NOVEL NEXT Chapter 123: In the end, there was no difference
After Aiden's brief explanation, everyone found themselves outside the city, in the forest five kilometers away.
Due to the unique peculiarity of the mountain, the bushes were dark purple, as were the leaves of the trees, except that the branches and trunks were a little lighter, verging on beige.
In the middle of this large forest, with the distant sound of the river and animals, Kael, Michel, and the others were preparing to begin the competition.
However, Kael was not interested in the competition, but rather was going to use it to explore the surroundings and save time and effort searching for the entrance to the Star Lord's inheritance.
With the sun's rays filtering through the purple leaves, creating shadows on the damp ground, Kael grabbed the bow, which was made of a flexible material, and checked to see if everything was in perfect condition.
But after testing it, he said:
"This bow is defective; the string is very worn."
The maid Roberta, who was standing nearby, also opened her eyes in surprise and picked up the bow, which appeared to be perfectly fine. After examining it for a few seconds, the surprise on her face was evident.
"This bow is defective; it can only be used a maximum of 10 times." Her voice was full of disbelief, and she turned her gaze to Kael's expressionless face.
This is a young master of the Medici Clan... She couldn't help but think in amazement.
"Bring a new bow to young Kael; let this not happen again." Aiden quickly intervened and ordered a new bow to be brought.
That small discovery about the bow could be seen as a form of sabotage against Kael. What they didn't know was that he didn't care in the slightest.
A few minutes later, a servant arrived with a new bow and handed it to Kael, with a hint of curiosity in his eyes.
Rechecking the bow with a glance, Kael didn't notice anything wrong with it, so he said nothing.
Seeing that he didn't say anything, they sighed with relief, not because they didn't know how their boss Aiden would react if the new bow had any defects or was too worn to be used in this hunting competition.
Aiden clapped several times, getting everyone's attention, and said:
"We'll start, but we'll divide into several groups, which will be chosen at random. Each of you will draw a bamboo stick with a number on it; those with the same number will be on the same team."
One of the servants approached with a long glass containing several bamboo sticks and handed them out to each of the participants.
When everyone had taken one, Kael looked at the number he had been given. The number "1" was written on the highest part of the bamboo stick.
"I got number 1," he said indifferently, showing the number without changing his expression in the slightest.
"I got number 1 too," he turned toward the source of the voice and saw none other than the head maid, Roberta, who had a small smile on her lips.
Each person revealed their numbers, and the teams were formed as follows: Kael and Roberta, Team 1; Michel and Elizabeth, Team 2; Aiden and Natalia, Team 3; and Max with Milwar.
With the groups formed, Aiden, who was hosting the hunting competition, spoke again.
"Now that everyone has their group, we won't find anything in four hours, and as I said before, whoever hunts the most animals will be the winner of this first day of the hunting competition."
When he finished speaking, he gave Roberta a meaningful look, and she nodded imperceptibly.
Kael looked at this, but his expression remained indifferent as if he hadn't seen anything. Instead, he grabbed the bow with arrows made of poisonous iron horns.
At that moment, a notification window appeared in front of him.
Ding.
[A mission has been generated]
Ding.
[Mission #3]
· Take first place in the hunting competition.
· Reward: 10 stat points.
Kael glanced at the notification window briefly before closing it again, as he had no intention of taking first place.
"You may begin," announced Aiden.
Kael and Roberta entered the forest, while the other groups took a different path.
...
The sun shone high in a clear blue sky. Slowly moving clouds occasionally covered the golden rays, bathing the earth in an intermittent play of light and shadow.
Above the treetops, whose purple fruits were as beautiful as they were poisonous, elusive salamanders crawled along the trunks. They flicked their forked tongues into the air and moved their eyes constantly, alert to the slightest sign of danger.
Under those deadly shadows, Kael and Roberta advanced with extreme caution. Every step had to be calculated; a single misstep could mean death if they brushed against a poisonous creature or a deadly plant.
Dubhu Mountain was known throughout the Northern Frontier as one of the places with the highest concentration of toxic beasts and lethal flora. It was a land where life and death hung by a thread.
In the stifling silence, Roberta's voice sounded low, though full of curiosity:
"Young Kael, why did you sell those items? They were quite valuable."
Kael glanced at her sideways. His face remained impassive, as if the question were so trivial that it did not even merit a different expression. In an indifferent voice, he replied:
"They were worthless. What I have... cannot be compared to that."
Roberta's green eyes flashed for a moment as she grasped the hidden meaning behind those words. Kael possessed even more precious objects, treasures that were beyond her reach.
However, she said nothing more. She knew her place. She remained silent, like the good servant she was. She would keep that information and, when the time came, she would give it to her master.
Kael, meanwhile, calmly looked away. Everything had gone according to plan. His trip to the city had not been motivated by curiosity, but by calculation: to show off some of the items he had obtained from the vault, let the rumors spread, and attract Aiden's attention.
From the beginning, Aiden had shown barely concealed greed for the items Kael stored in his space rune rings. Roberta's question only confirmed it.
For Kael, this was part of the plan he had set in motion. Nothing more than a step in his plan.
Whisper... whisper...
Among the distant bushes, a rustling broke the calm.
The branches parted, and a gigantic boar emerged from the undergrowth. Its coat was a dark purple that blended in with the shadows, and two black tusks, hard as iron, protruded from its mouth.
But he wasn't alone. At his sides, two more walked heavily, panting, their eyes bloodshot and wild.
Kael didn't hesitate. He slid his hand to his back, pulled out an arrow, and fitted it to his bow.
The bow tensed without a sound.
His entire body moved with inhuman discipline: every gesture measured, every breath controlled.
Roberta, watching from a few steps behind, held her breath. What she saw before her eyes was not a young man improvising, but an experienced hunter who had killed many times before.
The wild boars advanced unsuspecting. They sniffed the damp grass and pulled poisonous fruits from the bushes, chewing with pleasure on the natural poison that was their food.
Each bite produced a harsh crackling sound, and each snort filled the air with foul-smelling vapor.
Kael lowered his eyelids for a moment, then opened his eyes, cold as steel.
He aimed at the largest one.
The rope vibrated as he released it.
Swoosh.
The arrow flew like lightning. A sharp whistle, followed by a brutal impact. The arrow pierced the forehead of the first boar. The animal let out a muffled bellow before collapsing with a thud into the mud.
The other two raised their heads immediately, grunting, but their fate had already been decided.
Kael already had another arrow ready.
A second shot. Another whistle. The second boar fell with its eyes still open, not understanding how death had come so quickly.
The third barely managed to turn around. Its body twitched, but a third arrow pierced its skull with deadly precision.
The three bodies lay scattered on the ground, motionless, without a single roar of resistance.
Silence returned, heavier than before.
Thick blood flowed from the wounds, staining the earth and dyeing the roots a dark red. The metallic stench mixed with the dampness of the forest.
Kael lowered his bow calmly, as if nothing had happened. His steps were steady, his breathing controlled. There was no pride or satisfaction in his eyes, only coldness.
For him, death was a habit.
Before returning to the past, he had spent countless hours hunting. What was a pastime for others had become second nature to him: tracking, waiting, executing.
And when war broke out and tore apart the three kingdoms of the Northern Frontier, that nature saved his life.
Killing men or killing beasts... in the end, there was no difference.