The Night was uneventful and Alex rose, rested and ready for another day of hunting. After yesterdays Fighting competition, he and the others had to bring new food into the camp, otherwise they would need to buy some from Gatex, and that would make a big hole in their pockets. Even with their wins from the tournament, buying food for over 40 people at once was just too much.

He and the other hunters soon found themselves on the training field, and they started their usual regime. Alex switched between shooting the bow and fighting Althea. Leon took a bit longer on the shooting range, but the girl still made him join their fights. Alex could feel that with every repetition his stabs became smoother. He glided from one position into the next, always ready to pounce at open defences. And while Althea could feint her being open, Leon wasn’t yet that experienced and Alex brazenly made the youth feel that.

Soon the three had worked up a sweat and went for a quick shower. “It’s time we reinvent plumbing,” Alex moaned, as the cool pressure washed him clean. The crafter, blasting him with his water, nodded at Alex’s jest, “We’re already at work. But it’s harder than it looks. We don’t have any magical tools and can only do so much with our skills.”

Clothed and ready, the two boys waited for Althea and she soon joined them at the gate. “We should work a bit harder for the next few days, maybe we’ll have enough time to get you your bird,” Alex suggested. “I think we’ll find a few in the forest, but it’ll take some time to get there and back,” Leon added. Althea smiled thankfully, she already had similar thoughts, but without her partners, she couldn’t do much. It was far to unsafe, walking solo into the forest, and while Alex had told her about his escapades with the bear, she didn’t think she should copy him.

The three left the safety of the camp and went hunting. As before, Alex pinged his [shadowdomain] while Leons skill brought them to different prey. They hunted without much problems, their combination of skills even better. Alex’s [shadowclones] now with an additional bow supported from the backline, while he and Althea quickly dispatched every opposition.

In a quieter moment, the youth told his group to wait and Alex remembered his half forgotten Lection from the book of traps he had bought from Gatex. Every few hundred metres, he knelt down and build a trap for small rodents or similar small animals. The trio didn’t have the time or equipment to build larger traps and digging up the floor was too much work for too little gain.

“I have to check them that evening and first thing tomorrow. If we catch something, maybe another predator will snatch it away,” he reminded his fellow hunters. Leon, an arrow nocked, nodded in agreement. He stood a dozen steps behind the other two, securing the side street. Althea was helping Alex with building the trap. She had watched the other teen the last few times and felt sure, that she could at least support his efforts.

Finally done with this fidgety work, Alex picked up a larger stone and wrote in large letters on the next visible wall, ‘CAREFUL, TRAP’. He hoped, that other hunters wouldn’t stumble into them and while they shouldn’t injure or be lethal for anyone, he would regret someone getting hurt in them. Just to be on the safe side, Alex had only build nonlethal traps. Maybe they would be kissed by Luck and Altheas first companion would end up in one.

“They are relatively easy to reset, so it should be quicker in the future. Still, I am not sure how fast the beasts are reproducing. If we’re not careful, we could scare them from our hunting grounds. We should switch them a bit more,” Leon reminded the other two, as they were standing up from the last contraption.

It looked pretty simple, Alex had taken wooden fibres, cut them to length and build a simple rope. With his dexterous fingers and a bit of help from Althea, he had quickly amassed a sizeable amount of rope. He wound one end around a counterweight and secured a loop on the ground. If it was disturbed, the counterweight would drop and the loop would entangle small animals. All in all, their work took around half an hour, and building those traps added another hour on top.

“You’re right, Leon, maybe we can hunt a bit more in the south. We were mostly north of the camp. Perhaps we’d find more near the inner city,” Althea answered. This time, they had found a bit less than the days before. “Maybe, there are hunters from other camps near,” she added. That sounded plausible for Alex, but still, Gatex had shown him a map where the other camps supposedly were, and no one was anywhere near enough to encroach on their hunting grounds.

The teenager soon voiced his thoughts. “Then I guess there is another predator on the loose. Do you think you could track it, Althea?” Leon responded, after Alex had explained his reasoning. The three huddled together and both Althea and Leon expanded their searching skills, but nobody could find anything. At that moment, Alex vowed to talk about their skillsets later that day.

The hunt continued for another two hours, before the trio went back to camp. The dusking sun painting a mural of yellows and reds onto the sky, only broken by a veil of dark blue clouds. Alex joked with the other two as they entered the camp. The guards wholly unsurprised about their catch. They brought two weasels, three hares, a bird and even some deer. Compared to some deer, Alex had seen in the forest, it was small, but still much bigger than one from before the Ruin.

The hunters had quickly called together a few helpers and with two more people, they had quickly dressed and prepared their kills. It would take some time and more preparations to make the meat eatable, but still, Alex was pretty proud about their success.

