A few days had passed since Siu finally settled into his new abode. The knowledge that he had to prepare for the hunt in the winter, to get ready in a very short time, given the dangers he would face, was a new kind of pressure he hadn't experienced before. Looking towards the forest every morning, he was waiting for the change in the leaves, their green turning to orange and yellow... but it hadn't happened yet. Still, he did notice that they had begun to stiffen, their colors maybe dulling... or was it just his mind playing tricks? Whichever it was, it prompted him to pick up speed and go on multiple hunts to gain more experience.

  At first, he started small, aiming only to train himself to track animals, notice clues, familiarize himself with the forest, and refine his movement techniques in action. What was immediately noticeable was that it was a whole different world: jumping from tree to tree, rushing through the wild underbrush, rather than practicing on a clear, controlled field, was not something that could be compared. That's why, after feeling more confident, it was time to do more than spook a few harmless creatures and track one to actually kill.

  It didn't take more than a week to pick up a track that looked promising, measuring its prints in the mud and determining its stride and weight from them... It felt like something he was confident taking on. For the past hour or so, he had moved carefully between the trees, his steps measured when he lifted each leg to avoid snapping any fallen branches and giving himself away. At the same time, he kept his breathing constant to sharpen his senses without announcing his presence to an animal that could hear better than a human.

  What was also different was that Arya was already gone from his head, working alongside him rather than being a passive observer. Currently, she was more than a few hundred meters away from him, finally demonstrating how she managed to stay alive for so long and travel so far on her own.

  "You’re drifting to the opposite direction, Master," her voice murmured in his mind, as if she was afraid someone would listen in on their discourse. "It may catch your smell with the change of the wind!"

  "Got it," Siu answered as he adjusted without breaking his stride, shifting his approach according to Arya's suggestions. "Where is it now?"

  "I'm still following it... He hadn't noticed me, of course... Hm, hm, he is heavy, Master! There is a lot of yummy meat on it..."

  "How big?"

  "Smaller than you, bigger than me."

  "That says nothing, but okay..." He grunted, but in reality, his face remained unbothered, "I am going to be in position soon. Tell me if it suddenly begins moving in a different direction."

  "Of course! But it found something, I think... It's scraping the ground with its tusks. Ew... It's eating something out of the ground!"

  "Probably a mushroom or whatever."

  "What's a mushroom? Those things that grow under trees?"

  "Yeah, those and what are they? A plant? It comes out of the ground, I don't know... Just keep watching and get ready to spook it towards me!"

  By then, he slowed down even further, lowering his center of gravity, as he slipped behind a fallen trunk, watching the wind, using his connection to Arya to mentally triangulate his current position. It was a weird feeling, but since their contract had been established, both of them knew where the other was, could feel their presence and direction, no matter the distance. They could even measure the space itself, and to his surprise, it was correct more times than not. What he hadn't tested yet was how far they could go before the connection broke... But that was for a later time as he refocused his attention on their current task at hand.

  "Give me a proper description of it, so I may identify it," Siu asked, before he pulled the trigger on the attack. Since he began frequenting the forest, he also borrowed multiple tomes on the local beasts, doing his best to read about them every night and memorize their shapes, forms, powers, and, more importantly, their strengths and weaknesses.

  "Well..." Arya mumbled, thinking a little, her tiny body being hidden in a massive bush, about ten meters from the creature that was still digging up the wet ground, unaware of the golden-silver eyes watching it, "It has a brownish, thick hide... Hmm... It looks spiky on the back, and its tusks are curving back towards its stupid head. Master, this one is not very smart, it began rolling in the dirt... And now it keeps circling the same patch because it smells something underground. Ugh... It's making weird noises, and it's loud! Even I can't understand it, this one is rambling something about 'food' and whatever!"

  "That sounds like a Truffletusk Boar." Siu exhaled slowly through his nose, "Good, that's manageable. It's not harmless, but nothing like the Bluetipped Ironclaw, and you are right, they are stupid. I don't think the sect ever documented an evolved variant of this species."

  "No wonder," Arya answered with a chortle. "It got its head stuck in the hole... never mind, it's out... Haah..."

  "Okay, I'm in position! Wait until it faces the right angle, then spook it!"

  "Will do, Master! Ehehehe, he is stupid, he will run like the wind! A fat wind."

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  There was nothing else to do, so Siu prepared himself, falling into a battle focus while minutes passed by slowly. Then, finally, a sharp sound cut through the forest; apparently, whatever Arya did was more than enough to scare the Truffletusk in the right direction. A few seconds later, the boar exploded from the underbrush, giving Siu half a breath of time to ascertain its type and decide to act or let it run past him. Indeed, it was massive, easily the size of a wolf but far bulkier, its back spiky with hardened fur, covered in clay from frequent mud baths. Its tusks curved backward; some species even had their tusks pierce their own skulls, killing them outright... Well, this one was not there yet, though. Catching its gaze, Siu saw that its eyes were wide with fear and confusion. A perfect opportunity!

  There was no hesitation from Siu as he stepped into its path. As the boar noticed him, it put down its head, intending to ram through him, seeing how Siu's weight was shifting just a bit wrongly, prompting the boar to aim at his left leg on instinct. But what the Truffletusk couldn't realize was that the mistake was done on purpose, baiting the creature into committing to its chosen action.

