150. Pride: Wiremu.

Claws ripped right through my leather armour and my Snake Skin, piercing my back. This was no ordinary lion. I ducked my head as I knew his teeth would be coming for my neck and tucked into a roll to try to throw him off my back, seeing as I was going down under his weight anyway. The trouble was this enhanced beast had brought his ladies with him.

I wasn’t out here alone either. I had the Catkin father and son team, Appā and Mutalil, with me. I had been training Mutalil’s brother Ilaiya in the Hunter Class before he was killed protecting his sister. He was protecting his sister from trouble Tabitha, and I had brought to them. So when Appā and Mutalil asked me to train them, I couldn’t really say no. Catkin seemed to be naturally gifted hunters, and training people who already have a Class and specialisations with several crossover Skills is much easier than training a youngling from scratch.

In return, Appā and Mutalil are training me in the Warrior Class. The Warrior Class is the main basic class that the Kirghiz military trains their fighters to get. It is a good all-around class for close-in fighting. It will open up different specialisations. Appā and Mutalil have specialised it to Sentry, and I know Ruku has Commando. I also met a Shield Bearer and two Spearmen when I met the Mothers Tusks. You can also get Monster Hunter from it, but I have that from the Hunter Class. The military will have other known specialisations, which is why they train their infantry in it.

My roll did upset my attacker's plans, and he rolled a couple of times before getting to his feet. I had a couple of seconds to look around. This lion had a pride of six females with him. They were trying to steal our kill. Appā, Mutalil, and I had run down a bison, and I was letting them skin it while giving advice. We were two months out from Obalno and only a week from the provincial capital on this central plateau. I hope the Duke here runs their city better than the one in Obalno because Tabitha wants to stop for a few weeks break.

Two of the female lions had got my attention allowing me to be ambushed by the male. His skill in stealth, stalking, or whatever he has must be quite high to sneak up on me. I still have the spear in my hand from taking down the Bison, but the blade is broken. I used Granite Spike to form a new one and crouched ready. Two of the females were moving to flank me, and the other four were surrounding Appā and Mutalil, who had wisely moved back to back. One of the females was dripping blood and limping already. They also had spears, but I could tell Mutalil was searching for his shield. I had made him leave it behind. A Hunter is very different from a Sentry. Part of being a Hunter is the mindset. You are not here to protect. You are here to kill. The main difference between the Hunter and Warrior Classes is that the Hunter Class is for hunting beasts, and the Warrior Class is for fighting other Sapients.

Big boy is coming at me with a roar. That roar is developing a stunning effect. I don’t think he quite has it yet, and my Hearing Aid Skill blunts it, so it doesn't work, but I did feel it. Hearing Aid is closing in on the Master Level, and I discovered that since Journeyman Level, it increasingly blunts sound-based attacks. I rolled to the right, stabbing him with my spear. I didn’t hit anything important, unfortunately.

This put me closer to the lioness from the right, but it gave me space from the one from the left. I turned my back to the closer one. I put all my Hunters Marks on the left lioness and tugged hard, slowing her down while stepping into a Power Strike with my Spear. I pierced straight through into the heart.

The lioness behind me had discovered they were not the only ones that could execute an ambush. Tāoke was a 9m monster whose Sudden Strike had knocked the lioness off her feet as he sunk his fangs into her neck. His jaw was big enough that his fangs could fit around her neck as he injected a fatal dose of poison. His body wrapped around her legs, immobilising her while the poison did its work. Tāoke now preferred his large form and would only shrink when we were around strangers, or he wanted to be carried. I wasn’t lugging around a 9m snake if I didn’t have to.

Big Boy was coming back around to me, but I took the opportunity to check how the others were doing. Two lionesses were out of the fight, one was dead, and the other couldn’t move its rear legs. Mutalil has a Crushing Blow Skill, and a spear butt can deliver it, even if it is not the best weapon for it. He usually uses it with his shield, so it is good to see him expanding its use. Both Appā and Mutalil are bleeding, but it doesn’t look serious.

Big Boy is being wary. He is definitely more intelligent and stronger than a normal lion. I wonder if we can find out what he has been eating, as a Monster Core might be lying around somewhere. I really hope there isn’t a goblin horde like in Jern. I put a Hunter's Mark on each of the live lions in case they try to do a runner. The hunters have turned into the prey. I advance on Big Boy, who swipes at me while snarling. I start circling while keeping his attention by jabbing with the spear. Tāoke got behind him and tangled his rear legs, and as he moved to claw Tāoke, I sliced through his throat with the blade edge of the spearhead. That was a technique Ruku taught me. I then pinned him to the ground while he bled out.

