《Hunting edge》


 Lin Feng

    In the forest to the south of Sector 26, a boy appearing to be in his teens was cutting firewood. He stood perfectly balanced on the lowermost branch of a sturdy tree and hit repeatedly with an axe on a dry and withered branch just above him. The sound of the axe hitting the tree was the only sound worth his notice. The sounds of the forest did not bother him at all. Neither was he bothered by the knowledge that a wolf hid in the bushes some thirty meters to his right.


    Pieces of wood kept flying as each hit landed with precision, widening the cut on the branch. Finally with a heavy stroke, the cut was deep enough. The branch fell under its own weight, raising a cloud of dust beside another bundle of firewood.


    Lin Feng jumped to the ground, his axe held in his right hand. His landing barely made a noise. He hummed a slow tune to himself as he kicked the fallen branch into position. He lifted one end of the branch and placed another piece of wood underneath. He began cutting the wood with long downward swings.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    His body appeared completely relaxed and engrossed in his work to the gray wolf hidden in the bushes. The hunting instinct of the wolf rose as it saw the back of the prey turned towards him. Rising cautiously to a crouch it took slow deliberate steps towards the prey. Its eyes were fixed upon its prey, upon its every movement. It did not even need to look below to avoid stepping on any dry leaves which would alert its prey. Having reached within striking distance it waited for the perfect moment. Just when Lin Feng''s axe struck the branch below it leaped with a short run to tear apart the neck of the prey with one ferocious bite.


    But what happened was far from its anticipation. Contrary to what the lone wolf thought, it was the one that had fallen into a trap. Lin Feng let go of the axe with his left hand and turned his body behind from his left. His left hand caught the midair wolf with an uppercut to his vulnerable middle. This attack launched the wolf into the air on the same spot and as he fell helplessly to the ground moments later, Lin Feng swung his wood chopping axe in a heavy downward swing. The wolf gave a miserable shriek as the swing caught the wolf square in the middle. It broke several of his ribs and nearly split him in two.


    The wolf lay groaning and twitching in pain as it waited for its death. The blow had broken his spine making him unable to move or escape. Lin Feng went back to cutting the firewood smiling to himself - "Guess we will have meat today."

 Old Man

    Lin Feng finished chopping up the fallen branch as the sun set. Darkness comes in sooner in forests because of the abundance of tall trees. Lin Feng made haste in gathering the small pieces of firewood. He tied them using rope which he had brought along. He placed the corpse of the wolf in a cloth. He placed the two bundles of wood upon his back and the dead wolf above them. With this done he set off towards his home at a jog. He was not afraid of the noise he made. Delay would be more problematic at this time than catching attention of a few animals.


    The part of the forest he was in did not have many dangerous beasts. Deers, wild buffaloes and chimpanzees were common but they did not attack if you left them alone. Occasionally he had come across bears, lone wolves (like the one he encountered today) and elephants but they were infrequent. Still over the years that he had been coming here, this was not the first wolf he killed. He was more afraid of snakes that came out of their holes in search of prey around this time. Many kinds of snakes could be found here. Not all of them were poisonous but Lin Feng hated them all the same.


    He had been bitten by a snake a few years ago. He remembered the agony of the pain spreading throughout his body slowly from the wound. He turned and twisted in agony. His body spasmed from the pain. He wished to lose consciousness but it did not happen. He had to suffer from all the agony. His old man found him later and took him home. On being told about the snake, he was shocked that a boy his age could survive a bite of black viper. From that day, Lin Feng was afraid of snakes and ran at the sight of them. His devious old man once tried to get rid of his fear of snakes by a unique method. He locked him for half a day in a small shack with four snakes. On opening the shack Lin Feng came out with the snakes all dead. He had killed them with his bare hands. Later his old man told him that the snakes were not poisonous.


    The snakes were not the only dangerous things that came out at night. Poisonous insects and mosquitoes also came out. Lin Feng jogged with a quick pace. Around fifteen minutes later, his house came in sight. It was a small hut at the edge of the forest. It had three rooms and two small shacks for storage. The walls were made with mud with thatched roofs. It had a bamboo fence two meters high all about the perimeter. There were no other houses nearby. The closest village was eight kilometers away where he made monthly trips for selling wild fruits in exchange for some living amenities.


    Lin Feng opened the gate and entered. Darkness had settled in by now and the house was in complete darkness. Lin Feng banged the inner wooden door and shouted - "Old man, I got meat today."


    Lin Feng kept banging the door until it opened. A large man with unkempt hair and beard opened the gate. His dress was shabby and dirty similar to Lin Feng. The wrinkles on his face were hardly hidden by his dense facial hair. He looked irritated and his eyes were red as if drunk. His right hand was in his pocket while his left sleeve drifted empty in the air due to absence of his left hand.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "I killed the old wolf that had been lurking near the lake," Lin Feng said as he stepped in and dropped his load in a corner.


    The old man gave a grunt as he went slowly to his bed and sat down taking a half finished liquor bottle in his hands. His mood did not look to have improved on hearing the news. He replied with a grave face - "Do your training first. I will take care of cooking today. I have got something to tell you later."


    Lin Feng looked greatly astonished at having heard more than a few grunts from his old man. He said, "Then I will train for another hour today. Don''t sleep halfway and burn the meat."


