Rise Of The Ussr In Another World - Volume 1 Chapter 10 Hunting In The Hills
[A/N : This is a bonus chapter. Since I had time I wrote another this week. The schedule of one chapter per week stands tall and steady as usual.]
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For the servants and guards of the Weismann estate, life starts early every morning. Even before the sun rises from the distant horizon, they are up and about, doing their various duties. Recently, the strange machine introduced by the young master had added a little to their troubles. The accursed thing referred to as ‘Clock’ by the young master, seems to ring at a fixed time every morning and evening. To the servants, its ringing sounds oddly irritating to be honest, but they dare not say that loud, for the head maid Martha seems pretty pleased with it. She always wakes up first and has the other servants follow suit. No extra sleeping for anybody. Including Martha, there are a total of 12 servants, 4 maids and 7 male workers. There is also 2 cooks, and an old gardener along with is young grandson who tend to the small garden before the mansion and occasionally trim the overgrowing trees and shrubs.
Since a few days ago, something new has been going on at the estate. A little while after the servants start their daily chores, a large group of men gather in the field behind the mansion. They are the guards who have recently been increased in number from 20 to 100. Even a fool could understand that there was no meaning having 100 people protecting a mansion in this remote area, which was largely considered unimportant, given the fact that the town’s troops were stationed nearby. The young master who had recently, suddenly given up his ways of squandering money and wasting his life, seems to have some other plans for them. It has been noted by almost all the people at the estate, that the Young master is always the first to arrive at the field, and can be seen to be doing strange exercises, which he makes the guards do as well. However, no one was sure if this change in the young master was for the better or worse.
“You sorry excuses for humans! Run Run damn it! What have you been doing all life, you fools cannot even run decently!”
The voice of the young master thundered across the field as he followed the sluggish group of cadets while they did their morning rounds across the field. Occasionally a strange and loud whistling sound was also heard. This was simply called a ‘whistle’ by the young master, who had brought it out suddenly one day. It was a small object which made a loud sound whenever a person blew air into it. It had now been 4 days since the new recruits had joined in, and most of them were already regretting joining up. The pay was good, the living bunks were okay and the food was also decent enough. But what scared them the most and caused all their discomfort was the very person who they were supposed to work for. The Young Master Adolf Kaiser Weismann seemed to be really befitting of his reputation : “Nothing good comes from mingling with him”, which was well spread across the town. But now these young men knew how much more worse it was in reality.
“You know what! I feel it’s fortunate that my grandmother isn’t here to look at you! Even she could run faster than you sloths!”
The frequent insults followed by the loud and painful noise of the ‘whistle’, cause a lot of irritation, but the cadets suppressed their urge to curse back and kept dragging their weary bodies. The first day many of them were late. They were cursed at by the young master and made to do tens of squats each. As expected, many complained at these insults and harsh physical exercises. The answer to their complaints? Why of course they were all based by Add while the former guards who knew of his brutal methods looked at the new recruits in pity. Then they were made to run and those who didn’t were not given food for the entire night. The next day most of the recruits tried to leave. They were again beaten and the more energetic ones were tied upside down and hung on the trees for hours. What horrified them most was that the young master was strong beyond measure. Even when they tried attacking him in groups, they were still badly thrashed and thrown around. They realized quickly, just what pit they had thrown themselves into; not allowed to quit this ‘training’ and not allowed to run away, if they did, they would be beaten. Helpless they could only continue, hoping to not get beaten. On the third day, they arrived at the training fields in fear, their faces grave in hopelessness. They were still cursed at and made to toil till they were about to pass out, but fortunately, this time no one was beaten.
And today they were following the same routine, running, then doing exercises till evening then having and early dinner and sleeping. Add had also revised and set their daily schedules which followed the clock, making the cadets wake up even earlier. For this, he had given another clock to the cadets, as now there were two barracks. By now most of the ex-guard cadets were familiar with the clock and could decently follow the schedule. The new recruits were also being taught by them, and they too were catching up fast. Once they remembered the symbols and the position of the arms of the clock, it would be very easy to recognize the time, and adjust their pace as required. Add was in no rush and allowed them to gradually adapt to this method of time keeping which was revolutionary for this world. The schedule for the cadets went on as follows:
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4:30 a.m. : First Call : The cadets would wake up to perform their personal morning tasks and conduct hygiene.