I looked around, and Appā and Mutalil had finished. Appā was moving toward the lioness with the broken back, and Mutalil was pulling bandages and an ointment from his backpack. If I had been wearing my backpack, it would have been shredded. I moved to help him.

“Looks like we get some extra skinning practice, ah?” he smiled at me and dropped his trousers.

I nodded, grabbed Ört’s ointment, and applied it to the claw marks down his leg. I then bandaged it tight. It didn’t look like it would need stitches.

“Anywhere else?” I asked.

“That’s it for me. Dad was hit in the arm and chest. What about your back? I was a bit worried when I saw that monster land on your back.” Mutalil said.

“The bleeding has already stopped, although I am going to need to spend quite a bit of time repairing the armour,” I replied.

“Bloody Regen Skill. I have got to get that.” He grabbed the ointment and bandages from me and went to see Appā. Appā had lost an arm in the skirmish in Jern that cost Iliaya his life. We had paid for it the be regrown, but it was still a significant weakness. He was training hard to redevelop the muscles and muscle memory. He was beating his son in learning tracking and trapping, even if he couldn’t keep up in fighting at the moment.

I pulled out my skinning knife and went over to Big Boy. This is a great pelt; we didn’t even put too many holes in it. The skinning and butchering took all afternoon. We cleaned up in a nearby stream and shared the pelts and meat between us.

I spoke up just before we moved out. “This is probably all the adults of the pride. Therefore, the den is nearby. I am interested if we can find it and see if we can find the monster they were eating. There might be a monster core lying around.”

Mutalil groaned. He knew I would make them do the tracking; therefore, we wouldn’t get back to the wagons till near dawn. He had a mate and three growing and boisterous kids who wouldn’t let him rest the next day. I didn’t smile. Outwardly.

It took us two hours to find the den. They lost the trail once, and I had to show them where to pick it up. This was doing wonders for my Tutor Skill.

The Den held a surprise. There were four cubs, one male and three female. They looked to be about six weeks old, so they were almost old enough to follow the pride.

“You guys have been doing your mental exercises for bonding, haven’t you? Why don't you see if you can match with the cubs?” I saw their eyes lit up as they put down their packs. “Grab some meat. Make sure it is the bison, though.” Catkin have bonuses to bond with other cat breeds, as do other animal kin. So their chances were good.

I moved out of the way so my scent didn’t confuse things and went to poke around to see if I could find what they had been eating. Tāoke was circling the place further out. He can keep up with our running pace now, although he prefers to conserve his energy. He can’t keep going as long as we can.

My Hearing Aid eventually heard Appā say, “There's a good girl. We will have to find you a name.” I hear some frustration from Mutalil until, “Sweet, you are an active one.” I couldn’t find a trail to and monster, so I headed back. Both Appā and Mutalil had bonded with female cubs.

“Go well?” I asked.

Mutalil said, “I tried with the lad there several times, but he wouldn’t bond.”

“That girl,” Appā indicated the female cub in Mutalil’s arms, “had to scratch him to get his attention. He always was blind to females. Just ask Anni,” he teased, referring to Mutalil’s mate and his daughter-in-law.

“You are better with the females anyway,” I said, “The females do all the hunting. The males just lie around. I will grab the other two cubs, and we will see if they are open to bonding with some of the others.” I grabbed the cubs by the scruff of their necks, and they picked up their packs, and we set a steady pace back to ward the caravan. We were all pretty loaded down with pelts and meat.

“I couldn’t find what they had been eating, so I figured it was a while ago. If Mum and Dad were Spiritually enhanced before conceiving the cubs, they would inherit those traits. You might have some special cubs there.” I commented.

We got back to the caravan about an hour before dawn. I was pleased that the guards detected us a good way out. The caravan was stirring, and the breakfast fires were lit. The Caravan Master, Selma, was strict about getting on the road no later than an hour after dawn. We offloaded the pelts and distributed the meat amongst the cooking fires. We had several independent traders join our caravan, so there were quite a large number of wagons. To get to Kirghiz fast, you went by boat. Boats didn’t stop at the towns and provincial cities these traders wanted to.

Mayakku, our enchanter and Mutalil’s sister stepped out of her wagon, and the male cub immediately took off toward her. They formed a bond very quickly. These cubs are definitely Spiritually enhanced because that was high intelligence at work. If the male lions like to laze around all day, he chose the one person who usually spends all day in her wagon enchanting.

The other female cub actually chose to bond with Anni, Mutalil’s partner. That was a surprise choice. When their kids got up and discovered the cubs, there were squeals of excitement. Those cubs are going to get a lot of attention over the next few days.

The caravan got underway, and I settled down to clean the hides, repair my armour and draw a map of the area to raise that skill. I am going to need some new armour. My current two sets have been repaired too often.