Chapter 96: Black Talon

Various animals of the forest let out noises. It was about early June when they arrived back at the village. It took longer than expected, but it was worth it. Sunsook began visiting all the villages to help people learn how to farm crops. There was an abundance of information stored within the hard drives, so it was done easily. The next thing Sunsook began teaching was hygiene and trash disposal. She taught each villager what to do with the food waste and human feces and helped build a trash disposal area for them.

Galfus also returned to the village with a young male, a little smaller than herself. Everyone was happy to see another Guardian and the elder of the village confirmed that Galfus was pregnant. The four cubs had grown to be bigger than horses, feeling more mature overall. Six Guardians that ranged from the teen to mature stages relieved warriors greatly. They were able to thin out the number of monsters throughout the area. They hunted down the Odringos and Keroxes that increased in numbers. They also hunted the Kawiqunins, injuring themselves in process, but none died. No Ainos intervened on their hunts as they needed to train themselves in real combat.

The Ainos began moving out to hunt for themselves. They divided into groups to hunt in different parts of the forest. Joonbum was also busy hunting along with Gazlow, Doral, Pav, and Aiden. Brix, a kind of wild boar, increased in number as summer began so they hunting. They were dumb enough to hunt it by hanging a rock on a tree, but it was dangerous to fight it face to face.

The ground rumbled as several Brix, weighing over 600 pounds, ran through the mountain with incredible speed.

“They’re on the way.”

Gazlow radioed to Joonbum, Pav, and Aiden after he startled the group of Brix to make them charge toward the site.

“Get ready.”

“Yes!”

They took out their bows and nocked their arrows. Soon, the ground began shaking and the Brix ran out through the bushes. There was a huge male with a huge tusk in front, followed by other smaller Brix.

Arrows were fired without any signals and penetrated through the legs of the Brix. The Brix that fell in front made the ones coming from behind scatter in different directions. Another set of arrows were fired upon them. Some stood up to continue running, but they soon fell down to their deaths.

“We’ve got two small ones and they are females.”

“Understood.”

Aiden radioed of their success. Pav and Aiden were skilled warriors, but they were still young, happy to see their success. Three of them quickly moved onto the Brix to draw the blood out from the body into a keg. The blood was used to make food, so it was also essential.

Small animals began to appear at the sight of the dead Brix. Some reptiles approached, only to be killed by an arrow.

“Wow, that’s a nice catch.”

“Good job.”

“Heh.”

Gazlow and Doral complimented Pav and Aiden as they blushed. It was good to see them enjoy such small compliments.

“Joonbum! Did you do this? You’ve gotten better at it.”

Gazlow spoke as he pointed at one of the Brix. The arrow that was on it was Joonbum’s. It penetrated the heart directly. Doral grinned.

“You got lucky.”

“It’s my skills,” Joonbum argued, but Doral seemed to be unconvinced as he grinned.

“Oh? Then do it again.”

“No, I’m done for today.”

-All warriors, stop hunting and return to the village.-

They stopped as they had to return to the village since the radio called them in. Joonbum felt that something was different than normal. The atmosphere seemed heavy.

‘Was someone injured? No… that would’ve been taken care of by a potion.’

Joonbum grew confused.

‘Then what is it?’

The town hall was filled with every Ainos member except the kids. Howen began to speak as he saw Joonbum walking in.

“An armed group of men has entered the mountain range.”

“Oh!”

‘It’s the men that were sent by the Donians!’

He realized what had happened at once.

“So they really did come.”

“Are they really here for a revenge?”

“It is as we thought.”

“They started it! And they want revenge?”

“Howen, are you sure they are hostile?”

“Yes, we made sure that they are not here to hunt. They are coming toward the deepest part of the forest. They are definitely coming for the village.”

Some were concerned and some were shocked. But none were scared.

“They are so bold… to come into this forest.”

“I can’t believe it.”

Some were even scoffing off the boldness of trying to attacking them inside the forest.

‘Such confidence. But it’s true,’ Joonbum thought. They were no match.

‘Hmm? But that’s strange.’

Humans were greedy, but they were not exactly bold. They also saw what happened to those mercenaries who were helplessly suppressed by the Ainos in the village.

‘Did they not investigate? I’m sure they know that it is suicide to face the Ainos in the forest…’

It was not even a secret that the Ainos was the king of the forest.

‘The guys that are coming here know what the Ainos can do in the forest. They are prepared.’

“There’s about 300 of them.”

Everyone fell silent. It was much more than they expected.

“They are about fifteen days away from us. They did not use any fires and they followed the road, so it was hard to track them down faster.”

Hunters from other tribes coincidentally found them. All of the Ainos tribes were already notified of the possible hostile group coming into the forest.

“Warriors will gather at Trina Village.”

*

They arrived at Trina Village two days later. There were about 300 warriors that had gathered at the village. Everyone seemed to be concerned and the village was not as lively as before.

“I didn’t think they would really try to get revenge.”

Elder Erda of Trina Village spoke grimly. Everyone frowned. The thought of 300 armed men marching toward them wasn’t a simple brawl. It was a war.

“Report says that they are trained warriors. We can’t go easy on them.”

“These are skilled soldiers. It also looked like they have huge shields, so they will try to block our arrows.”

Howen first spoke as Brato, the Warrior Chief of the village, chimed in with new information.

“We cannot avoid bloodshed.”

“Yes.”

Joonbum opened his eyes in shock.

‘What is going on?’

The subject was heavily one-sided as they talked.

“There is no way. If they want to die, then they will.”

“They are so foolish. I remember they had a big loss at such an attempt.”

“We will need poisoned arrows.”

“Let’s ambush them at night. We have night vision.”

“Trying to fight us in the forest…? Foolish.”

The only thing the Ainos were concerned about was the fact that they needed to kill a large number of humans. It was nothing close to what Joonbum was concerned about.

“We have the upper hand but they are not some stupid monsters either. Let’s prepare ourselves and always think of being safe first.”

Everyone began to shout.