Free Web NovelChapter 16: Chapter 16: Two Against the Wild
A wave of aggressive murmurs rippled through the gathered youths. Kellar’s casual, arrogant declaration felt like a slap in the face to their collective tribal pride. Tor stepped forward from his group, his massive fists clenching as he glared down at the slender boy.
"Do you think because you woke up first in the smoke, you actually have what it takes to survive out there, Little Flame?" Tor sneered, gesturing toward the dense, dark tree line of the forest. "Out there, running your mouth just makes it easier for the beasts to find your throat."
Kellar didn’t even bother to give him a verbal reply. He simply flashed a slow, mocking smile, looking at Tor as if he were listening to a barking dog that didn’t know it was already on a leash.
Turning his back on the heavy brute, Kellar walked over to Mila. The young woman stood stiff, her knuckles white around her wooden spear. He stopped right in front of her, his bright emerald eyes locking onto hers.
"Want to form a party with me?" asked Kellar, his tone calm and confident.
Mila’s eyes widened in sheer shock. She had fully prepared herself to face the terrifying wilderness alone. In the history of the Fire Bear Tribe, there had never been female hunters. The elders always claimed women lacked the raw muscle and explosive agility required to bring down apex predators, relegating them to the safe, domestic confines of the village. But Mila had craved the thrill of the hunt since she was a little girl, practicing in secret, ready to risk her life today just to prove her worth to the clan.
She looked up at Kellar. She remembered the old Kellar—the weak, trembling boy everyone mocked as ’Little Flame’ because he looked like a scrawny stick with a mess of red hair on top. But looking at him now, the pathetic posture was gone. His sharp green eyes radiated a magnetic, dangerous charm that made a sudden, unexpected heat flush across her cheeks.
"Y-yes... let’s do it," muttered Mila, nodding quickly as she tried to hide her blush.
Watching the two outcasts pair up, Krag could only let out a heavy, defeated sigh. Kellar’s sharp attitude had officially alienated every single group in the clearing; there was no turning back now. If this was the path the boy chose, the spirits of the woods would have to judge the outcome.
"Very well!" Krag bellowed, stepping forward to address the entire assembly, his booming voice cutting through the remaining whispers. "Listen closely to the laws of the trial! You are not permitted to carry any supplies into the wild. No rations, no armor, no tools. You take only the clothes on your backs, the weapon in your hands, and the guts in your chests!"
The veteran hunter’s gaze swept over the thirty youths, lingering for a brief, tense moment on Kellar and Mila.
"You must return tomorrow at the exact moment the sun breaks the horizon. Not a single second before," Krag commanded, his face dead serious. "And you must bring back a beast worthy of a true hunter’s spirit. If you return empty-handed, do not even bother walking back into this clearing. You will take your belongings and march straight to the outer ring of the village, where you will spend the rest of your days as miserable laborers breaking rocks. Now... move out!"
As the final commands left Krag’s mouth, Kellar’s eyebrows knit together. He quickly searched through the old owner’s memories, and a subtle sense of friction surfaced. According to the previous youth’s knowledge of past trials, the objective had always been a simple, straightforward afternoon hunt. Survival out in the elements for an entire night had never been a requirement.
The parameters of the test have been altered, Kellar noted, his systematic mind identifying the shift. The Chieftain and the Shaman must have changed the rules this year, probably trying to force a high mortality rate or weed out the weak elements.
"Let’s move," said Kellar, turning to Mila with an unbothered nod.
"Right," muttered Mila.
The two turned their backs on the village, walking side by side into the dense tree line. Around them, the other hunting squads scattered into different sectors of the forest. While the tribal laws strictly forbade lethal combat inside the village borders, the moment their boots cleared the outer perimeter, those protections ceased to exist. None of the squads wanted to remain close to one another, driven by a mutual, cutthroat caution.
Kellar and Mila picked up their pace, moving at a steady jog deeper into the wilderness. They traveled for a couple of hours, the dense canopy slowly swallowing the sounds of the village until they arrived at a wide, bubbling stream cutting through a rocky valley.
According to the old Kellar’s memories, this specific water source was highly strategic. The previous boy had hidden near these rocks once before, observing several powerful, high-tier predators coming down to drink. If Kellar wanted to secure the top rank and fulfill the system’s objective, this was the highest efficiency zone he knew.
"We are going to set up a secure camp right here," said Kellar, stopping near a cluster of large gray boulders. "We need a fortified shelter to protect ourselves while we locate our target."
Mila blinked, looking at him with genuine confusion as she leaned on her wooden spear.
"A shelter?" asked Mila. "Shouldn’t we be tracking a beast right now to get the hunt over with?"
