Chapter 28: Chapter 28 – Do Your Job!
After the huge dump of exposition Tarren just took on Kyle's head, they returned to work.
Kyle watched Tarren for the entire day, learning about what a hunter was supposed to do.
He even got to fight another weak beast, but that battle was nothing special.
The hunters were taking it easy on Kyle.
They wanted him to get familiar with the beasts first before they threw him into actual dangerous battles.
A hunter had to be able to defend themselves in the wild, and that included life-and-death battles with all manners of natural enemies.
The next day, Kyle followed Nervon, the smaller older man with the mace and shield.
During group battles, Nervon's job was to attract the beast's attention while the others damaged it, but outside of group battles, he was a hunter just like anybody else.
'Guess he's the tank. Do we also have a healer? Probably not. It's just one tank with four damage dealers.'
'Wait, do healers even exist? I mean, there should be some? Is it the Priests? Although, Sorcerers can probably also learn healing Spells, and Artificers might be able to make healing gadgets. There's a lot of flexibility and potential here.'
'Dude, this is almost like a fucking game.'
Nervon also just led Kyle around for a while.
Kyle thought this day would be like the previous ones, but Nervon seemed to have other plans.
"Time for you to prove yourself!" Nervon said to Kyle.
Kyle grew more nervous.
He had already sensed the enemy in the clearing, and this was not a pushover!
"Are you certain?" Kyle asked nervously.
"Stop being a pussy and wait for my command! You got your issued equipment already! It's time to show some guts!"
Kyle was now dressed in the same green armor as all the other ones, and he had also received a one-handed sword, which he clenched nervously in his right hand.
Nervon didn't wait for Kyle to answer and just rushed forward.
BANG!
The sound of a mace breaking bone echoed throughout the forest.
Kyle watched nervously as Nervon pulverized one of the fire wolves he had seen before.
He still remembered how the fire wolves had besieged him near the Narvonian Worm's shell.
BANG!
Another wolf died.
BANG!
A third wolf died.
"Kyle, attack the last one!" Nervon shouted.
The next moment, Nervon hit the wolf with his shield and threw it toward Kyle's direction.
Out of reflex, Kyle hit the flying wolf with his sword.
His sword hit the wolf's forehead, but the angle was horrible, and Kyle couldn't use his full power.
Because of that, the wolf's skin split open, but the skull remained undamaged.
An instant later, the wolf fell onto Kyle, pushing him over.
The wolf's claws moved frantically, trying to gain traction on Kyle's armor.
This thing didn't want to fight.
It wanted to flee from that other scary human!
The claws scratched Kyle's armor but left no traces except for some dirt.
'I have to kill it!' was all that Kyle could think at this moment.
He grabbed one of the wolf's legs and struck the side of its chest with the sword.
Sadly, the angle was horrible, and Kyle could barely use his power with his back to the ground.
The wolf escaped Kyle's grasp and just fled.
But then, Nervon arrived in front of the wolf and just pushed it back to Kyle with his shield.
"Kill it! Do your job!" Nervon shouted aggressively.
The wolf frantically stood up and scampered in Kyle's direction.
By now, Kyle's heart rate had shot through the roof.
His instincts were telling him that this thing was absolutely no joke!
This thing could kill him!
As the wolf saw Kyle, it opened its maw, fire coming out of it.
Kyle knew what was about to happen and jumped to the side.
BANG!
The fireball missed him and hit a random tree.
The next moment, the wolf ran past Kyle, trying to escape.
Yet, Nervon just pushed it back to Kyle.
"What's the problem?! Just hit it with your sword!" Nervon shouted.
In the wolf's panicked mind, there was no sense or reason anymore.
It just tried anything to survive.
Fleeing didn't work.
So, when it saw Kyle again, it did the next best thing.
Attack!
As the wolf jumped towards Kyle, time seemingly stood still.
Just like the wolf, Kyle's mind was also in chaos.
His instincts told him to run.
But running didn't work.
Out of instinct, Kyle just moved his sword forward so that it pointed at the jumping wolf.
That was when he noticed the fire in the wolf's maw.
'Shit!'
BANG!
The fireball hit Kyle's torso, and everything became hot.
Kyle's mind was going wild.
He was pushed back.
But he didn't feel any pain.
While he knew that he had been struck by the fireball, he just ignored it.
Instead, he screamed and thrust his sword forward.
Kyle's face was burning.
There was so much heat!
Yet, at the same time, he saw his sword hitting the wolf's throat.
His sword stabbed into the throat, and the wolf was stopped in its tracks.
"Move it around!" Nervon shouted.
Kyle just did as instructed and violently moved his sword around in the wolf's throat.
He felt his sword cutting through flesh.
A moment later, the wolf escaped from the sword, stepped to the side, and jumped at Kyle again.
Reflexively, Kyle held his sword horizontally, with the edge facing the wolf.
As the wolf hit him, Kyle fell over, the wolf above him.
A cutting pain entered Kyle's left hand, and he realized that he had held the tip of the sword to stabilize his impromptu block.
A sword generally had two edges, and this wasn't any different.
The wolf's jaw snapped in front of Kyle's face, desperately trying to reach it.
It clamped down several times, trying to bite Kyle's face off, but he just kept blocking with his sword.
A shower of blood came out of the wolf's throat, dousing his chest.
The snapping of the wolf's jaws continued for almost five seconds before it realized that it wasn't getting anywhere.
In a fluid motion, the wolf pull its head back, ducked beneath the sword...
And violently bit into Kyle's abdomen.