Completed [The Bronze Woods] A Hunters Beginning

[Maximilian Walsh]

11th, Summer of 513 AV ------------------------------ Thump. Suddenly Max was awake. Wiping his eyes, and slowly getting up to his feet to investigate what it was. He was just standing there, in his undergarments as he made his way to the door, to peak out of it and see what happened. It turns out it was a merchant who dropped some of his cargo. Max was relieved, and closed the door. His kelvic companion, Taros, was still sound asleep and most likely would be till a lot later today, so he was contemplating going back to bed. Deciding against it, Max walked over to his backpack, retrieving his loaf of bread and water bottle. He took the bread in his hand he had not finished yesterday, and it was still fresh enough to eat without it being rock hard. He sat down and began ripping little bits off of it, and eating them whilst taking sips of water in between. After having half a loaf of bread, he grabbed his backpack and stored the bread and water back in there. He leaned back, contemplating about what he'll do today. Yesterday he had a rough day full of gathering supplies and training with his daggers, so today would be bow time. Since hunting would go well with it, he might as well head into the Bronze woods, and see if he can track any wild game. It would be best to go alone, so he can concentrate and work to the best of his abilities. Before hand though, he had to get prepared. Since this would be somewhat of a stealthy day, he chose his night leather armor over his regular garments. This was the first time he'll be using them in action, which he was looking forward too a lot. It fit perfectly, and Max was happy. He tried to be as quiet as possible, not to wake up Taros. Having his armor on, he picked up his dagger and put it in the sheath it belonged. He was considering bringing his throwing daggers along, even though he won't necessarily have a use for them, other than training. Since he had six latches he could fit them into, he figured he might as well do so. He grabbed his bracer, equipped it and made sure everything was working. Checking a last time on Taros, who was still asleep he figured he'll leave now. Putting his quiver on his back, his bow as well and he then proceeded to make his way to the door. He forgot one thing, the backpack, but considering he won't be gone for that long he figured he'll be good without it. He walked to the door, and left the apartment. Walking through the town, which mostly it was still sound asleep Max still felt very tired. He decided to jog to the bronze woods, which would hopefully wake him up a little. As he approached the gate, the knights gave him a confused glare, passing by Max gave them a smile, but they did not seem to care much. Finally out of the gates he decided to slow down. He loved the woods, the fresh air really does him good, and weirdly makes him feel more safe as well. He was almost there, he could already see it. He was considering how he would begin his day. Would he begin by practicing with his bow on some trees? Would he see if he could make anything out of animal tracks? He had close to no experience to it, but he may find something. Would he just sit on a tree and wait for something to come by? He decided for practicing on some trees with his bow, which would be good practice. Here he was, he was taking his first few steps in the moist grounds of The Bronze Woods. Walking through the woods, he was looking for a preferably flat and open ground, so he could train with ease without having to go on a huge search for his arrows if he misses. After about a minute or two of searching, he found a nice place he could practice at. It was perfect, it was big enough so he could practice from various ranges, and the space around trees isn't all bushes, so searching for arrows or daggers that didn't hit on target should not be difficult either. Max looked for a tree, that he could use as a target. He got into the middle of the open area, and looked for the perfect tree. He found one, that was fairly big and stood out from the others, it could deal as a landmark as well if Max wanted to find this place again, which was very fortunate. "Let's get to work", he thought to himself, and approached the tree. He unsheathed his dagger, imagining how his target would look like. He decided he would go with the standard bulls eye look. He took the blade and begun moving it back and forth, creating small round shapes in another. After a few minutes he was done, and they were visible enough from a distance, so it should be easy for him to practice on. To start off he walked roughly 10 meters away from the target, still fairly close but he still is new to the bow and has a lot to learn. He took the bow off of his back, which was positioned in such a way the quiver was keeping it in place, as he has no actual holster for it. He took an arrow from his quiver, and loosened up. He raised the bow, and his heart beat rose in excitement as well. He took a deep breath, aimed at the carving in the tree he had just completed, and aimed for the center. He held his breath, and let the arrow go. Max followed the arrow soaring through the air, and it missed!

