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards that blindly attack upon encountering Beastmen, only to be turned into pincushions by the Beastmen’s spear phalanx, after losing a few comrades, these jackal wolves retreat after just one battle, giving Rodney no time to show his prowess.

The Beastmen’s stamina, though decent, couldn’t outpace these four-legged jackal wolves, but no matter what, Rodney had reasons why he needs to eliminate them.

"Stay alert everyone, we’ve already fallen behind Team One and Team Two in our purge speed. If you don’t want to fall last in this drill, chase with all your might and catch those beasts!"

Rodney shouted at his team while gasping for breath, to which his Beastmen loudly responded, quickly pursuing in the direction the jackal wolves had vanished.