Chapter 7: The Hawk-Eye Hunt
Wei chose the mission hall deliberately.
If Jade Eyes was to be tested, it would not be against sparring partners who held back or formations that remained stationary. He needed unpredictability. He needed a target that relied on perception and instinct.
The clan mission hall stood at the eastern quadrant of the sect grounds—two floors of dark timber and stone, open-beamed, always loud by midmorning. Requests were carved onto wooden plaques and hung across a long wall behind the assignment counter.
When Wei stepped inside, conversation dipped—not because of him, but because it always dipped when someone entered. Then it resumed.
He walked directly toward the higher-tier request board.
Most inner disciples began with escort missions or herb gathering. Wei ignored those.
His eyes settled on a plaque edged in red twine.
Mission: Eliminate Hawk-Eye Ridge Predator
Location: Northwood Outer Forest
Threat Level: Mid-Inner Disciple
Previous Attempts: 2
Status: Unresolved
A note had been etched beneath the description.
Aerial predator. High-speed dive strikes. Exceptional perception. Avoid open terrain.
Wei reached for it.
A laugh sounded from behind him.
"You?" someone muttered.
He did not turn.
Another voice joined. "Five went last week. Came back with torn shoulders and broken ribs."
Wei removed the plaque from its hook and walked toward the assignment desk.
The woman behind it was in her early thirties, hair bound tightly at the nape. She did not smile often; the position did not encourage it. She glanced at the plaque in his hand, then at him.
"You're aware this isn't a scouting mission."
"Yes."
"It isn't a nest-clearing mission either."
"I know."
She rested both palms on the counter. "Five inner disciples failed to pin it down. It doesn't engage directly. It strikes once and withdraws."
Wei waited.
She studied his face, perhaps searching for hesitation.
"You understand that aerial beasts with developed optic glands possess broader field awareness than ground predators?"
"Yes."
"That one hunts from above the canopy. It circles beyond sight, then dives."
"Then it can be drawn lower," Wei replied.
A faint crease formed between her brows.
"You're Level 17."
He did not react.
That information was not publicized widely—but those handling mission assignments tracked cultivation states carefully.
"You're confident?"
"I want the mission."
Silence stretched.
Behind him, someone scoffed. "He'll feed the thing."
The woman finally slid a thin jade token across the counter. "Return with the optic core as proof."
Wei took the token.
"And," she added, "if you hear wing shear before shadow shift—move laterally, not backward."
"I will."
He turned and left to renewed murmuring.
The Northwood Outer Forest lay three hours from the sect on foot. Wei did not rush.
The terrain gradually shifted from stone path to packed soil, then to dense undergrowth. By the time the forest canopy thickened overhead, ambient light had dimmed considerably.
He activated Jade Eyes briefly.
The world clarified.
Ambient qi drifted in slow ribbons between trees. Small animals registered as faint flickers where energy clustered tightly around muscle.
He deactivated again.
Conservation mattered.
The Hawk-Eye predator would not announce itself. It would observe first.
Wei entered a clearing roughly forty paces across. The canopy above thinned slightly here—enough for dive access.
He examined the ground.
Claw marks.
Scattered feathers—dark, edged in grey.
He crouched and activated Jade Eyes for a focused inspection.
Residual qi lingered along one deep gouge in the soil. It radiated sharpness—Yang dominant.
The bird preferred high-velocity strikes.
He stood and began constructing a trap.
Not a snare.
A misdirection.
He gathered fallen branches and arranged them loosely in the center of the clearing, creating the silhouette of a seated figure. He wrapped part of his outer robe around it and retreated toward the tree line.
Then he climbed.
Twenty feet up, he secured himself along a thick branch, partially obscured by leaves.
He deactivated Jade Eyes and slowed his breathing.
Minutes passed.
Wind moved.
Nothing else.
He activated Jade Eyes again—wide scan.
High above, near the canopy edge—
There.
A faint, tight cluster of energy circling.
The Hawk-Eye.
Its qi signature was compact and coiled. Wings extended wide, barely moving, riding thermal drift.
It was watching the clearing.
Wei kept still.
The bird descended slightly.
Then slightly more.
It did not dive immediately.
Instead, it circled once.
Twice.
Then—
It rose higher.
Wei's brow tightened.
It had seen something wrong.
The decoy lacked breath movement. No qi fluctuation radiated from it.
The Hawk-Eye climbed, shifted position, then suddenly angled—not toward the decoy—but toward the tree line.
Toward him.
He dropped.
The dive came a heartbeat later.
A violent rush of air tore past where he had been perched. Bark exploded from the branch as talons raked through it.
Wei rolled across the forest floor.
