Nolan wasn't hungry yet, but he knew not to underestimate this primal desire of humans.
Once it reached its peak... one began to get desperate, and there was no saying what one would do in that state. So, at the very least, he wanted to have a way to tackle this situation.
He wasn't really worried about water, as there was plenty of it right beside him.
'I know what to hunt... now the real question is how to hunt?' he thought, pondering over this question over and over again.
Tens of meters away toward his left, a herd of boars was munching on the mushroom stems. There were about fifteen to twenty members in this herd.
Cubs, the smallest and weakest members of this herd, were his target today. Although these boars' cubs were weak, that was only when compared to their adult counterparts.
Nolan was sure that if he were to wrestle with them, it would be very obvious who would taste dirt.
'If I throw spears from here, then I could do it... But what if I fail? How would I go and retrieve them?' Summoning the ember, he began thinking of a way to hunt them from this distance.
Turning the sword into a spear, he looked at it and tried to weigh it. It wasn't that heavy, and Nolan was pretty sure he could throw it with enough speed to impale the cubs from his position.
But the problem remained… not only would he lose the spear, the herd would be on alert as well… Unsummoning the Ember, he was about to think of another way when something clicked inside him.
"Wait... a damn minute... can't I do it like that?" Whispering, he summoned the ember back.
Turning it into a spear, he aimed it toward the trunk and threw it with all the force he could muster. Moving with incredible speed, the spear reached the trunk and lodged itself deep into it.
'Shiit... what type of material is this thing made of?' Nolan had expected an output like this, but still, he was impressed with how sharp and strong the tip of the spear was.
'Now comes the fun part... will it work or not?' Thinking, he thought something.
Something changed in front of him, as his lips curled into a smile.
'It happened... it really happened.'
Looking at the tree, the only thing he found there was a deep hole—the spear had disappeared into thin air.
Grinning, Nolan tried summoning the ember, and just like usual, a sword appeared in his hand. Turning it into a spear, this time instead of throwing it toward the tree, he aimed at the ground and threw it.
Woossh!
Slicing through the air, the spear moved with incredible speed.
Nolan looked at it for a few seconds, and just before it was about to hit the ground, he called it back. Right in its track, the spear turned incorporeal before disappearing altogether.
It can disappear while moving as well... this is great... Licking his lips, he made sure there was no mistake.
With this last test, Nolan made sure that if his aim diverted from the original target, he could call it back before alerting the herd.
Now everything was ready.
It was time to hunt.
Summoning the spear in his hand, he aimed at the cub and was about to throw the spear when,
Caw! Caw!...
...the crow cawed and broke his immersion.
"This fucker!!" Gritting his teeth, he ignored the bastard and aimed at the cub once again. About to throw, but the crow cawed at the last moment once again.
Caw! Caw!...
Enraged, he turned and aimed the spear at it. Without any hesitation, he threw it... only for the crow to fly away at the last moment and then sit on top of the spear handle.
'This bastard is definitely playing with me...' Unsummoning, he was about to aim at the bird again, but stopped as he found it flying away from the tree.
Looking at it, he whispered under his breath, "Go... go away and never come back if you love your life."
With nothing to distract him anymore, Nolan focused on the cub again. Aiming at its torso, he brought his hand back and threw the spear with everything he had.
Slicing the air apart, the spear flew quickly toward the cub.
The distance between him and the cub was more than enough, but the speed at which the spear traveled was incredible as well. Because of all this, Nolan was left with not more than a few seconds of time to make a decision.
Whatever he wanted, to let it continue going or to unsummon it.
Paying his absolute attention to the spear, he clicked his tongue, 'Tsk! It's not aimed perfectly...'
The spear had moved a few meters away from the target and was now heading toward an adult boar.
He could let the spear continue moving, but the hide of the monster looked extremely tough; therefore, he didn't want to take any chances. Shaking his head, he quickly unsummoned it.
Heeding his words, the ember disappeared without leaving a trace in the air. His plan worked perfectly as the herd wasn't alarmed at all.
"Here goes nothing..."
Straining his arms, he threw the spear for the second time. Once again, the spear moved with incredible speed, but soon enough, the result was obvious.
It wasn't going toward the cub either, so he called it back again. The third and fourth times were the same as well. Feeling his arm sore from the continuous strain, he felt there wasn't any try left in him as well.
He had to finish in the next two tries.
'Let's calm down first... my aim wasn't this bad... Just focus!!' Letting a puff of air out, Nolan calmed himself. Taking a deep breath, he looked at the cub with side eyes.
The cub was still there, eating around without suspecting a thing in the world. It was totally unaware of the hunter above deciding its fate at that very moment.
Gritting his teeth, Nolan threw it, and the spear flew through the air like a sharp arrow, spinning fast and cutting the wind. Whistling, it came down, aiming straight at its target.
With a loud thud, it struck the cub right in the stomach, sinking deep. The force drove it further, pinning the cub to the ground as the spearhead buried itself in the dirt.
A smile appeared as he heard something whispering, announcing his kill.
[You have killed a Tainted Primor, Grallith's Spawn]
Seeing a cub killed out of nowhere, the boars panicked and began jumping. They quickly scattered in random directions, trying to save their own skin.
"Bingo... tonight we feast," Nolan whispered as he watched the herd scatter.