It's been a couple of months already and it was in the midst of summer. The surroundings flourishing with life and new beginnings.

  The boarling training proceeded smoothly at first, but slowed down more and more at the end. There was only so many times the same stimulus could improve one's capabilities after all.

  Well Brakk could keep going for years to come since he was practicing conditioning and that took a lot of time, but man proposes heaven disposes, the rest of the group hit a soft cap in their abilities and it was time to face something more dangerous.

  Not too dangerous though, as attempting suicide wasn’t yet on their to-do-list, so what they settled on was short skirmishes with the surrounding villages hunters or whatever they found outside the settlements walls that could sharpen their skills.

  And so they set out to do just that.

  They traveled eastwards for a day, before setting camp and resting their bodies, making sure they could react to danger at their full strength at moments notice.

  The next day, around lunch time they first noticed what seemed to be fluvian activity, strange contraptions with food placed in them, some of them were even already sprung and held the dead bodies of the unlucky prey.

  Now proceeding with more caution they noticed more and more tracks. By evening they could already spot the occasional used campfire spot or small winding forest paths that were evidently regularly used because of the lack of moss growing on it.

  They backtracked slightly until it was already getting dark and set up a small camp, no fire as that would be the same as coming into enemy territory and loudly announcing that you are there. Suicide in other words.

  The night passed calmly with the boarlings waking up at the first rays of light. They somewhat covered their tracks, making sure no visible traces were remaining, but just as they wanted to continue their journey, this time even more cautiously than yesterday…

  *swoosh*

  Something big glided straight for Dashura. At the last second, feeling the gust of wind from behind, she tried dodging to the side, but it didn’t seem to be enough, as searing pain alongside claws clutching her could be felt.

  Just as the pain registered her legs also left the ground, panicking she pulled out one of her bone knives and tried cutting the thing holding her but the being’s skin seemed to only slightly stretch not giving to the blades edge.

  Hearing what appeared to be Brakk’s shout she soon felt another weight pulling her down, dragging the already embedded claws even deeper into her flesh, blood gushing in a small stream out of the wounds.

  “AAAAhhhh!”

  Her pain filled scream echoed.

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  The other boarlings jumped to help her as well, the addition of more weight finally pulling her down at the cost of chunks of flesh missing from her shoulders.

  Blood now spurting in streams, her face rapidly turning pale.

  Her vision grew red and the surrounding noise turned into a blur.

  ‘Death?’ She softly thought to herself.

  ‘Blood, so much blood’

  Her journey of life flashed through her mind.

  ‘Boar. Food. Death many, blood. Run away, together but little, then blood, then fight and more blood, then travel and blood, blood, blood…’

  She seemed to be on a precipice of something more, but it wasn’t meant to be, just as her thoughts turned muddy an immense surge of Jak entered her body. Making the foreign concept finally snap into her grasp.

  The blood flowing out of her slowed down, before stopping entirely just as she completely lost consciousness.

  ***

  Torin stood over the ‘birds’ dead body. It looked more like a cross between a fox and a crow. With it having a fox’s body, two tails and feet, but a crow’s head and wings.

  The fight was hectic, barely taking half a minute. Dashura knocked out at the very beginning. It was a miracle the three of them managed to kill it.

  The being’s skin being at least a few times tougher than what they were used to, its speed and strength being exceptional as well. If not for its hollow bones in its wings breaking from Raskar’s wild spear swing, it would’ve just picked them off one by one.

  Not to mention the luck of having the beast's dead body end up near their knocked out teammate and somehow, that, stanching her bleeding wounds.

  “Woohooo” Brakk yelled, “Fuck this bird!” Adrenaline high overwhelming his fatigued body.

  ‘Mhmmm’, “Effort and result.. Without our training we probably would’ve been dead here..” Raskar was softly voicing his thoughts out, trying to sort them out and Torin…

  “Luck, we got lucky, that’s it. Effort, willpower, strength, a single misstep of luck and we would’ve been dead” He grimly stated. His expression wrinkling even more, feeling the lack of control they had over their fates.

  ‘The answer is still the same…’ he exhaled with sigh ‘Endure.’

  “Tie up your wounds, make sure not a drop reaches the ground or we’ll have a busy night” He commanded the rest of the group. “Brakk, Raskar, carry Dashura as well after you’re done, we’re heading back for now”

  Yet just a couple hours after they started going back they encountered a small pack of wolves. Brakk got his left thigh bitten and Raskar got his forearm cut, but they made it without any debilitating injuries.

  Unfortunately this was just the start. Five hours later they got attacked by a giant weasel, this time it dislocated Brakk’s shoulder and cut open a wound on Torin’s chest.

  Evening arrived and with that so did another attack. This time it was a swarm of mice, moving more like a single mass they scratched and bit the group, thinking of them as easy prey smelling all the blood on them.

  Not even a mild injury was received by the boarlings, but in its stead many small ones appeared, tiny scratches and bites primed for infection.

  They decided to push through the night, maybe the scarcer Jak concentration on the island’s edge would deter big game living there, thus making it safer for them.

  And it seemed to work until they encountered the undisputed lord of the surrounding area…

  It was a brown bear. Big and strong. Muscles rippling under its thick fur. Most likely going on its morning stroll, not expecting some weaklings just to deliver themselves to it on a silver platter.