"So," Liam says as he munches on the sandwich we made for lunch. "Am I only going to fight hares and squirrels for now?"

It's been three days since Liam became a Hunter, and all Cam and I have had him fight were hares and squirrels.

"Sort of," I answer. "We want you to hit Level 2 before we take you against anything else. Next, we'll have you fight some of the deer we see around here, but we'll make sure they're Tier One still."

No matter the type of beast, Tier Two is Tier Two. Liam can't even handle Tier Two hares and squirrels yet, because while they're still 'simple' monsters, they're still monsters. Some monsters are simply more dangerous at Tier Two because of what they are, but all are still more dangerous than someone at Level 1 can handle alone.

"The reason for that," Cam tells Liam. "Is because we want you to get that boost to your strength and sacred power before you fight something a little stronger than a hare or a rabbit."

"If you want to see what it's like to fight a Tier One deer," I tell Liam. "I can do a golem for you after we return home."

"Nah," Liam looks out across the hill to a deer standing on the crest of another hill. "I think I can picture it. It's a bigger target to strike, but also has more raw strength. Plus, the ones with antlers make me nervous."

"The trick with the antlers," I say. "Is to keep them at a distance. That's part of why using a spear is excellent. You can jab and stab and slash, all without getting too close to things like antlers and horns, as long as you play it smart. It also gives you a little more room to side-step when necessary."

"Yeah," he says. "So once I hit Level 2, I'll get to fight deer?"

"Deer, and maybe some other Tier One monsters," I tell him. "Every Hunter gains both strength and sacred power upon Leveling, even if they completely ignore one of the two. Just gaining a Level will make you better able to perform hunts. After hitting Level 2, that's when you can start performing proper hunts."

"You can also," Cam adds. "Gather resources that people ask for, too. Rex and I normally perform petitioned hunts at least once a week."

"Those," Liam says. "Are the hunts where someone from town put in a petition with the Elder Hunter, right? Asking for a specific thing or number of specific things? And you get something in return for it. Usually supplies, since most people only deal with money to buy things from the merchants who visit from time to time."

"Yeah," I confirm. "We usually devote a day or two to just doing petitioned hunts, since they help out the town in more tailored ways than us simply gathering things, bringing them back, and either selling or trading them."

"Yeah," Liam nods. "It's always fun to help out, like when I bring back fish from going fishing. I know others go fishing, too, but it feels nice to help out."

"It does," I say, Cam nodding in agreement.

We finish eating lunch, then return to watching Liam hunt for the next couple of hours. After he's filled the basket with usable hares, we end the hunt.

"Already?" He asks. "I can still go a little longer, and we brought three baskets today!"

"Time to collect some stuff," I tell him as I pull on my basket, Cam doing the same for his. "Cam's ma and Hailey both need some more things we collect, and they're not that dangerous to gather. We can gather a few other things while there, too."

"Okay!" Liam pulls on his basket, which is the one full of hares.

He follows Cam and me to the river, where we begin gathering some herbs and berries that grow on the banks. I have Cam and Liam do that while I gather reeds. Normally, we would gather the reeds from the river cutting through town, but those are usually used for the normal baskets the townsfolk use and for making paper when the Elder Hunter needs it.

These reeds, however, are better for making more durable baskets. Cam and I each have one woven from them, while Liam doesn't. It was something we'd forgotten about, and I remembered last night while we were cleaning the leather bindings for my leg.

Remembering was unrelated to it, it was just one of those moments where the thought hit me. So after we gather these and head back to town, hand the petitioned goods to the Elder Hunter and drop the hares off at Nick's, I'll set these reeds to drying so I can begin weaving the basket. It will help him when gathering goods and stand up to weaker attacks from monsters.

One bonus to using these reeds, too, is that monster generally won't go after anything contained inside of them. Some will, but most won't. So we're able to take them off and fight without worrying about some scavenger monster stealing our goods. We could use reeds from the forest, but these reeds have that extra-special property to them.

After I fill my basket with reeds and they gather the necessary herbs and berries, we move on to gather the roots of a plant that grows a few hills over, and flowers from one of the fields.

Our gathering for the day completed, the three of us begin the return trip to town, stopping when we come across a groundhog standing on its hind legs, staring at us as we began to descend a hill. It's larger than a normal groundhog, has four arms and two tails, and streaks of blue in its brown fur.

"That's a Tier Two," I tell Liam. "It'll attack if we draw too close. Or if it sees us and decides to attack."

"I though small game and stuff don't attack unless attacked until higher Tiers?" He asks.

"Groundhogs don't count," Cam says. "Mind if I take this one?"

"Not at all," I say. "Going to practice fire magics?"

"Yeah," Cam answers, pointing at the monster with his right index finger.

A bolt of flames shoots from his fingertip, striking the groundhog square in the chest. The monster is sent tumbling back, its fur aflame, but it quickly puts it out by rolling on the ground. Cam keeps up the assault, a few of his attacks missing, a few striking, and the groundhog charges towards Cam, chattering away as it does.

Cam continues his attack, and when the groundhog is only a couple of yards away, summons a wind to push it back, sending it flying ten yards. He immediately returns to attacking, the next few hits striking and killing the groundhog.

"My aim needs work," Cam comments as we collect the groundhog.

"You still hit it when it was bolting around to avoid your attacks," Liam says as Cam sticks the groundhog in the boy's basket.

"Most of those were misses, though," Cam comments. "My attacks were slow, too. At my Level, Rex would have been able to hit it with every shot, his fire bolts moving quickly enough as he anticipated its movements."

"You're used to attacking," I say as we resume walking towards town. "Attacking larger targets with a bolt of lightning. Easier to strike, even as they move, and with a spell that moves quickly enough it creates a small bit of thunder every time it's used. It would be like if I tried healing magics beyond just simple cuts and bruises."

"I know," Cam nods. "This is why I want to practice, too. So that I can help take down stronger monsters a little bit more than I already do."

"Yeah," I say.

We finish the walk back to town in silence, though I can tell Liam is thinking about something. By the excitement in his eyes, I'm sure it's relating to the Soul Strikers, who should be arriving today or tomorrow. Why did they make haste, though? A trip in three, maybe four days when it would normally take five or six, just because of a statement of a Tier Six monster with a few Tier Fives?

Any reasonable Hunter would avoid that area until the requested aid arrives. According to the Elder Hunter, it's strange that they're making haste, too. Was there some forewarning about danger in this area, then?

Something even we local Hunters aren't aware of? If so, how did the Guild learn of it? The situation is strange, to be sure.

"Welcome back," the Gate greets us. "A storm is coming."

"We know," I tell him. "We've already located the source of it, and have a team of Soul Strikers on their way here."

"They will be here in a few hours," he tells us. "As per protocol, they will stop by the Elder Hunter upon arriving."

"We know," I say. "We'll wait for her to summon us to visit her after they arrive. You're certain they will arrive today?"

"They will be here in a few hours," he tells us. "Be wary of the coming storm. Sometimes, there is more behind might than what it appears."

The Gate opens, leaving us without any explanation for that. Our first stop is inside the Elder Hunter's shop, where we turn in the items petitioned. Then, she scans us, before heading into the back to give us our payments for our kills. I'm giving the payment for the gathered items, to split between the other two, while they are each given their own sack of money for the kills.

"Thank you," I say as we stand. "By the way, the Gate says the Soul Strikers will arrive in a few hours."

"Okay," she tells me. "They will likely wait until morning to ask for information from you directly. Would you like to wait until then to have your leg looked at? Or would you like me to send for someone to have you come to have it looked at after they arrive?"

"I can wait until morning," I tell her. "But if they want to talk to us tonight, Cam and I are willing to stay up late and give them the information they want."

"I will tell them that," she tells me. "Enjoy the rest of your evening, boys."

"You as well," I say.

"Bye!" Liam waves.

The three of us leave and make our way to Nick's to drop off the catches.

"Sorry for bringing you nothing but hares the last few days," Liam tells Nick. "I'm not quite strong enough to catch other things right now."

"That's fine," Nick tells him. "Meat is meat, and we all need to eat. By lunch tomorrow, I'll be out of the hares already. As long as the meat is good, most everyone will want some. I know you'll slow down once you start hunting other things, and that you're only bringing that which isn't damaged beyond use."

Nick chuckles, giving Cam and me a look before returning his attention to Liam.

"I remember when these two first started hunting," he says. "You know how monsters can spawn, not just be born?"

"Yeah," Liam nods. "Rex told me about that. No one really knows why monsters spawn, but they do, randomly. It's part of why we can hunt and hunt and hunt, and unless we're actively trying to wipe out the monsters from an area, there will always be more the next day."

