One-Eyed Monster

Chapter 38: Chapter 38 Hunting

「Atop Guru Mountain.」

After Igor shared half of his rations, his stomach started to growl again. The nibbled bread he had eaten earlier was almost gone, its energy consumed by his earlier use of the Physique Technique. If he didn’t find another way to get food, Igor would starve to death in the mountains within a few days.

Igor couldn’t predict how long he would have to stay in these mountains. When he first left the academy, he had been full of vigor, but once on the road, he realized he had no idea where to go. Now, having managed to climb the mountain, he was once again plagued by a sense of uncertainty.

As an Adventurer, I must be brave! He had not forgotten the purpose of his journey; he wanted to find courage to prove he was qualified to be an Adventurer.

But what exactly *is* courage?

This was the question that always troubled Igor. He could see that the sky was blue and the clouds were white, but he could not see the color of courage. He knew that strength allowed one to chop more trees and speed could save a lot of time, but he didn’t know what ”courage” could do. He could feel the heat of summer and the chill of winter, but he couldn’t imagine what ”courage” tasted like...

What exactly is courage? Igor would ask Russef every so often.

”Courage is like a mischievous calico cat, darting all over the place. No matter what you do, you can’t catch it.” Russef would wink each time he answered Igor’s questions about courage.

In fact, Igor had so many answers in his mind about what courage was... so many that he eventually couldn’t discern what it truly meant.

Clarisse, who sold flowers at the Academy gate, accidentally pricked her hand on a rose thorn, and blood trickled down her finger. A child standing nearby watched with wide eyes and remarked, ”The flower-selling lady is so brave! She bled so much and didn’t even cry.”

In the kitchen, Chef Stephen threateningly brandished a kitchen knife at Fat Jack, the apprentice. Fat Jack stood there, dazed and expressionless. Chef Stephen said with admiration, ”This kid’s pretty brave. He’s got what it takes to handle a knife.”

When the Rufe Brothers returned from a hunt in the mountains behind the academy, carrying a wild boar, their apprentice Kirk would enthusiastically proclaim, ”Oh, the masters are so brave! They didn’t even blink at the boar’s long tusks.”

...There were so many instances like this, and Igor felt he had experienced such ”courage” too. So, he excitedly dashed to the newly established Association of Adventurers within the academy and found its sole scribe, Little Spratt. ”I want to join the Association of Adventurers!”

Little Spratt, rubbing his drowsy eyes, asked, ”Who are you? Do you even know this is the Association of Adventurers? Even the academy is under its jurisdiction!”

”I don’t,” Igor’s answer almost made Little Spratt choke. ”I just want to join the Association of Adventurers.”

”You want to join just because you say so? Who recognizes you as an Adventurer?”

”Well...”

”Besides, how can you prove you’re qualified to be an Adventurer? Do you have a Courage Medal?”

”That’s no problem! I’m very brave. Look, I’m not afraid of blood, I’m not afraid of knives, and I’m certainly not afraid of wild boar tusks...”

”Go on, get out of here! You’re talking nonsense. Can those things be exchanged for a Courage Medal? Don’t come here causing trouble if you don’t have a Courage Medal.”

A Courage Medal?

Igor, who had never quite understood what courage was, now had to deal with this Courage Medal...

Luckily, the Courage Medal didn’t trouble Igor for long, as it was a visible and tangible copper disk. At the academy entrance, if you turned left, then looked to the right of Clarisse, the flower seller, Igor saw the Courage Medal. It looked slightly larger than a copper coin and, like copper coins, was engraved with various designs (since everyone’s courage was different, the symbols representing courage also differed).

”You need to exchange your courage for it!”

”How do I do that?”

”For example, if you have a tiger skin from a tiger you hunted yourself, or if you’ve been to the Star River and found a colorful shell by its bank, or if worse comes to worst...”

Igor left before the Courage Medal maker could finish. He didn’t have any tiger skins he’d hunted himself, nor had he ever been anywhere beyond the mountain behind the academy. To get a Courage Medal, he’d have to figure something out.

Actually, if Igor had listened to the rest of what the medal maker said, he might not have been so troubled. The medal maker’s next words were: ”If you really can’t manage any of that, you can just give me two gold coins. For an extra gold coin, I can even engrave your name on the medal.”

And so, to obtain the Courage Medal and successfully join the Association of Adventurers, Igor decided to set off on a long journey. He bid farewell to Teacher Russef Hadi, to Fat Jack in the kitchen, to Kirk, the hunter’s apprentice, and to Clarisse, the flower seller.

”I’m sorry, Igor. I didn’t realize boar tusks couldn’t represent an Adventurer’s courage.” The hunter’s apprentice no longer understood what kind of courage Igor was searching for.

