Chapter 29

Aidan smiled at his friend's uncertainty and patted Natsu on the shoulder.

- You are not funny, if you don't want, you can come back. I will take off the skins and salt them, and the meat can be given to the guild, ours will devour everything!

Natsu laughed and seemed to immediately forget everything:

- Okay! I understood you! It's time to hunt!

"Ha, this is the spirit ..." After following the fleeing boy, Aidan felt like an adult again, even though he was not really a much older boy.

"Well, there is already a sister, the second is somewhere far away ... Now I have found my brother, a glorious life" - looking into the clouds, Aidan chuckled and remembered Ultear. His fist involuntarily clenched, even if he did not feel any love or affection, he still wanted to see his sister, he wanted to rid her of the darkness, even if they were completely alien.

"Hah, what a hero, dead boars would have laughed, as it is in our, human ..." - with a sad sigh, Aidan began to hunt. He had gotten used to it over the last month, but after each murder he felt a strange change in his perception of the world. That is why, even now, he was not at all thrilled with this idea. Only, as he said, the boars will be killed anyway, it is better to do everything yourself, and not run away. Well, if Natsu stayed, that's his right.

*

The Eastern Magnolia Forest was a rather dangerous place for ordinary people. Therefore, residents usually did not meddle in those places unnecessarily. In extreme cases, when especially dangerous animals appeared, the city hired magicians from Fairy Tail and they quickly dealt with problems. Forest Volcanoes also sometimes bothered, but these animals most often lived in pairs and did not conflict, while loners sometimes could become insolent, but then the magicians usually drove them away. The wild boars that Aidan and Natsu hunted this time were also quite dangerous animals. Fanged creatures more than a meter at the withers, even for a hunter, are quite large prey. Of course, for the magician, this is just a minor problem. The boars, among other things, huddled in flocks, most often with the leaders. Quite typical behavior for simple boars, for these, including.

Aidan felt life throughout the forest, small animals mostly, simple plants he easily ignored. For a life mage, tracking down large prey was much easier than for ordinary hunters. Only, the problem was still poor understanding. Aidan still could not really distinguish a wolf from a boar, and this time he was not particularly lucky, having met such a flock, he had to quickly fight back.

Three wolves only had time to rush at the little boy, hidden by a hood, when a hail of ten icicles flew in their direction. After a short howl, the wolves simply died. Aidan sighed and without another word went in search of the boars. He may not like killing, but if someone decided to die, he will not stop them!

An hour later, Aidan had already finished off a dozen brown boars. Basically, he just looked for strong life auras and then quietly looked out for targets. If it turned out to be bears or wolves, or maybe someone unfamiliar, he simply ignored them and went on to the goal. There were no more problems on the way, he killed the boars quickly and accurately, leaving them no chance of escape.

Two hours later, the guy had a decent number of animals on his account, already surpassing the second dozen.

Having somehow collected everyone in a heap, the guy finally started cutting them up. The experience was already there, and he stocked up with salt not so long ago. The rest of the processing of the skins can already be left to the hunter.

As he was about to take it apart from the first carcass, Aidan began to remember something important ... About something forgotten.

"Hmm, if you think so ... Wait a minute! Natsu! " - putting the knife aside, the guy thoughtfully scratched the back of his head:

"Is he alive? Damn, I seem to have gone further from the beginning of the forest and could not hear ... Eh, my shitty older brother "- with a drawn-out sigh, the guy threw off his backpack and went in search of Natsu.

At the same time, even deeper in the thicket.

The disheveled pink-haired boy wiped his face from dirt and sweat and exhaled with relief:

- Finally ... - Four beaten boars were lying in front of him. Natsu used everything he could to nail them, he even had to singe the faces of these animals. But, he finally won! Having tracked down one, he somehow dealt with it, and then another three older ones pulled in. He was lucky, and he did not meet the most dangerous - gray boars. Aidan nailed six of them, and even he was impressed by the strength of the bones of these animals. He tried to hit in the head, with one everything worked out perfectly, but with the second ... The skin was a little spoiled. Natsu's skins were spoiled, except for the first one, he coped with that boar faster. But fighting with two, he was not weakly hurt. One of the boars ripped open the boy's leg with his tusks, and he was slowly bleeding.

Natsu fell to one knee and breathed heavily. It didn't turn out as he expected. It seemed to him that hunting would be easier ...

Suddenly, the guy heard a sound and listened:

- ... huh! On ... tsu! Natsu! - finally a familiar voice reached the boy's ears, and he was delighted, already about to scream in response, he suddenly froze. The words stuck in my throat. A huge gray-haired boar appeared just ten meters away! Its tusks were almost twice as thick and longer than those of brown individuals, and red, bloodshot eyes, frightened the boy to the shiver! This beast was clearly going to avenge his relatives, he was not going to let this little man go so easily!

Aidan's voice was getting closer, while Natsu continued to tremble. The boar snorted, shook off the ground with his hind hooves and jerked abruptly towards the boy. He didn't care that he was some kind of child! He was going to kill him on the spot!

Natsu was not going to stand still, maybe he was afraid, but even so, he still got up and jumped to the side. At the same moment, a weak fire flashed on his fist, and he growled, rushing to the boar!

- AND? - but as soon as the fist touched the thick skin of the animal, the fire instantly extinguished, there was not even a minor burn left! The boar got even more angry and shook his head, Natsu instantly flew from the place, drilling the ground and lifting the soil into the air. After a strong crash, the guy crashed into a tree and landed on the ground with a painful cry.

His eyes began to darken, vision blurred, the last thing he remembered was the approaching clatter of hooves, and then darkness. He completely passed out.