Chapter 33: Life Catch for Big Profits

For the next six days, Ki Jung leaves the safety of the city each day right after she breakfast to would return in time to enjoy the evening meal. Sometimes she immediately returns, following dinner, to her room to bathe, experiment with her Qi, meditate, and sleep. Other times, she enjoys a couple of glasses of wine while listening to music, stories, or news that traveling bards provide.

Each time she leaves the city, she has her spatial backpack equipped, her sword at her waist, and spear in hand. She takes off and high speed, searching for beasts to farm for experience and to sell.

On her first day out, she runs in an outwardly expanding spiral. As she is running, she is noticed by a hawk flying high above. She doesn’t focus on it, though she was aware of it. She is busy seeking beasts on the ground. That first day, she doesn’t find much. Mostly she finds smaller creatures, though she does catch and kill a few.

Upon her return, she makes a stop at the Inn to ask if any of the three creatures were worth anything. Mr. Jonshon, the Inn Keeper, looks them over and lets her know that they were worth some gold but alive they are worth even more.

With this revelation, Ki Jung asks where she might obtain cages for transporting living creatures. Once she has the answer, she takes off to the market to purchase four of them. She will attach them to her backpack so that she can capture live specimens in the future.

After she purchasing the cages, she heads to the shop that Mr. Jonshon indicated would be the best one to approach. The shop owner buys them for two gold each, and lets her know if she could bring live specimens back, he would pay five gold each.

That taken care of, Ki Jung heads back to the Inn, enjoys her evening meal while conversing with Mr. and Mrs. Jonshon when they have the time. After that, she returns to her room, bathed, and gets started on her nightly routine.

The second day starts much like the first. The exception is that the hawk notices her again, and flies lower so Ki Jung can’t miss seeing it. When she finally pays attention to it, she reaches out with her Qi and instantly recognizes the hawk when the connection is made. An eye-blink later, she realizes that the hawk is circling a nest of small animals like those she’d captured the previous day.

Soon, she has five of the adult creatures in one of her cages. She left a breeding pair with their young with the idea that it would be best to leave them alive to repopulate. Killing the golden goose is never a good idea.

To thank the hawk, which she decides to call Sharp Eyes, she offers it one of the many young. Instead of accepting it, Sharp Eyes moved to her shoulder and rubbed its head and beak against the side of her head. Without thinking, Ki Jung reaches up and strokes its head and cere (that’s the fleshy part between the head and beak). Sharp Eyes enjoyed the attention and made happy sounds. In time, she shortens the Hawks name to Sharpie.

A moment later (a piece of trivia: a moment is 45 seconds and dates back to Shakespearean times and before), Sharp Eyes takes off as Ki Jung starts her outward spiral again. Via the Qi link, she lets her feathered friend know she is looking for bigger game, too. With this knowledge, Sharp Eyes flies up to 500 meters to assist her in hunting larger prey. Sadly, there isn’t much close by. This is likely due to the other hunting parties within 100 km of the city.

On a more positive note they find and captured a few more types of smaller creatures. None of these were cuddly animals that would be pet material. Back home, any of these would have shredded a badger or similar animal with laughable ease.

Some of them were similar to wolverines, with the teeth of a piranha and curved claws reminiscent of the Philipino Karambit blade. Another was like the Frilled Lizard, but it spits a contact poison as a means of attack and defense. This lizard lacks sharp claws, but its teeth are serrated and curved slightly backward making it difficult for prey to escape. The final little beastie she captures is similar to a weasel. Its teeth have the hardness of granite, it has a secondary fur like very fine hairs that break off in the flesh of anything that attempted to grab hold of it. Thus, if something bit it anywhere but its soft bare belly, the aggressor, would find itself with a mouthful of barbed spines. While these spines were not poisonous, they cannot be removed. More often than not, the creature would die of starvation or become prey to the weasel-like animal. With her Body like Iron, Ki Jung is immune to this defense.

In each case, Ki Jung handles the animals by stunning them and shoving them into the cages she purchased to transport live specimens. Each cage has a spell formation that puts any living creature into a state of suspended animation once inside.

She thanks her friend, who stays with her as she returned to the city. The guards do a double-take upon noticing Sharp Eyes. The Silver Hawk is a ferocious animal that is capable of shredding a man with little difficulty. There were tales in abundance about the terror known as a Silver Hawk. In fact, they were so feared that a concerted effort had been made to hunt them out of existence within 250km of the city. To see one here was like seeing a demon from the Hells strolling through the gates.

What surprises them, even more, is how oblivious this young woman is to the danger it represents. She is actually petting it, and it sits on her shoulder cooing in response! Dumbfounded, the guardsman in charge of the gate, carefully approaches Ki Jung.

“Honored Miss, do you know what that is you have on your shoulder?”

Ki Jung looked at him as she continued caressing her friend and said, “This is my friend Sharp Eyes. He assists me in hunting. Why? Is there a problem?”

“Yes, and no, Miss. That is a Silver Hawk. They are deadly and ferocious. They were hunted to the last one within 250 km of the city due to their aggressive and territorial behavior. At one time it was impossible to go out in the surrounding area without being attacked by one. Anyone who becomes a target of a Silver Hawk is either severely wounded, often maimed for life, or killed,” the guardsman stated.