As he was marching back to his hut, he saw a guard walking back out of Theodore’s home and Alex curiously watched. But as nothing happened, he decided to wait for their leader. If anything needed to be done, he would inform him and the others. In a fresh set of clothes, he began looking for Janine and Lin.

“There you are,” the teenager smiled at his two friends, “Do you want to join me and the other two at the fire? We brought some food, and it should be about ready to cook.” His two friends nodded and happily went after him. “How was your training today? Any new breakthroughs after the tournament?” Alex asked Jane. She had probably gained the most, as the other guards had made notes about their fights. Unfortunately, Alex didn’t have that idea and was only told about it by Althea.

It would have been a nice boon to his developing fighting powers. Still, he didn’t resent Jane for having the opportunity to become stronger.

“Some. Today, we sat together instead of training and brainstormed a few ideas about our skills,” Jane recounted, “Of course I had to tell the rest of my small group about my skills, but I think we won’t get into another Jones situation, so I felt quite safe with sharing.” Lin smiled at his girlfriend. He knew exactly what she meant, as he and the other crafters had a similar day.

“Afterwards, they asked me a few questions about how I want to fight, what I want to do and made suggestions, how I could use my skills. It was pretty enlightening!” The girl gushed. “We didn’t have something like that, yet, but I want to persuade the other two, to share with me and maybe we can find new tactics. We’re pretty strong as a team, but imagine. If Althea gets an animal companion. And I am not sure, what skills Leon has. He really surprised me with his [Farshot] during the competition,” Alex replied.

Soon the three friends had found a more or less empty fireplace, and Lin made his way to stoke a fire. He borrowed a smouldering piece of wood, and in no time at all, had a nice fire going. Alex waited for the other two hunters, to join them. He had already invited them earlier, and he hoped, that his two friends wouldn’t deter them during their coming discussion. He hoped, that he could add Althea and Leon to his small group of friends.

The youth had just turned, trying to search for his compatriots, when Leon plopped down across from him. He carried a small iron bowl and Alex could spy some pieces of meat and vegetables in it. “Oh, where did you get that beautiful wok,” Lin suddenly asked. “Well, I bought a big plate of iron from our trader and made Lucas, the resident metalcrafter, craft me a wok. Simple really,” Leon grinned like the Cheshire cat.

The group surrounded Leon, while he cooked their meal. Alex had to gulp several times, as his mouth was watering. The food was simple, yet the smell divine. After having filled their bellies, the teenagers sat down on the floor and leaned against the treestumps they had used as seats. Alex began telling them about his skills and second essence.

He knew he could trust Althea and Leon. The teenager had a pretty good guess regarding their personality and while he had made an error in his judgement with Lisa, the two hunters wouldn’t misuse his trust. After he had finished, he looked at Leon, then at Althea and waited for one of them to take the discussion over.

Althea blushed, after she noticed Alex’s gaze, “Right, sorry. I’ll continue. My four essence skills are Buff, Quickattack, Bond and Meld. The four Classskills are Command, Radar, Share Burden and Share Senses.” The girl took a sip of water, wetting her suddenly dry mouth. “You already felt Buff. Right now it gives us a bit of movement speed, but I hope for more Strength or better Reflexes on the higher tiers. Quickattack is, as the name suggests, a fast attack with whatever weapon I’m holding. I have no idea how the higher tiers might look like, but it has probably a good synergy with my companion, should I ever find one.”

Alex looked astonished at the girl. If she could give them faster reflexes or strengthen their bodies, who knew where their hunts could take them. He felt a bit giddy at the thought. He quickly looked back at her, as she continued, “Bond is the skill, which enables me to bond to an animal companion. I think it’s stronger than any shop bought companion skill, but as long as I don’t have one, I can’t really say for sure. Meld is awesome. I can take their senses for some time. Meaning my hearing, smell or sight get’s as strong as my companions.”

The group gaped at the girl. Alex considered for a moment and then asked the question, that lay on everybody's tongue, “Can you take over their skills? Or mythical things like the burning body of the firebird we saw?”

The huntress shrugged, “Probably at the higher tiers, but at tier one, I can only take their senses for a few minutes. The Classskills are a bit easier to understand. With command, I can give simple commands to my companion, for example, attack or hide. And you already know my Radar.”

“That’s the skill, that lets you detect animals around you, right?” Leon interrupted the girl. “Exactly,” Althea nodded, “I have no idea how far it gets when I level up. Right now it’s a few dozen metres, but I believe it’ll get much stronger.”

Althea took another sip of water and continued, “Share Burden is similar to your Shadowdrinker, Alex. I can share my health with my companion and probably also their regeneration speed. Lastly, Share Senses lets me see through my companion's eyes, or hear with their ears. That’s why I want a bird. It would be the optimal scout, as I can ride passenger in their mind.”

The teenage girl finished her explanation and looked expectantly at Leon. The boy cleared his throat and began talking.