    The old man gave another grunt. Lin Feng went to the shack and came back with another axe. It was a head larger than his wood chopping one. The axehead and handle were forged from one piece of metal. It had a leather grip over the handle which was torn at places. The handle of the axe was bound with a thin rope to create a new grip. The edge of the blade was completely dull was puckered with marks. It must have looked quite intimidating when new thought Lin Feng as he brought it back held in his right hand.


    He kept the heavy axe down and took his own wood-chopping axe in his hands. He began by practicing single strokes while stationary and with some footwork - while taking a step forward, backward and to the sides. He practiced making strokes from up to down, left to right, right to left, diagonals and every possible angle in between. This had been devised by him himself. The old man only asked him to practice in six basic angles. But in his fights with animals he found out that during fights he seldom got to strike with one of those basic angles. While he had the most strength in those angles, it would just go to waste if he could not manifest it during a fight. So, he began practicing in all possible angles. It slowed his progress but he also felt it more useful for actual fighting.


    After practicing for half an hour, he began practicing his combos. First he began with two strikes: his second strike began as soon as the first one ended and the first strike flowed into the next one. He tried practicing all combos with all the angles too. But the combos were quite tiring and he could not get them all yet. He was panting and taking quick breaths by the time he finished with double combos.


    He took a sip of water and watched the old man getting the meat ready while he took a short rest. The old man had skinned the wolf by now. He placed the firewood in a pit and tied the skinned wolf over it. Then he set fire to the firewood to roast it.


    Lin Feng went back to his training as a slightly burnt smell began pervading the air. He practiced the three stroke combos now. One after another the three strokes seemed to meld into each other and would be difficult for any man or animal to evade from all three of them. But this practice was a short one. Lin Feng could not continue this for long. Placing his short axe to a corner, he took the larger axe in his hands. This axe was much heavier due to having a metal handle and a larger blade. He needed both his hands and even then he could not swing it well if held both hands on edge. He was forced to hold the axe with his left hand on the edge and the right hand on the middle of the handle. He began practicing with single strokes. His strokes were much slower now and were just meant for building strength. Although this axe might be much more lethal than his other one, it was useless if it was slow and could not hurt the enemy. So, as per the old man''s instruction, Lin Feng used the heavier axe only for building strength for now. One day he believed he would have as much strength as the old man and even wield the axe with one hand.

 A change of place(1)

    Lin Feng finished his practice by the time the meat was ready. The old man got the wolf meat off the fire and divided it into four portions. He served one each to himself and Lin Feng and stored the rest for later.


    They ate in silence beside the fire. The old man ate with all his attention on the food. Lin Feng was enjoying the beautifully roasted meat. He always loved the taste of the old man¡¯s cooking. He sent a few smiles in the old man¡¯s direction which he ignored.


    Remembering that the old man wanted to speak to him about something earlier, he asked - ¡°What was it that you wanted to say old man. If it is about your liquor, then I was planning to go to the village tomorrow.¡±


    The old man nodded without speaking gesturing that he would speak after he was done eating. After they both had finished eating, they cleaned up and later sat around the fire.


    ¡°Tomorrow is your thirteenth birthday,¡± said the old man while looking at the burning fire.


    ¡°Huh, is it.¡± Lin Feng gave an uninterested reply. He never kept track of dates or days. In the forests there was no use of these things.


    ¡°I want you to go to a big city and get enrolled in a Hunter academy.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Lin Feng was surprised. ¡°What is that ?¡±


    The old man sighed. ¡°It is a place for training people to become hunters. They will teach you to hunt animals, bigger animals, monsters. Didn¡¯t you wish to become strong like me ? I was a hunter before.¡± He mumbled to himself ,¡± I do not wish to destroy your future because of my past.¡±


    ¡°Bigger animals like tigers and bears!¡± Lin Feng said getting excited. ¡°I would love that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but much bigger ones too. The world is much bigger than you think.¡±


    Lin Feng looked on in wonder. The old man continued ¡°I will come with you. I have some work there too. Besides you can¡¯t reach Sector 4 by yourself. You would probably get lost getting out of this sector.¡±


    Lin Feng made a hurt face saying- ¡°I am not that ignorant.¡± But he felt reassured that he was going along with him.


    The old man said seriously ,¡± To get into an academy you will have to appear in its test. It has two parts theory and practical. Though you know nothing of theory, you should be able to do well in the practicals. Practicals would test your strength, endurance, power and potential.¡±


    ¡°You think I would be better than the others.¡± Lin Feng asked. He had not met others of his age and had no idea how he fared against them.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry kid. You will be just fine.¡± Lin Feng nodded. He continued ,¡±You will need to pay the academy fees. For earning money you can join the amateur arena.¡±


    ¡°What is an arena? ¡°


    ¡°It is like a big cage. People would pay for watching your fight. Just remember to not stand out too much. Actually use a mask and a nickname.¡±


    ¡°Why would I use a mask?¡±


    Old man did not answer. He continued ,¡±Now the most important thing. Do not take any PED.¡±


    ¡°What is peed?¡± Lin Feng asked again. Then seeing him drifting off to sleep. ¡°Hey, answer me, hey!¡±


    Seeing him feigning sleep, he cursed under his breath. He knew that he would get no further answers.


    Lin Feng too curled up and lay down to sleep beside the fire.