The Hunters Challenge

The following story takes place in 1988.

Prologue
It's an annual event held by Artemis. It's one of the harshest challenge one can face. In fact, it's THE harshest, most cruel challenge that will test the hunters of Artemis to their absolute breaking point. Artemis held this event once every year, to find the hunter of Millenia.

The way this works is: Artemis assigns some monsters for the hunters to hunt, and apparently, only one hunter every year is chosen at random. The monsters that Artemis will assign are near-impossibly difficult, because it will deal with the higher level monsters, such as the Erymanthian boar, Drakon, Vultures, Antaeus, and many more. What makes this so difficult for the hunters is that they are not able to eat during the challenge, and they can only drink from the water bottle they had filled up for her. Over the past centuries, no hunter was able to complete this challenge, but still Artemis didn't lower the stakes or change the rules one bit because the hunter of Millenia are supposed to be near-invincible.

The setting will be taking place almost anywhere in the world, from the scorching hot desert, to the freezing winds of the Tundra. But the hunters are able to withstand some minor temperatures, but there have been a lot of hunters that succumbed to the extreme temperature of the environment, despite the protective layer of the moonlight covering their bodies. The hunters are able to forfeit the challenge at anytime, but doing so will forfeit the title of "Hunter of Millenia" and some amazing gifts that Artemis will bestow on them.

There's no actual time limit on this quest. A hunter can go on as long as she can in order to claim the prize, but this is where a hunter is tested on the type of hunter she is. There are hunters that are killed because they refuse to give up, even though situations are so dire. This just tells that that hunter is full of pride that believe she can take on any challenge.

During the course of the hunt, there will be other monsters around. Killing them is optional, but will not add towards the rewards target.

Now, century after century, Artemis has been waiting for the hunter of Century to emerge, and since she believed the hunter of the century is supposed to be a hardened hunter, she can't risk lowering the stakes. Now the year is 1988, and a new near-impossible challenge has been set. Will this hunter survive the challenge? Or will she quit like other hunters?

Chapter 1
Diana's P.O.V

I was excited about this hunter challenge. I've been waiting for 44 years for this. I am all fired up right now and hearing those 44 hunters that have failed, to be honest, I am a little nervous about this, but I am still fired up, since I already ate and drink. I stood beside my friend hunters and we're waiting as Artemis bring a huge bowl filled with cards to the middle of the woods.

"Welcome Hunters, to the annual hunter Challenge!" Artemis addressed us. "Now we're going to find out who will be the lucky hunter this season."

I've been waiting for 44 years for this. I've trained, hunted, and practiced to the point I have super-hunter abilities. The only key is to only practice everyday, and everyday the training gets more intense. We've also practiced survival skills, and the Hunters are handling pretty well in that. Whoever gets into this challenge is going to face a very harsh trial that will await the hunters.

"The target for this year's challenge is 20 wild boars!" Artemis announced. "These boars can move really fast, and you better be quick on your feet or else the boar will catch you by surprise!"

We all know how fast and deadly those boars are. Just one tiny little mistake and that can cost you your life. Even experienced hunters also have trouble killing those boars. 10 years ago, Artemis assigned a hunter to kill 10 boars, and she did not succeed in killing any of them because of its very fast speed the boar is running at. 20 boars? Don't even try. Hehe... just kidding. You have to try your best.

The hunters murmured amongst themselves. A girl tapped me on the back, and I turned around and it's Julia.

"Best of luck." Julia said.

"Thanks!" I smiled, and hugged her. "Best of luck to you too."

The other hunters are questioning why we should hunt a boar, since I remember that in the old days, a boar like that is extremely dangerous, especially when it's a Calydonian boar. I remember the story when many hunters try to draw first blood but ended up losing their lives. Atalanta was the one who managed to draw first blood from the boar and then killed by Meleager.

If this hunt turned out to be a Calydonian boar hunt, this would be a near-impossible task. But the challenge is worth it. Last year was a stymphalian birds hunt. This hunter was overwhelmed with cuts by the birds sharp claws, but she recovered.

Then, Artemis began to draw one name from the giant bowl. She continued to mix the bowl gently with her hands, and she reached out of the bowl, holding one card. Then she opened the card and read the name aloud. "Diana Vasquez!"

Finally, after a long wait... I was finally chosen to participate in The Hunters Challenge. But there's something that worries me. This hunt involves a boar, and I don't know what type of boar it is. I just hoped it wasn't the Calydonian boar.

I stepped forward as the other hunters cheered for me. I went to stay at Artemis's side.

"Welcome to the challenge, dear Diana." Artemis said. "You will be travelling in the forest to hunt 20 boars. 20 Calydonian boars, to be precise."

Oh great..... The last monster that I wanted to hunt is that. I've never had experience with the Calydonian Boar, but I'm sure that the boar will be wild, vicious and deadly.

"So, when will the hunt start, milady?" I asked her.

"Tonight, at 8 PM." Artemis told me. "So get some rest, eat well and drink well, because during the challenge hunt, you cannot eat and you can only drink from any bottle that you carry."

"Alright." I said, before leaving the forest. It was still 11:00 AM, which gives me 9 more hours to prepare.

Previously, many hunters failed to complete this challenge, and it's because primarily that hunter had ran out of food and drink sources. So I began to look at the types of water bottles that can hold huge amounts of water. I searched from Pepsi cans, Aqua bottles, and even large thermos. They are what's used by previous hunters, and they fail to keep their hydration level up since they used up all its contents by a mere 2 days, then she forfeited the challenge by the 4th day. I tried to think up of something that could hold the most amount of water.

Aqua gallons.... They're heavy, but they contain a huge volume of water inside it. That could be useful, but that would slow my movement down since it weighs about 20 kilos each. But that's the only option I got, and I am well known to run around twice faster than the average hunters, so that could do.

I've decided on the aqua gallons, but I have to eat first, and eat as much as I can before the challenge.

Chapter 2
I went to the tent, and as usual, theirs are huge, measuring 12 by 12 meters and 4 meters in height. As I went inside, Artemis already prepared me a huge lunch.

"You can eat whenever you like before the hunt. This is a gift from me to you. I did that to all the other hunters. I suggest you eat now."

"Yes, milady." I said to her, and I grabbed some sushi, and started eating. The other hunters are also digging in their food. I took advantage at this moment to eat as much as I can in order to build up endurance so I can last very long in the challenge.

As soon as I am done with eating, I started training vigorously. I was planning to train vigorously right until 7 PM, the last time where I can get more food.

I went to the woods, practicing sprinting and moving side to side. I also practiced dodging. I sprinted for 20 minutes from the tree beside me all the way to the other side of the forest. It was quite tiring, as I have to rest for about 4 minutes before making the way back. I continued to sprint all the way back for 18 minutes, beating my previous record of 18 minutes. Next I practiced combat, and for training, I decided to hunt some large animals, such as a drakon or laistrygonian giants.

It was easy, providing that I do it correctly, while stalking those monsters.

Over the next couple of hours, I trained, sprinted, doing acrobatics such as flipping, swinging from branches to branches, and other stuff.

After an extremely vigorous 5 hours of training, I was exhausted, since it's an intense and strenuous exercise, and I went back to the tent, exhausted, breathing heavily and sweating heavily. I sat down slouched on the ground while breathing quite fast.

"So, how did your training go?" Julia asked, sitting beside me.

"It was harsh training." I told her. "I'm sure that someday we hunters can have that type of strenuous training."

"It's essential to build up your skills." I told her. "And that's what I achieve by training every single day. You can train and train until eventually you become a super-hunter."

"Super-hunter?" She asked me. "Is there such thing?"

"Well, I consider this challenge to be a super hunter feat. I mean, take a look at it. No hunters have ever survived this challenge, and the strict rules of not being able to eat, really discourages you." I told her. "But don't worry. I think I got what it takes."

"Be careful out there." Phoebe said, jogging towards me. "You're going against 20 Calydonian boars. It's going to be extremely difficult to kill it. In the old days, most hunters died while trying to take down a boar. I hope you know what you're doing."

"Don't worry, Phoebe. I got it covered." I told her.

Phoebe was one of the contestants in the hunters challenge last year. Her target is the stymphalian birds, and she failed because she gave up after the birds tore up her flesh and cut her bones. When she abandoned the challenge, she was cut up pretty good, and it took her 5 weeks to recover.

But what's worse about it is that Phoebe claimed that she had shot one of the birds, and the birds didn't go down. There's some kind of red shield that protected the bird, and it took two shots to bring one of the birds down.

Could this be the same for the Calydonian boar? Could the boar also be shielded by a red shield? Or is it other shield that will protect this boar? Well, only one way to find out.

As I learned from past hunters that took up the challenge, not only the environment is harsh. Sometimes, you have to fight off unwanted companies, such as cyclops, telkhines, drakons, etc. This will certainly add more difficulty to the challenge. Some hunters from the previous millenia died because of other monsters attacking them.

After about 10 minutes of hanging around, I decided to rest. I went to the other hunters tent and sat down on my bed while straightening my legs and finally lied down on the bed. I closed my eyes for some time, and then open it again for some time just to look at the clock in front of me that says 6:00 PM. 2 more hours until this challenge officially started.

I continued the cycle of closing my eyes and opening it as I keep watch on the clock. I waited until it reached 7:00 PM, and that's when I went to the other tent to get my feast before the challenge. I was already reinvigorated then.

But first, I quickly filled the aqua gallon that I'm going to bring during my hunt, and I know it's going to be heavy, but I don't want to fail like the previous hunters, so I'm taking my chances here.

After I filled the aqua gallon, I decided to leave it there and went to the dinner area. The hunters are waiting for me as I took a seat. I waited until the hunters started to eat, and then I began to eat.

I ate slightly faster than before, and none of the hunters around me noticed that, because they kept digging into their food. I grabbed sushi, beef and some vegetables like carrots and started eating.

I grabbed another plate and then another plate of food, and finally, after 30 minutes, I'm already feeling full, and I ran to my tent to grab my bow and quiver filled with arrows and slung it on my back.

Then I ran towards the dining tent and waited for 8 PM. I carried some very long ropes that measures about 80 meters with a diameter of 1.2 centimeters and stuffed them in my back pack. It was a bag that every hunters should carry.

I grabbed a cup of water and drinked until it's enough and then I strapped the now full aqua gallon on my back and it felt like I was carrying weights around.

I stood at the woods with Artemis, in a form of an average hunter just like us. Then I tightened the strap on my backpack and the water gallon.

"So, Diana? Are you ready?" Artemis asked me.

"I am ready, Milady." I said, bowing.

"Now, this challenge will test you to your extreme limits. You will be starting right here, and as soon as the time starts, you will be free to wonder wherever you wish to go. But just remember that the target that I want you to hunt will be glowing red, but that's only for your first prey. That is your target. And remember to get a good rest every now and then."

"Yes, Milady." I said.

"Are you up for this?" Artemis asked.

"Yes, Milady." I replied.

"Very well." Artemis said. "Your challenge begins in 10 minutes."

I sat down, polishing my hunting knives. I have to make sure they're sharp and deadly so it could cut through even armors.

But I have to learn how to get the angle right. Only at the absolutely right angle of strike then I can cut through plates of armor, otherwise I would only made a dent on it.

I made my final practice before the challenge by swinging my hunting knives side to side, and I sheathed my hunting knives again. It was worthwhile since I get to test how fluent I am in close quarter combats.

I quickly sheathed my hunting knives and within milliseconds, I drew my bow and is in a firing position. Then I gently let go as I put the arrow back in my quiver.

"Your challenge starts in 1 minute..." Artemis said as she announced the start of the challenge.

I looked at the surroundings. There are lots of trees and branches sturdy enough for me to hang on. There's also some critter animals that are generally harmless unless they're disturbed. There's grass in the ground and some rabbits, skunks and snakes. There's some monsters such as the laistrygonian giants that are lurking around, but I can easily outrun them. The starting line appears to be decorated with silver poles with flags. It was a beautiful scenery to look around. Looks like the hunt is going to be easier than I thought, because Artemis is going to mark the targets that she wants me to hunt with those red glowing marks on their body. After that, I know what I'm after, and I'm guessing it would be simple.

"10, 9,.........2, 1, GO!" Artemis shouted as the hunters smiled back at me as I started to run from the starting line to the woods.

Chapter 3
I sprinted as fast as I can. The gallon that I had strapped onto my back is weighing me down, making me run slower than usual. I dodged past a telkhine that was about to take me down, but he's just too slow. I continue sprinting until I saw the red glowing around a body of what looks like some kind of a boar. It looks like in a distance, but I can see it really clearly, as if I was staring the boar from just 20 feet away, and from my judgement, the boar is in fact about 300 feet away. In lightspeed, I drew my bow and nocked an arrow at the boar. The red glow dissipated, and the boar turned at me. I grabbed another arrow and as I fire, either by luck or by skill, the arrow was lodged inside the boar's neck and the boar disintegrated.

Somehow, I could hear Artemis' voice whispering to me, ''That's 1 out of 20 boars. Keep it up, Diana. You can do this. ''

Running with weights on your back isn't easy, and sometimes I have to just run, not sprint, in order to conserve your energy.

I looked at the night sky. It's already full moon now, which means the hunters power are peaked, and this is when I can sprint further than before, and my strength enhanced.

I ran through the mist, through the woods, through the darkness and the shadows to locate another boar. From what I know, Calydonian boars are rare, and because of its rarity, they are extremely dangerous.

After 1 hour into the challenge, I sat down to catch my breath, and I unstrapped the gallon from my back and drink from it.

It was refreshing, and then I strapped it on my back again as I sat down on the ground. This is going to be a long hunt.

I stumbled upon an abandoned house. It was abandoned like a few years ago, and I might be able to rest in here. After all, the hunters can rest anywhere as long as the challenge commences. As I look at the warehouse, I noticed something peculiar. The house had a huge red dot resembling a eye. Then there's a huge pot looking furnace for cooking. I immediately knew what this place is. It's the lair of the Cyclops.

I wonder why cyclops make their presence obvious. If they wanted to catch and make demigods their meal, at least show something less scary than that.

I looked around, and noticed another boar. I don't know how I can spot boars so quickly, but I can usually spot prey really quickly, even though the prey is 330 feet away. This boar is just 50 feet away.

I grabbed my bow and arrow and nocked an arrow at the boar. A red flash dissipated around the boar. I nocked another arrow, and it hit the boar's mouth. The boar roared in anger as it charges towards me. I fired the third arrow  at the boar and it still didn't drop. Then, I quickly slung my bow around my shoulders and quickly drew my hunting knives jumped just before the boar ran me over. The boar came crashing through the trees and I just dig the hunting knife deep into his neck.

''2 boar out of 20! I'm starting to believe that you can do this!'' Artemis spoke in my head.

That gave me more spirit to hunt, and I continued to search the woods for more boars. I'm sure that these are just the early boars that I just faced. I've seen boars that can do much more, and I am just lucky that the two boars have no idea that I'm hunting them.

I silently walked, a stealthy ability that Artemis once taught me. It gives me an advantage over my prey as I moved with almost no sound. I sensed a pack of laistrygonian giants looking around this area, so I quickly climbed up the trees and silently waited as 4 laistrygonian giants talked.

"Man, where did she go?" One of the said. "She was delicious."

"What do you mean?" The other one said.

"I sense a hunter of Artemis nearby, Could it be that my sense is worsening?"

"It is, dude! Your sense is getting weird. We can't smell hunters of Artemis! Only demigods scent!"

"Well, I'll be taking a breather." The last one said. "I'll be back."

"Alright. Take care of yourself." The first one said. "We'll be waiting."

As I waited for this giant to leave, which goes by the name of Joint Crusher, I continued to follow him from up the trees. I have to be careful to balance myself since I had a 20 kilos water gallon on my back. As soon as he had been separated from the rest of the group, I moved in for the kill. I drew my sharp hunting knives, dropped down on him and just before I landed on him, I drove the two knives onto his neck. The giant made a gurgling sound before he disintegrated and I got on the floor.

I climbed up the trees again, and moved fom tree to tree as I looked at the three laistrygonian giants have a talk.

"Where is Joint Crusher, dude? He doesn't usually take this long to catch a breather." One of them said.

"I'm not sure. Why don't you check him where he's at, Joe Bob?"

"Yeah." Joe Bob replied. "He better not mess up our dinner plan again." Then Joe bob comes to the same place where Joint Crusher went.

I silently followed him, and then, after he was just 2 meters away where Joint Crusher had disintegrated, I did the same stealth kill move as I did to Joint Crusher.

As I went back to the other two laistrygonian giants, they are wondering where the other two giants had gone to.

"Something has gone terribly wrong, man." One of the giants said.

The other one held him close to him. So much for sibling bonding for the giants. "Don't worry. We shall...."

That's when I come in for the kill. I dropped down on them, quickly killing both of them. I guess they never see what's coming, so they won't come for me the next time they find me.

But unfortunately, it's already late at night, so I have to find somewhere where I can sleep without falling prey to the surrounding monsters or the monsters that might come to this woods and find me.

I looked above the trees. I continued to look for safe spots to sleep, and after a few minutes of searching, I finally found one, which is high above between the two trees.

I started climbing up the tree at very fast speed, and when I finally reached up, I pulled out the ropes and started working on making my bed. First, I made a net, but since the rope is not long enough to make nets, I decided to make balance and a harness out of the rope which will locate in the center of the rope balance and I could hang between the trees as I'm sleeping.

So, I started out making a balance from the rope. I tied a knot from one tree and jumped to the other and tied another knot on that tree and tug it as hard as possible. I started tying a knot in the middle of the balance and started making a harness. As I want the harness to fit me perfectly, I used myself as a frame to make the harness as I started tying knots over my body so I can sleep safely. It's not going to be comfortable, but at least it's safe from the monsters. As my harness is already complete, I jumped from the balance and hang there as I went to sleep.