5:00 a.m. : Breakfast was served.
5:30 a.m. : Physical Training : the cadets would assemble in the designated area, perform morning physical training (running and exercises).
6:30 a.m. : Training : The day’s scheduled training exercises would begin.
12:00 p.m. : Lunch.
12:30 p.m. : Training : The cadets would continue the day’s scheduled training exercises.
5:00 p.m. : Dinner.
5:30 p.m. : Instructor’s class. During this time the instructor would teach the cadets the theoretical aspects of their training, and if required any individual lessons for particular cadets would be addressed.
8:00 p.m. : Personal time. Time for recruits to engage in personal activities, such as writing letters, laundry, showering, relaxation, or sleep. Cadets could also catch up on their duties during this time, such as barracks cleaning or other jobs.
9:00 p.m. : Lights-out. Everyone was to be asleep by this time.
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Of course, he did not expect them to follow the schedule up to the last letter on the first day, but he would ensure that they gradually adapted and became punctual, like all soldiers were supposed to. He had decided to continue with just the physical exercises all day for a few more days, to get the cadets in shape. Once the current month ended, he would start his three month long course of actual training. The cadets who were already feeling hopeless with daily exercise and running had the real hell waiting for them, this could not even be called an appetizer for the main dish that was yet to come.
After training the cadets for 4 days straight, Add again went to the hilly forests. This time he took three horse drawn carts with him, each pulled by two horses. Accompanying him were 10 cadets, of which 5 were the ex-guards and 5 were new recruits. The rest were left to train as usual under Kent who had been observing the daily training every day. He assured that he now knew the various exercises which Add taught the cadets, and would not let anyone slack off. Leaving the cadets under his watch, Add went off towards a certain part of the forests. He had not been here before, but he had Edward, whom he pulled away from training, act has his guide, again. This area was more open than the rest of the forest, with occasional large patches of grass forming meadows within the tree line. This was not where goblins usually showed up, and in fact, Add was not after goblins today. This was a favourite place of a certain monster called the [Maned Boar]. He had seen one on the first day in the forest.
A [Maned Boar] was a large hog around half the size of a African rhinoceros. It was covered in thick greyish brown manes and hence the name. It also had two one meter long curved tusks which could pierce easily through ordinary armour. These boars had poor eyesight, but their sense of hearing was good and their sense of smell was even better. They usually lived in herds of 10- 30 individuals and were very aggressive in nature towards any intruders. [Maned Boars] were mainly herbivores, but they would even eat meat if opportunities arose, though they were not known to actively hunt prey. They were a bit difficult to handle as their thick fur and skin made their defence very high. But today Add had set his sights on them. The reason was simple. He wanted meat. Not for himself, but for feeding the cadets. The thing was, last night he had been going through the expenses which were added after he decided to recruit more people.
Among them a major share was the food. Now he trained the cadets with no corners cut, but he also was not going to cut corners on the food they got. He had Martha hire two more cooks and 4 helpers to cook the meals of the cadets. He had also specified the meals, the breakfast was milk and bread, lunch was vegetable soup and bread with fruits if possible, and the dinner was some dish of meat or eggs and bread. All of this added together, amounted a lot. He knew that the finances were low, so after thinking for a while, he chose to hunt some monsters that could be eaten, and the [Maned Boars] were the easiest target. They were quite slow, and their meat was said to be quite palatable. Also their skin and fur sold for decent prices, so it was killing two birds with a stone. Not many people hunted these boars however, since they lived in groups and were very dangerous. But to Add who had the option of modern weaponry, these walking piles of meat, bones and fat which could weigh over half a ton, were easy pickings.
“Cadets, attention! Form line!”
After he dismounted from the cart, he made the cadets line up and explained the purpose of this trip. The cadets were surprised that he wanted to hunt [Maned Boars], but then again, this strange lord of theirs was beyond logic, they thought inside. Add reminded them not to follow him and watch over the horses. They had swords and spears with them and wore the light chainmail armour, to defend against any possible attacks from monsters. He also gave them a whistle, which was to be blown in case of an emergency. After ensuring that they had properly understood, he made his way across the forest. On the way from Rigel, he had purchased two new skills from the System Shop, to aid him in his hunt.
