Chapter 8: Chapter 1.6

Six months had passed since we began training, but it felt like years because of the Tower's sense of time, and to my surprise, no one had captured it yet, so I was becoming more relaxed.

Due to the extensive training Draven had me endure; my physique was a lot more toned than when we first started. It was nothing chiseled, but it was good enough for me. My biceps were bigger, my pectoral muscles were a lot more defined, and my abs were starting to show. I would call this great progress so far.

Draven picked up his bow and said, "Today we hunt for our dinner."

I also created a makeshift bow just a few months ago, and I’ve been using it to practice my aiming. I wasn’t by any means a crack shot, but I was still hitting my target at least 52% of the time.

After picking it up, I placed my right arm through the space between the string and the riser, then rested it on my shoulder in the manner you would wear a side bag.

"Ok, I am ready."

Draven handed me two arrows and replied, "This is all you get, so make it count. You can’t use your blade."

I nodded my head and accepted the arrows.

The first thing I did was climb a tree to get a proper view of the area. There wasn’t any prey here. We haven’t really spotted any deer or rabbits lately in the area, which means two things, other people have been getting to them before us or another creature is targeting them.

I looked downwards and said, "There’s nothing so far."

Draven placed his hand under his chin and replied, "We’ll push a bit deeper into the forest."

I gave him a salute and used my agility to swing from one tree to the other. My hands gripped a tree branch, and I used my momentum to thrust my body forward, then released my grip, causing me to fly into the air. I quickly grabbed onto another branch as I came into close contact with the tree.

*Snap*

Sigh. The branch broke. Clearly, it was a weaker branch than the ones I would normally hold onto.

I began to fall towards the ground but instantly adjusted my body mid-air and used both my legs to push off the trunk of the tree and roll onto the ground.

I sat on the ground and looked upwards. Well, that was a close one. If I hadn’t done that, then the fall would have been painful.

Draven landed on the branch of a tree behind me and said, "Good recovery. You’re nothing like the widdle baby who I began teaching just six months ago."

I pouted and said, "You’re not going to let me live that down, huh?"

Draven laughed and said, "Nope." Then he began to move from tree to tree again.

I elected to stay on the ground and continued to move forward.

Running while avoiding trees, roots, and branches wasn’t really that difficult anymore. I could do it with ease now.

What really interests me is that since coming to the Tower, I haven’t interacted with another person apart from Draven. It’s like the potential capturers went out of their way to avoid contact with any person who isn’t part of their group. Well, it’s not like I don’t mind. I don’t think they would have said anything worth my time anyway.

After running for quite a bit, I stumbled onto a familiar area. It was the area I arrived at when I first entered here. It looked pretty much the same. Nothing changed, whatsoever. Not a blade of grass out of place or a scratch on a tree.

I cautiously walked through the area and looked for any animal tracks that would point us in the direction of dinner. So far, there has been nothing. I continued to keep my eyes on the ground. I noticed paw marks. No, it’s not paw marks, it’s more along the lines of human sized footprints with sharp indents next to the toe area.

Foot claws? It has to be it. I immediately went to higher ground in the form of climbing a tree.

Draven said, "You spotted something?"

"I think it may be one or more of those wolf-man hybrids," I first encountered when I got here."

"Great. Use time as training and an act of revenge. Go track it down and slay it. You may end up preserving a few human lives if you get rid of it."

I nodded and began hopping from tree to tree. As I looked down to my left, I saw the bones of the man who tried to get me killed, picked clean. I guess he died from his injuries soon after, and the scavengers had a grand feast. It’s not like I could have saved him anyway. He was a dead man before I even got there.

Refocusing my attention on the task at hand. I stopped and scanned the area once again. I spotted more of those tracks and followed them.

Draven stood a bit away from me and looked on.

You are reading story A Deity’s Journey at novel35.com

After a few moments of quietly moving through the trees, I heard a scream. It was the scream of a woman. I quickly followed the source of the sound and observed a young woman being cornered by the giant wolf hybrid. I then shifted my focus to the left of her and noticed that the group she is a part of, was cowering in fear while safely in a tree.

