A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor

Chapter 70  Blades and Blood - Part 1

They soon neared the forest.

"Hey, let's go deeper today," Nila said, seeming to forget what Beam had said about being in a rush.

Beam bit back an angry response, before realizing that they'd need to go deeper anyway, because he'd already taken up most of the dead-standing trees from his previous area. He wasn't sure that there were any more.

"Nice!" Nila said excitedly. "If I get a deer, you'll be able to carry it back on the sled, won't you?"

Beam nodded grimly.

"Hey, cheer up," Nila said, jabbing his arm. She was the very opposite of him in spirits – everything was going well for her currently, and right now, she could hunt all she wanted. Even with a miserable companion, she felt on top of the world. "I'll give you a deer leg for your help. What do you think? Sounds pretty good, right?"

"…" Beam hesitated to reject her, for fear of sounding like more of a child than he already had, so he just shook his head without saying anything and pushed further along the path.

They walked for longer than Beam had intended, as he found himself lost in gloomy thought, letting his feet do the work. Nila was humming happily as she led them deeper and further to the east than they had been before.

By the time Beam looked up, the trees had gotten considerably wilder and the evidence of humanity was much less prominent.

"Hah… I can't believe we came so far," Beam said, scratching his head, only just now realizing the distance they had covered n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Nila giggled. "I know! It's great right? I'm sure we'll be able to catch a deer here without too much trouble."

"…Yeah, that or a bear. Please don't get attacked by a bear. I don't have the energy for that right now," Beam said lethargically, as he pulled himself out of the handle behind his sled and set it against a tree.

"Tschh, are you still underestimating me?" Nila fumed. "I'm the best hunter in this village! I'm not going to get done in by a bear – I'll stay far away from any, until I feel like hunting them for the fur."

"Alright then," Beam said, unhooking his axe from his belt, as he began looking for wood to chop.

"I'm really going to need your help if I find a deer, y'know? I'm not going to be able to move the body on my own," Nila said, looking troubled, as though she didn't believe that Beam would really go out of his way to help her.

"Relax. After yesterday, in my mind, there's already a deer that needs dealing with. I don't anticipate seeing you fail," he said, as he found his first tree and knocked on its trunk to make sure it wasn't rotten.

"Right!" Nila said with a sunny smile, as she waved goodbye and went scampering into the woods.

"Hah…" Beam sighed, watching her go. "…I really need to get this strategy problem sorted," he told himself. "I'm acting so miserable, it's embarrassing."

He took his axe and hit the tree with more force than he normally might, venting his frustration with repetitive strikes. Wood chips flew as he made the wedge in the wood wider and wider, and before he knew it, the tree was already falling down.

"Shit…" He cursed, seeing it topple over before he'd intended to fell it. He usually liked to just chop half way through the tree then pull it down the rest of the way himself. That was usually the best way to avert something going wrong. Letting it free fall like this was dangerous, at least in his eyes, and the falling tree only just narrowly missed his sled.

"I need to wake up," he told himself, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. He attempted to take notice of as much of his surroundings as he could. Training what Dominus had been attempting to teach him.

He opened his eyes again, resolving to stay as alert as he could as he worked. "Even if I'm falling behind in strategy, it doesn't mean I should miss the opportunities to train everything else when I've got time for it," he said to himself, looking for a cluster of trees that he could thread the log he'd felled into and begin snapping it into smaller pieces.

"Hmm… Maybe there?" He guessed, spying a cluster that seemed like it might serve his purpose. He heard a bird rustle behind him. A dark crow. It eyed him for a few seconds, before cawing and flying away. Beam smiled, pleased that he'd been able to notice the creature, despite his focus being elsewhere.

"H-H-HELP!!" A cry came from deeper in the woods. Beam didn't need his perception skill to notice that. His eyes narrowed with the utmost seriousness, as life returned to them. Where before, earlier in the morning, they had been a dull mess of grey, reflecting the troubles of his heart. Now, the grey was replaced by green and blue as they danced with golden flecks, full of danger.

He cracked his axe into the side of the log he'd felled, leaving it behind. In his place, he drew the knife that he'd bought for Dominus. It was razor sharp now, and he'd managed to work a few of the chips out of the blade – it was a lethal weapon for true.

He sprinted towards the noise, his pathfinding skill more an instinct now – he didn't have to think as he ran ahead. His new agility spurred him onwards, as he did his strength. He bounded across the steep terrain, clearing ditches where streams had once run, moving with all the grace of a deer.

The cry for help did not sound again, not as Beam ran. He didn't know whether that was a good sign or a bad one, nor did he think to consider it. His mind was clear, ridden of all the thoughts of that day's problems, of all the worries of his strategy progress. Now, he was simply primed for a fight.

My guy Beam is grumpy. Rough. This is why we invented coffee, y'know?