CHAPTER 51: LEARNING TO HUNT

A massive surge of killing intent seeped into the room. Immediately, all the boys went quiet, and they all froze like deer in headlights. Feeling such a powerful killing intent, I glanced back at the entrance, where the power was coming from.

At the entrance to the lodge stood a beautiful red-haired woman. She had a distorted smile on her face as she stared intensely at everyone in the room.

"You boys talking about the moon princess again, huh? Seems you haven’t learned your lesson from last time."

All seven boys’ expressions went stiff, and their faces turned as pale as stone. I somewhat understood their reactions. Whoever this woman was, she was powerful. I activated my ethereal sight and took a look at her life force: [HP: 143/300].

Her life force wasn’t that high, but from her killing intent, I would guess that she was at the very least stronger than a level 1 demogorgon.

"M-Master Nyra, you’re back. We’ve got a new member."

The woman coldly glanced in my direction as Garrick spoke. She looked me up and down intensely before clicking her teeth.

"Another useless child. That old man must think this is a daycare," she grumbled, before snapping her eyes back at me. "What is your name, child?"

"My name is Liam, ma’am."

"Liam..." She stared at me inquisitively. "What trait do you have?"

"I have a strong sense of smell, ma’am," I told her.

That was the story my mother used. Telling the others in the pack that I had multiple traits was bound to lead to problems. So that’s the cover story we came up with. The woman stared at me, then shook her head.

"So another one, huh?" she said, shaking her head. "We already have Whiffer for that. Well, anyway, there is nothing we can do about that now."

She seemed to tone it down a bit as she entered the lodge. She took a seat and crossed her legs, her eyes never leaving me.

"I suppose we should explain our role here. My name is Nyra, but you should call me Master or Master Nyra. We clear?"

"Yes."

"Good. Our role here is simple: our job is to hunt so the others in the village don’t starve. I’ll teach you everything, from tracking down prey to skinning and cleaning them. We have a weekly quota of what we should bring into the village and you boys are responsible for filling it."

"What about the other roles? What are their jobs?" I asked. I was curious as to what job Isabella and the others got.

"Tsk! The old man should’ve been the one to explain that to you. There are four major roles in the pack: Guardians, Caregivers, Warriors, and Hunters," she explained. "The guardians are the ones that secure our territory to make sure we aren’t ambushed. The Caregivers are the healers; they are the ones who know about medicinal herbs and such. The warriors are self-explanatory by the name itself. Their job is to fight to protect the pack whenever we have a dispute with another pack. And finally, the Hunters, like you have been given the role to hunt for food."

I nodded along. Their internal structure was much simpler than I first thought. Dividing the roles based on the traits a werewolf had seemed like the smart thing to do.

"You’ll be reporting to this lodge from morning till dusk. You’ll do what I tell you when I tell you. Any questions?"

"Yes, we won’t be hunting skinwalkers, will we?" I asked. I had to know what I was getting myself into.

Nyra frowned when she heard my question.

"No," she stated firmly. "The last group of cannibal werewolves died off centuries ago. Another thing you should learn is that I’m not too picky on how you hunt your prey. As long as you bring back good game, that’s all that matters to me. That being said, everyone is given a specific quota for the week. The quota is that you must bring back a total of 50 kg of meat every week. If you fail, then you’ll be punished, and trust me, it’s in your best interest not to fail. As I said before, you can do it however you please, whether you wish to hunt in a pack and split the meat you caught between the group or if you decide to do it by yourself—I really don’t care. But since today is your first day, I’ll accompany you on your hunt."

Saying that, Nyra slowly got up from her seat, but then her eyes turned coldly to Whiffer. The moment the two locked eyes, Whiffer’s face went completely pale.

"Whiffer, since you seem to be falling behind on your quota, come with us." A sort of distorted smile grew on Nyra’s face as she spoke. Everyone, including me, could tell that Whiffer would be in for some trouble if he did not produce results.

Nyra didn’t say anything else; instead, she walked out of the lodge, intending for me and Whiffer to follow. As she walked out, I couldn’t help but notice how the boys were gawking at her swaying hips. I understood them in some way. Nyra was an attractive woman with a seductive presence, even if she never intended for that to be the case.

Putting aside how attractive she was, Whiffer and I rushed to follow behind her. She stopped just a few feet away from the lodge and sharply turned to us.

"The first thing I’ll teach you is how to move in the forest without being detected."

Saying that, Nyra leaped several feet in the air and landed on the branch of the closest tree to us.

"The most effective way to move is through the treetops. Werewolves have higher agility than regular humans, so it is easy for us. Use your claws to latch onto the tree and follow your natural instincts. If you move like a human, then you’ll fall."

Nyra then leaped several feet away and landed on another tree. She then prompted us to do the same.

With just a slight push off the ground, I propelled myself into the air and landed gracefully on a tree branch. Whiffer did the same, but at the last second, he almost lost his footing when he landed on the tree branch just below me. I acted quickly and pulled him up before he fell.

"Thanks, man," he muttered before letting out a long sigh.

I got the feeling it wasn’t the fall he was worried about but what Nyra would do if he did fall.

"Okay, the two of you did fine, I guess. Next, it’s up to you two to locate prey."