Kill Your Fear

Today was one of the days when they learned how to read and write. Every time, their teacher changed depending on who was available, and this time, it was their mother who took charge.

Ashen gained a new level of appreciation for the ladies here as he ran his fingers over the parchment and twirled the inked feather in his other hand.

These things were also produced by his big sisters, surprisingly, and just looking at the quality of the items, he could easily tell that they were the work of experts.

“...Men and women each have distinct roles in our big family.”

Banishing his wandering thoughts, he raised his head and focused on his mother’s words. She was doing another one of her lectures about how the division of labor was supposed to go in their tribe.

“The men are what we call the warriors of the tribe. Their responsibility is to fight the monsters and protect us, while the women’s responsibility is nurturing the next generation and giving our warriors peace of mind when they return weary.”

“Understood?”

““Yesss…””

With the children’s round of yeses, Lapis, who had been half-asleep by Ashen’s side, suddenly woke up and followed suit, much to his amusement.

“Alright~ this is all for today. You can go and play now… but don’t forget to do your homework!”

She called in a singsong tone as she watched them scramble away with renewed energy, knowing that barely anyone was listening anymore.

“Let’s play! I will be the great warrior, haa!”

“Cain, you will be the big monster!”

“Why me?! I want to be a great warrior too!”

“No~ you are the mean one~ you can only be a monster! Teehee~”

“I don’t want that…!”

…

…

◉◉◉

Ashen’s father, who was also the patriarch of this tribe, had been gone above ground for a while now, taking more than fifty warriors alongside him.

Ashen knew that they had gone to hunt for beasts since the meat inside the storage was dwindling to a dangerous level the last time he had peeked at it.

And when he woke up today and heard the commotion, he sighed in relief because he knew that his father was finally back.

After he rushed near the entrance, he was met with a wave of intense smell of blood and gore. Since he was used to much worse than this, he did not flinch, but every child peeking beside him had their faces turn pale.

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He continued watching as they dragged drained beast corpses in carts behind them, but had to tilt his head when he saw the contents of the last cart.

‘No… what are these doing here?’

They were things that Ashen knew very intimately, down to their very insides, from how much he had tangled with them.

‘Narkals…’

Unlike the beasts, they were still alive. Thankfully, they were shackled and gagged. But no matter how he racked his brain, Ashen could not figure out why they had been brought here.

Narkals were the sort of monsters that were more useless than flies. At least flies could serve as food for other animals and contribute to the food chain, but these guys couldn’t even be eaten.

Judging by the amount of mana he could feel from them, Ashen ranked them at the Wild Beast stage; the first and weakest of the stages of power attributed to the monsters.

That meant they couldn’t even serve as proper training partners for the warriors.

‘I wonder what this is about…?’

Ashen tilted his head in curiosity, but he did not have to wait long to receive his answer.

The next day, those very same shackled beasts were presented before the kids as they made their way to the training ground.

“Today, you will be using sharp weapons. Pick them from the rack and come here. Each of you will kill a monster.”

The patriarch’s impassive voice rang ruthlessly in their ears, making their already pale faces turn even paler.

“…”

“…”

No one dared to move.

Ashen looked around before taking slow steps toward the weapons. He figured he could demonstrate first and give a little courage to his fellow brothers.

Criikk…

He pulled out the short spear and moved steadily toward the biggest Narkal.

As he looked into its bloodthirsty eyes and felt the wave of bloodlust directed at him, he almost smiled pleasantly. It had been years since he had killed a Narkal, and if he was being honest, he was feeling a bit of withdrawal.

This one came at just the right time.

Without flourish, he took the spear in both hands and drove a simple thrust into the monster’s right eye.

“GUUHHRRR!!!”

“Hup—!”

The spear was pulled back, and a trailing line of blood followed, making some of the kids let out screams from the back.

Ashen watched the Narkal breathe its last before turning to his father.

“Good job, Ashen. You are very brave.”

“Yes, thank you, Dad.”

“Now, who is next? Any other brave warriors?”

The patriarch turned to look at the other kids with a provoking look, and Cain took the bait. With shaky legs, he moved to grab another spear and walked toward the second-largest beast.

It was clear from his expression that his competitive spirit had eclipsed his fear when he saw his biggest rival in love execute the task so easily and get praised for it.

“Don’t be afraid. They won’t be able to hurt you while they’re shackled,” the patriarch spoke gently. “Come now… these are the monsters that would kill your sisters and mother if left alone. What are you waiting for?”

Grip—!

“...These are the same monsters that constantly hurt your brothers when they go out to hunt…”

“Haah… haah… haaah…”

Cain’s face turned red as he did his best to move his spear, but it was as if invisible hands were gripping his limbs, not letting him do what he was supposed to.

“This is your enemy! Don’t hesitate. Don’t fear. Kill it without wavering and protect your tribe! Kill it if you want to be a great warrior!”

“Haah… haah… haaAAAAAAHHH—!!!”

With a cry that sought to expel all of his fear and disgust, Cain closed his eyes and drove the spear into the Narkal.

It hit the shoulder, making a shallow wound.

“Again. Open your eyes and aim well!”

“HAAAH!!!”

Grrrkkk!

“Aim for the eyes! That’s the weak spot!”

“HAAAH!!!”

Grrrkkk!

“One more time! It’s not dead yet.”

“HAAAAAAH!!!”

Grrrkkk!

Grrrkkk…

Grrrkkk…

Grrrkkk…

“That’s enough.”

“Haaah… agh… euuuughpp…”

As if he had been waiting for those words, Cain doubled over and threw up, tears and snot running down his face.

“Good job. You have just proved yourself as a brave warrior, Cain.”

“Y-yes… haaahh…”

The patriarch crouched down to pat his head once before straightening up again.

“Who is next?”

flinch—

That day, the training grounds were filled with the tears and wails of children as each one of them was forced to take a life for the first time in their lives.