What they saw was a big sounder. About 5 or 6 sow boars and their piglets.

  But there is a male boar that is scanning around. It is looking for potential partners.

  Unlike other mammals, like deer. Boars do not have designated locations to find mates. Instead, they look for this group of female boars.

  Recalling what possibly happened, the sounder of two female boars left the grassland near our camp. They did this to find a bigger group. Having one sow raise all the piglets requires more help from others.

  Civ also scanned the surroundings. With this big of grassland, most likely the sounder will stay here for a longer time.

  Civ whispered to Luk, “This is great, we need to return to the camp and plan the hunt.”

  To avoid the same mistake, Civ carefully guides Luk by crawling away to the sounder.

  After some time, they start walking since he cannot hear the boars anymore.

  “Let’s fasten our pace so we can arrive there before afternoon.” Since they are able to find a new sounder in the wild earlier than he expected. This is a perfect chance to smoke some meat for him to eat later.

  But a couple of steps later.

  Oink

  Oink

  Luk gasps, “Civ there is-”

  “Relax, do not move, and do not stare at the boar.” Civ was intently staring at the boar.

  The boar was slightly bigger than the boar they had hunted recently. Staring at them fiercely, and its mouth is foaming.

  This was the first time Luk encountered a big boar. Its presence made his body tremble. He wanted to escape as soon as possible.

  “Civ! Let’s run away from the boar.” Luk wanted to run right now, but the Chosen One still did not make a move.

  ‘We are trapped!’ The boar was standing in front of them, blocking the route where Civ marked the trees. Running east or west might get them lost since they needed those marked trees. Going back to where they came from will be worse. They might be surrounded by angry boars who want to kill and eat them.

  No other choice.

  “Luk, let's run with all your might to the east on my command.” Civ alerted Luk, and Luk prepared himself.

  The boar was also waiting for them to do anything. Since both of them are standing still.

  REEEEE

  “Now run!” On his command, both of them run as fast as they can to the east.

  THUD

  THUD

  THUD

  REEEEE

  The shriek hurt their ears. But they endure it and focus their energy on running.

  After a few seconds, they are able to outrun the boar. But it is still chasing them. Not as aggressive as earlier.

  “Luk, listen. I’ll teach you something right now. Try to control your speed while running so that the boar will still chase us.” Civ slowed down his running, and Luk also followed. They did not look back, but they heard that the boar was near the sound of the steps

  .

  They control their pace for this until the boar is near them to be a danger, and return to their top speed. The chase continued for a longer time than Luk expected, and right now, he instinctively does it.

  ‘This guy is natural.’ Civ praises Luk as he was able to match his pace without any issues.

  Both of them were able to control the pace. Since running is not an issue, they want to outrun this boar until it gets tired and leaves them.

  “Luk let's leave this boar for now.” Luk follows the command and they try to outrun the boar but-.

  A couple of miles from them is a tall mud wall! They just noticed it just now since the trees were tall. They are below a cliff.

  With this big wall, they cannot easily outrun the boar.

  “Not good. Let's run to the south.”

  The chase continues. They ran in circles until the boar got tired, lost interest, and left.

  “Whew! We were able to get that boar to leave.” Luk was panting as he looked at the leaving boar.

  “Yeah, we did. But-” The surrounding right now is something Civ is not familiar with. This is an unexplored area for him.

  “We are lost,” Civ revealed to Luk.

  Luk's eyes widened as he just noticed that this was an area he was not familiar also.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Let’s take a rest first.” Both of them take a rest. Sit and lean on one of the trees and eat their ration.

  ‘How can I miss that tall cliff?’ Civ recalls the cliff earlier that is noticeable now that he saw it. They eat the dried meat and complement it with berries around. The good thing is that this area has multiple berry plants that can help them recover the energy lost on this escape.

  Now that we are lost, how can I start working on my way back to the camp?

  Burp!

  Luk finished his meal and ate more berries.

  “I am full. But I am thirsty.” Luk talks to himself.

  “Right! That is the way!” Civ has an idea in mind. Luk was startled since Civ was seriously quiet. While they were eating, suddenly stood up and shouted.

  “Y-y-es Civ. What is it?” Luk just asked.

  “There is a river near our camp right?” Civ asked.

  “Yes Oh Cho- Civ. That river is in the west of the camp.” Luk agrees.

  “Great, so since we are lost right now and have no sense of where we are.” Civ looks around and observes the shadow from a smaller tree.

  “Hmmm, it is not accurate.” Civ picked up half a ruler-sized stick and stabbed it into the ground where the sunlight was.

  Civ intently looked at the shadow of the stick.

  “Luk, stand up. We need to go there.” Civ pointed to his back and started walking in that direction. Luk picked up his spear and followed Civ.

  Luk quietly followed Civ. He wanted to ask where they were going, but he stopped himself. The silence coming from Civ is something he does not want to disturb.

  They continue their walk while Civ is marking the trees and looking around. Up and down.

  A few minutes later.

  “Luk, can you see that?” Civ pointed his spear at one of the trees.

  “I can’t see it,” Luk tried his best to squint his eyes to notice anything above, but he saw nothing but leaves.

  “Hmmm let’s go near it.” Civ walked toward the tree he pointed and Luk followed.

  Civ looked below, and there was a vine.

  “Hmmmmm, this is a vine, but not sure where this is going.” When he followed the vine, it was wrapped around the tree and its branches above. In the branch, he sees that there is a fruit hanging.

  Civ wants to climb this tree, but not knowing what danger is lurking, he decides on a different approach.

  He holds his stone spear like a javelin and then.

  Whooosh

  Throws it to the branch where the fruit is hanging. It missed on his first try.

  “It is hard to aim upwards.” So he walks away from the tree, making an inclined vision of the fruit.

  “Let's try this again.” Civ tried it again, but with the height of the target, it was much harder to control the spear.

  “Civ, why are you aiming that thing above?” Luk could not stop his curiosity and asked Civ.

  “That? I don’t know yet. But we will know together when I hit that.” Civ's eyes were still clear even though he is missing his throws.

  Civ did not stop and attempted multiple times until.

  Sluck

  The fruit fell from the tree.

  “Yes! Let’s see what this is.” Civ and Luk quickly went where the fruit fell.

  He picked up the fruit.

  ‘This looks like a grape. ’ The color of the grapelike fruit is yellow. But when he tried to smell it, it embraced him with a sour and sweet aroma that cooled his nose.

  ‘Nothing bad will happen right?’ Civ’s mouth was watering right now, and he was only thinking of eating this.

  He plucked one of the fruits and threw it into his mouth.

  Chomp

  A burst of juices filled his tongue. Sour and sweet flavors that complement each other. Civ can’t help but close him and take another bite. For him, this is a taste that is better than the grapes on Earth.

  “Luk, have a taste.” Civ plucked one of the fruits and gave it to him.

  Luk also had the same reaction, but his mouth started to drool.

  He wiped his mouth. Luk's eyes are fixated on the fruit they discovered.

  “Oh Chos- Civ, this one tastes better than the berries we eat every day!” Luk reached for the fruit Civ gave to him and ate it again.

  “You are right. Let's save some to show to the tribe leader later.” Civ nodded. He got some vines and he tied the grape to his waist.

  “We need to return to the camp as soon as possible.” Civ reminded Luk. It was almost afternoon already. If they did not see the river, it would be a longer walk before they could find any traces back to the camp.

  While walking, Luk was also able to notice the grapes hanging in the trees.

  ‘This place has many grapes. I need to return to this location next time.’

  Discovering this location made him realize something. The location they have right now is not the only location in this forest. He needs to work harder from now on. This will be one of the priorities he needs to plan when he goes back. Learn how to explore the forest.

  He can mark the trees all day long to serve as a direction. But if they got lost, like what happened right now, there were other things he needed to learn.

  They walk straight west, and after almost an hour.

  KSSSSHHHHH

  “Civ can you hear it? I think we are near.” Luk walks faster where the sound is.

  A dozen steps later, they were able to see the river.

  Civ heaves a sigh of relief. ‘We can just walk straight south on this river, and we should be able to go back to the camp.’

  Both of them drink a mouthful of water, and Civ washes himself using a stone. Luk was confused about why Civ was rubbing a stone on his body. But right now, he just wanted to take a rest for that long journey.

  After a bath and a couple of minutes of rest, Civ stood up and commanded Luk to start walking south.

  “What is the plan now Civ?” Luk honestly asked Civ.

  “We just need to follow this river going south. I hope we encounter one of our tribesmen so we can return to the camp.” Getting the idea from Civ, Luk nodded, and they started to walk south.

  The river was roaring, but the two of them fastened their pace and went walking. It was a long, silent walk since both of them were conserving energy. After two hours of walking, Civ and Luk saw a glimpse of people picking up stones.

  Civ smiled. “Luk, we are back at the camp!”

  Hearing this, Luk's face brightened, and also smiled.

  “Thank you Civ, thank you also, Sun Goddess!” Luk's knees have been shaking since he tried to hold himself up until now.

  Civ grabs him by the shoulder. “You did great Luk!” Civ praises this young kid. The experience this kid encounters today will be a great help for his survival.

  When Civ sees the silhouette, he knows who is picking up the stones.

  “Horm! Can you hear me!” When Horm hears it, he immediately looks toward the sound. There was Civ, and Luk walked side by side.

  He called the other two and left the stone collecting, and helped Civ and Luk.

  Seeing that Luk is the only one needing help, one of their tribesmen piggybacked Luk.

  “Civ, why are you here? I thought both of you would go back from the north side of the camp?” Seeing them here at the riverside gives a bad feeling to Horm.

  “Well, it is a long story. But we got lost.”

  Horm's eyes widened. “Lost?! But how?!”