The Hunt

The chaos inside the tent aside, where exactly did our Solam go? This story begins with the pregnancy of his second aunt, Zaira.

It is true that Solam was raised from childhood by his aunt Solari, but Solari was a Shaman herself and was kept very busy, as there were few Shamans in the tribe.

(It is common knowledge that Orcs are a race notoriously lacking in talent for spellcasting, so every clan has only a handful of Shamans. As for mages, they are not even worth mentioning; there isn't a single mage in all of Avalon. In Avalon, Shaman is the only spellcasting profession.)

Within an Orc clan, Shamans are the most versatile, serving as doctors, veterinarians, masters of ceremonies, and more. Female Shamans are even busier; they must attend every wedding, funeral, or birth, and they have to worry about the affairs of all the young women and wives. Thus, she had little time to dedicate to raising Solam.

Fortunately, Aunt Zaira had just married into the clan from the Frostblade Clan at the time, so whenever Aunt Solari was busy, it was young Aunt Zaira who looked after Solam and Krum. Since Zaira had been married for many years without children, she treated Solam, a boy without a father or mother, as her own son. While it might be improper to say so, if Solam were to rank his relatives by closeness, Granny Karom and Aunt Zaira would definitely be the top two.

When Aunt Zaira finally became pregnant as she had wished, Solam thought he should do something for her. As for helping to care for a pregnant woman, not only would others not trust him, but even he himself didn't believe he could do it.

So, he thought of hunting to provide nourishment for Aunt Zaira. He knew, of course, that Zaira lacked nothing—her husband was the best hunter, and the old man and his eldest uncle had been hunting rare game for her during this time. However, Solam felt that after being cared for by Aunt Zaira for so many years, he owed her something.

In Solam's own view, he was an adult and could not comfortably enjoy the care of others without contributing. Thus, he decided to go hunting himself.

Although Orcs value martial prowess, they do not go so far as to let children face danger. Therefore, Orcs who have not yet come of age are generally not allowed to enter the forest.

Solam had never had the chance to sneak out before, but today, with the whole family too distracted to watch him, he decided to make a run for it. Somehow, the usually honest Krum discovered Solam's intentions. Upon learning that Solam planned to sneak out to hunt, he threatened and begged until he was allowed to tag along. Having no other choice, Solam agreed to bring him.

They entered the forest early in the morning with their Direwolf companions. Over the past two years, Frostfang and Bloodfang had grown as if they were being inflated; they were now nearly the size of calves. Solam found it incredible—damn it, the biology of this world was truly unscientific, growing to this size in just two years.

It wasn't until nearly noon that they found the tracks of their ideal prey: the Alpine Goat. These are goats that live above the snow line, rarely venturing below it, and they are extremely alert.

Their milk is considered the best tonic in Avalon. They come down to the forest to give birth when winter approaches. With just one winter of nourishment from the mother's milk, the kids can grow strong enough to easily scale high mountains and walk across cliffs as if on flat ground. Therefore, Avalon Orcs believe Alpine Goat milk is the best supplement for newborns and mothers who have just given birth.

Solam and his companion found the tracks at the foot of a hill in the forest; identifying tracks is a hunter's most basic skill. Following the trail with the two Direwolves, they arrived at the edge of a clearing in the forest.

They crawled through the snow, slowly approaching the edge of the clearing. There were seven Alpine Goats—four adults and three young—a decent-sized herd. Due to their environment, Alpine Goats usually live in such small groups, with one male as the lead ram and the rest being females and kids. The habits of Alpine Goats are very similar to lions from his past life, usually consisting of one male with three or four females.

The goats were all bowing their heads, digging through the snow; the grass roots beneath were their best source of food.

"What do we do?" Krum gestured to ask Solam. During a hunt, any unusual sound would startle the prey, so hunters use specialized hand signals to communicate.

"Kill the lead ram with bows first, then use the throwing net to capture the lactating female. Ignore the others; let Frostfang and Bloodfang handle them," Solam signaled back.

He chose to kill the lead ram first because a male goat can be very troublesome if it goes berserk to protect the herd. Although they weren't afraid, Solam kept the lessons of his second uncle Trick in mind: caution prevents mistakes, and it is better to avoid unnecessary trouble. After all, they were here to hunt, not to fight.

