Minutes before the lightning

Two men, one in his late teens and the other one twenty years older, were hiding behind a thick and tall bush. The younger man had a bow in hand and a quiver on his back, while the older one carried a few shortswords on his waist.

In front of them, about 500 feet, was a wild boar with bone spikes growing out of its back, from the neck up to the tail.

The teen took an arrow from the quiver and put the nick of the arrow on the string as his eyes remained on the animal.

“Now, Louie, do you remember what I told you about wild boars?” whispered the older man.

The teen nodded.

“What?”

“Wild boars are powerful magical beasts, fast, easily enraged, and dangerous when in groups. This one is of average size, has around 20 spikes, which means he’s stronger than Gold Rank, but the end of the tail didn’t grow spikes yet, no signs of immediate evolution either, so quite a long way to Black Rank. I believe he is in the Gold Black Rank early stage. Maybe a recent breakthrough?”

The man nodded in satisfaction. “And?”

“The spikes are very dangerous, the small little hooks at the end can tear into flesh and cause some serious damage, cripple if you’re unlucky. Even an Emerald Rank must be cautious when meeting a few Black Rank boars. Oh, and the tail, their long tail is a very dangerous weapon, especially if they are Black Rank.”

The man smiled and proudly slapped the teen a few times on the back. “I’m glad to see my effort didn’t go to waste. If you keep it like this, our village will soon have another top-tier hunter. Now, how do you plan to bring it home?”

The teen lifted his bow and strained the string, aiming for the boar. A gold hue enveloped the arrow as wisps of gold energy came from his fingers, slowly whirled around the shaft until they concentrated at the tip of the arrow.

“Aim for the neck, about a palm down from the spine,” said Louie as he pulled the string even further and released.

Swish!

The arrow cut through the air, heading towards the boar. No normal human could see the arrow, let alone react to its lethal speed. However, the boar moved right when Louie released the arrow. It was still a hit, but the upper front leg was far from the best spot for a kill.

The wild boar screeched, looked at the teen, and rushed towards him as gold energy with black strands surrounded the animal. The black energy was particularly prominent around the spikes and sharp tusks, but the gold one was dominating.

Louie rushed from behind the bush, a golden hue surrounded him, and ran to the side. The boar followed. The teen shot another arrow, then another one, a third one. He shot arrows one after another as the distance between the two shrunk. Yet no arrow pierced the boar's tough hide.

The older man kept his distance but followed the action, ready to intervene at any moment if necessary.

It took only seconds until the boar was close enough to Louis to hit him.

The teen dodged the boar’s initial charge to the side. Then he shot another arrow. The animal was just 7 feet away. At this distance, his aim was impeccable as the arrow, engulfed in gold energy far brighter than any before, hit the boar right between its eyes.

However, gold and black energy converged right at the point of impact like armor, deflecting the arrow.

“Tsk!” Louie clicked his tongue.

He was panting but didn’t have time to rest. The boar attacked him once again. Louie jumped 11 feet in the air and over the animal to avoid its sharp tusks. He grabbed three arrows from the quiver and shot them all at the same time.

“Not good,” said the older man.

The boar screeched in pain as one of the arrows penetrated its hide. Enraged, gold and dark energy concentrated at the end of its tail. And as Louie was about to land, the tail struck him right in the chest like a wrecking ball.

Crack!

“Ahh!” The teen flew 20 yards away and stopped into a tree. He broke a couple of ribs despite trying to protect himself with his own energy. His back wasn't any better from the impact with the tree.

The boar charged once again. Louie was in severe pain and he could barely breathe. He wanted to get out of the way, to get up, but sharp stings spread from his chest. He fell back down.

“Fuck!” If the boar hit him, he would die, but Louie wasn’t afraid. He was disappointed. Even if the wild animal was a rank higher than him, it was just by a small margin. He shouldn’t have lost, let alone be an utter defeat.

He looked at the charging boar and only saw one arrow sticking out of its back. The one in its leg had long since fallen.

Bang!

The older man, enveloped in dense black energy, now stood where the wild boar had been. His posture betrayed that he had just kicked the animal.

“That’s a Black Rank for you,” said Louie as he followed where the animal landed. 

The boar staggered to its feet. The energy it had charged towards Louie just moments ago was gone. However, the man didn’t wait. He rushed towards the animal and stepped on the boar. The animal struggled to free itself but to no avail. It didn’t match the man’s strength.

He took a knife from his waist. Bend down, now keeping the boar down with his knee. He grabbed the boar's tusks with his free hand to forcefully stop the animal from struggling.

"Shhh! It's okay. Everything's okay,” said the man as he tried to soothe the animal. “I’m sorry, but this is how we put food on our table.” The man then painlessly ended the boar’s suffering with a single stab.

With that, the man stood up and approached the teen, took out a greenish pill, and gave it to him. The teen swallowed it and soon he felt better. Warmth spread through his body, healing his bones, not completely, but enough to walk.

“How are you feeling?” asked the man.

“I’ve been better.” Louie stood up with a grimace. He was still in pain.

“Pay attention not to strain yourself for the next week. Now, what was your mistake?”

“I left myself exposed when I jumped.”

“Mm-hmm! Their backs are a weakness indeed, but that doesn’t mean we have to put ourselves in danger to exploit it. Do you remember where you jumped?”

“Right there.” The teen pointed out the exact location.

“What do you see?”

The question took Louie by surprise. He looked at the spot but couldn't see anything special. He couldn’t understand what his mentor was referring to. There was just some grass and a couple of trees, some further than others. But the answer eluded him.

After a couple of moments of silence, he still couldn’t figure it out.

“There is a tree 10 feet from there.”

“But boss Weller, didn’t you say that shooting from the tree would deter them from fighting and would run away?”

“That doesn’t mean we can’t use them. Jumping was a good idea, but jumping over, not so much. You should have baited the boar next to the tree and once you jump, use it to propel yourself further out of the danger zone.”

Louie fell into a moment of contemplation. “Oh, I understand. I should have jumped up, shot my arrows, then used the tree to jump horizontally. That makes sense,” the teen said.

“That's why I always say to be aware of your surroundings. Well considering it was your first time fighting a boar, a higher rank at that, I think you did well,” said the man with a smile.

BOOM! A thunderous boom filled the entire forest as a flash of light covered the afternoon sky.