The bird pulled upward immediately, wings snapping open with controlled force.
It had identified him as the true target before committing.
"Good," Wei muttered.
He activated Jade Eyes fully.
The strain hit instantly.
The Hawk-Eye's body lit in layered clarity.
Its optic glands—two concentrated nodes near the skull—glowed intensely. Meridians branched through its wings, feeding explosive bursts of qi during dives.
It banked midair and dove again.
Wei moved laterally, just as the mission clerk had warned.
Talons sliced through soil where he had stood.
This time he struck.
His palm lashed outward, targeting the right wing's mid-meridian—where he had seen a minor narrowing during the dive.
Contact.
The bird shrieked sharply—"KREEE!"
It recoiled upward, flight pattern disrupted slightly.
Jade Eyes revealed the disruption clearly. The qi flow along the right wing had staggered.
The Hawk-Eye adjusted altitude, circling wider now.
It would not dive recklessly again.
Wei's breathing deepened. The mental pressure from Jade Eyes intensified steadily.
He had perhaps ten minutes before fatigue compromised reaction speed.
The bird climbed higher—almost beyond canopy view.
Then it disappeared entirely.
Wei pivoted slowly, scanning.
Nothing.
He turned Jade Eyes upward.
There—
Directly above the sun glare.
The Hawk-Eye had repositioned into blind light, masking descent.
It dropped.
Faster than before.
Wei did not wait for shadow.
He moved at the moment its qi signature condensed for strike.
The talons grazed his shoulder—cloth tearing—but not flesh.
As it passed, he leapt and seized its left leg.
The impact drove both of them into the ground.
The bird thrashed violently, wings battering earth and air.
Wei tightened grip and drove his other hand toward the optic node he had memorized earlier.
The Hawk-Eye twisted its neck sharply, beak snapping toward his wrist.
He shifted angle at the last instant and struck upward instead—into the lower throat meridian cluster.
A pulse of qi discharged erratically.
The bird convulsed.
System Notification:
Combat Insight Achieved.
Comprehension in progress.
Wei did not loosen hold.
The Hawk-Eye's wings beat once more—then faltered.
He pressed downward with his knee and delivered a final focused strike to the right optic gland.
The glow dimmed.
Then went dark.
Silence returned to the clearing.
Wei deactivated Jade Eyes immediately.
The forest returned to ordinary sight.
He remained still for several breaths before releasing the corpse.
System Notification:
Mission Objective Complete.
Bonus Reward Granted.
Technique Comprehension Unlocked: Peripheral Flow Disruption.
Wei's brow lifted slightly.
The technique summary surfaced.
By striking secondary meridian junctions during motion, he could induce temporary imbalance without requiring direct core contact.
He exhaled once.
That had been learned—not given.
The system had recorded pattern recognition during combat.
He extracted the optic core carefully, storing it in a cloth wrap.
The walk back took longer.
Fatigue from extended Jade Eyes usage lingered as a dull ache behind his eyes.
By the time the mission hall came into view, afternoon shadows had lengthened.
Conversation inside quieted slightly when he entered.
He approached the counter and placed the wrapped object down.
The woman looked up without interest—then paused.
He unfolded the cloth.
The Hawk-Eye optic core rested in his palm, faintly crystalline.
Her eyes widened—not dramatically, but enough.
"You went alone," she said.
"Yes."
She examined the core carefully.
"No external group signature."
"No."
"You killed it directly?"
"Yes."
Silence.
Then she reached beneath the counter and marked the mission plaque as resolved.
"Reward will be credited."
Wei inclined his head and turned to leave.
Behind him, murmurs rose—no longer mocking.
By evening, word had spread.
Not only that he completed the mission—but that he had done so alone.
Zhao Rui heard it in the training yard.
He did not react outwardly, but his grip on his sword tightened slightly.
Mei heard it from two disciples near the lotus pond.
She laughed softly.
"That's convenient," she said. "A beast five couldn't handle suddenly dies when he appears."
Later that night, in a quiet corridor, Zhao Rui spoke low to a cluster of close allies.
"Someone else must have weakened it."
"Or killed it," another added.
"And he arrived afterward."
The suggestion took shape quickly.
By the next morning, a quieter rumor began circulating.
Wei had stolen a finished hunt.
He had claimed the optic core from a prior group's effort.
Proof was thin—but repetition gave it weight.
Wei heard it by midday.
He did not respond.
Jade Eyes activated briefly as he passed two whispering disciples.
Their meridians flared irregularly with agitation.
He deactivated.
Information moved faster than correction.
He returned to his quarters without addressing the rumor.
The optic core reward had already been recorded officially.
Records would not change easily.