The spawns are based on how many monsters are normally in an area, how often they die, and how many there are. If ten hares are killed in a day in an area where there are normally twenty, then eight to twelve will spawn over the next two or three days. If ten are killed in an area where there are normally one hundred, it might take a week for them to spawn.

This accounts for kills from Hunters, natural causes, and other monsters. Outside of breeding season, it keeps the counts even. Inside of breeding season, chances are high that there won't be many spawns for the hares. There might be a few hundred in a small area, enough that whatever force causes the spawns to decide not to spawn them unless there are a lot of deaths in a short period of time.

However, it's possible to reduce monster population by killing everything, or nearly everything, as often as possible. There's around a twenty-percent range to either side of the kills in the spawn period.

Over a period of a few weeks to a few months, it's possible to constantly drop the monster population and the spawn amount. If there are one hundred hares and we wipe out fifty of them one day, then fifty the next, there might only be eighty spawn over the next few days. If we wipe them all out over the next two days, there might only be seventy, and so on.

Yes, there would be times more spawn than were killed, but in the end, the excessive hunting changes the normal amount present. As a result, less spawn, and we decrease the normal amount present again. If that amount hits zero, then it becomes unlikely for anything to spawn. If the average remains at zero long enough, then nothing will spawn until more of it is brought into the area.

With monsters that breed less than rabbits, like a wolf, it would take longer to prevent the spawns from occurring. Rabbits can be brought down to zero in maybe six months. Wolves would probably take three or four years.

The spawns aren't the only way for monsters to increase their population as well, since they can give birth, lay eggs, and procreate in whatever other manner they have of procreating. That can also affect spawns based on if they're breeding more or less than normal, since that also affects the normal numbers.

One other thing is that the spawn counts for many of the fast-breeding monsters are based on the out-of-season spawns. So in breeding season, it's unlikely for there to be spawns unless there's a lot of hunting going on.

This also only factors in outside of towns with intact walls and Gates. Any town with walls and Gates intact will not have any spawns, only natural births. That's why towns and cities are safe, even if we have monsters inside of them in a few areas. At the same time, our woods only have regular animals, no monsters. Just what's necessary for a forest's ecosystem.

"Rex and Cam discovered how the spawns work," Nick tells Liam. "When they first started hunting. Since their birthdays are in autumn, it was out of breeding season for the hares and squirrels. They'd come in every day with five or six of each, all they could manage because of the many of the beasts being at Tier Two, and then return the next day with five or six of each again. They'd never learned about the spawns, and got confused as to how they were able to get so many every day, yet not have that many out there, even outside of breeding season."

"The Elder Hunter," I tell Liam. "Hadn't thought to tell us, so we never learned about it. There were enough Tier Two and Tier Three hares and squirrels out there mixing with the Tier Ones we couldn't hunt to cause things to respawn within two or three days. It confused the heck out of us for a month because we knew they weren't breeding in autumn."

"How did you find out?" He asks.

"We asked the Elder Hunter," Cam answers.

"Oh, yeah," Liam says. "That makes sense."

He turns his attention back to Nick.

"So how long were they supplying you with hares and squirrels for?"

"About six months," he answers. "They built up to Level 2, then Level 3, then started strategy hunting and killing Tier Twos."

"You hit that in six months?" Liam looks at us in confusion. "I thought Levels take longer than that?"

"Early Levels are easier to acquire," I shake my head. "And we were dealing with Tier Twos from time to time, too. They took extra effort to kill, resulting in more experience. Within six months, we were both Level 4. Things slowed down for us after Level 7, but we still advanced a little faster than two Hunters hunting together normally would, since that increased the difficulty, making things tougher for us. As long as you work hard, you'll probably hit Level 3 within six months, too."

"Oh, okay," Liam says. "How long does it normally take to reach Level 17?"

"It varies based on the Hunter, the area they're in, and what they fight," I answer. "It could be anywhere from five years to fifteen. Remember that every Level takes more to obtain than the previous. That's also why there are so few Hunters able to handle a Star-Level monster. Most who can are at least forty or fifty years old and have been a hunter for at least twenty or thirty."

There are a few groups younger in age, but those are the exceptions, not the norm.

"Come on," I tell him. "Let's head home so I can get these reeds drying and we can eat. You have a good night, Nick."

"You three as well," he tells us.

"Bye!" Liam says.