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STATUS
Name : Add
Race : Human
HP : 300/300
MP : N/A (Locked)
Level : 21 | Experience Required : 8215/10320
Class : N/A
Subclass : N/A
Title : N/A
Passive Skills :
[Unarmed Combat Mastery Lv. 20 (MAX)]
[Knife Mastery Lv. 20(MAX)]
[Firearms Mastery Lv. 20 (Max)]
[Body Strengthening Lv. 6/20]
[Accelerated Healing Lv. 7/20]
Active Skills :
[Stealth Lv. 5/20]
[Keen Vision Lv. 5/20]
Special Skills :
[Calm Mind (Passive) Lv. 20(Max)]
[Imaginary Time (Active) Lv. 1/20]
[Contract(Active) Lv. 1/20]
Credit Points : 26,000
ATTRIBUTES :
Vitality : 6
Strength : 16
Agility : 12
Defence: 10
Intelligence : 6
Wisdom : 6
Stamina : 10
Charm :3
Magic Aptitude : N/A (Locked)
Stat Points : 0
Skill Points : 12
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[Keen Vision] : Description : This Skill enhances and improves the Host’s vision, allowing the observation of distant objects with more clarity and also improves the ability to observe finer details.
Effect : Current level :+ 10% to all vision parameters. Next level : + 20% to all vision parameters.
Price : 5,000 CP
[Stealth] : Description : This Skill reduces the presence of the Host by a certain amount and prevents others from sensing the Host’s presence. The skill effect increases while stationary and decreases while moving. The skill will be ineffective against people or objects within 1 meter from the Host.
Effect :
Current Level : + 5% to presence concealment when stationary, +2% to presence concealment while on the move.
Next Level : + 10% to presence concealment when stationary, +4% to presence concealment while on the move.
Price : 15,000 CP
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These two skills were quite important for Add as he wanted to snipe the [Maned Boars]. When hunting prey, sniping was the best option, as it allowed the hunter to kill without being seen and discovered. Keen Vision improved his eyesight and stealth was a very useful skill, perfect of a particular task; Assassinations. To be able to conceal one’s presence was very beneficial to an assassin. The target wouldn’t know how they died, and the killer would have done their job without anyone having any idea. As a result its price was indeed quite high. Add also wanted to get a few more skills, but there were level restrictions and many skills needed some other skill to be raised to a certain level before they could be brought. He gave up looking for more skills, as he only had 26,000 CP left now. In due time he would get more skills, for now this would do. He had raised both the skills to level 5 with the skill points he had been saving. About 15 minutes after he left the cadets, he reached near one of the meadows. Activating the [Stealth] skill he slowly moved closer. Near the edge of the field, he climbed up a tree and found a proper spot which overlooked the meadow.
He took a general sitting position for sniping more effectively. He used the crossed ankle position as it was a favourite of snipers in the sitting variations. Both legs are out in front of the shooter, with the supporting side ankle placed on top of the firing side. This last bit is important, as it raises the front knee a bit and provides a better platform for the support elbow. The crossed ankle position puts more of the body weight lower to the ground and helps compensate for recoil and wind. This position was one most useful and versatile of all positions, in sniping. It offers the best combination of versatility, steadiness, and quickness of the lot. With mastery of this position along with a proper weapon, one could accurately shoot targets at maximal ranges.
Add adjusted his AX338 sniper rifle, and attached a magazine of 10 rounds, which cost 20 CP, quite costly for 10 bullets, but the price was understandable for the power of the round. He glued his eyes to the scope and adjusted the magnification. After that, he was able to observe almost all of the meadow. The meadow was covered in wild grasses with some shrubs here and there. After looking for a while, he could see a group of [Maned Boar] grazing about digging for roots and tubers. From his position, he estimated that the [Maned Boar] group was little over 500 metres away. After observing for a while, he selected a large boar, which was happily munching on grass. With the help of his [Keen Vision] skill he could see ever clearer. He went for the kill.
*Click Clack*
The bullet was chambered but the boar was still oblivious. The crosshair on the scope, quickly found itself onto its large head.
*Pshh*
Following the muffled sound from the suppressor, the bullet left the muzzle. The bullet crossed the distance in less than a second, and the unsuspecting boar suddenly felt a little pain in its head and then all went dark for it. The powerful .338 Lapua Magnum rounds, were strong enough to punch through sheets of steel, the head of the boar, although very sturdy, by comparison was softer. The round easily penetrated its brain and ended its life. As the eyes of the now dead boar lost their glow, its heavy body stood still for a while, and then with a thud, feel onto one side, never to stand again. The other [Maned Boars] were startled, unable to understand why one of them had suddenly fallen. They were unable to sense any threats around them, and a few boars began moving towards the dead boar trying to figure out what had happened to it. Unknown to them however, this made the work of a certain person much easier.