”Have you decided where you’re going? The back mountains or the Imperial Capital?” Fat Jack always thought Luona was the entire world.

”Good luck, Igor.” Clarisse gave Igor a bouquet of Alfalfa Flowers.

The blessings and advice from those around him strengthened Igor’s resolve to journey far. However, what ultimately directed Igor to Guru Mountain was a mere twig!

Igor had never traveled far. His usual routine was to go to the mountain behind the academy to cut firewood, as he was responsible for tending the fires in the academy’s kitchen. Teacher Hadi had given him a large bag of gold coins and some incomprehensible words, but not much advice. After leaving the academy gates, Igor had no idea which direction to go. Fortunately, he had a useful habit: whenever he was unsure of his direction, he would toss a twig, letting the leafy end decide his path.

The twig pointed southeast. Igor racked his brain for information about that direction. The farthest south lay the Wilderness, and next to it was Guru Mountain. Many people said that mountain held monsters and treasure.

If I could capture a monster...

Wouldn’t capturing a monster prove my courage!

And so, Igor happily set his course.

「Upon arrival at Guru Mountain,」 Igor made an effort to learn about the habits of monsters. He had learned to hunt for a while with the Rufe Brothers, and knew that understanding a prey’s habits was crucial. But ”monster habits,” much like ”courage,” was something no one could clearly define. He would have to find out for himself.

Of course, Igor also tried asking the ”all-knowing” Spirit Book he carried. The answer it gave only confused him more.

”Courage? It is an innate temperament, a stance towards life, and a spirit of daring to be first. To put it plainly, it’s one’s attitude when facing life’s various crappy situations, a quality embedded in one’s very bones!”

This nebulous answer had Igor scratching his head for quite some time.

As for the monster’s habits, the book’s answer was even more infuriating.

”Me, Lord Soron, fear monsters? Habits? Monsters? I don’t recall!”

Igor looked down at the book he carried. It hadn’t awakened since its last deep sleep. It seems it needs an infusion of Spirit Power again.

It wasn’t just the Spirit Book that needed an infusion of Spirit Power; he needed to replenish his own Energy too.

That morning, he had heard birds chirping and beasts roaring. There ought to be some game on the mountain. Although his rations were scarce, finding some wild game could help him through this difficult period.

Luckily, I learned to hunt with the Rufe Brothers for a while, and Senior Pita told me a lot about rabbit habits last night...

Igor scanned his surroundings on the mountain, then broke off some soft, pliable twigs from nearby bushes and began weaving a basket.

I’ll need bait, and I also have to set a trap, Igor thought as he began to implement his hunting plan near a large tree. He figured there would likely be some hungry birds or small animals around it. If he set one or two traps near this tree and waited a couple of hours, he might catch something.

He dug a reasonably deep pit, laid some dry branches over it, covered those with dried grass, sprinkled a layer of soil on top, and placed some dried bread as bait. One trap was ready.

He then found a sturdy branch and propped up the woven basket with it under the tree, placing more dried bread underneath the basket. A rope, twisted from the tender bark of a shrub, was tied at one end to the prop branch, while he held the other end in his hand. It was the simplest bird trap imaginable.

If I were a Hunter, I wouldn’t need to go to so much trouble, Igor mused, hiding behind a nearby rock.

However, this kind of hunting wasn’t easy. An hour passed, and nothing had approached Igor’s traps. Igor wondered if he hadn’t put out enough bait, so he added more dried bread to both traps.

The afternoon sun was quite warm, and its gentle heat soon eroded Igor’s patience. Lying behind the rock in the warm sunlight, he dozed off...

After a short nap, Igor opened his eyes. To his surprise, the dried bread under the basket was gone. He inwardly regretted dozing off; his nap had cost him a potentially wonderful dinner. He walked back to the bird trap, intending to place another piece of bread...

Just then, he suddenly noticed that the dried bread on the pit trap he had dug for rabbits had also disappeared! Yet the trap itself was untouched!

This...

Igor calmly placed two more pieces of dried bread and continued to observe from behind the rock.

Some time passed, but there was no activity at either trap. Another hour passed, and still nothing...

Are the birds and beasts on this Guru Mountain so cunning that they won’t fall for it at all?

So, Igor closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, while carefully listening to the sounds around him.

A RUSTLING sound made Igor narrow his eyes.

The bread is moving!

Could it be that the creatures on Guru Mountain can use a Stealth Ability?! Despite his surprise, Igor displayed exceptional agility and judgment.

He pounced like a cat on a mouse, grabbing at where the bread had been. His hands instantly felt something soft and fluffy.

Following this touch, a blue figure with a gaping maw and a single, enormous, staring eye appeared before Igor.

”AAAAH—” Both the blue figure and Igor let out simultaneous, long, piercing screams!