  Seeing the reaction, Siu now had the opening, scanning the attack, taking it in, and formulating a counter right then and there. Before it could hit him, his legs moved with the quickness of a cat as he pivoted at the last moment, slipping past the tusks as his right hand was already mid-swing, his fingers poised like a crane's beak with the power of an ox's kick behind it. It was the first time he had ever used two of the foundational forms together, his first, actual merger. It wasn't as clean as he would have liked it, nor as precise, but... it worked.

  Without missing his chance, his strike slid between the boar's neck, his fingers and reinforced bones acting like a knife, sinking into the skin, breaking the fur and severing arteries connecting its head to its body. The effect was instant, as the boar stumbled, its momentum carrying it another step before its legs failed, crashing down, a fountain of blood splurting everywhere. For a long time, it kept spasming, trying to stand up only to collapse again, wriggling and gurgling before its ultimate demise.

  "Got it?!" Arya appeared from the underbush, her tail flickering as there were about five of her, standing on each other's backs, looking... like some weird monster, making faces and silently roaring.

  "Of course," Siu answered out loud, feeling the adrenaline pumping through his veins, forcing him to take deep breaths, flicking the boar's blood off his hand, watching as Arya's copies slowly dissipated.

  "Hah! It didn’t even know what happened. You are so cool, Master!"

  “That’s the point of hunting,” Siu murmured, walking up to the fallen boar, being cautious, making sure it was indeed dead, "Okay... This will do for today." He rolled it over, realizing that carrying it back would be... tiring. It was heavy... Heavier than two of him put together!

  "Master?" Arya asked, pointing her tail at Siu's fingers, and when he looked down, they were visibly trembling and twitching.

  "Overextertion." He said, shaking it, but it wasn't stopping, "Merging the two stances had ripped some of my flesh under the skin, and I think two of my fingers are broken. Nothing serious. Haah... now... let's get this one back to the sect before its blood draws in something we can't defeat!"

  ...

  ....

  ......

  By the time Siu returned to the sect, the bloody smell of its prey was clinging to him like some unwanted cologne, but Arya didn't complain at all as she rode on his shoulder, salivating, watching as they were dragging the corpse on a makeshift sledge of sticks and leaves.

  "Which part of it will we cook first, Master? I want the biggest one!"

  "I killed it, that should be mine, no?"

  "But I started the hunt!" Arya argued, "Okay... we can share, I get the bigger half, you will have the smaller!"

  "If so, that's not half, isn't it?"

  "Stingy..."

  “That’s one way to put it,” Siu replied under his breath, smiling, "We will share, don't worry about it."

  Returning, right before sunset, he headed towards the area where Neya usually worked, timing his hunting exercise to a date when he knew she would be there. Arriving, she was indeed at one of the prime preparation tables near the back, her sleeves rolled up, cleaning tools, apparently getting ready to finish for the day. She looked up when she heard footsteps, glancing towards who was arriving just now, as her eyes immediately lit up.

  “Siu?” she exclaimed, “Whoa, that's a big one! Is that a Truffletusk?”

  “Yes,” he said, “Have you done it before?”

  "A lot," She nodded, hurrying over to help him drag it in and put it up on the table, "most of the piggy meat the kitchens serve comes from these ones. They breed like crazy, so... yeah. Anyway, what parts do you want from it?"

  “I don’t need you to process it fully," He shook his head, "What you get from it, I want to be exchanged for CC as this one was onlyfor training.”

  "Master! Master! Meat?! THE MEAT! I WANT MY MEAT!"

  "Sush," Siu said calmly, glancing at Arya, who was now on her hind legs, stretching, clawing at his feet, yapping and whining loudly. “I just want the tastiest meat off the body,” he continued, ignoring Neya's constant giggling, seeing Arya be so upset, thinking she will miss out on dinner, “No need to send it to the kitchens, I plan to roast it myself.”

  "YEY! I WILL BE STUFFED!"

  “And,” Siu added, glancing at Neya, ignoring Arya, “I was thinking… You could join us, if you want.”

  "Ah?" She blinked once, pointing at herself, “Me?”

  “Yes.” He frowned slightly, as if checking his own reasoning. It wasn't a weird offer; she was helping him out, so it was the least he could do to return the favor. “You mentioned last time that living alone’s been… quiet, so I thought this would be fine.”

  "Y-yeah! Yes!" Neya nodded hurriedly, blushing, and turning towards the boar to hide it. "I would like that a lot!"

  "Oh," Siu nodded at once. “That's good.”

  "It shouldn't take long to get this thing processed, two hours at best." She continued, already beginning to prepare herself, tying her hair up.

  "Okay," Siu smiled, stepping back to not get in the way, "I'll go take a bath with Arya until then," he continued, missing the fact that Neya flinched a little when hearing it, "we both reek of blood and sweat. See you then, hm?"

  "Um," Neya nodded, not daring to look at him, "I'll bring it to your cave! Is that okay?"

  "Sure!" He agreed, not thinking much of it. "See you then!" he added, turning and leaving, with Arya running after him, looking back and forth between them.

  "Master, you should stuff her full with your meat."

  "What the fuck?" He blurted it out, not in his head, but actually uttering the words, almost tripping up while stepping through the door.

  "The meat!" Arya continued, not even flinching, "Get her eat a lot, then she will be sleepy and then sleep with you."

  "Let's get to the baths." He added, collecting himself in a hurry, feeling that sometimes speaking with Arya was like interacting with the twins. "You need a good washing, because you are dirty."

  "I am," Arya answered, almost proud, and honestly... Siu couldn't tell how she really meant it.