Red was on the ground, lying down directly facing the ground. He threw leaves on his back to cover himself as he steadied his breathing. While the leaves didn't completely cover him, he felt it was a good night as camouflage.
Not far from him, around six meters away, was his prey, the marget with no head. The plan was to use the carcass as bait to bait another marget. He used the same trick to kill his second marget.
Of course, he dragged the corpse further from the first two kills. He remembered about them being territorial, so he figured it out that he needed to move further from the place where he killed two marget.
He returned twenty trees, making his way back to the tribe. If something went south, he could just run to the tribe. That was the plan.
Red had been waiting for twenty minutes, but he remained patient. Time passed, and another five minutes passed. He thought of giving up and moving to another area, but he decided to give it more time.
His patience paid off as he heard a rustling noise. He was happy at first, but then his face changed, tensing up. He heard several rustling noises coming from different directions.
Things were really not going well for him today. It might be doable if it were two Marget. He might take the risk, considering he needed ten to hunt ten prey. But more than three were out of the question.
Red controlled his breathing, ensuring that he would not get noticed. He was perfectly behind the root with leaves on top of him. He could not see the other side of the root, but his hearing was quite sharp. He would hear them if they got closer.
The rustling movement continued, and he heard it. He heard it from four different directions, meaning there were four creatures.
He heard something above him, which was one. The other three sounds came from the other side.
There was more rustling noise, and this time he sensed the sound going further, meaning one of them ran. He wondered why one of them ran until the marget above him jumped down, not just one but two of them.
The two marget landed right at the root in front of him, a pair. That explained why one marget ran. The two marget that stood on the root were observing the surroundings carefully. They didn't immediately jump, and they seemed to notice two more uninvited guests.
One of the pair hissed in one direction, a loud hissing. It sounded like a warning, and it seemed the hiss worked on one of the marget.
Red heard another rustling sound getting further away. Another escaped, meaning there were only three now. Two in front of him, and he didn't know where the last one was, as it had totally gone quiet. Even the pair marget remained wary of the last marget.
'This is my chance! This is my chance! This is my chance!'
He kept telling himself that this was his chance to strike. The two marget had their backs to him. He needed to kill one of them in one strike and fought the second one. Of course, he needed to be wary of the last one.
Red no longer hesitated and jumped out from his hiding spot. He made a big noise that startled the two marget. They were about to jump off, but he was faster.
He pounced toward the marget in his left and stabbed it in the neck. Using his weight to pin it down, he got up again and used his knee to hit its head. The second marget jumped off, making a distance from him.
He paid attention to the second one. The moment it jumped away, he decided to go for the kill instead. The plan was to stab it in the neck and leave it to die. But since the second one jumped away instead of going after him, he decided to go for the kill.
Red got up and pulled out the spearhead. The blood sprayed onto his face. The marget was still struggling. In fact, it was more desperate and struggled strongly despite having a hole in the back of its neck.
The blood spray was not enough to delay Red's next move. He stomped the marget's head with his right foot. That put the marget down once, then he stabbed the head with the spear in his hand.
That killed the marget right as it immediately stopped moving. Red was still wary of the second and the third marget. He pulled off the spear and jumped backward, looking around, searching for the second one.
To his surprise, the second marget was fighting the third marget. The third marget was in awful condition. Its coat didn't have the same vibrant color, and it was so skinny that the frame in the lower belly could be seen.
That explained why the third one didn't escape even though it faced a pair of marget. It was in a desperate situation, needing food to survive, so it would not let this chance go away.
When he jumped onto one of the pairs, the third one seemed to attack the second one. It was quite smart, but not smart enough. It should just wait in the dark and ambush whoever won the fight between him and the second marget.
The fight between the two marget was quite intense. Their speed stood out in that fight, a frontal brawl. They used their claws and teeth. However, the healthier marget was at an advantage, overpowering the sickly-looking marget.
It didn't take that long before the fight was over. The healthy marget pinned down the sickly-looking marget, having its teeth sunk into the sickly-looking marget's neck. Its paw was on the head, pinning it down while twisting the bite.
Red took the chance. He threw the stone half the size of the marget's head. That was another surprise with how accurate his throw was as it hit the head the size of the marget's head.
That one stone was enough to wound the marget, staggering it to the side. Red prepared the second stone. He had the second stone in case he missed the first throw.
Swoosh!
The stone shot toward the marget. With their distance getting closer, he could not miss the second throw. He hit the head again for the second time, sending it down. Blood covered its face, and it was having a hard time getting up.
Red closed the distance, standing above the tumbling marget. He stabbed its head with the spear, killing it with that last hit.
He let out a deep breath after killing the last marget. Everything went so smoothly that he was surprised by it. He was ready to abandon the prey that he used as bait if things went wrong, but everything went smoothly. Even the third marget assisted him.
Thinking about the sickly-looking marget, he heard a hissing noise. He turned around and was surprised that the sickly-looking marget was still alive.
Its hind legs were broken, losing a chunk of its thin meat, revealing the bone. Its neck was bleeding, but it still attempted to get up. It showed great perseverance; its eyes were still burning in spirit, a will to live.
This scene touched Red as the marget reminded him of himself, his struggle in the tribe. He was alone, starving by himself. The thought of bringing it back crossed his mind, but he quickly threw that idea away.
He was having a hard time surviving by himself. He didn't need another burden on him. There was a chance that the Warrior would take it from him even if he brought it back.
"I can't help you, but I can end your suffering!"
Red took a deep breath and stabbed the marget's neck. It killed the marget instantly, but he showed great determination until the last moment, an inspiring moment even for him.
He gathered his prey, four of them. He was thinking about what he should do with these four prey. It didn't take long for him to make the decision.
Red exchanged the sickly-looking marget and the headless marget for loot. He expected a skill, no, two skills, and six cores. But lady luck was not on his side this time.
Instead of getting a skill, he got two copper coins. Instead of six cores, he got four cores: three Might Cores and one Magic Core.