[Maximilian Walsh]

Sad and slightly discouraged, Max took a moment to analyze his mistake. The arrow went far to the left, and it was a bit high as well. Thankfully Max saw where the arrow landed, it hit a tree behind the one he had just shot at. Maximilian positioned himself, and grabbed for another arrow from his quiver. He repeated his previous steps, he took a deep breath, drew his bow and aimed at the target. He held his breath, and made sure not to make the same mistake as before. He aimed further to the right, and aimed a little lower. Letting go, he followed the arrow again, only for this time to discover it was a hit! Not a very accurate one, in fact it only hit the outer rim of the target. Nonetheless, Max was pleased with the outcome. At least this time he managed to hit the tree the target was on, and hopefully end of the session get close to the bulls eye. He grabbed another arrow, and drew his bow. he held his breath, and aimed for the target, and let go. Another hit! Max was pleased, and this time it was actually in the target, not the outer rim. He was sure he would get there, and hopefully be accurate enough to shoot some game today. Ten meters isn't exactly much, thus Max wanted to be sure he could actually hit close to the bulls eye, maybe even in it. If he can't even hit moderately close at the point he is aiming on a stationary target, how is he going to hit a potentially moving target, that may even be further away? Max decided he would cycle through his twenty arrows and then proceed, to see if he is any good with following tracks. He drew another arrow, this time trying something different. He loosened up, and drew his bow. While letting go this time though, he tried not to tense up, and alas, Max hit the rim right outside of the bulls eye. He couldn't believe it, his last three shots actually hit the tree and this one almost hit the bulls eye! He was more than happy, he has been doing very good progress. He reached for another arrow, and this time he had high hopes in hitting the bulls eye. He drew his bow, held his breath and let go in a very rapid motion, and completely missed the tree, hitting the one behind it as he did in his first attempt. Max was a little mad at himself, as he did what he hated most. He became cocky and over estimated himself. Archery is an art, you need to take your time when taking shots, at least when you're learning. I could see experts doing it in such rapid movements, but Max only having used his bow every now and then definitely was in no position. This time, he focused on it. He grabbed an arrow, drew his bow. Took a deep breath, he took his time aiming at the target, making sure not to do everything too fast, and held his breath, and made sure not to tense up. He let the arrow soar through the sky, and Max couldn't believe it. He hit the bulls eye, spot on in the exact middle. Not trying to get to cocky, he put it down as sheer luck, and decided a couple more tries would show it. He was right, his next few arrows hit the target, but never directly in the bulls eye. Still though, Max was in no way disappointed, he has made amazing progress so far, and was on his way to begin hunting wild game today, he has been looking forward to it, and a little more training should yield very good results. He decided to step up his game, and take a few steps back. He was standing roughly 15-16 meters away from his target, which was a pretty large upgrade, at least to Max. He went through the standard procedure, he grabbed his arrow, drew his bow, took a deep breath, and aimed at the target. He held his breath, and made sure not to tense up, and let the arrow go. It was a hit, but only just. Like his second arrow it hit the outer rim, and Max was confused. He thought to himself, what had gone wrong, but only to suddenly realize obviously he would have to aim differently as when he would be aiming at a 10 meter distance. So he did the same thing, only this time making sure to aim on target, and aimed a little lower as well. He held his breath, made sure not to tense up and let go of the arrow, and his hit was a lot more accurate than previously. Not perfect, but better. He followed up a couple more shots, all yielding various results, most of them sadly not hitting the bulls eye, or getting close to it, Max decided his range when hunting should be 15 meters or below, to have the best results possible. He decided to sit down and rest for a moment, before collecting all his arrows and then proceeding onwards to tracking down some animals. he wondered whether Taros was still asleep, and if he was fine without him. In human years, Taros was already older than Max, but that does not mean he was more mature than he was. He missed his buddy and would have loved to bring him along, but this was something he had planned for a while and preferred to do it alone. After resting for a few minutes, Max got up on to his feet, and made his way over to the target tree. He plucked out the arrows, one by one and stored them in his quiver. Before he headed over to the other tree though, he wanted to do something fancy. Above his target, he marked the initials "M.W", so he knew this was his area. He felt happy here, it was a nice piece of land, with the sky visible, but also shady trees around the open terrain. He liked it here, and hoped to show it to Taros a day very soon. He headed over to the other tree, plucked out the two arrows stuck in it, put them back in his quiver and wondered how he would begin this. He was happy with his marksman progress, but now it's time for some tracking and hunting.

