Magic Space: Struggling to Survive in the Apocalypse-Chapter 96: Hunting Together

Evelyn Ford also wanted to improve her skills. Plus, she had a feeling that ever since drinking Ronan Kendrick’s blood, her self-healing ability had improved, though it was nowhere near his god-like level.

She’d accidentally cut her hand while cooking a while back, but the wound had already scabbed over by the next day.

After agreeing, they ate breakfast, locked the door, and set out at eleven the next morning.

Evelyn Ford still followed behind him. It was a bit strenuous, but she managed to keep up.

Ronan Kendrick led her over two mountains, straight into a particularly large ravine.

"Wait here for a bit. I’ll go lure them over."

Evelyn Ford felt like Ronan Kendrick was just annoyed at how slow she was. ’But he was the one who said he’d take me hunting just a few days ago.’

’Hmph. Men. So fickle.’

Evelyn Ford didn’t refuse; it was a good chance for her to rest. After Ronan Kendrick left, she took out her crossbow. ’Since I’m here, I can’t go back empty-handed.’

A few minutes later, Ronan Kendrick returned.

"They’ll be here soon."

Evelyn Ford was curious. "What kind of animals?"

"Wild boars."

’It seems Broken Cloud Mountain is overrun with wild boars,’ she thought. ’We’ve been hunting them for so long, yet there are still this many.’

"How many?"

"Over twenty. Can you handle it alone?" He suddenly reached his hand out toward Evelyn Ford. She didn’t understand what he meant.

"Dried Meat."

Evelyn... ’Eat, eat, eat. I hope you eat yourself to death.’

"You want me to hunt them alone? You’re not joining?"

Ronan Kendrick tore open a piece of Dried Meat and popped it into his mouth. "It’s only twenty-something. Do I need to help?"

Evelyn Ford felt the urge to fight him again.

"I don’t need help. Please politely get lost and don’t get in my way."

Hearing a noise, Evelyn Ford raised her crossbow.

The herd of boars was massive. There was a huge boar leader, as well as some very small piglets.

Evelyn Ford counted them. Big and small, there were twenty-eight in total.

The sound of SNORTING and GRUNTING grew closer. First the leader. Evelyn Ford aimed at the massive boar and fired two crossbow arrows in quick succession.

Her aim was true; both arrows hit its neck. It fell, squealing and struggling for a moment, before slowly going still.

While the herd was in chaos, Evelyn Ford began firing again. She hunted the largest boars first; the smaller ones would be easier to handle after.

The boars shrieked madly in the snow, scattering in every direction. With a serious expression, Evelyn Ford continued to pick them off.

Ronan Kendrick stood behind, watching her back. He felt that the scent on Evelyn Ford had grown stronger. He couldn’t quite place it—it was like bamboo, like trees, and also like osmanthus. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

’How strange. Why does she have so many different scents?’

Evelyn Ford began to move forward. She seemed to have found the same thrill Ronan Kendrick felt when hunting. It made her uneasy, yet it also made her blood boil with excitement.

Her hands were still nimble. She hadn’t gotten weaker.

In fact, she was even stronger than she had been a few months ago.

The herd had spotted her now. They decided to charge and surround her. Evelyn Ford remained perfectly calm, even pulling the crossbow arrows from a few dead boars to continue the hunt.

She was wearing a red sweater under her thermal coat today, and the matching red scarf made her face look a little flushed. Evelyn Ford panted, firing the last arrow with clean efficiency.

The last little boar fell. Without pausing, Evelyn Ford retrieved her crossbow arrows and collected all the carcasses into her space.

"Go back, or keep going?"

Ronan Kendrick finished his last piece of Dried Meat and pointed ahead.

"Keep going. The temperature is about to drop. We won’t be able to come out in a few days."

Evelyn Ford raised an eyebrow at him. "How do you know the temperature is going to drop?"

"My body can feel it."

’Alright, that’s impressive.’

The two continued onward. Evelyn Ford also took out a handful of Dried Meat, but Ronan Kendrick snatched more than half of it the moment she did.

Evelyn Ford shot him a look of contempt.

Further up was the mountain peak. Just as Evelyn Ford reached it, she spotted several wild mountain goats.

"Hunt more of these." Ronan Kendrick’s eyes lit up when he saw the mountain goats.

Evelyn Ford ignored him, raised her crossbow, and got to work.

The wind at the summit was a bit strong. Evelyn Ford pulled her mask on properly, and frost quickly formed on her eyelashes.

Evelyn Ford’s stamina was starting to give out. The goats weren’t as dim-witted as the boars; they ran very fast, and being gored by their horns would be incredibly painful.

Evelyn Ford had to evade their pursuit while also shooting her targets as quickly as possible.

Today was the last hunt of the winter, and Evelyn Ford wanted to see it through to the end. Panting heavily as she was cornered by several goats, she calmly drew her pistol and shot them.

When it was over, Evelyn Ford lay motionless in the snow. She was too exhausted and needed to rest for a moment. Ronan Kendrick handled the cleanup, and finally, he used his dagger to dig out the few bullets.

"Thirteen in total." ’To hear him say it, you’d think he was the one who hunted them.’

Evelyn Ford chuckled, then stood up, putting her hands on her hips to catch her breath for a moment. After storing the prey, she took the crossbow arrows and bullets he handed her, ready to head home.

The descent was fast, but Evelyn Ford had to practically jog to keep up with Ronan Kendrick’s pace.

Back in their small courtyard, Evelyn Ford finally relaxed completely.

"Take them out. I’ll butcher them."

Evelyn Ford glanced at the weather and didn’t think it was that urgent. "Let’s do it later."

"I don’t get cold. You hunt, I butcher. It’s fair."

He was very stubborn, and Evelyn Ford couldn’t argue with him, so she could only take out the thirteen mountain goats.

"You can start with these. I’ll go heat up some water."

The first thing to do after getting home was to take a hot bath. The stench of wild boar and goat clung to her; it was so strong you could smell it the moment you took off your mask. The odor was unbearable.

Seeing them return, Mina and Lola jumped around, ecstatic. Evelyn Ford added wood to the fireplace and got the kitchen fire going.

The generator started up, connected to the water heater. Evelyn Ford glanced outside and saw that Ronan Kendrick had already finished butchering one of the goats.

’Was this guy a butcher in his past life?’

Evelyn Ford set some ribs to stew. After such a tiring day, her energy was completely spent, and she was starving.

She realized that not only had her abilities grown stronger, but her appetite had also increased. All these changes pointed to that bowl of Ronan Kendrick’s blood.

After washing up, Evelyn Ford dried her hair and left her hat off. The house was very warm, with waves of heat radiating from the fireplace.

Dinner was almost ready. Evelyn Ford opened the door of the wooden cabin.

"Dinner’s ready."

Ronan Kendrick immediately put down his knife and followed her inside. After he washed his hands, Evelyn Ford noticed how gaunt they were, with the bones protruding. There was no rosy color in his palms at all; they were pale and sallow.

As a former medical student, Evelyn Ford had of course heard of many cases of gene editing.

A long time ago, this research had been shut down because it involved numerous issues.

’What are the limits of an edited human’s abilities? How long can they live? What are their weaknesses?’

These were all fields beyond Evelyn Ford’s reach. In her past life, she had never connected the Abnormal Pupils with genetically-edited humans.

No one would have believed that after altering someone’s genes, their eyes would also change.

Evelyn Ford stared at Ronan Kendrick, unable to stop herself from wondering, ’Is he a success story?’