21 Before Departure
Ever since the knife incident, the bullying stopped.
It was refreshing. But humans are a spoiled creature.
It also made me feel a bit lonelier.
I get that sounds contradictory, but those four were the only ones.
The only villagers who came in contact with me.
(Well that doesn't mean I [Regret] this though.)
I had a few friends in my past life as well, a dry human who didn't really mind being by himself.
It's nothing new to me.
"Now then, time to work on the field, weed it out and feed livestock, and after that it's workout time."
Thus I spent my uneventful daily life on the usual routine.
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I've turned 14 and will come of age the next day.
Time goes by so quick, tomorrow I'll be departing this village.
Last night I made preparations for the journey and luggage. But I haven't decided where I'm headed yet.
Today, father invited me to go hunting from early morning.
"This will be our last outing together..."
Once I've left the village, I can never come back. That was one of the conditions put forward.
Mother forced herself to laugh despite her teary reddened eyes.
"Turning this that big a deal makes it all the more hard for me. Just act like usual, mom. It's not like I'm dying or anything."
"But it's going to get lonely. And when I think I can't see you anymore..."
I soothe mother who looked like she's about to cry again.
"I mean look! I'm leaving the village tomorrow right? You're gonna run out of tears if you don't save some, mom. I'll be sure to send you letters too."
I joked around a bit.
"We'll be off! We're gonna catch a big one for sure! Just you wait!"
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We made a quick work out of our first prey.
Normally we'd be deciding on whether to resume the hunt or call it off, but father was in a high spirit.
"It will be our last dinner together. Let's make it grand."
"I'm telling you just act like usual. There'll be less emotional upheaval like that, you know?"
"Save the difficult words. I want to celebrate you going independent. As a father."
"Oh come on, it's nothing that grand, is it. You're exaggerating, dad."
However, I was actually feeling thankful to my father's familial love from the bottom of my heart.
(Alright! I'll make use of my power and hunt some big one here.)
(Uwaa... It's pretty much that in the flesh... You hunt them in Monster (Hunter)...)
"Dos... Fan... Boar?"
That thing showed up from within the forest. It was the biggest beast I have ever seen in my life yet.
(Is this a [Boss]...? A big haul? Alright! I'mma do it!)
Knowing this would be my last hunt in this village, I decided to reveal the power I had kept hidden from father and mother up until now.
I picked up a pebble on the ground.
(I mean this is a good chance as any to measure up my power. Might be the first and the last time to.)
Since I had never got the chance to before this, I got heated up for once.
So I thought as I threw the pebble at the boar.
It hit the boar squarely, turning its attention to me before it made a charge.
The world moves in slow motion.
I'm in [Acceleration] state.
(Now then, the best move against a ramming attack would be that.)
I never usually got this excited, but my tension was uncharacteristically high this time, I even came up with a practical joke.
(Man, I remember playing around with it in Elementary school.)
I took the stance of a fighting game character which has a red headband, a white dougi, and seeks those stronger than him.
I charged up my strength, and waited for the side of the boar's face to slowly draw close to me before unleashing my punch.
"Sh***uken!"
"DOGOON!"
That was the sound of a shockwave created from the beast getting punched.
Immediately after, the giant body crashed into the ground, 'ZUDON!', causing a tremor.
I was remorseful. I moved on to drain the blood in order to avert my eyes.
(That was shameful... Yeah sure I'm starving for fighting games, but that was just too much... Far too much... Way to be a grown up...)
Due to the unbearable shame, I ended up making some inane-sounding excuses to my father.
After slitting the neck of the hung boar, I ruminated what just happened.
(That punch... Wasn't at my full power... This stuff is dangerous... I can't seem to grasp the full extent of my power... I was just lightly tracing the motion and yet... That much power!)
I was planning to gradually increase my strength over a barrage of punch to then grasp control over this power, that plan crumbled in one punch.
(This is no joke... Gotta seal this power... Can't use it willy-nilly...)
Once the blood draining process was over, I snapped back to reality.
"Let's go home dad. Mom's waiting. Oh man, we're running late, aren't we."
I'm just glad I managed to hunt a big one as promised.
Though now I'm hit with a new problem on this seemingly bottomless power.
Additionally, I didn't notice the face father turned at me as I casually lifted and carried the giant boar around.