Chapter 4
I woke up during the day. Judging from where the sun is at, it's probably 7 AM. It's the second day of my challenge. I noticed that I was still suspended from a body-made harness that I made, suspended from a balance above. I began to grab the rope suspending the harness and climbed up and up until I made it to the balance. I went to one tree and undid the rope and went to the other to do the same thing. I then undid the harness on my body, and it takes quite a long time, since on some point it just tighten by itself because of the tension from holding me in suspension. I finally got myself out of the harness and roll the rope into a coil and then put them in my bag again. The only thing is... the ropes here might have been stretched out past their elastic limit.

So, this is day 2 of the challenge, and I am fired up to hunt another boar. I unstrapped the water gallon from my back and drink some water. It was refreshing, since water always refreshes me. I strapped the water gallon onto my back again and slowly climbed down and finally my feet touched the ground.

I walked slowly around the forest, trying not to make any loud sounds that might startle monsters nearby. I crouched and touched the earth, closing my eyes, trying to visualize what is going on around me. I could hear birds chirping, tigers roaring, group of telkhines marching, and last but not least....

The boar.... I could hear it getting closer. I opened my eyes, stood up while putting my left leg in front of my right, drawing my bow. I watched as the boar gets closer, and it's marked with a red glow, which indicates my main objective. I fired an arrow at the boar and the red glow dissipated. As I watched, the boar just got faster, and I don't know why. I jumped with all my strength above the boar and did a flip, which made the boar crashed into the nearby tree. I landed on a crouch as the water gallon is weighing me down. I got up on my feet again and charged at the boar. I slung my bow over my back and drew my hunting knives. I ran towards the boar at full speed and dove at the side as I sliced its legs. The boar roared in pain as the boar got unstuck from the tree and is lunging at full speed at me. I anticipated the attack and sidestepped and let my hunting knives graze his side of the body. The boar roared again, and this time, I charged at him, and while I was close enough to him, I punched the boar's face and the boar was thrown back about 30 feet before it disintegrated.

''3 out of 20. Good luck!'' I heard Artemis' voice. ''And I almost forgot. It's any type of boar. Not just Calydonian boar. My apologies''.

Now that gave me a sense of relief. Looks like Artemis had allowed me to hunt more type of boars. But then again, the boars are formidable monsters.

I continued to run, but was stopped when I saw this huge lake blocking out the path to the ground just 80 feet away. I had no choice but to swim for it, so I went down to the lake, and tested the waters first.

It was cold. The water is cold, so I have to get to the other side fast if I don't want to die from hypothermia. But wait... hunters don't get cold, do they?

I took a deep breath, and I made a swim for it. I swam as fast as possible to the other side with the added weights of my bow and quiver, the backpack filled with ropes, and the water gallon. I bet if there's no added weight of the water gallon, I would be able to swim thrice as fast.

I continued underwater, because if I swim above water, the land monsters would be able to notice me. As soon as I reached the other end, I surfaced and gasped for air and continued to pant. For some reason, I didn't feel any cold. Perhaps it's normal for hunters of Artemis to feel like that.

I continued the journey on foot, and I found a hideous monster with snaky hair sticking out of her head. At first, I thought it was Medusa, but as I looked closer she got two curved swords, each on her hands, glowing purple. It seems to be dripping some kind of acid-like poison as the viscous pinky substance drip onto the ground below, the grass shrivels and the earth turned to charred black. She have a half-human for a body, but she also have reptilian skin as her dragon half. There are wings on either side of her body, a tail that looks pretty much like a barbed wire crumpled up together, as though unused. And in her stomach, there's a head of an animal, but the heads constantly change.

I immediately knew this monster is Kampe, and she is far too dangerous for me to take on, so I decided to sneak past her and continue my hunt.

Fortunately, Hunters of Artemis don't emit the scent Half-bloods do, and so I succeeded in sneaking past her.

I continued my hunt for the boar, while sprinting at a high speed. I came across some critters that could be useful to eat, but I remembered Artemis' warning not to eat during the challenge, as doing so would mean to forfeit the challenge.

I looked at the sun, which is directly above me, which tell me it's midday, where it's the hottest. I decided to take shelter under the cover of the trees. I rested for a while before continuing my hunt. Mostly, I killed monsters that are coming to get me such as telkhines and scythian dracaenaes.

I stopped on my tracks as I saw another boar wondering around the forest. I saw the boar just 300 feet away, and I sprinted towards it, knowing that my arrows won't reach that far.

I got closer and closer to the boar and shoot an arrow at its hide. The red glow dissipated and the boar turned at me and charged me with faster speed. I shoot another arrow at the boar, and this boar does what I did not expect. The boar dodged the arrow.

I was surprised, because boars are known for using its strength to overpower his opponent. This boar is quite agile. Well, it's time for close quarter battle to commence.

I slung my bow on my back and drew my hunting knives. I pounced on the boar and sliced its ear off. The boar roared with rage as the boar turned with such torque I was barely up and standing while the boar is getting ready to pounce on me again. I got up, and just at the same time, the boar pounced, but I ducked and thrust my right hunting knife up and sliced the lower part of the boar apart. The boar landed with a loud THUD and the boar whimpered. I sheathed the hunting knife on my left and used the right one to stab the boar in its neck. The boar then disintegrated into ashes.

''4 out of 20. Good luck!'' Artemis told me. ''Be warned! Look behind you!''

It was unusual for Artemis to give a sudden warning like that. Hunters like us usually deal with something quite quickly when it comes to killing monsters.

I looked back, and Kampe was standing directly behind me, her purple scimitars dripping poison on both her swords. I should have paid attention to Milady's warning.

I started to run, and Kampe swung her scimitar. Poison splattered everywhere. Thankfully, I was hidden behind the cover of a tree, so the tree in front of me disintegrated to ashes. I tried to keep my distance off her so I can get a clean shot at her. So I ran for about 100 feet, and took a shot at her. The arrow hit her in the chest, and it just made her angrier. She lunged at me, spreading her wings as she flew. I grabbed another arrow and pulled it all the way back for maximum damage, and then aimed at her head. I took a shot, but because she flew very fast, it ended up hitting her torso.

I continued to sprint away from Kampe as she chased me. She was getting closer and closer and finally I dove to one side as Kampe sliced the spot where I stood 0.5 seconds ago. I got back on my feet and saw the lake I went before. Kampe can fly, and she is fast, but I bet she can't swim that fast. So I took a deep breath and went underwater. I continued to swim lower and lower until Kampe can't see me from the surface. The water pressure in this depths is not very high, but it's more than enough to make my eardrums burst if I did not equalize. I let the weight from the aqua gallon drag me down further and further until I reached to about 30 feet in depth. I saw Kampe, on the surface, trying to find me as she wander around where I am.

I stayed down for 3 minutes.... 4 minutes.... My lungs are starting to burn as they long for oxygen. I saw Kampe leaving the lake, but I decided to just stay here for a little longer to give her more time to move away from me.

5 minutes.... 6 minutes.... My lungs felt they are like on fire. I decided to make a swim for it to the surface. I swimmed as fast as I can with the remaining oxygen I have in my lungs, not to mention the heavy aqua gallon that is greatly slowing me down.

Just a few feet from the surface, and my body started shutting down, but I know it's just a few hard strokes left, so I kept fighting the urge to go unconscious and drown.

Just as my body was about to pass out, I reached the surface and gasped for breath and coughed. My whole body shivered because it was cold and I am out of breath. I crawled towards the nearest tree as I continued to pant heavily from lack of air. I curled up into a ball so I can regain my strength faster, and it usually takes about an hour or so. After about an hour, I unstrapped the water gallon and drank quite a lot from it. I then strapped it on my back again, and it doesn't feel as heavy like before. In fact, a little lighter from before.

I went to urinate, and then went back and continued to hunt some more boars. At least Kampe won't be coming back for a couple of hours. She might be off somewhere, but I don't know where, so it's best for me to keep watch for Kampe's presence.

I continued deeper into the forest in order to find more boars, but as it turns out, boars were very difficult to find. They are very scarce in numbers, but in turn make up for their ferocity, size, strength and speed. For some reason, some have been mutated so they can have agility as well, like the boar that I last hunted. I'm sure that there would be more mutated boars around here, as well as mutated monsters that could appear at anytime, and the mutation could be dangerous as if mutating to be more powerful like Kampe, and some mutation can make the monsters as weak as normal critters.

My strength had been drained from hiding underwater, but it's still enough for me to hunt a couple more boars. I continued to ran across the woods to find more boars.

I looked up at the sun, and it's setting. It was getting dark, which means night monsters are going to inhabit the woods.

Finally, after a long time searching for a boar, I finally found one, and the boar is apparently resting. I tiptoed, making almost no sound as I approached the boar. It was still glowing red, so I have to shoot it with an arrow first.

I guess I found out another reason why Artemis coated the target monsters with red glowing shield. Artemis doesn't want us to just kill an animal stealthily, but as I approached, the red glow fades away, and when I started tiptoing backwards, the glow did not came.

"Nice.... an opportunity for a stealth kill." I murmured, and then I drew my bow and put the arrow on the string, pulled the string all the way back for maximum velocity, and fired an arrow at the boar. The boar roared as it instantly disintegrate to ashes.

''5 out of 20. Well done!'' Artemis' voice said. I just wanted to tell you that once your kill gets to 10, I have to make your challenge a lot harder.

Well, thanks for the advice, I thought. Things are going to get a lot tougher, and besides, that's the point of this challenge.

I sat down, resting from the hours of hunting. I wiped a drench of sweat from my face and I really wanted to take a bath, since it's been quite a while I've taken a bath.

But bath is a couple of miles from here, and if I had been in peak or semi-peak condition I could sprint up there, but I can't since I'm tired. I guess after a good nap I would be able to sprint long distances without tiring.

I unstrapped the aqua gallon from my back and started drinking from it. It really freshens me, and gave me strength to continue, but trusting my better judgement, I decided to take a short nap above the trees. I looked at the aqua gallon. It's 3/4 full now. I strapped it on my back again as I climbed the trees and took a short nap there.

When I woke up, it was already dark, but I could see the faint glow of the sun over the horizon to the west. The hot spring is just a mile away, and I can make it that far on my current condition.

I climbed down the tree slowly, and when I got down, I finally set to go to the hot spring just above the valley. I started running, and finally I was sprinting towards the hot spring. It took me just 5 minutes to run from where I am to the hot spring. I looked around and by luck, I found a boar hanging around the pool, and this boar is also coated with red glowing marker. This boar is huge. It must have been at least 4 times larger than the usual. I drew my arrow and fired at the boar. The arrow hit the boar and the red glowing marker shattered, and the boar roared as the boar looked at me with hatred. The boar charged at me, and I slung my bow on my back, drew my knives and as the boar charged, I jumped to the left and cut a long line starting on the boar's nose, ending up in the boar's left side of the butt. The boar roared as I pounced on the boar again, this time using my sheer strength to kill him. I charged at the boar and wrestled out the boar. I grabbed the boar's tusks and snapped it out. The boar roared in pain more violently as the boar charged at me. I went under and lifted the boar up, and then threw the boar up in the sky. Then, in lightning fast speed, I drew my arrow and fired at the boar in mid-air. I could have been sure that the boar roared in pain before it disintegrated.

''6 out of 20. That was impressive! You could be one of the strongest hunters!''

I blushed at the thought. Now then, for the bath. I took off my clothes, along with my equipment, and immersed myself inside the hot spring. It was warm! I took 40 minutes of immersing myself in her and then once I am done taking a bath, I put my clothes back on, with all my equipments and weapons.

I was refreshed and ready to hunt some more monsters. Hunting monsters like this had never been so thrilling like this. I can't believe how fun this gets, providing that you do not run into some very very dangerous monsters, like Kampe. Out of all the monsters there are in the world, the only land and air monsters that I couldn't beat is Typhon and Kampe. I decided to continue hunting around the warm pool, because it's one of the places where I can relax and calm myself. But anyways I've warmed my body enough to continue the hunt.

I've hunted and killed more stray monsters such as Telkhines and Dracaenaes. I wonder why there are so many monsters such as Dracaenaes and Telkhines here. I guess it's because they're minor monsters and they can win by deploying sheer numbers.

I continued to look for a boar around this forest, but as it is evident after a couple of miles of hunting that there's no boar in sight, I decided to look somewhere else.

As I ran further and further into the forest, I was stunned when I reached the edge of the forest. Right in front of me, was a desert, which is weird since deserts are supposed to be dry and cold at night, but instead it's humid and cold. I looked at the moon, which is high up in the sky and is shining brightly. I decided to stay withing the forest for the moment because crossing the desert is a huge task, and chances are, I could suffer from Hypothermia and that could slow my movement.

Deserts can be two extreme temperatures. They are scorching hot in the day, and freezing cold at night, so the best time for be to hunt in the desert is at dawn, where it's neither hot nor cold, and it's about 6 AM, so I decided to get some sleep now.

As like last night, I searched for nearby tall trees that could offer me protection. To my luck, there are two very tall trees that stretched up high for about 220 feet high, and that would surely provide my safety. I climbed to the peak of the tree and get my roped out. I tied a knot and one end, jumped to the other tree, and just barely held onto the branches as I fell just about 30 feet before holding on a branch and I continued to climb up and tied a knot at the other end and tugged it as hard as I can in order to make sure the balance is alright. Then, I made a harness out of the remaining rope, while using myself as a frame again. This time, I tied it tighter so the harness can hold me more firmly. I looped the rope throughout my body, but this time in a more firm way, and after a while, I stood on top of the balance and freefell down. As I fell to about 40 feet down, I felt the sharp tug on my body, signalling that I'm already suspended right here. I kept my bow, quiver, arrows, backpack and water gallon with me as I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 5
I woke up just as when I was expecting it. It's the third day of my challenge. The light from the sun was just barely on the horizon. I have to get to the desert as fast as possible. I climbed up the rope, and it actually took a long time to climb up from the ropes. Next time, I have to keep in mind to have two ropes interlocking so I can climb faster.

I got to the top of the balance, went to one of the trees and untied it. I grabbed the rope latching onto the other tree and swing to the other tree, and as soon as I landed on the other tree, I climbed up and untied it.

The biggest challenge is untying the harness on my body. I started from the top, then working my way to down. For some reason, it feels really easy once you already know how to do it, so I did it twice as fast as last night. I rolled the rope and put them into my backpack again.

I still had all my equipments as I climbed down at an incredible fast speed, I went down, and the light from the sun is just barely visible now, and as soon as I stepped onto the barren desert, I unstrapped the water gallon from my back and drink quite much compared to previous rests, because in deserts, when the sun is at its peak, the desert is scorching hot.

I continued to the desert, sprinting as fast as I can. I managed to get through 3 miles in 20 minutes. In this early morning, I wasn't expecting any boars to roam around, but there's about 2 boars marked with red glowing mark. I shot at one of the boars, and the red glowing mark shattered. That boar roared at me as I pulled the arrow all the way back and shoot it at the boar's mouth. The boar roared as it disintegrated into ashes.

''7 out of 20. Good luck!'' Artemis' voice said.

I saw another one, but that boar already noticed me. The red glowing shield disappeared as the boar charged at me. I saw the boar moved left and right as it charged towards me.

At the same time I saw a hellhound twice larger than Mrs O.Leary, and I planned to kill the boar and kill the hellhound after.

I charged towards the boar, and jumped up as soon as we almost met contact with the boar, allowing the boar to head straight towards the hellhound, but the hellhound immediately dodged the boar's charge. The boar made turn and I readied my huntink knives to kill the boar. I saw the boar charged at me and I let the boar approached. As the boar striked, I did what will surprise me. I stabbed the boar right in the armor, and I really expected the knife to just bounce out, but that's not what happened. The knife actually pierced the boar's armor, and the boar disintegrated.

I was completely surprised. I didn't really think that the hunters knife is build for piercing armor. But I guess I got the angle and power right in order to meet the condition for piercing the boar right in its armor.

''8 out of 20. Amazing!'' Artemis' voice said.

The only monster left is the Hellhound. The hellhound started to charge at me, with its large head. The hellhound started to breathe fire, but I was already out of the way by then. Luckily, this hellhound has only one head, so it would be easier compared to the other hellhounds which have multiple heads. The hellhound pounced on me, and I rolled under it and make a cut on the hellhounds under. The hound roared as it tried to pounce on me again. This time, it got me but I managed to keep it from crushing me. I held the hounds foot with my arms up, and I continued to push up until the hound is lifted from the ground. The hound was shocked to see a hunter can pick him up. Then, looking around, and Kampe is back, and this time she's angrier. I decided to throw the hound at Kampe. Kampe didn't have time to dodge because she was so close to me, and so she was carried by the hound's weight. The hound started to shrivel to dust because the hound touched Kampe's purple sword.

Right now, I know that Kampe must have been disoriented right now, so I ran towards Kampe, drawing my bow and shot it at her right hand. This causes her to drop her right scythe and roar in pain. I shot another arrow within 0.4 seconds on her left hand and Kampe was about to drop her left scythe but she held it firm in her hand. Kampe then charged at me. It was easier to fight her now since she had only one poisonous scythe to fight with.

We charged at each other, and then as we approach, I held my breath as I went under and sliced Kampe's shifting animals torso. I took a breath again as soon as I was out of reach of Kampe. Kampe roared in pain as she charged at me again. I have to make her take out her other scythe so I can approach her with no problem. I drew my bow and pulled the arrow all the way back and fired at Kampe's left scythe. She dropped both of her scythe, and now to get the kill.

I ran as fast as I can towards Kampe, putting my bow on my back and drawing my hunting knives in an incredible pace, even Kampe was surprised. I lunged at her and was about to slice her neck when she grabbed my left arm with her right arm. I grabbed her arm that was grabbing my left arm, twist it to the right and give it a lot of force to break it. Kampe winced in pain as I grabbed her arm and threw her 15 foot away before Kampe flew for a short while and then as soon as she was about to retrieve her weapons, I shot another arrow at Kampe, and foil her attempt at getting her weapon back, but her weapons had already been buried deep down the desert. Then, Kampe flew up high so I couldn't see where she was going, but, using my greater-than-hawk's vision, I was able to see where Kampe is. I could see where she is at, and where she is going to dive towards me. I prepared my bow and as soon as Kampe dove towards me, I let go of the arrow, but Kampe dodged and I was about to power jump when Kampe got me. I was brought to about 60 feet when I quickly put my bows back on my shoulder and quickly draw my hunting knives and started stabbing Kampe in the back. Kampe roared and she dropped me from the air. I looked at the ground and braced myself for a harsh landing. I expected myself to die from the height but I survived, by falling flat on the ground, while shielding my head with my hands. The fall hurts a lot, and I was barely able to move then. My vision also blurred, and it takes a while to get my vision back. I curled my body into a ball as pain coursed throughout my whole body.