[Maximilian Walsh]

Bow in hand, Max started walking through the Forest, making sure to remember the way back once he's done. He looked out for certain landmarks, obscurely positioned stones, or absurdly large trees, anything that would help him get back home, whilst still keeping an eye out of tracks. He doesn't really have much training in tracking, the closest he has come to it was a book he read on that subject. It only covered the different footprints of different animals, no real tips that could help him out here, so he made sure to keep his eyes open for anything animal related, poo or prints. Max wasn't a fan of very far walking, which isn't necessarily good if he wants to become a hunter. Nonetheless, he decided to stick through it, and hopefully get used to it very soon. A few minutes has passed, and Max still hasn't found anything, but he won't give up, not until he finds at least one animal. Some more time has passed, and Max still hasn't found anything, he understood what he came out here for, and he most likely already passed some tracks in the forest, but did not realize it when he saw them. He decided to look closer, from now on and walk a little quieter. He's been almost stomping through the forest, as he's been focusing on tracks, not the actual game. Realizing his mistake, Max decided to slow down for a moment, in fact he came to a complete stop and decided to listen. He listened to the surroundings, the birds playing their music, the water of a distant river flowing. Peacefulness, but no game. Slowly regaining his pace, he kept his eyes open, and counted on finding something soon, track or game. After another few minutes passed, he has spent roughly half an hour looking for tracks, and still hasn't found anything. Slightly discouraged, he still continues and stumbles upon something that looked like a boars footprints. Max was overwhelmed with excitement! He could not believe what he had just found, a direct track to an animal, and it looked fresh too, most likely because there was animal feces not too far up the path. Max was now crouch walking, slowly and silent. He had his bow ready in hand, on the lookout for anything that could cross him, he was ready and he hoped that boar was ready too. It may seem like a stupid pig to some, but those things can be dangerous and Max knew that. He made sure to be quiet and not either scare it, or have it coming charging at him. As he continued, the tracks visibility varied, it went from completely obvious to almost invisible in thick covered grass. It then became a guess game, and so far Max has been right, because he found the tracks never too far away from where he lost them. He has been following them for about ten minutes now, he has to be close, he thought to himself. He can't have followed something and not even caught a glimpse of it, not even heard a sound. He still was not discouraged, he knew he would find that boar and if that is the last thing he ever does. Slowly continuing his way, he came closer to the river he has been hearing, a water source for animals, he has to be able to find something there. He was only a minute or two away, and the track lead right into it's direction. This could not have been better for Max, crazy with joy he continued his way to the river. He wondered how he would approach the situation, he was never trained in this, all his knowledge came from books, or something a hunter may have said in the tavern. He figured the best place to shoot it would be the head or neck, and that's where he will be aiming. Coming back to reality, Max realized he was almost there. He could already see the river and the tracks lead directly to it. Max's heart was now pounding, he was incredibly excited and made his way to the river, but he saw nothing. He figured whatever it was, was close by and maybe if he stuck around something else will show up. Max decided to get behind a bush, and wait. He peaked out every now and then, only to find nothing, until he heard something. A rattling of leaves, and it was coming closer. Max took a very careful peak over the bush, and he saw a wild young boar, making its way to the water. Max couldn't believe what he saw, he found an animal, all on his own without the help of somebody else! He knew this was the time, he knew he would have this. As the boar was drinking, Max made his way to a fairly large tree, peaking around it. He silently grabbed an arrow from his quiver, and drew his bow. Remembering what he learned today, he took a deep breath, and aimed at the boar, who still has not seen Max yet. Max, in excitement was very shaky, and helping his breath did not help. He loosened up, made sure not to be tense and let the arrow go. He watched in excitement as the arrow flew directly at the boar, only for it to hit right beside it. Squealing it ran off into the distance. Max couldn't believe it, this was his chance and he messed it up. He felt like he could scream, but that would only scare anything away that would be in the area. Silently, and angrily he made his way to the arrow, to pick it up and then decide how he would approach this situation.

