"Makuru, Makuru? Are you alright?"

After a rather violent shaking, Makuru fully regained consciousness and recognized his good friend and playmate, Sashin.

There were more than fifty of the youngest participants qualified for this winter hunting trip, divided into three teams. Sa Xin and I were among the best and were in the same team.

"I'm fine now... I just had a nightmare!"

The leader, whose muscles were like iron and whose short hairs resembled steel needles, lay half-reclined and glanced at the silvery-white fur that Makuru had just looked at.

“If there’s nothing else, go back to sleep. We’ll be hunting in this area for quite some time, and then we need to get back to the tribe before the north wind arrives.”

"Makuru, you are an excellent warrior. One day you will be able to fight the Silver Cat Roaring Beast head-on. Sleep now!"

The leader thought he had hit the nail on the head regarding the source of Makuru's fear. After the latter nodded, he closed his eyes and fell asleep contentedly. This silver-haired roaring beast was no small fry, and the leader would not dare to approach it rashly under normal circumstances.

But this time the timing was just right. The silver-haired roar was located in a narrow canyon with insufficient space to hide, which is why the leader shot it with a javelin. What's even more remarkable is that it hit its left eye without damaging its fur in the slightest.

This will be a moment of pride for the chieftain in his hunting career. The commotion of Silverfur's roar before his death caused a small part of the canyon to collapse, and the flying debris broke several trees.

Makuru eventually fell asleep with a heavy heart, but he didn't have any other dreams that night. When he woke up the next day, apart from feeling a little tired, he had regained his energy.

The hunt continued with its tense and exciting pace. On the second day, the group of over three hundred Nivik warriors, led by their chief, ventured even deeper into the newly opened hunting grounds.

It seems that the heavens are particularly kind to them. This year's prey is exceptionally plentiful, and they haven't encountered a single dangerous situation. Even the edge of the red zone on the tribe's map was a close call, and they've also collected quite a few precious medicinal herbs.

The next day and the day after that went equally smoothly, so smoothly that the chieftain decided to end the hunt early, because if they continued hunting, even with the brute strength of the Nivi guests, they wouldn't be able to carry everything back.

But the successful hunt only made Makuru depressed, as if a stone was pressing down on him.

"Sa Xin".

"Huh? What's wrong, Makuru?"

Sa Xin, Sa Xin’s friend, turned around and asked Makuru, whose face, covered in short fur, was streaked with blood. Despite carrying two wild beasts of similar weight on his shoulders, he still moved with incredible speed.

Makuru also carried two equally formidable beasts, a testament to their achievements.

“Sa Xin, don’t you feel that we’ve hunted significantly more prey this year than in previous years? It’s like the forest is giving us a gift.”

Sa Xin noticed the hint of sorrow deep in his partner's eyes. Over a decade of brotherly companionship had enabled him to understand his partner's subtle emotions.

"Why are you thinking about these things? Isn't having more prey a good thing? I've never seen anyone worry about having too much prey... And you, you've been acting strangely lately. If you're really worried, go back and talk to the Great Shaman."

Makuru opened his mouth, wanting to tell his friend why he was worried about having too many prey, but in the end he didn't say it.

After another day of rapid trekking, they returned to the cave. Recently, every time they returned, Makuru would subconsciously look at the silver fur.

...

The tribe's location was a low mountain, situated on the edge of a wild forest. The entire mountain and its surroundings were dotted with many rough-hewn buildings, made of wood and stone, or dug-out caves.

The renowned Nevik people have lived here for generations, but due to the high mortality rate and extremely low birth rate in the wild mountains and forests, their total population has never exceeded 5,000.

As the roads became more familiar and easier to traverse, the caravan pulled large wooden carts, each weighing seven or eight ounces, piled high with pelts and meat. In addition, each Nivik warrior carried some prey on his person.

After simple processing and treatment with secret medicinal herbs, coupled with the increasingly cold weather, the meat will not spoil in a short time, enough for the tribe to process.

Before long, the group saw the totem poles erected by the Newi tribe, which meant they had entered the territory inhabited by the Newi tribe.

The people most concerned about the hunting party's whereabouts were not the tribe's own people, but the caravans that had come from afar. They had their own spies stationed around the perimeter almost day and night. They dared not go any further than that, for the wild beasts of the wilderness would tear them apart.

"They're here! A hunting team from Nivik has returned. Luckily, they came to stake out the area two days in advance. This is the first team to return this year, earlier than in previous years."

A caravan scout excitedly called out to his companion. The hunting party's return route was unpredictable, and scouts from various caravans were scattered across a wide area. Sometimes there weren't many scouts in a particular direction, and whether you could spot one was a matter of luck.

"So...so many! So many ferocious beasts..."

"As expected of the Nivik barbarians, these beasts are so fierce that it would take a whole regular army to attack just one. They've brought several cartloads, and each of them is carrying a whole bunch..."

"My God! That silver one! That's a 'Roar' beast! And it's silver-furred! It's definitely the legendary Roar! Good heavens, these muscle-bound barbarians actually hunted a silver-furred Roar! Go tell the master! Go now!"

One of the scouts detached himself and ran quickly behind them.

Although the number of Niwake tribes was not large, their settlement was not small. The caravans would not gather in one place all the time, but would rest and warm themselves by the fire in some of the Niwake tribes' guesthouses, patiently waiting for the Niwake hunting teams to return.

The purpose of scouts is to allow caravans to prepare in advance, and perhaps even to secure a location and acquire some good goods before other caravans arrive.

As the hunting party approached the tribe's location, tribespeople came out to greet them, along with some merchants who were not even as tall as the Nivi guests' shoulders.

"Thump thump thump~~~thump thump thump~~thump thump thump..."

The rhythmic beating of drums in the tribe signifies the return of the warriors.

Makuru followed the group, looking left and right. He was relieved not to see the other two hunting teams.

Just then, tribal drums sounded from two other directions.

The resounding drumbeats seemed to strike Makuru's heart one by one.

The merchants who arrived first had already negotiated prices for some of the furs with their tribesmen, which was an advantage of being first to arrive. However, the most eye-catching silver fur was something that the Nivi guests could not persuade to agree to.

Although the guests at Nivi seem to have a lot of brains, they are not stupid and know about competitive advantages.

After the warm star in the sky descended one mark, the three hunting teams converged on the gravel square of Nivik.

Three large piles of prey were stacked on one side, with one pile noticeably taller and topped with an unusually conspicuous silver-white animal hide.

The result is self-evident: Makuru's hunting team won the championship this year.