Kampe was still wincing in pain from the stabs I gave her on the back, and so it took me a while to recover from the fall.

I looked at my lower torso. Kampe had managed to scratch me while she had me in her arms, but it's definitely healing. After abuot 3 minutes, my vision cleared, twice as clear as a hawk, and looked to where Kampe is, and charged at her.

I ran as fast as I can towards her, trying to end this tiring fight. I lunged and finally stuck a knife at Kampe's neck, and she disintegrated, leaving two poisonous purple scythes as spoils of war.

It was tiring, because Kampe is one of the hardest monsters that I've ever faced and won. But still, my primary targets are the boars.

As I continued to search for more boars, things are getting worse. The sun is now rising and I could feel the temperature of the desert is rising, so it's a good thing to find shelter fast from the searing hot desert.

Within minutes, I reached to the other side of the forest with the gallon of water still strapped behind me. I unstrapped it, took a drink from the bottle and strap it again. It felt less heavy now, as I went to a nearby tree to urinate and continued to hunt more monsters. More monsters are coming, such as hellhounds and carnivorous sheeps. Apparently, they can smell the scent of a hunter too.

I wonder how those carnivorous sheeps are able to get here. They are supposed to be at Polyphemus' island. Either Artemis sent it to add the tension to the challenge, or Polyphemus don't want those sheeps to bother him for a while

I hid behind the trees and drew my knife, and once they came past me, I simply stabbed them in their necks and they disintegrated to ashes. I climbed up the trees and waited for the monsters to pass. I know the monsters won't walk away easily, so I jumped down at a carnivore sheep and stabbed it in the neck, and the sheep disintegrated. The other sheep are already closing in on me, cornering me, but I power jumped from the sheep and landed behind one other sheep and started to run. There are 3 sheeps left, so taking them out from long distance should be easy. Once I got the distance I need, I fired an arrow at one of the sheeps, and the arrow pierced clean through one sheep and it lodged itself to the other sheep's body. Both sheeps disintegrated in an instant. It was surprising, even to me.

I kept my eyes on the last sheep, but just then, more monsters came. It was 3 colchis bulls. I quickly killed the flesh eating sheep then turned my attention to the colchis bulls. One of them started to breathe fire, and that's when I know to stay away from them. I stayed just 6 meters away from them as the bulls continued to come towards my position. I shuffled forward and then quickly shuffled backward. The three bulls already breathed fire simultaneously, and that's when I climbed up the trees. The bulls must have been blinded by the fires that they just breathed. It's one of the bull's flaw. When they breathe fire, they can't see, or else their eyes will burn since they emit intense light, especially when the bull is very close to the fire itself. I went from tree to tree until I was directly above one of the bulls. I jumped down and rode on one of the bulls and stabbed him in the neck. The bull disintegrated.

The other two bulls turned their attention at me, and they breathed fire at me. I shuffled back, but a little too late as the flames hit my front part of body. I felt the searing heat, and manages to grit in pain from the heat, but as I looked down, my body is still fine. Eventually, the pain disappeared from my system. I climbed up the tree, and the bulls breathed fire at the tree. The part of the tree that was incinerated by fire gave way, and I and the tree fell down. I quickly ran between the bulls as the bulls breathed fire on each other as I move past them. The bulls did not disintegrate, but it served as its purpose of disorientation. I grabbed the fallen tree from the bottom of the singed bark and used it to hit the bulls. I hit one of the bull with such force that the bull disintegrated. But one other bull didn't get hit as hard so that bull just rolled over two times and stopped rolling legs up. I grabbed one of the bull's legs, and I spin him good. The bull tried to breathe fire, but all he did was breathing it on the surroundings, not on me. After a good spin, I let him go, and in lightning fast speed, I drew an arrow and fire it at the bull. I sprinted to see the arrow had hit the bull on the neck, but the bull had not yet disintegrated. After when the bull had hit the ground, The bull fell to the ground, and the arrow pierced the bull further inside its neck and the bull disintegrated.

I looked at the sun, and the sun had left the peak, so I figure it would be a good idea to go further into the desert and look for more boars, because I've been in the forest for quite a while and all I found is other monsters, that drained my energy that I supposed to be spending on the boars.

First, I unstrapped the water gallon from my back and got another drink. I drank about 2/3 liters this time, and strapped it back on my back. Then, I ran across the desert, and it could be hours until I could find another boar, but I have to make the journey if I want to kill more boars.

So, I made my journey from the edge of the forest, and ran straight through the desert. Fortunately, the desert is calming its ferocious heat so I can run faster and longer without tiring.

I continued to sprint for 1 hour, reaching distance of 20 miles, and still I can't see another boar. It was starting to be frustrating, but I have to keep going.

I rested after a while, drinking some precious fluids so I don't get dehydrated. I have to conserve it so I can have another drink while I'm thirsty.

I continued running, and I met a stray monster, and this one seems to be a squirrel, not a monster, so I decided to leave it alone. I continued to run instead of sprinting in order to conserve my energy, since I have limited resources. Anyways, since I already ate so much before the challenge, I am not hungry after 3 days. The longest time I've managed to not feel hungry after eating this much is 7 days when vigorous exercise is included, so I tried not to spend too much energy unless it's really necessary. But drinking is crucial, because on vigorous exercises or hunting, I can only survive 3 days at most without water, and when I am full with water, it took 4-5 days.

Anyways, I continued running at the pace of average hunter to hunt more monsters. I looked at the wound in my torso. The wound was gone.

In the distance, I saw another rainforest, and I could tell it's different from the last one. I changed my pace from a run to a sprint in order to get to the woods as fast as I can, and to encounter another boar.

To the right, I saw this giant about 40 feet tall. He looks like a blue giant, wearing no chest plates and sometimes, he breathes out ice, and that turns the nearby desert land to ice. Hyperborean giants. They are usually friendly, unless they are threatened or they feel threatened.

I continued to the woods as I tried to find another boar for this day. It's getting really late at night, and the surrounding place is dark, and I'm ready to go to sleep.

As soon as I was about to go to sleep, I found a red glowing figure. Thank you, Artemis! For letting me find another boar today! I was already about to continue tomorrow. I nocked an arrow at the boar, and it hit the red shield, and the red shield shattered. I then fired another arrow at the bow, the one which I pulled it all the way back for maximum damage so the boar would be instantly disintegrated. I heard the sound of the boar roared in pain before I saw it disintegrate.

''9 out of 20! You're getting there!'' Artemis said.

It's late at night, and it's time to go to sleep. As usual, I scanned the trees to see which one is side by side and I look for the tallest kind. Once I found the trees I'm looking for, I climbed the tree as fast as I can and once I almost reached the top, I grabbed my backpack and get out the ropes. They are quite stretched out, but they're still very strong.

I made a loop on one tree, and I power jumped to the next tree. I made another loop on that tree in order to make a balance. This time, I want two of the ropes to help suspend me in midair, so the ropes won't stretch out more. I made a harness while using myself as a frame again, and as soon as I'm done, I tied another loop onto the balance so I won't risk falling to my deaths.

After it's all set, I freefell onto the ground, only to be suspended by the rope harness, and I kept my equipment with me as I fell asleep.

Chapter 6
I woke up suspended on the harness. I could hear the sound of monsters coming through here, and I was glad I was up here, not have to sleep down on the ground. It's the fourth day of my challenge. I climbed to the top of the balance, and I did the usual thing of untying the knots from both trees and untying my harness. After that, I climbed down the tree as as fast as I can and jumped down.

I looked around, crouching to the ground, using my hunter skills to listen to listen to the sound of monsters around me. I focused on the sounds that I hear.

I listened to what's in front of me. I hear a wild boar's sound. This is my 10th.

I continued my search for the boar and went to the source of the sound.

You might be wondering, why didn't I use this skill every time I want to track a boar?

It's because my senses are mose acute when I just woke up. It stayed acute for at least 30 minutes. So I used it to my advantage to look for wild boars. Because after 30 minutes, my senses will still be very acute, yes, but it gets slightly dull so I can only sense monsters within my proximity within 200 meters. When I just woke up, I can sense up to 8 kilometers away within my proximity.

I took my equipment with me, and sprinted to where I last sense the boar. As expected, I found a boar, and this boar already noticed me. I drew my arrow and fired an arrow at the boar, which dissipated the red protective shield, and I quickly slung my bow on my back and drew my hunting knives and stabbed the boar in its neck. The boar disintegrated.

''10 out of 20! That's the end of the easy challenge! Now it's time to get serious, my hunter! Monsters are coming for you!'' Artemis' voice said.

