41 Swimming (1/2)
The next morning, the two groups decided to remain near Maga's cave while the hunting test was ongoing. It would be their safe grove to keep their game and a place to rest at during the night.
Yabang still wasn't back to his usual energy, therefore, it was also better for his group to not go far while waiting for him to recuperate. Despite the additional children in its cave, Maga did not make a fuss since he was happy to have Ling and Rin stay with it. Besides, it could ignore the others, anyway as long as they did not bother the dragon.
During the morning's hunt, the two groups separated to still hunt with their previous group. It would be difficult to start cooperating now without any practice of them working together. Most importantly, the hunt this time was the clan's test and the children were still hoping to get a bigger price.
For Yabang's group, they encountered some difficulties because of his still healing injury. The previous night, they could actually sent a signal to the nearby instructors to ask for help, however, the group wanted to try doing things on their own. It would be beneficial to them as they grew up and a request for help would mean the end of the test for Yabang. Like what Ling had said last night, other healers in their village would have not done better than Maga.
After catching a wild boar, Lino looked up at the sky through the trees' canopy, using his hand to somehow shield his eyes from the sun's glare. ”It's already close to noon. Maybe we should start going back to the cave to prepare our lunch. The others should also be going back by now,” he suggested with a look at Yabang from the corner of his eyes.
Sighing, Yabang understood the concern of his friend. He was also getting tired faster than usual and he knew his limits.
”Do you believe everything Ling told us last night? About the dragon?” Lino spoke to the two as they started walking back. They did not need to run since they really stopped the hunting earlier than usual so the decreased pace would not slow them down.
Yabang just mumbled an incohent sound as a respose to Lino before it became quiet again.
”But do you guys also believe that Ling could swim in the lava pool without hurting himself? Was he lying? Or is he a dragon too?” Tang'ga, who was walking behind them, spoke when he realized that Yabang would not expound on his answer.
”Idiot! Don't you think we would of noticed that? Or at least Yabang and me, or any other in the village, with how long he's lived there.”
”B-but father said there were people who could use their 'mist' to disguise themselves. And you also saw before that he was different from us. Ling was a lot stronger for his age and he was a healer. He even beat Yabang!”
Every year, Tang'ga's father was always included in the trading group of the clan. Due to his family's plentiful harvest, they were one of the clan's major contributor of export goods and he was meticulous about their products, personally selling them during trades. Therefore, he had met different kinds of people and he had always told his experiences to his son since Tang'ga was young.
Choosing to ignore the past statement but still somewhat surprised, Lino turned his head back for a second to raise an eyebrow at his friend behind him. ”What you said actually made sense! I wouldn't have thought that!”
Tang'ga knew his friend was making fun of him again. Bothered by Lino's reaction, he replied angrily, ”Of course it does!” The indignant boy stomped his foot then run past the two to block Lino. ”What do you mean by that tone?”