I'm currently hunting for the first time today with Dad. And as I thought, shooting a ballistic or plasma-based weapon is vastly different than using a bow and arrow. Using a bow is a far more challenging task. 

I have no trouble sneaking up on my prey. I can often get closer than is necessary, but when it comes time to make the shot, I fail to hit the mark almost every single time. Turns out shooting stationary targets in your backyard with a weapon does not translate well when aiming at a target that can move erratically.

Thankfully, the jungle had no shortage of prey. I can often find something to hunt within a few minutes of a failed attempt. It appears my skills in tracking haven’t degraded since being reborn. If anything, they have improved even more. My hearing is far more accurate and long-reaching. 

My sense of direction is also unmatched compared to my old body. Before, I had to rely on my instruments to know the cardinal directions, but now, it was almost like I couldn’t get lost if I wanted to. I always seemed to know where I was in the jungle, as long as I had been there before of course.

My dad explained to me that there are protective wards around the village and the jungle. Currently, we are in an in-between zone between the outer wards and the village wards. This zone is mainly used for hunting and allows less dangerous monsters or animals into it. I’ve never even crossed the first set of wards before. So this zone should be the safest, well, it’s supposed to be, at least.

When the Shadowlings attacked me, I should have been inside the area of the village’s protective wards, yet somehow those shadowling monsters had gotten through them, undetected. I overheard my parents talking to some rangers, which are apparently the equivalent of a military or police force around here. And their search came back negative. They lowered their voices and said some things that apparently surprised my parents, but I couldn’t make out what they said.

“You know, son, the wards around the village were actually created by a friend of your mother and me.”

“Really, Dad?”

“Yup. His name is Bowen. Good man that Human. I think he is a professor now at the university in the capital of Luminar. So if you ever find yourself up in that frozen place, I’m sure he would like to meet you,” my dad informed me.

“I hope he is doing well. I heard he was getting married and everything. Wonder if he has a kid yet.” my dad smiled wide as he reminisced about his old friend.

Huh, I didn’t know my dad was so well-traveled. And friends with an important Human nonetheless. It was also good to see that Humanity was inventing new things even in this world. Although the wards failed me, I’m sure they have saved many lives.

But right now, I couldn’t let my mind wander. I had finally found what I had been tracking. It was some kind of giant lizard the size of a house cat. It was a brown color that matched the trees and it jumped from branch to branch to traverse around the jungle. 

This creature wasn’t dangerous but was somewhat difficult to find as it didn’t leave any obvious tracks. But if you knew what you were looking for, you could find a pattern in the broken branches from when the monster leaped from branch to branch. Apparently, the scales would fetch a reasonable price if you could catch the thing.

My dad stood behind me, his bow ready to clean up my eventual failure. The lizard was twenty yards away, crawling up the trunk of a tree. I steadied my breath and aimed, I released the arrow, but I shook a bit at the last moment from my sore back muscles and fired high. 

Crap.

But it seems I had luck on my side today. The lizard miscalculated and dodged upwards into my arrow, pinning it to the tree with a loud thud.

“Yes! I hit it!” I screamed out. I tossed my hands up and jumped around in pure joy.

Finally, after four long hours of being in this hot, sweaty jungle, I finally hit something. Of course, it was dumb luck, but I would take it anyways. I turned to look at my dad, and he was just standing there with a proud grin. I realized I had been dancing around for a few moments like a fool and felt my face flush with embarrassment.

“You need to finish your kill, son. Only the worst kinds of people let their prey suffer unnecessarily. I can help you if you want,” my father said while walking over to the lizard.

“No, I got it,” I answered casually.

“Yeah… I guess this isn’t your first time ending a life, is it,” my father said solemnly.

If only you knew, Dad.

Both my parents still blamed themselves for what happened to me, no matter how many times I reassured them. 

I quickly ran over to him and gave him a small hug. “It’s okay, dad. I can do this,” I told him.

I jogged over and scrambled up the tree. I used a bit of earth magic to create small footholds so I could climb up the tree easier. The lizard was still squirming as the arrow pinned it to the tree. I swiftly ended its suffering with a knife as it let out a final squeal.

“Good work. Got a bit lucky with that shot, but you are getting better. Maybe if you want, we can come out again after I get back next week?” my father suggested meekly.

“Yeah, sounds fun. But I’m starting school soon.”

“Ah, you’re right. Eh, we can figure it out later.” He dismissed with a wave of his hand. “Now then, these little guys are pretty hard to find, so you got lucky that we managed to get one today. The meat on it is… disgusting." As my father imagined the taste of the meat, I swear I saw a hint of green cycle through his tan skin, but he stayed strong and continued. "Normally, I would just leave the meat out as bait and take the scales, but today we are gonna clean the whole thing.”

Dad went into great detail and guided me on how to clean and gut my first kill. I finished the deed, and in the end, I had a small bag of brown scales and a carcass as a reward. I could tell the meat would be disgusting. It was tough and stringy, but the brown scales glistened with slime in the morning light.

“Now. All you gotta do is take that down to the market and find old Whitehelm. He will buy the scales off of you. And take no less than five silver for all those scales. If that old Dwarf tries cheating you, just tell him Alanis will go sell to Rodan from now on,” Dad warned me.

“You aren’t coming with me?” I asked.

“Nope, I am absolutely starving, so I'm going home. You know where the market is. If you can do this yourself, you won’t need me around to go hunting,” he said with a stupid grin and gave me a thumbs up.

I wasn’t sure if a five-year-old going to the market by himself was the best idea my father had, but it wasn’t my first time going into town alone. First, I had been to the center of the village where Grandpa Jacob’s office was, so I was familiar with the village's layout. I’d also been to the market a few times with Mom to go shopping. 

I could do this on my own.