Hunting

After Nathas left, Andy cursed his hands-off teacher in no uncertain terms. The man had hardly taught him anything at all.

Five years passed in the blink of an eye. Now sixteen, Andy went to see Hilar as usual one day. At twenty, Hilar was a mature Elf—and a young woman at that. Andy didn't know whether all Elf girls had figures like hers, but he remembered the Windrunner Sisters from the game. They'd had incredible figures. Hilar was no different: a slender waist, long, strong legs, a full bust, and a lovely face. Andy could barely control himself whenever he saw her.

"Hilar! Hilar!" Andy shouted before he'd even entered her home.

Hilar still lived at his teacher Malfurion's place. But in recent years, Malfurion rarely stayed in Darnassus, spending more of his time traveling around Kalimdor on patrol, so Andy was free to come and go as he pleased.

"Big sister Hilar, are you there?" Andy called as he entered the residence.

"Roar!"

Without even turning around, Andy said, "Andrew, you've been using that trick for years. It doesn't work anymore, okay?"

"Hilar's not here. She already left!" Andrew said, changing back into his humanoid form.

"What? He already left? He said he'd wait for me!" Andy turned and ran outside.

"Whose fault is it that you overslept again? Look at the time!" Andrew called after him. "Slow down!"

Andy secretly bared his teeth as the Monster Spirit laughed uproariously in his mind. "Hahaha! Tell me, if I didn't wake you up, could you really get out of bed on your own?"

"You're the one who didn't act as my alarm clock and made me sleep in! Hurry up and locate Hilar!" Andy was furious.

"Didn't I tell you to raise a chicken?" the Monster Spirit said as it searched for Hilar.

"You're telling me there are chickens in this world?" Andy scoffed.

"Found her. Hilar's in the woods outside the city, on the left," the Monster Spirit said. "Couldn't you find something else to use instead?"

"Fine, you'll do!" Andy snapped. "You'd better wake me up tomorrow!"

After five years of practice, Andy had made some progress. He still hadn't fully figured out the contents of the little booklet Nathas had given him, but at least he had the Monster Spirit to help. Nathas had overlooked one thing: Andy couldn't sense the forces of nature, but that wasn't because he wasn't a Druid. He couldn't sense any other kind of magic, either. He was an outsider, after all. Luckily, he had the Monster Spirit. Otherwise, all he could do was use his pitiful archery skills on small beasts.

"Hilar, I'm here!" Andy hadn't gone far into the woods when he spotted Hilar—a sturdy Sabers!

Hilar had just finished off a Sabers, its blood still staining her claws. She glanced back at Andy and changed into her humanoid form. "You've got some nerve making me wait. Do you have any idea how late you are?"

"Sorry about that!" Andy looked remorseful, but there wasn't a hint of apology in his voice. "I'm here now, aren't I?"

Since the previous year, Hilar and Andy had been carrying out a task from the Darnassus authorities: kill as many beasts as possible and skin them. According to the Elf leadership, the skins might come in handy someday.

"What are you waiting for? Get started!" Hilar said, hands on her hips.

"Oh, right, right!" Andy couldn't help staring blankly whenever he saw Hilar.

Andy told the Monster Spirit to activate Beast Tracking. The skill had seemed useless at first, but over the years, it had started to prove useful. Not long ago, it had reached level two, and its range had expanded to nearly a hundred meters—more than three times its level-one range.

A map appeared in Andy's mind. Three red dots marked the beasts' locations. One was alone, while the other two were together. Andy gestured to Hilar, then headed forward. Hilar changed back into a panther, and she could just barely pick up the beasts' scents, too.

A lone Sabers prowled about, occasionally letting out a low growl.

Whoosh! An arrow glinting with cold light shot toward the Sabers, flying without a sound. "Aow!" The Sabers fell with an arrow in its body, letting out a helpless roar as it died.

"Level-two beast, basic leather," the Monster Spirit dutifully reported.

Andy used Beast Tracking to make sure no other beasts had been drawn over by the Sabers. Only then did he carefully approach, crouch down, and start skinning it, humming a little tune as he worked.

"Hey, are you done yet?" Hilar was getting annoyed by Andy's humming. The main problem was that she couldn't understand a single word of the song.

"Almost, almost!" Andy put away the hide and, following the Monster Spirit's directions, slowly approached the two remaining beasts.

"Giant Owl, level-three beast. Birds can't be caught in traps!" the Monster Spirit reported.

"Damn, I've never run into a pair of these things before!" Andy whispered to Hilar.

"I've never run into two together, either. What do we do?" Hilar was at a loss. She'd have trouble dealing with even one, let alone two.

"They've got nothing but feathers, and their hides aren't any use. How about we retreat?" Andy said, swallowing nervously.

"Sure. Let's go." Hilar slowly backed away. "Hey, could you keep your voice down? You'll alert the two Giant Owls."

"Heh, I didn't mean to!" Andy glanced at the Giant Owls and wiped the sweat from his forehead, then slowly backed away with Hilar.

"Crack!"

"You!"

"Shit!"

Andy stepped on a dead branch, snapping it. The sound rang out sharply through the quiet woods. "Host, you've been spotted by two Giant Owls. Make a decision immediately!" the Monster Spirit's voice suddenly rang in Andy's mind.

"Like I didn't notice!" Andy swore as he hurried backward. Even if traps worked, there was no time to set one now.

The two Giant Owls beat their enormous wings and charged at Andy, shrieking.

"Stop running! They're faster than you!" Hilar said, halting. "I'll take the one on the right. You take the one on the left."

Andy had no time to answer. He just nodded and quickly moved to the side. As he moved, he pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back and, with the Monster Spirit guiding his magic, fired a Concussive Shot. But Andy's aim had never been any good, and it was even worse while he was moving. The arrow flew right past the Giant Owl's wing. When he looked over, Hilar was already tangled up with the other one.

Andy cursed and hurried around a tree, hoping to use it as cover and put some distance between himself and the Giant Owl. But the bird was incredibly fast. Before he could make it to the other side of the tree, it had already cut him off. The Giant Owl raised its huge beak, spread its iron-hard talons, and swooped at Andy.

Andy broke out in a cold sweat and squeezed his eyes shut. In an instant, he spun around and kicked, unleashing the kick he'd been practicing. The Giant Owl plunged down, never expecting the Elf in front of it to pull a move like that. Caught off guard, it took a kick to the head. The world spun around it, and it forgot to flap its wings.

Andy glanced at the wobbling Giant Owl and quickly pulled out another arrow. At this close range, with a stationary target, if he missed again, he might as well give up. The Giant Owl was unlucky enough to end up as another victim of Andy's arrows.

Hilar had also dealt with her Giant Owl, snapping its neck before changing back into her humanoid form. She panted heavily. Fighting that Giant Owl alone had been exhausting, mostly because she couldn't fly.

Andy caught his breath, took out his skinning knife, and started cutting the Giant Owl's meat into pieces. As he worked, he muttered, "That'll teach you to attack us! That'll teach you!"

"Andy, why are you cutting up its meat?" Hilar came over and asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. I'll take it home and make dinner!"