Some time has passed since the battle. Torin stopped Brakk’s bleeding with the leather clothes they had, and despite a lot of blood having already been lost he seemed to survive if barely.

  Raskar woke up soon after the battle as well, he was completely fine except for his jaw. Which hurt a lot and made it painful to talk.

  Despite the troubles their tattered team ate their fill and then finally surfaced. The Fluvian kid, having his eyes covered by a rag, was at the front, with Torin right behind him and Dashura alongside Raskar supporting the hobbling Brakk.

  After all, the kid obviously didn’t want to die and he could hardly escape blind so he was a good enough guide to walk them out of the closest Fluvian’s grounds.

  After walking west for an hour or two they were finally in a semi safe range. After a short rest just enough to catch their breaths they continued even further west.

  This continued late into the night, till Torin finally stopped them declaring that they put enough distance for the day.

  The kid, when questioned, also informed them that there were other villages a day’s or so distance away from them both north and northeast and that they should already be near the island's edge.

  His words proved accurate as by the next day they had reached what must’ve been the massive ‘floating’ landmasses edge, the view opening up to the vast visage not unlike the one they saw from just outside the abyss.

  Now came the question of what to do with the kid. Simple, really. It was just a resource and a resource needed to be exploited to its fullest potential…

  ***

  “Kill him” Torin ordered Dashura.

  He took note of how she was slightly opposed to killing during the big-eyes feast and that this was the right time to fix it.

  She hesitated, her hand shaking slightly.

  “I will”

  she tentatively agreed. ‘Some things are uncomfortable and you just have to do them’ She justified in her head while exhaling a deep breath.

  “I’ll do it when he’s asleep”

  Torin just looked her in the eyes. “Now”

  “But what if he makes a loud noise or runs away?” She uncomfortably squirmed.

  “Okay, okay I’ll do it” she responded after another quiet moment.

  ***

  And so another young life full of potential and wonder was extinguished… And in its stead a spark for killing was created

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  One that may later turn into a blazing flame that consumes all…

  ***

  And so time passed. Another camp was made, shelter and a water source was found. With food being easy enough to secure with all the various roots, small game and berries they had enough free time to get stronger and get stronger they did.

  Torin got fascinated by the Fluvians spear martial arts. Previously he didn’t even consider that the spear could be used that way. At the end of the day, when you fight a beast all that matters is positioning, dodging and stabbing.

  But when fighting humanoids skill of a greater degree was evidently the more important factor.

  Just the way Raskar was dispatched was more akin to an art than a crude killing move, not to mention the Fluvian managed to leave Torin wide open multiple times and he would have been dead before long if not for the number advantage.

  The first thing he attempted was trying to imitate the flowing style of combat. Let the momentum of the spear carry him into the next move and then the next and the next.

  At first it felt quite awkward, his body not used to this weird style of combat, tripping and unbalancing multiple times in the process until he finally got it just right, still a poor imitation of the Fluvian’s skill but better than before.

  Right foot forward, thrust the spear with both hands followed by left foot and slashing the spear diagonally downwards then right foot forward once more and bringing the spear upwards in a slight arc.

  *Whooosh*

  ‘That’s more like it’ he thought to himself.

  But fighting empty air won't do and the only other spearman in their group was Raskar so he was up for quite a bea.. I mean a busy month and so they trained together from then on…

  *Sigh* Brakk was deep in thought for once. He performed arguably the worst in the battle. He couldn't even take out a half dazed opponent.

  And what does that mean? Does that mean abandoning his fists? ‘No! Never! I'll do whatever the fuck I want!’ a wave of anger overcoming him.

  But weakness is still the greatest sin according to Torin. So it was time to make his fists stronger and better by… Repeatedly hitting a tree.

  Yes, over and over. Till his skin tears, till his hands bleed, till he can't lift his bloody stumps no more.

  And what this will do, unbeknownst to Brakk, was condition the bones and muscles for punching while also refining his technique so that he can instinctually punch with his whole body.

  Not just using his arm muscles but using his back, his core, his legs, his whole momentum to deliver a blow with all his weight.

  This is a good example of how intuition surpasses understanding. For example how sapient species first figured out how to crossbreed plants only to understand why that worked later. Same with domestication or lets say fire.

  A sapient being's soul is profound and mysterious, even their very predecessors with limited knowledge achieved exceptional results.

  And when you think about it from another viewpoint it all made sense. You have two plants that are good so you obviously are going to breed them because they will make better baby plants.

  Or in the case of Brakk, if you punch enough you will naturally become better at punching without needing to know why.

  And now only our dear Dashura was remaining.

  Achieving more with a slingshot was hard and impractical in the short term. The aim was good enough, and it's not like you could magically increase its damage output.

  So the thing she ended up picking up was dagger and short axe throwing. Alongside some basic experience on how to use said daggers and axes in close quarters combat.

  Ultimately it's not a given that her frontline will be able to keep her safe all the time.

  Not to mention different masteries might prove crucial in certain circumstances whatever they might be…