Damn cowards.

I quickly readied my bow into position and loaded an arrow. Pulling the string backwards and steadied my breathing.

However, the woman's panic didn’t make my target any easier to hit. If she moves too much, she will end up receiving the arrow.

I calmed myself once again and took aim. As I was about to release the arrow,

One of her party members shouted, "Amber, hold on, we’re coming soon!"

That instant outburst caused me to accidentally release the string and fire the arrow.

*Whoosh*

The arrow was off target and grazed the wolf hybrid on its head, then lodged itself into a tree.

Shit! The wolf turned its attention to me and began to run towards the tree I was currently in.

The woman quickly scampered to the closest tree to climb it. This is a pain, but at least she got there safely. The issue at hand is that I have one more arrow unless I can retrieve the one stuck in the tree.

I jumped into another tree while the wolf followed me with its eyes. This will become a waiting game in regard to who will attack who first. I have the advantage of the high ground, but I have limited projectiles while this wolf has its jaws and claws. What a day for Draven to tell me not to use my blade.

I stood on a branch and observed the area. The truth is, even if I am at a disadvantage, I should always be able to regain it by forming tactics. I decided on what I wanted to do, then jumped off the tree while firing my last arrow at the creature in mid-air.

The arrow pierced one of its legs and stunned the wolf a bit. I made a break for the arrow that was stuck in the tree. The wolf was hot on my tail, but the arrow I carefully shot into its leg was slowing it down a bit. It's just enough for me to have the advantage in speed.

However, using the power of its legs to leap over and end up in front of me, the wolf swung its four-foot-long arms at me in a slashing manner. I weaved to the left and then to the right, avoiding contact with its razor-sharp claws, and kicked the nock of the arrow, driving it in further and breaking the arrow off into its legs. While the creature was stunned momentarily, I dashed towards the other arrow. The wolf chased after me again. I reached out my right hand and grabbed the arrow by the wooden shaft and ripped it out of the tree.

At the same time, the wolf leaped into the air and landed on top of me. Both of us fell onto the floor. There was whimpering from the creature and dark red blood dripping on my shirt. I managed to impale the wolf in its throat while we fell, now pushing the heavy creature off of me. The wolf tried to crawl away, but I sat on its muscular back and pulled out my bow, then loaded the arrow, which was still coated with the wolf’s blood. Aiming it at the back of the wolf’s head. I released the string, and the arrow pierced the back of its skull. After a bit the creature stopped moving.

Draven gave me a round of applause and said, "That was grand. By the way, you’re sitting on our dinner."

I sighed and replied, "You better make this taste good." while getting up from the freshly deceased wolf’s back.

The party that was attacked early climbed down from the trees that they were in and thanked us.

Draven assured them it was nothing too difficult, but I was still annoyed at the way they left their comrade to die even though they had the advantage in numbers.

Grabbing the male closest to me by the shirt and pulling him closer.

He stuttered out, "Wh-at’s you-r is-sue?"

In an annoyed tone of voice, "That was cowardly of you guys to leave your party member to die like that. If all of you are going to wet the bed like this, then I suggest you find an exit and get out of here."

All of them stayed quiet, and the woman tried to rectify the situation.

"I told them to leave me and run, so please don’t blame them."

I shifted my glare at her and replied, "Viewing yourself as a sacrifice is the quickest way to the grave."

My statement shut down her entire point that she was going to make.

Draven cheerily said, "Come now, Dante. Dinner waits for no man."

I sighed deeply, then grabbed the wolf by its left leg and dragged it behind me while we walked back to our camp.

You can find story with these keywords: A Deity’s Journey, Read A Deity’s Journey, A Deity’s Journey novel, A Deity’s Journey book, A Deity’s Journey story, A Deity’s Journey full, A Deity’s Journey Latest Chapter