Hearing that warning is unnerving, but as I watched, nothing obvious really happened. But when I was face to face with one stray laistrygonian giant, that's when I realized what Artemis meant by making my challenge a lot harder. She meant to enhance the monster's agility, acuity, strength and endurance. This is evident when I tried to fire an arrow at the giant, and this giant just dodged. The laistrygonian giant then summoned a flaming bronze balls and threw it at me. Normal hunters would have difficulty dodging this kind of throw, but I was nimble and agile enough to dodge all of its attacks. It took a lot of stamina to dodge all that, and I continued to move closer and closer until I was finally close enough to drew my hunting knife and drove it to his neck. The giant disintegrated, and I found myself sitting down beside a tree, with sweats drenching my body while I rest for a while.

Oh gods... this challenge just got a lot harder. I can't afford to rest for just a few minutes because the monsters now had higher reflexes, and all their attribues just got higher all of a sudden. Anyways, I continued to walk around, looking for more boars.

I stopped in my tracks, having heard an empousai on my trail. I turned around, and indeed there's about 2 empousai.

"Looks like we've got a hunter." One empousa said.

"Yeah, but demigods meal are more delicious. Hunters..."

"I don't care! Let's just finish off this one!" The first one said, and together, they lunged at me.

I charged towards them and did a slide, as I punched one of the empousai's groin. The empousai managed to dodge the attack and all I hit is the empousai's bronze knee. The empousai got knocked over and she fell down on top of the other one.

"Wait a minute... this isn't just a hunter..." One of the empousa said. "I've never seen a hunter this fast."

While they were in the middle of the discussion, I charged at them, and jumped and stab one empousa in the neck. The empousa disintegrated.

"My sister!" The empousa cried. "You will pay for this!"

"Oh yeah? Well come and get me!" I shouted at the empousa, as I readied myself. The empousa lunged, and as the empousa got close, I ducked and thrust my knife up and it hit the empousa's chest, and she went rigid before she disintegrate into ashes.

Higher level monsters tests you to the absolute limit, and this is just the beginning. There will be more monsters such as the Clazmonion Sow, Liver-eating Vultures, Geryon, flesh eating cattles and other nasty monsters.

None of the hunters told me about the high level challenge, so I'm assuming that none of them had made it to the high level challenge. But they could have made to swear to the river styx not to tell anything about the high level challenge.

Anyways, I continued deeper into the forest. The forest in here is dense, with trees every 3 meters and wherever trees are not present, grasses are sure to be there. There are a couple of hundred types of plants that I reckon would be found around this forest. I looked at the sun, and it's directly overhead. I continued my hunt as soon as I found another boar marked with red glowing shield. I fired at the boar and the red glowing shattered, but apparently this one has two layers of shield, so I fired another arrow at the boar and as the boar charged, the shield disintegrated, and I drew my hunting knives and knowing I need to have increased agility in this one, I sidestepped just at the right and and sliced the boar's ear. The boar roared in pain, and this roar is louder than before, because it's so loud that if I had been any nearer towards the boar, I would have to be forced to cover my ears.

I got up and stood face to face with the boar, circling the boar around. I'm sure eventually the boar will make a mistake. Even the most elite could make mistake. You just have to spot it. Even the smallest mistake can bring down even the most prepared. I have to be cautious around the boar, and we continued circling it until the boar made a mistake of lunging at me. I quickly sidestepped and stabbed the boar in the neck. The boar took quite a long time do die so I continued stabbing more at his neck and the boar disintegrated.

''11 out of 20! Come on now! Don't lose your focus!'' Artemis' voice said.

I continued to run across the forest, knowing that I can't stay at one spot all the time. This time, I don't have time to rest, unless at night time. This part of the forest is unforgiving, and if you stay at one spot for too long, monsters are going to finally surround you and you will be forced to give up. But I can't risk that. In the high level challenge, when I need to rest, I will be going up the trees in order to rest, so my scent won't be smelt by nearby monsters.

I crouched and touched the earth. Normally, I wouldn't sense any monsters within 200 meters, but this time there's a couple of monsters within 200 meters of my proximity. I went alert in an instant and drew my hunting knives and tiptoed. I tried to listen for the sounds that the monsters are making, and which direction the monsters are and how close that monster is.

I listened for the sound that gets closer, and I whirled around and I looked at the monster before I stabbed the monster in the neck. It was a scythian dracaenae. The dracaenae hissed before the monster disintegrated to dust.

I looked at the sun. It was already in its peak, which means it's in the middle of the day. I continued to run. For some reason, I didn't feel any burden anymore when carrying my equipments including the water gallon. It turns out that I've gotten used to it, so this is like a good exercise for me to improve my speed in running, and also strength.

I decided to rest in the treetops, so I climbed a tree and get to the part where the branch is more than sturdy enough to support my weight.

I rested for a while after a couple of encounters with the monsters. I unstrapped the gallon from my back and took a drink, and after I drank a little, my strength returned. I strapped the water gallon onto my back, and it felt less heavy. I stayed silent as I listened to the monsters that pass through the woods. There are many monsters around here, and they're quite big. I saw some earthborns, known in other words as Gegeines as I waited up here, waiting for them to pass.

I was still a little tired from the previous encounter with the monsters. I stayed up here until I was convinced that all of the monsters have left, because there's no way that I can kill all the monsters that is about 200 of them, especially when they're high leveled.

After what it seemed about a few hours, I was convinced that the monsters are no longer in proximity, so I decided to climb down from the tree.

As my feet touched the ground, I continued to hunt the boars. I was expecting more about the boars. I expected the other boars to have two layers of red shield and much more aggressive. I continued to run but I saw 4 gegeines, which are also known as earthborns. They have 6 arms and they apparently are made of clay and dirt. They swarm closer towards me and I drew my hunting knives. I charged at one of them and as they went to make a grab on me, I feinted and stab the hunting knife on one of the chest of an earthborn. That earthborn melted back into clays and dirt and the other earthborns are moving towards me with even faster pace. I continued to keep my distance with the earthborn and I kept looking for an opening. As soon as I saw the opportunity, I charged at that earthborn and stab it in the neck. I continued to kill another earthborn until there's only one left. I was preparing myself and this earthborn is reckless. This one just charged at me, and I just sidestepped and stabbed it in the earthborn's neck. The earthborn just melted back to clay. I sighed as I sheathed my hunting knives.

In front of me, was a warehouse, and this warehouse is about 3 story tall.

Then, something quite unexpected happened. I sensed something behind me, and when I turned around a cyclops was just directly behind me. I was about to draw my hunting knives when the cyclops punched me in the head with such force that I blacked out.

When I woke up, I found myself on a warehouse, and I noticed I was hanging upside down. My ankles are tied up using a thick chain and my hands are tied behind my back. My mouth is gagged so I couldn't speak. I was writhing against the chains, but I know that they're having micro tears as I struggle against them. Hanging below me was a pot of boiling water which is covered by a glass. I guess it's to pressurize the water so that it would cook faster.

My mind switched to survival mode. I scanned the surroundings. There's a laser cutter beside me, and I could use it to kill the cyclops and if I could just struggle more I would be able to break the chains in my arm. I continue to writhe around against the chains as I fought for survival, and to escape this prison. I'm sure that the other hunters got caught in the same situation and they wanted to give up the challenge. But not me. I kept struggling until I am free from this hell.

Just then, two cyclops came to the room. They looked at me with lust and pleasure.

"You know, I wouldn't eat this one hunter. She is soo good to be made my mate and to torture her." One of them said.

"This is not the time to be lustful, Troq!" The other cyclops said. "You have let our last meal go! This is not the time to gain your lust!"

"Yes, sir Edmund!" Troq said, as Edmund looked at me with his lustful eyes. I continued to writhe and struggle against the chains. I could see pieces of the metal are breaking with every effort as they developed fracture, and I also struggle with my ankles so they also they also get some fracture, in order to launch a surprise attack at the cyclops.

"Now, let's torture her first." Edmund said, as he grabbed the chains and dunked me in hot water. I writhed and struggled more as the heat begins to get on me. They grabbed me up again and I gasped from my nose. I would have gasped from my mouth, but it was blocked by the gag. It was one of the terrible moments in life where you have to be chained up and kept captive like this.

"I think it would be alright if we just put her on the freezer first?" Troq suggested.

"Hmm..." I continued to writhe around slowly so the metal bonds won't come off suddenly and kept focusing on the cyclops.

"Alright, this seems to be a formidable hunter, coming through so far in her challenge. Freeze her up. Then she can't do a thing."

"Alright." Troq said as he disconnected the chain from the ceiling and hang me in a giant freezer and Troq closed the door.

Once Troq closed the door, I began to shiver from the cold. This isn't an ordinary refrigerator. I feel that this refrigerator could reach as low as -70 degrees celsius so I have to work fast. I ripped the chains out of my hands first with ease and then proceeded to my legs. I bent my body so my arms can reach my legs and I used my legs to rip apart the now weakened chains and as I fell down, I positioned myself so I can fell on my feet. I took a quick look around the refrigerator and it seems like no one else was here but me. Then I kicked open the huge refrigerator and went to search my water gallon, backpack, hunting knives and bow and arrows with quiver. There it was, in the most obvious place, which is beside the cooking pot. I strapped all of them to me within seconds and I continued to find the cyclops who held me captive.

