Chapter 2: Pond
Ricky had no idea what he was looking at.
It looked like two tree trunks had grown up, curved toward each other, and, in the end, created a wooden archway. But the shocking part wasn't the tree.
Ricky had seen many crooked and creative trees while exploring the woods around the village.
No, it was what was within the wooden archway that had Ricky's eyes wide like saucers and his jaw touching the ground. He had never seen anything like it.
The light blue, shimmering and slowly spinning vortex looked like a pond. But it was upright. And for some reason, Ricky could tell that it wouldn't feel like water if he touched it.
Despite the clarity of the blue color, Ricky couldn't see through it, either. It was nothing like water. It was just that Ricky didn't even know what to compare it with.
However, he was forced to sharpen up when the not-pond pond rippled and something protruded from the surface.
Ricky frowned as he looked at it.
It was a green, vaguely human-like being. It had a small head, pointy and slightly upturned nose, sharp ears, narrow eyes, pouting belly, thin limbs, and nothing but a loin cloth to cover itself.
Ricky's heart ached.
"H-hey! Are you okay?"
He called out to the clearly very ill, sick, malnourished, and inbred person.
The person turned their head to look at Ricky, who stepped through the bush.
"Krik?"
They tilted their head with a chattering sound.
"D-do you understand me?"
Ricky hesitated as the person looked very skeptical. But maybe that was just how they looked naturally.
"Giek?!"
The grass-green non-child pointed at Ricky with a sharp, long, and dirty nail as it exclaimed in something Ricky could only understand as outrage.
Ricky was confused and then shocked when the sick non-human lunged at him. Surprised, Ricky didn't defend himself and got pushed to the ground as the aggressive being dug its claws into his chest.
'What?!'
In a panic, Ricky defended himself and pushed the non-human off himself before it could do more damage. Ricky winced and looked down at his chest after standing up. The non-human had gotten through his clothes and drawn blood.
Ricky looked up and glared at the non-human who started moving toward him again.
"What's wrong with you?! I'm trying to help!"
"Krrik!"
The non-human lunged again.
Ricky frowned.
"If this is how you're going to act…"
Ricky met the non-human's lunge with a kick to the chest. The only attribute it won over Ricky in was its ferocity.
Ricky was taller, faster, and stronger. He was also smarter.
That's why after kicking the thing backward, he retrieved the shovel that he used to dig up herbs and roots.
He grabbed and held the shovel like a dagger.
The non-human was hostile, rabid, and couldn't understand him. It was nothing more than a wild animal. It was a strange one for sure, but it was as good as a wild animal.
That meant he could hunt it without staining his consciousness.
Ricky took a deep breath.
He hadn't actually hunted or killed anything bigger than a rabbit before. And that one had been half-dead after getting caught in a trap. He wasn't sure what to do with this rabid child-like but inhuman creature.
But since it looked like a human, albeit with a few diseases, he had an idea.
Ricky tried to play it slow since he remembered his father's advice of hunting being a game for the patient.
However, when the non-human charged again, he flung his hand forward and thrust the shovel at the hand, which he noticed only had two fingers and a thumb.
The shovel pierced the non-human's palm.
"EEIK!"
Ricky flinched at the scream that escaped its surprisingly powerful vocal cords.
The non-human glared at Ricky and continued charging.
Ricky gulped.
Adrenaline rushed through his veins. His pupils dilated before shrinking and everything but the non-human disappeared from his sight and mind.
Ricky took a step forward to meet the non-human instead of continuing to retreat. His hand accompanied his foot forward, and the shovel snaked past the non-human's short and scrawny arms, piercing the creature's shoulder.
It let out another pained shriek.
Ricky didn't like that it was so obviously in pain.
His father had told him that hunting wasn't done for joy. It was a necessity. There was nothing crueler than purposefully extending a prey's suffering. If he could, he should always seek to make the kill as merciful and pain-free as possible.
That was why he aimed for the non-human's throat next.
Even if it had a body and internal structure like a human, Ricky's shovel wasn't enough to pierced its heart or its head. The only spot on its body that would kill it in a short time that Ricky could target was the throat.
However, targeting and hitting were two different things. The latter was especially difficult with two flailing arms in his face.
Ricky felt the scratches on his body and face. But he didn't feel the pain. It was like his sense of pain had grown numb.
And finally, he managed to push the blunt shovel blade into the non-human's throat, drawing a thick spout of green blood when he yanked it out.
"G-ulgk-ik?"
The non-human coughed up a mouthful of blood as it looked down at its blood-soaked hands and body in confusion. Then, it fell over.
Ricky sighed in relief.
He had killed—no. He had hunted the non-human.
Ricky slumped to the ground on his ass and panted.
He couldn't remember moving that much. But he was exhausted and out of breath. His sense of pain also started returning, and he could vividly feel all the scrapes he had acquired during his fight with the creature.
"Ahh…Shit."
Ricky looked at his torn shirt.
"Mom's not going to like this."
Ricky sighed again and rested for a moment.
Although he kind of wanted to fall asleep, he knew he shouldn't do it right now, right here.
He knew from the amount of footprints that there was more than one such creature, not to mention the wild animals in the forest. He should start getting back before another escaped the pond or night fell.
With heavy steps, Ricky made his way back to the village.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone