The Vulcan tribe was a very communal community. A party of hunters would leave the tribal ground every day to bring back some meat for everyone. If they can find something, then the meat will be shared with everyone. But if they dont, all the people must satisfy their hunger with berries and roots that the gatherers had collected over the day.
The way that Karina spoke about the responsibility of hunters and gatherers, Harry realized why people were enraged when he was able to get a position in the hunting party. Being a hunter is considered to be one of the most prestigious titles in the tribe. It could get a person a proper mud house, even though they are not a Vita Wielder. And having a mud house was not a very common thing there.
That is why people were enraged.
As far as gatherers are concerned, they were valued in the tribe as well. But not as much as hunters…
Karina took him out to the plains. With the sun over their head, she was running at a steady pace without even breaking a sweat. While running, she was telling Harry about the dangers of wandering out here without any proper knowledge, "… There could be poisonous snakes around, whose bite might send you straight to Lord Leh. Not to mention Watsumonos, they are the real threat. But according to Oron, you might be able to run away from those beasts,"
Harry, who was huffing and puffing, nodded, "..Yes… I have… certain..." he took a long breath, "abilities…"
They had been running in the plains for about an hour or so. And Harry was out of breath.
Keeping up with Karina was more difficult than pulling a cart whole day. He knew that this all was a test of sorts; he could see that Karina was using Vita the whole time while running. He didnt know how Vita worked, but from what he saw, her heart and lungs didnt look stressed as she ran. It was like Vita was helping them sustain and work at a normal rate.
"This is it," Karina said as she came to a stop.
Harry stopped beside, trying to steady his breath. He spotted some creatures in the distance, and he realized that they were hunting those things.
Karina let him catch his breath, and only then did she start instructing him. "Those creatures are called Jabber-wokies," She said. Harry zoomed in to see very weird creatures. They had green fur and had a primate-like body. But instead of eyes, the creature had two gill-like structures on either side of its face.
"They are not very smart creatures, but have a very acute sense of smell and awareness. If you get too close to them, they would sense you. If they are in a pack, they will attack you. Even if you use smell-erasing powder before you go close to them, they would still sense you. So we hunt them from a distance, with bow and arrows. So they are a perfect first target for you."
Harry looked at her weirdly. Her explanation didnt make sense to him, still, that was not his major concern now, "What do you mean by first target for you? I dont know how to use a bow and arrow."
Karina smirked, "So? Get used to it,"
He couldnt believe the woman. He didnt know whether she was pulling his leg, or she was really serious. But one thing was for sure, he was not letting this chance get away from his hands. It had been some while since he had hunted something, and he would love to hunt a creature instead of a sentient being for a change.
Harry took out an arrow from his quiver on his back, and nocked the arrow, when Karina whispered, "Crouch, and move slowly towards them."
He didnt listen to her. Harry pulled the arrow back and turned around. His eyes scanned the bow, calculated the tension of the string, and calculated the force that the arrow would be facing. He let the arrow go and followed the trajectory of the arrow. Now, he had a road map.
Who knew that a sniper bullet trajectory calculator could be used this way, he thought.
"What are you doing?" Karina yelled, not loud enough to spook the beasts. She grabbed his arm and shook him, "What the hell are you doing?"
Harry stared straight into her eyes and, with a very serious voice, said, "You will let go of my arm right now." He was a warrior and a hunter, and he didnt like the tone that she used with him.
He didnt know what happened next, because in the next moment she took a step back, looking taken aback from his words. He saw in her eyes that, for a second, she got very scared of something.
Although curious, Harry let go of bizarre behavior, "Now, we will go," He then crouched down and started crawling towards the beasts. Karina soon followed him, silent, as if evaluating him.
With no excessive moments or sounds, Harry came close to the creatures. With a finger coated with his saliva, he had already sensed that the wind was flowing against them. This was a perfect place for an ambush.
While slowly getting closer, Harry noticed something weird about the creatures. He saw that they were all hanging around a huge tree, and for a blind creature, they were a lot aware of their surroundings. He saw some of them jumping around the tree, They were able to climb trees with ease; it was as if they were able to see.
Seeing their behavior, Harry theorized that maybe these creatures are not blind; they could see. They just perceive the world differently. His first guess was sound waves, he had encountered creatures before who use very high-pitched sound waves to navigate through complex environments. Maybe they were the same as well. But he had no way to test this theory.
The AI in his brain had analyzed the distance between him and the closest creature to him. And when he was at perfect distance from the creature, his system gave him a notice. It is there, while sticking to the grass, that he knocked an arrow.
"Not here," Karina whispered from behind, "Get closer to them."
Harry didnt listen. With a nocked arrow, he sat up from the ground and pulled the string. He knew that as soon as he sat up in the grass, the creatures would surely sense him. He would have around 2 seconds to make a shot. Which is why, as soon as he sat up, he pulled the string with all of his might.
After only 1.5 seconds of sitting up, he let go of the arrow…