Dawn Architect

Chapter 30: Learning to Hunt

**POV: Eirlys**

'Big brother is very strict.' I still haven't recovered from the feeling of taking a life, and he is asking me to continue, but as if ignoring my inner complaint, I take two creatures that have almost the same appearance: some brown squirrels were cute and small I wanted to pet them, but I knew it wasn't the time not to mention that brother said not to be fooled of the appearance of the beasts as they are all dangerous. He asked us to notice which one is from a star and which one is a normal one.

During our training, big brother had taught us how to use the mana we all had once we woke up. Following what he taught us, I try to feel the beast. According to brother, the more mana you can feel from a creature, the more likely it is to be stronger.

I try to concentrate on the beasts and feel the mana they exude, but I can't feel anything. After a while, a boy raises his hand, points to a beast and says that's the strongest one. The older brother agrees and congratulates him, telling him to remember what he just felt, as it may save his life.

With a bit of urgency, I try to feel, but I can't. Another child raises his hand and says which is which, but the brother had already changed the position and the child misses. The brother says that this is not a guessing game and that it is about feeling.

Then more children manage to make it out, and the brother tests them to confirm that they are not guessing. After a while, even dumb Clayton could feel something. When there were only five of us kids left, including me, that's when I felt an energy around the beasts. One felt heavier and more intimidating.

With a little courage, I told my brother the option. He didn't hesitate and accepted my answer. I felt a little sad that I couldn't live up to my brother's expectations, but I wasn't discouraged and set out to do my best in what was to come.

When we finished, the next thing was, as brother mentioned, to kill a beast. So I mentally prepared myself to do that. When the brother called my name, I flinched, but I kept going. I followed what my brother said and scanned the beast with my senses. The brother said he would test us.

He won't tell us the rank of the beast and if we happen to attack a one star beast, he will put us to practice again. So I concentrated on the beast and felt that the mana it gave off was almost the same as the normal squirrel my brother had, and not the one-star beast. So I attacked. Brother told us, if we were really scared, to put mana on the shield.

So I did. At that moment, I could notice a strange symbol glowing on the inside of the shield. I didn't know what it meant, but just by seeing it, the fear subsided. Then, I felt something run down my arm that held the shield and spread throughout my body.

 At that moment, the fear went away and my head cleared. I was able to think of all the moves my brother taught me, and the moment the creature attacked me, I calmly blocked it with my shield and deflected its direction.

Leaving my side exposed, it was a wolf, and when it was left vulnerable, I attacked its neck. My mind was free of doubt, and my body followed my will as I wished. The actions that fear prevented me from doing, I could now perform without any problems.

I don't know what it is, but that energy and symbol probably had something to do with it. When I finished, the brother gave me a nod of approval. He was happy that I had succeeded. So it was the turn of the other children.

Some were able to kill a beast on their own, but others, for some reason, were more afraid and got hurt. The brother would give them a potion, and their wounds would heal immediately. For some reason, the brother would put his hand over the wounds, but it's probably to prevent blood from coming out or something.

With that, we got to the top of a small hill, the brother disappeared and ordered us to tidy up the place. After clearing the area, I set up a tent that looked easy to put up. On the other side, I saw Clayton struggling to set one up. One kid couldn't take it anymore and helped him.

Ignoring that, I continued to set up my tent, which I would share with big brother. At first he refused, but after I watched him for a while, he agreed. This is one thing that characterizes the brother. I just have to look at him silently for a long time, and he understands what I mean. You can say we are so close that I don't need to talk to him for him to understand me. After that, the night passed, and the next day, after a few last reminders from the brother, we set out to hunt on our own.

My group consisted of 5 people. They were all my subordinates that the brother left me in charge of. Among them was a girl who could be considered one of my best friends of the same sex named Misha. She is a very talkative person and has been part of our group for a few years now.

The rest are part of the children who joined after the older brother woke up. So we don't have such a strong relationship, but they follow all my instructions, or rather, they follow what Misha says. For some reason, just like my brother, they understand my intentions, and just looking at her is enough for her to understand what I want to convey given that I am not very good at speaking she is one of the reasons why I can be a good leader.

But I knew that in a situation like this I can't expect them to understand me tacitly, so I spoke up: "Be aware," I told them so they would be aware of their surroundings. After a while, we encountered a beast and after confirming that we could subdue it, we surrounded it and all of us attacked it. we also made sure not to get too close before scanning it in case it was too strong.

We kept going, and over time, we became more coordinated and killing beasts didn't need all of us to attack; one would distract it, and another would attack it from behind. We kept switching roles because the brother said we should all fight, and since we had to hunt all day, we made sure to take it easy.

At the end of the day, in total, I killed 7 beasts. The others did the same. Brother said our group did well and congratulated us. If we continue like this, I can be strong like big brother. With that resolution, I went to sleep.

 The next day, nothing unusual happened, only the number of beasts we hunted increased, as we were getting used to hunting beasts efficiently and even killed 1-star beasts, and the same was the third day, but. That night, brother warned us that from that time he would not interfere. It seems that brother has been keeping an eye on us and has saved the lives of other groups.

I had not noticed, as we had not been in danger. I was nervous, although I never thought of receiving my brother's help. But he said he would grant a wish to the one who hunted the most. I was excited. There was something I had always wanted to ask him for, but never had the courage. So I set out to hunt more than anyone else. I don't know how the brother will know who hunted the most, but I won't lose.