The sun was shining, birds were chirping. Lush vegetation waving in the wind as if it was celebrating the coming summer. In the distance the rushing water of the rapids could be heard.
Below the spruce trees, a simple gravel road went stretched onward to a small village. And on that road young frail looking boy walked away from the village, head down.
Valo had been training for years to apply to be the villages only tailor's apprentice. Honing his skills with the needle, learning more complex runes and even training his mana to use it in sewing as well. And today he had finally had the chance to show his skills. He did his best, he really did. But the tailor wasn't impressed. Instead, the tailor took his own son as his apprentice.
Valo had initially thought that the tailor had a heavy bias choosing his own son, but after contemplating the earlier events for a minute. Valo realized he was plain and simple just worse.
of course, a hunter's son can't be as good of a tailor as an actual tailor. Yet Valo had tried. Everyone had doubted him and now they had proved him right.
He had refused to submit to his fate of being hunter like his father, grandfather and as for what he knew, every one of his ancestors had been.
Valo let out a heavy sigh turning to look up at the sky. On the way there his gaze spotted something—
He froze.
Right on the road he was walking, there was an angry looking grizzly. It was big, slightly foaming from the mouth.
Fuck— definitely a mutated one. Those weren't supposed to wander in this area. And now one was standing right in front of him. Maybe 60 feet between them.
Valo slowly reached for his knife only to realize today it was the needle.
The bear had watched for long enough, driven purely by instinct, it lunged.