I went up the stairs and found about 4 cyclops in a chatter in the 3rd floor.

".... Hunters of Artemis are dangerous! We can't just let her freeze there! Someone have to keep watch!" One of them said.

"Very well." A voice belonged to Edmund said. "Troq! You guard the fridge! Make sure she doesn't escape!"

"Yes, sir Edmund!" Troq said, as he went down the stairs. I hide behind a wall, and once this cyclops named Troq passed through the 2nd floor, I power jumped and stabbed him in the back. The cyclops disintegrated.

I silently walked up the stairs, making absolutely no sound during the process. I looked at the other three cyclops that were discussing.

"Troq should have reported every 5 minutes or else I would come down there and beat his ass." Edmund said.

"Troq has been a pain in the..." Then he noticed me. "She has escaped!"

"What?" Edmund was in bewilderment, but I wasted no time to pounce on that cyclops and stab him in the neck as he disintegrated.

Edmund the cyclops stared at me with his eye wide. He was shocked by my performance. "Who.... who are you? And how.... You were just right there!!" He shrieked in disbelief.

"Just a reminder that I'm not your lunch." I said as I quickly drew an arrow and pulled it back all the way and shot at Edmund's neck, and he disintegrated.

There's only one cyclops left, and he is looking very terrified of my presence. I started walking towards him. He started throwing everything he can find at me. I dodged some of them while I break through most of them because I know the material is fragile and easy to break. As I approached him, I quickly drew my hunting knives and stab it in the cyclops neck. The cyclops disintegrated, and one last task await for me, to escape this warehouse alive.

Fortunately, the escape isn't that hard. All I have to do is go down stairs and walk out the front door. I did that and I was where I was knocked out by the cyclops. I guess Edmund was the one who knocked me out.

When I look at the sky, the sun is already pointed to the east, and I figure that there's about 2-3 hours before the sun sets. I continued my hunt for the boar as I walked cautiously around the forest. As I walked, I have to keep listening to nearby monsters to avoid being captured again.

I sensed something on my right, and it's coming at me really fast. I looked at my right and I found myself face to face with a minotaur. The minotaur was charging at me with full speed, but as soon as the minotaur came close to me, I power jumped out of the way and let the minotaur hit a tree. I landed back on my feet and went for the kill when the minotaur had his horns stuck on a tree. I sprinted at the minotaur, running as fast as I can towards the creature and stabbed him in the back with my hunting knife and I hear the piercing roar of the minotaur bellowing in pain as it disintegrated.

I haven't met the Minotaur in quite a long time. I guess they took quite a long time to reform. Medusa, on the other hand, took centuries to reform, because mainly due to her powers of being able to turn people to stone by just looking at them in the eyes. Fortunately, Medusa is not fully reformed yet, but she will soon, since from what I've heard, a hero had killed her about 2 centuries ago. I just hoped I didn't encounter Medusa in my challenge.

I rested for a few minutes to catch a breather, but I can't continue to rest like this because either way, monsters are going to find a way to get me.

And I can't continue resting up on the trees, because monsters eventually are going to develop a strategy to climb the trees and finally get to me. I spoke with one of the hunters, and her name is Julia, and Julia told me that she stayed in the trees too long, and monsters are climbing trees to get her, and she decided to abandoned the high level challenge, but she got recognition for making it past the easy challenge. In fact, some of the hunters that get past the easy challenge get recognition from Artemis, but that's the only thing they get. I wanted to continue up until the challenge finished.

After hours of walking and killing more monsters, I finally found another boar, coated in red glowing shield. I fired an arrow and then followed with another arrow and after both shields disappeared, the boar growled at me as it charged at me. I put the bow on my back as I drew my hunting knife from the left sheath and stabbed the boar in its neck. The boar disintegrated.

''12 out of 20! Nice work!'' Artemis' voice said.

I continued and every few moments, I crouched down and closed my eyes to enhance my hearing perception for a while, so I can sense monsters within 200 meters of my proximity.

I sensed one of the monsters heading towards my location, and it's approaching quite quickly. I looked towards the direction of the monster and I was surprised because it's a Lernaean Hydra, one of the deadly monsters in the myth. One of its head started to spit acid as I power rolled to the right to avoid its deadly acid. I have to get close and stab its stomach. Slicing its head off is no good because their heads will grow again as soon as I sliced one of them, so I kept my distance at first, trying to figure out a way to kill the hydras without slicing their heads.

And those hydras just kept shooting acid at me as I ran away from it, thinking of a plan to get past their acid spits and to get near the Hydra so I can kill it. Then, I saw an opportunity. The hydras kept glaring at me, but they didn't shoot their acid spits yet. I guess they're regenerating or something like that. I charged at the hydra, grabbed their legs and started spinning the 9 headed beast around as they spit poison everywhere. After a while, I threw the monstrosity into the sky, which went about 40 feet before it fell down as they started drooling poison around themselves, slowly melting them and killing them with their own acid, and they disintegrated. This is probably the first time I let a monster kill themselves using their own weapons.

I guess the acid from the hydras could be much use, so I decided to stay here for a moment. I felt thirsty, so I unstrapped my gallon of water and drank about 1 litre. I looked at the water gallon and it's about half-full now (or should I say half-empty). I strapped it on my back again and felt refreshed again.

I continued my journey deeper into the forest, and found many monsters. Since I was quite tired from battling with all the monsters before, I decided to climb the trees to rest for a while.

I searched for a tall tree that the other monsters might not be able to climb fast enough to get me, and I climbed that tree. Believe it or not, I'm a fast climber, reaching heights of 200 feet within 20 seconds as I power jumped my way through the obstacles and finally rested on a branch sturdy enough to hold my weight.

I rested there for a while, thinking that I was protected from the monsters below. I looked at the clear skies and apparently no monsters lurking in the skies are coming to get me, so I just enjoyed the scenery for a while as I rested, regaining my strength.

I'm sure that I have used a lot of energy during the last 4 days of my challenge. I'm sure that soon or later, the stored food reserves in my system will soon deplete, so I decided to just stay here for a while longer.

I looked at the birds that just flew out of the nest around the trees, and it felt so good that I want to stay here forever. But I have to keep in mind that I'm still on the challenge, and I could look at the beautiful scenery after the challenge. It was really cool to see the view from up the tree, ranging from mountains, hills and valleys, to streaming rivers and lakes. But before reaching that hill, we have to cross the everfrozen tundra, that will be incredibly cold, so if I ever cross that place, I have to cross them while the sun is at its peak or if I am in a hurry, I have to sprint my way all the way across.

I looked at the sun, and the sun has just touched the horizon, which means I have to go back down to find shelter. I might have to find another shelter other than the tall trees, since I already entered the high level challenge, but tall trees will work. I climbed down as fast as I can, and since I pretty much jumped from the top, while grabbing the tree for a while for some support as I go down, it took 15 seconds.

I continued to look for more boars, but all I ran into is some more monsters, but they're more powerful ones, such as Empousai and the Chimera.

This Chimera has 2 heads, and apparently one of their heads breathe fire and the other one breathe gasoline, so their heads have to work as a group. I decided to take on the Chimera first, with the Empousai on my tail. I looked at where the chimera is aiming their shots at, but most importantly I look for which head is sprouting the gasoline. (Wrath of the Titans reference)

It turns out that the chimera's left head is sprouting gasoline. That is, my left. I ran towards the chimera's head and wrestles the chimeras right head as it tries to produce flame. The left head continues to drool more gasoline, and I figure it would be useful when more monsters came. Fortunately, this is one of the spot where there's no grass or trees for a radius of 30 meters, which is very strange. I kept holding back the right head and waited for the monsters to come. Monsters came from every direction, and they even stepped into the 30 meter circle of no grass, trees and other plants. They surrounded me, and as soon as they fit tightly into the circle, I released the chimera's right head and power jumped out of the circle. It took the Chimera a few seconds to shake its right head off disorientation, and as soon as I'm out of the 30 meter circle, the chimera blew fire. Unfortunately, some monsters knew about it and they already stayed away from the circle, but other monsters are not so lucky. The Chimera's right head blew fire and a blaze of fire erupted that blew the monsters away. I felt the blast hitting me, and I was also thrown back 10 feet, landing on my butt.

I got up and as soon as I regained my footing, I saw the monsters are running around in panic. But their panic soon came to an end when the gasoline and the fires are no more. The remaining monsters looked at me and as I charged one of them, the others tried to follow me and they also tried to throw their weapons to me, but they missed at their throws that fell short only a couple of meters away. I glanced back, and apparently, there are about 6 monsters chasing me. The rest had ran away and they had probably decided to come later. I continued to run and if the number of monsters are not much in the front line, I turned around, killed them with my hunting knives and continued running as soon as the number of monsters increased. I need to remember not to sprint again, unless I really really have to, and continued fighting the monsters. I kept doing that until there's only 3 monsters left, and seeing there's no way around it, I have to keep fighting, even though tiredness started to get to me.

