46 Hunting (1/2)

Because of that he decided to search the hills first since he really didn't fancy going back into the dim forest, besides that he felt that the chances to find his prey there was higher. Not only that, the amount of herbs growing in the hills would be higher too.

Once again an alert youth moved through the forest collecting herbs and checking the trees for the characteristic marks of the Steelback Bear.

Soon he found a tree that was marked and he started to look for others close by. Soon he found another two and was now better able to calculate the territory of the Steelback Bear.

Of course he couldn't be absolutely sure that the marks were from the same one but the size and the distance of the claw marks was very similar so it was likely for them to belong to the same Steelback Bear.

Now that he had a reduced area to search he soon found the Bear that had made the marks. Unlike the first one he had met it was just an F grade one. As such with his experience from his first fight he was able to easily slay it.

Sadly he still wasn't able to skin it well enough and as such the hide was once again ruined but at least it was better than before.

After finishing the cleanup he then continued his hunt but wasn't able to find another one until it got late.

After returning to the cave he once again called his daughter for a chat. Following the call he then practiced his pill refining without much success.

Like this a week passed during which he hunted during the day and practiced pill refining during the evening.

Now that a week had passed he had finally managed to collect the 10 Steelback Bear pelts he needed for his mission. He also had at least 100 kg of bear paw, but sadly he didn't get another Blood Essence. As such he had a decision to make on whether to go back or continue for a bit more. After all he would be able to gain some more contribution points by hunting for more pelts. Since he wasn't able to decide he decided to call his mentor.

”So you finally decided to call me? If your daughter didn't tell me about your talks I wouldn't even have known whether you were still alive or not.”

Only now did Ivan realize that he had completely forgotten to call his mentor ever since he left the capital. Even though he didn't explicitly said that he should call it would still have been prudent to do it.

”Sorry. It just slipped my mind.”

He could then hear his mentor laughing at him.

”Was it that much fun to be outside of the capital and hunt?”, his mentor then asked, giving him the feeling that he could see right through him.

Ivan could only admit it embarrassed, ”Yeah, it was great to experience something so different.”

”That's good. Then why did you call? Because I'm sure you didn't call just because you missed hearing my voice.”

”Oh. I called because I wanted a second opinion on whether I should stay to hunt a bit more or come back.”

”You managed to get everything for the quest?”