The three of us head home, and I send Liam for a bath as Cam starts dinner. I set the reeds out, pressing them under some heavy boards to ensure they're mostly-straight once they dry. It's not the curl longways that would be a problem, but if it curled on the short end. Even constantly wetting it again to work it would be a pain.

Yes, we dry the reeds only to wet them again. The initial drying is because they were recently living. After this, they'll dry up fast when I wet them, no longer soaked all the way through. Wetting them will only make them flexible enough to bend as I work them, though I won't need to wet it constantly, just from time to time.

"You really think he'll make Level 3 in six months?" Cam asks.

"Maybe," I tell him. "As long as we're helping him and he strategy hunts, then he should manage it. I doubt he'll hit Level 17 in nine years, though."

"Probably thirteen or fourteen," he nods. "It can take a year or more between Levels starting with the teens if you aren't pushing for tougher monsters like we are. Even then, it's been almost a year since you hit Level 17."

"Yeah," I nod. "Geoffrey might bring me up to Level 18, now that I think about it. If not, I'll probably only need one more Tier Five or equivalent fight to bring me up."

"Good luck," he tells me. "What do you think the Soul Strikers will be like?"

"I don't know," I shrug. "We're from a town way out of the way, so we don't really get the stories of what various teams are like. That said, they've reached Level 40 and have fought against Star-Level beasts at least once. They're people who take the job seriously. They know the risks it poses and have faced them many times."

"You think they'll be extremely serious?" He asks.

"They might be," I answer. "But they might also use humor. It can help to lighten a situation when things are serious and morale might be low. It helps to lessen tension."

"Probably," he nods. "While Liam's in the bath, I wanted to ask you something."

"You can ask at any time."

"When should we take him on his first camp hunt?"

Camp hunts are when we stay out of the town overnight for a hunt. Those are longer hunts where we travel a little further than we normally would. Typically, we go a little to the south and west of here for those. The monsters are less influenced by our presence there, and there are a few which we can't find in our normal range. However, their hides, meat, and bones are useful, same as others, and there are some plants we can gather there as well.

Cam and I haven't been on one since I took Liam in. I know he's wanted to do another one for awhile, we used to do them once a month and it's been more than three years since our last one. It's a little bit of an adventure, something to do on occasion to change our routine.

"I want to wait until he's Level 5 before taking him on one," I answer. "But let's give him another month or so, and you and I can go on one. Once he's done enough hunts and has seen us hunt a bit, he'll feel more comfortable with us being gone overnight."

The main reason we haven't gone since I took in Liam is because I've been worried about how he'll be if we're gone overnight. He managed me going on hunts during the day, but if I left him overnight, there was always the possibility he would freak out and start to worry that what happened to his parents happened to me.

"Alright," Cam says. "Richard needs some new tools."

Now I know why Cam was wanting to go on a camp hunt. In the area we go, there are lizards with metal scales. The metal itself is of a decent quality, and we always made sure to kill some and gather the scales, so that the smiths here could melt them down and turn them into tools. They're better than the steel they can make with the iron from the mine.

Richard is one of the smiths, and some of his tools were made of the metal we harvested from the lizards. He's also the one who made the spear I use, and is the one I had forge Liam's spear.

"Also," Cam says. "You need a new spear, too."

"I haven't used an actual spear in a couple of years," I point out. "I tend to break them against stronger monsters. That's why I switched to using spears I made from earth magic."

"I was talking with the Elder Hunter," he tells me. "She sent for an alloy recipe that uses the lizard scales to make a stronger metal, so that it wouldn't break as easily. We can also use heartwood of certain trees for stronger shafts, and it'll work with your tendency to wrap the spears in an element."

If the spearhead isn't as prone to breaking, then we can just swap out the shaft anytime that breaks. It would be a lot cheaper. However, I'd rather not carry around a spear anymore. I'm used to being without one and using the ones I create using magic.

"Maybe for Liam," I tell him. "Since he's going to fight mainly using a spear. I fight with a heavy mix of magic and spear, depending on the circumstances. I'll be fine without having a spear on me all the time. But it's a good point that we should probably get more of those scales for the smiths."

"Alright," Cam nods.

"So!" Liam rejoins us, towel on his head rather than around his neck. "Is dinner done yet?"

"A few more minutes!" Cam laughs. "Why don't you get the drinks ready?"

"Yes, sir!" Liam responds.