I drew my arrow and fired a bullseye at their necks, causing them to disintegrate on the spot. I sighed and climbed the nearest tree. Since I'm quite tired, my pace is slowed down, so I managed to climb 150 feet tree in 2 minutes.

I grabbed my water gallon and took huge gulps of it then I put it back on my back, and rested there for about 2 hours.

As soon as 2 hours had past, I had regained my strength. It appears that when I rest, I allow the production of my bodily energy to build up. It was already late at night, and the moon is still full. I climbed down silently until I reached the ground. I continued my search for more boars, but apparently I've got none.

I faced to the path where the hill is just a few meters away, and from what I looked above from the trees earlier, this path leads to a mountain, but before that I have to cross the Tundra first, something that I might not be able to do during the night, so I have to go to sleep for the night.

It was strange to see an everfrozen tundra just straight after the woods. It seems unnatural. Perhaps Artemis wanted me to experience many different feelings since that's what defines a true hunter.

Anyways, I looked up to search for nearby tall trees, and I found a pair, and it's just about 200 feet high. I climbed the tree slowly so I don't waste much energy just going up there. As soon as I reached the peak, I get out the ropes and tied a knot around one tree. The distance between the trees is about 6 meters so I have to power jump to get to the other side and tied another knot. Then I made a harness for myself and as soon as I did that, I tied another loop so there are two ropes holding me. After that, I freefell to the ground, and after a while, I heard the sound of a rope being slightly stretched and the feeling of the harness getting tighter as I fell asleep.

Chapter 7
I was either incredibly lucky or incredibly smart that I have survived for so long. It's the fifth day of my challenge. I woke up to see myself still suspended from a harness. I saw some swords, spears and other weapons that the monsters threw as they are stupid enough to think that they can get me from this height. I climbed up the rope and untied the knots from both trees and my harness and roll them before I put them inside my backpack. I unstrapped the gallon from my back and drank some of the water, and close the lid before strapping it back to my back. I climbed down and continued my journey. As the everfrozen tundra is on my way, I have to cross it fast. I sprinted all the way from the edge of the rainforest, through the tundra and finally I reached the hill. I was panting when I reached the hill, and decided to rest for a moment, since I know I have to conserve my energy from now on if I am ever going to survive this near-impossible challenge.

I continued to walk up the hill, and I saw a river just after we cross the valley, and then a hike towards the snowy mountain. I looked at the river, and it's 5 meters wide. Power jumping to get across isn't an option if I want to conserve my energy, so I have to think of something else. I searched for anything that can prove useful. I saw a log that is about 6 meters in length and 70 centimeters in width. This could make a nice plank to cross the river, since the river is not raging at the moment.

I put one end of the plank on the other side of the river and another end of the plank on this side of the river and walked across. It saved me from power jumping, using excessive amount of energy to just complete one simple task, especially if I have to conserve my energy.

I looked for boars, and I bet they could be found near the mountains, so I started my journey to climb the mountain. To normal people, it's exhausting, but me, as a hunter, it doesn't feel exhausting at all. In fact, it's fun!

I continued to walk up the mountain. Monsters could be hiding anywhere, so I have to keep alert so I didn't get caught off-guard. I kept my bow drawn as I'm quite tired of using hunting knives to kill. I noticed a laistrygonian giant hiding in the trees, presumably trying to ambush me. I stopped in my tracks and waited for that giant to come out. At first, the laistrygonian giant waited, but later the giant realized that I knew his presence, and he attacked with his flaming bronze balls. I dodged and fired an arrow at the giant's neck, and the giant disintegrated.

I had my bow drawn for most of the time today, since monster may come from behind me and hit me from behind. I decided to rest for a while, and rain started to fall as I heard a distant lightning rumbled in the skies.

The rains always helped me enhance my senses. It's because I have to listen more carefully to monster noises, while trying to eliminate the background noise from the rain. I crouched and held the earth with my right palm as I listened for noises that might belong to monsters. So far, nothing, because if monsters are actually present within 200 meters, I can actually sense their presence, or hear their presence.

I got up and found a shelter beneath the huge palm tree. I curled my body into a ball and closed my eyes, not sleeping, but rather listening to the rain, and also resting because most monsters doesn't go out when they are out in the rain.

There's a house nearby, and I approach it slowly. As I knocked on the door, no one answered, so I just went inside and settled there until the rain stops. The rain is cold and that's why I decided to stay inside for a moment until the rain goes away.

"Rain, rain, go away, come again another day." I murmured, remembering the nursery rhyme that my mom and dad used to tell me. They once told me when I was a kid that when singing that song, the rain will end. But of course I know it's just a nursery rhyme and the rain isn't going to go away just like that.

I curled up into a ball as I rested for a while. I waited until the rain goes away, and after that, I came out of the house.

I looked at the sun, and the sun almost reached its peak. I was about to climb the mountain, which seems very far, but I had to make it up the mountain or else I won't find another boar to hunt.

So I walked up the mountain, still cautious and alert just in case a monster tries to attack me from behind. I continued up the mountain as it was a straight steep path with trees on either side of the road. I resumed to go up hill. It seems to go forever, because there's no monsters that had attacked me in the past hour, while on the bright side I seemed to be able to conserve more energy than before.

For some reason, my body was burning energy much more efficient than others. Once, when Artemis asked us to eat a sushi, I was able to run 4.5 times the distance of other hunters. Of course, this was done under a controlled condition where the volunteers are told not to eat for 2 days. This just tells me that I've got much more energy burning efficiency than the other hunters.

Anyways, I continued to go uphill, and after a few hours of hiking, I reached the top of the mountain. I looked over the horizon, and saw rainforests just 300 meters below, and the barren desert that was beyond the rainforest. I know that beyond the barren desert, was another rainforest because that's the place where I started. I crouched and placed my right palm on the earth again and listened for signs of monsters approaching towards where I am. I picked up a presence just to my right and saw a deer. I decided not to draw my bow because deer is one of Artemis' sacred animals, and we hunters can't just kill deers like that, especially when it's offending our goddess.

I continued to run down the mountain, knowing I don't have to use as much energy as going up the mountain, and just then a laistrygonian giant in front of me came out of hiding as he tackled the air in front of him. I guess he was anticipating me to sprint that fast and that's where he thinks I'm going to be. I'm guessing this giant had seen what I can do and he thinks I'm running so fast that I was already there. Such a bad judgement for a laistrygonian giant. I drew my bow and nocked an arrow at the giant's neck, and the giant disintegrated.

The hunt is harder, but in a more frustratingly way. Until now, I haven't got any boars, and it's already past noon. But I refuse to give up and continued on. Apparently, I had underestimated the hunt. It was easy for a few days, and all of a sudden, the boars are nowhere to be found. I've searched the Tundra, the mountains, and now as I'm heading towards the other side of the rainforest, I still haven't got a single boar to kill today.

I continued to walk as I listened more. I should have used my skill upon when I woke up. That would help me drastically. I had only a couple of steps to walk down the hill before I reached the woods again. I'm sure that there would be more monsters around in the woods. I just have need to have found the right time to get them. Meanwhile, I went to the nearest tree, and since I can't hold my pee, I urinated under the tree. I looked up, and it turns out it's a tall and large tree, so I climbed it and once I reached a spot where it's comfortable, I settled there and rest. I'm sure that the other hunters get themselves a lot of rest so they don't get exhausted. I guess that's one of my mistakes on this challenge, and I'm going to make amends for it by only using my high-energy consumption moves such as power jump, power sprints only if they're absolutely necessary.

I continued to rest until about 1 hour had past. It was really quiet, unlike what I heard everyday in the woods. This is strange. Perhaps the boar could not have been here. Apparently I had just wasted my time and my energy crossing the huge mountain without any results. This is just plain embarrassing.

I looked around and climbed down. I decided to use the skill again and see if it has any improvements. I crouched and placed my right palm on the earth. I could sense vibrations made by monsters up to a mile away. I placed my left palms too onto the ground, and my senses just went up ten-fold. I could sense monsters towards the right about 8 miles away, and I could sense a boar, a huge one, wandering around it. This might be my chance to hunt a boar for the day. I have to get to the boar or else I would have hunted no boars for the day.

"Come on..." I murmured to myself. "Just 8 more boars to go."

Of course I can't sprint all the way for 8 miles just to let the boar escape, so I decided to just jog my way. On the way, I thought; ''Artemis.... please be on my side.''

It was crazy to think that anyone can help you in this challenge. Besides, when you accepted help in this challenge, you're no longer deemed for the title of The Hunter of Millenia. This happened when one day, Zoe was picked for the challenge. She did an impressive job of killing the laistrygonian giants until she was offered help by someone to help her escape Kampe. And as a result, she didn't earn the title of The Hunter of Millenia, but she did get recognition from Artemis for passing the challenge with help.

I was so lost in thoughts that I had forgotten the golden rule during the hunt: Stay focus. It was not until 1 hour I reached where the boar was last sensed, but apparently the boar got away. It was a huge disappointment for me not to be able to see and kill the boar. I walked around, feeling hopeless. It was one of the old tricks in the book, where people lure you good stuff, and then after a while, you have to come get it by yourself since it's scarce. I really felt that way, to be honest.

(WIP)