[Maximilian Walsh]

He was really angry with himself. He should have taken extra time to aim and not have rushed things. His excitement got into his way and messed it up for him. Max was sick of this, he's not a good loser. He did, however figure this was a prime location for animals, as he could see tracks all over this place, and some of them were fresh. He had the idea of just sitting on a tree, and waiting for something to come by. A foolproof way of catching something, and eventually he just has to kill something. He looked out for a tree, fairly close to the river and high enough so any attracted game wouldn't directly see him. He had to remain hidden, and his clothing and approach should help with that. To his luck, directly next to the river was a fairly large tree, that was easy to get on to. The branches were positioned perfectly, as if this tree was manufactured by hand. It was easy to climb up on it, and once Max decided he was high up enough, he sat, and waited. While waiting, Max was thinking about how things will be if he keeps this up. Once he gets a job as a Hunter, he will have a stable in come and hopefully will be able to live in a nicer housing facility. So far he has thrown out a lot on weaponry, which he needs in the future, and it would be best to get in Syliras without traveling too far. He played around with his bracer, especially with his hidden blade. He liked the concept of it, and it would become very useful in the future. He could already visualize him, swimming in money whilst doing what he loved. Assassins aren't tolerated in Syliras, so he could never even dream about beginning such activities here, but once he has accumulated enough money to move to Sunberth, he will be set. Crack, rustle, rustle, crack, squeak, grunt The noises caught Max's attention, and they were heading his way. He could feel the adrenaline rise again, but he made sure to remain calm, so it doesn't influence his aim again. Rustle, rustle, splash And there it caught his eye. Two boars drinking from the river! He couldn't believe it. Two boars showing up after all the commotion he caused earlier, he thought he would have scared everything in the surrounding areas off, yet here a few minutes later two boars show up. Max slowly gripped an arrow, and put it in place. He closed his eyes, and slowed down his breathing. He had to calm down so he doesn't mess this up again. He felt himself calming down, and then opened his eyes. The boars were still there. This was his chance. He drew the bow, placing the arrow on the string and pulling it back. He took deep breaths, and aimed at the closer of the two boars. It was standing towards him, so the arrow would most likely drive through his neck, directly into his body. He held his breath, lost the tension, and let go. This was more exciting than the first arrow he shot at a boar. He saw it soaring through the air, almost in slow motion, and it hit! Just as he planned, it hit the boar in the neck, but it didn't go through as he planned to. The boar lay on the ground squeaking, incapable of moving, he must have hit something important but it wasn't dead. The other boar had already ran off, as Max climbed down the tree and made his way to it. He slowly approached it, while it was still kicking and squealing. Even though he doesn't really show mercy to such things, it sort of hurt him watching it die, he had a soft spot for animals, and making them suffer for no apparent reason doesn't help. He kneeled down, and whispered "I'm sorry this had to happen to you, but your sacrifice will further my knowledge.". He unsheathed his dagger, and drove it through the boars skull. It almost instantly stopped squealing, and kicking. Max pulled out his dagger and arrow out of the boars body, which were full of blood, but of course there was a river near by he could just rinse them in. He washed his dagger and arrow, and even drunk from the river, and then stored everything back to where it belongs. Sadly, Max doesn't really have the room to carry the boar with him, so he had no use for it. He grabbed it by its head and pulled it through the muddy terrain into a bush, where it remain hidden. Even though he pretty much wasted an animals life, he still felt accomplished. He had successfully, tracked down animals, and even taken ones life. Today had been a good day, and Max felt this had been enough. He did not necessarily feel like using his daggers at this point of time. It's almost lunch time, and it's time he would meet up with Taros, and have something to eat. He made his way back to the Castle, using the landmarks he found passing through. Instead of moving slow, and silent, jogging through the forest he had made it back to the wall in less than ten minutes. He passed through the gate and then began walking. Only a few minutes and he would be home, and could tell Taros of his accomplishments. He felt really good, instead of being the loner him, he even greeted a few people he found on the way, smiling he made it to his house, unlocking the door and entering, only to be greeted by Taros. "I've got a lot to tell you buddy", said Max, who then threw his shortbow and quiver onto his bed. "But first, let's grab something to eat."

[Perplexity]

Riddled With Rewards Maximilian Walsh Experience Skill XP Earned Weapon: Dagger + 1 EXP Carving + 1 EXP Weapon: Short Bow +2 EXP Logic + 1 EXP Tracking +1 EXP Hunting +2 EXP Observation +2 EXP Lores • Lore Earned • Bump In the Night: Sudden Awakening • Objective Observations: Analyzing Mistakes • Bonds of Friendship: Taros • Tracking Takes Patience • A Morning Well Spent Notes : Well done! PM me if you have questions regarding your grade.