Chapter 69 - A boaring trip

As Kaiser followed the group around without fully focusing on them as he was more interested in the layout of the ruins as well as talking to Aeolus. Quickly getting bored with his actions he closed his eyes and attempted to train easier synchronizing with his familiars in order to aid in future spy missions, in case he lost his vision in the near or far future or similar situations. After he had followed his group around corners without stumbling or loosing track of them they simply looked at him even more weirdly. Despite everything they still kept quiet about it and chose to ignore Kaiser's creepy behavior.

Soon Kaiser wasn't the only one to be bored and the entire group soon sat down close to a few collapsed walls in the warm grass that grew underneath. Consuming a nice meal which Kaiser sharing a few pieces of his meal with Aeolus they rested for a few minutes, leaning onto the wall and closing their eyes. Meanwhile Kaiser allowed Aeolus to fly around until they continued. Getting sleepy as well he began to fall asleep underneath the warm sun's rays with the wonderful smell of heated stone and grass and gentle winds causing his hair to tickle him from time to time.

About 15 minutes later they continued with their expedition, Kaiser being woken by a few gentle pecks from Aeolus's beak. Soon they reached the outskirts of the ruins. After all the ruins weren't that large. With about 30 minutes left they decided to leave the ruins and sneak close to the forest that always grew close to the borders of the Zones. Seeing no problem with that kaiser decided to tag along since the teachers had not stated any punishments for leaving the premises. Actually Aeolus had long since reported that the teachers had surrounded the entire area and observed if anyone would try to leave.

Curiously the group managed behind a few large elevations and with that successfully avoided the view of the already bored and distracted teachers for whom spending the time relaxing seemed to be way better compared to staring at ruins for more than a few minutes.

Wandering through the forest the group made a lot of noise as they trampled over sticks and dried leaves. Cautiously Kaiser followed them with a bit of distance towards them. They were far to loud and he didn't know what might be ahead of them and what creatures still lived in the forest. Although the books and films had introduced a few creatures that existed in this universe many probably hadn't been mentioned or

Kaiser didn't have to wait for long. Soon after they had entered the forest they stumbled across a clearing which was covered in shrubs and bushes, surrounded by large oaks and beeches. Somehow he had a bad feeling about this whole forest but perhaps it was just his insecurity of not knowing enough. Unwilling to be totally unprepared he sent Aeolus to fly just below the treetops around the clearing to look for potential attackers.

From one moment to the next everything changed. Where he had previously heard only the rustling of branches and the snapping of twigs caused by the recklessness of his group he soon heard much more. At first it was only additional movements of a few twigs but soon he also began to hear very low and quiet grunts close to him. Calling out to the group who by now also picked up on a few strange things. Walking to a cleared area where only a bit of small grass grew, barely reaching his knee in height. Soon the grunts and rustling intensified before a large group of boars emerged from the surrounding vegetation. They had been completely surrounded and their possibilities of escape were minuscule.

Observing the boars closely he noticed that they were not only around 1,50 meters in height but also around 2,5 meters in length. They seemed to be live mostly carnivorously if the long bloody tusks in their mouths were any indication. All in all it didn't seem as though they would be willing to let them go. "Just where did they come from? How would the district ever allow the presence of such dangerous creatures inside it's border?" he thought out loud.

"They must have entered through the holes in the fences!" one of the other boys shouted, "They would completely destroy the harvest!". On the way throughout the Zones they had seen many destroyed parts of the fence causing the secret of the many openings to be spilled. Now everyone knew about it.

Slowly Kaiser began to open his inventory and summoned his oldest friend into his hand. His first weapon and trusted aid: his first knife. Because the boars were so large and had lots of thick fur as well as tough hide only stabs through weak and exposed parts might be able to wound or perhaps even kill them. Before anyone could react or move as they were currently frozen in fear. The hoard of boars seemed to be astonished by his actions, although they had lived for a long time and were experienced hunters they had never encountered humans before so they remained cautious.

Evading a boar which had tried to pierce him with it's tusks by ramming it's head forwards he grabbed it by them and swung himself on it's back. Surprised by the sudden addition of weight it jumped, allowing Kaiser to avoid the tusks of the other boars which had tried to free their companion. Laying flat on the back of the boar, while one hand held onto the tusk and the legs were wrapped around the flanks of the boar he gripped the knife in a reverse grip, stabbing downwards towards the face of the boar. After a few stabs he had managed to wound the snout, rip the ears and even, with some luck, managed to pierce an eye. Although he had succeeded in that regard he had only made it angrier.

Switching into a forwards grip he began to stab the boar underneath it's left leg by piercing from the direction the hair was facing, making stabbing much easier, now that the thick hair wasn't getting in the way. Piercing the skin and flesh underneath before he pulled it out and stabbed again, just a few centimeters closer towards him. Continuing this the boar was panicking even more. No matter what it did Kaiser didn't let go and while it jumped, ran in circles and kicked wildly it's companions were unable t help it. Because of the attack most of the boars had begun watching the fight.

When the group Kaiser had been with noticed that they instantly decided to make a run for it. As everyone ran away about three boars decided to chase them down. Kaiser who was still busy decided to hurry up and follow them. After all should he return alone he would have to be the one to take the blame regardless of what might have happened.

Slowly the boar gave up, shook a few more times before falling. Before it could even impact the ground Kaiser stored the remains and barely managed to land on his feet before chasing after his group and the three boars. [Good grief...Why did I have to be the one with such a troublesome group], he though. [Next time I'll just go and do everything myself and I won't take no for an answer.]