Solam signaled Frostfang to go to the side to prepare for an ambush, and Krum signaled Bloodfang to head to the other side. Direwolves are highly intelligent and even have their own language to communicate with one another.

Solam and Krum then widened the distance between them, carefully approaching the low shrubs at the edge of the clearing. They watched the lead ram's movements intently, careful not to move while it was looking in their direction to minimize the chance of being spotted. The lead ram was very alert; even while digging for food, it would occasionally lift its head to scan the surroundings.

The lead ram is responsible for maintaining vigilance while the herd feeds and leading them to escape when danger arises. That is why it constantly scans the environment to detect threats and find the fastest escape route. If it cannot escape, the lead ram will throw itself at the predator to buy time for the herd to flee, which is why Solam had to take it down first.

Every time the ram lifted its head, Solam and Krum would immediately lie flat in the snow, motionless. As for the two Direwolves, there was no need to worry; they were natural hunters and knew exactly what to do.

Despite not being far from the herd, it took over half an hour to reach the optimal position. Hunting requires patience. This was actually considered easy; Alpine Goats don't have an exceptional sense of smell. If they were hunting prey with a keen sense of smell, it would be much harder—not only would they need to be careful, but they might even have to lie in the mud for hours to mask their scent.

Solam lay in the snow, waiting a moment, assuming Krum was in position. As previously agreed, he would initiate the attack, and Krum would follow suit once he saw Solam move.

Solam slowly took the horn bow from his back and pulled an arrow from his quiver with his other hand. He watched the lead ram's movements carefully. The moment the ram lifted its head to scan and then lowered it to continue digging, Solam drew his bow and fired.

The lead ram saw a shadow flying toward it just as it lowered its head. Before it could react, a sharp arrow pierced its eye. It didn't even grunt before collapsing. The herd fell into chaos. Krum immediately jumped out from the nearby bushes and threw his net at the lactating female. The net spread out in a beautiful circle in the air, perfectly ensnaring the mother and, as a stroke of luck, catching one of the kids following her as well.

The throwing net is a unique hunting technique of the Orcs. It is woven from ropes made of a hemp-like plant, embedded with short, thorny spikes, and weighted at the edges with carved stones or bones. Once caught, it is nearly impossible for prey to escape. A true master of the throwing net can even catch birds in mid-flight.

The two Direwolves also charged in at the same time, each pouncing on their chosen targets. Because of its position, Frostfang was closer to the other kid, so it didn't hesitate and bit the kid to death. Bloodfang was lucky; its target was a female goat. It bit the goat's neck and pinned it to the ground, but didn't kill it, holding it firmly instead. The last female was the furthest away; it panicked like a startled rabbit and ran off without even looking at the direction. It was lucky enough to escape, but they didn't pursue it.

Krum ran excitedly toward the trapped prey. "Awesome, a double catch!" It was no wonder he was so excited; to get two for the price of one on his first formal hunt using a throwing net was a remarkable achievement.

Solam also ran happily to the dead lead ram and pulled the arrow from its eye. "Damn, what luck—a perfect eye-shot." A perfect eye-shot is considered a great feat among hunters. It is the ultimate display of archery, and because the prey is killed this way, the pelt remains completely undamaged, making it much more valuable. However, Solam had just gotten incredibly lucky; in fact, there are very few hunters in Avalon who can pull off a perfect eye-shot. Even the best hunter of the Bloodaxe Clan, his second uncle Trick, could only do it occasionally.

The two brothers happily tied up all the live prey with ropes. As Krum was tying up the female goat that Bloodfang had pinned down, he noticed that this one was also pregnant. "Lam, come look! This goat is pregnant too!"

"Where? Where?" Solam was busy dressing the lead ram, but upon hearing this, he trotted over to Krum. "Holy crap, it's true! We really hit the jackpot this time."

"Yeah, this is all thanks to Bloodfang. We didn't even notice it was pregnant. If it hadn't been smart enough not to kill her, we would have missed out." Krum hugged Bloodfang's head and rubbed it vigorously, and Bloodfang happily licked Krum's face in return.

Solam praised Bloodfang as well. A dead female goat is just a bit more meat, but a live, pregnant female is a milk-producing machine—the value is completely different. With these two milk-producing goats, at least this winter, Aunt Zaira and their newborn brother or sister would have plenty of milk to drink and could make it through the winter in better health.