[Ding! You have killed [Maned Boar] 1! You received 500 Exp. and 250 CP]
Without wasting any time he loaded the next round and again fired. One boar was not enough to meet his goals. The wind was currently still which gave him a good opportunity as his smell would not reach the boars easily. They who relied heavily on their sense of smell were helpless now, and all they could hear was a faint sound of the bullet being fired.
*Click Clack*
Shoot
*Click Clack*
Shoot
.
.
.
.
.
[Ding! You have Killed [Maned Boar] x 5! You have received 2500 Exp. and 1250 CP]
[Ding! You Have levelled up! Current level 22. Exp. required for next level : 395/11030]
Within seconds he had killed 6 boars, all the while not exposing himself. When the second boar died, the others had sensed that something was terribly wrong and began running away in any direction they could find, unfortunately for them, Add had a lot of experience in sniping, the first boar he had killed was on the farthest side of the meadow opposite to him. Thus when it died, the boars assumed that they were being attacked from there, and ran towards Add’s direction, giving him more time to shoot. After he had killed 6 boars, the remaining had fled into the trees and shrubbery, and Add also had no interest in chasing them. He already had enough of a catch, and killing more would just be wasting as he could not carry so many of them them back. after waiting for a few minutes and confirming that no boars returned, he kept away the AX338 and left his spot to venture into the meadow. The ten boar carcasses each weighed around 500 kilograms, but he was able to pull them with little effort, one by one that is.
After he had gathered them together, he left the area in a sprint to call the cadets. After returning to the horse carts, Add brought along the cadets with him to the meadow. The trees were sparse in this region, making it possible for the carts to slowly make their way through. Luckily, no other monsters had come to feast on the boars while he was away, however the ten people were wide eyed and shocked at seeing ten [Maned Boars] that lay dead before them. Edward could not help but ask : “Young master.did you..you kill all of these?”, to which the reply he got was : “No, they just fell and died”. Edward chose to shut up. He then proceeded to drag the boars one by one to the carts making the cadets drop their jaws. Just where did all that strength come from in his body which looked so lean and slender, they all wondered, but had no idea. The older cadets who had seen the young master from young age were even more shocked. They just couldn’t imagine the good for nothing youngster had such strength in those this arms of his. Had the young master been hiding his strength all these years? If so then why ? But no one asked, they just watched silently as he loaded all the boar, two on each cart and then left the area.
On the way, the cadets had to walk back as the horses were barley pulling the heavy loads. No one spoke much, and silently walked on. Add had purposely shown some of his ability to these cadets, he knew that word would spread about this, and that’s what he wanted. In this world only the strong wee respected. He had to establish his strength, or the cadets would not take him seriously. If they began respecting him, that was good. If they feared him, that was even better. He needed an orderly army that could obey orders, and have discipline. If they didn’t, he would just beat it into them. After the group returned to Rigel, the passing people were shocked at the scene of so many [Maned Boars] being carried into town, but seeing that it was the lord who was bringing them in, they quickly made way. Back at the Weismann estate, he had the cooks and some helpers to dismantle the boars. Martha was very surprised, not unlike the other people at the Estate. The young master was giving them surprise after surprise recently.
Almost all parts of the [Maned Boar] could be used. The tusks of the boars were sold off easily as they were used by many pharmacist to concoct medicines. The skin was processed into leather. Its fat was used both as lamp fuel and for cooking while the meat was eaten. The thick fur after cleaning and some processing could be used to make winter clothes like scarfs, hats etc. Only a few parts of its body were discarded, including the intestines, the hooves, the bones, teeth and blood. The servants stored the meat and fat, while the remaining things would be sold off. With this hunt, he had obtained over 1.3 tons of meat and 200 kilograms of fat which was quite a lot. This would ensure that the cadets were well fed, and add some extra income to the finances as well. The [Maned Boars] were also very common, and there were thousands of them near Rigel alone, so they would provide a steady source of income when ever needed.
There were also many other monsters which could be hunted, and Add would hunt them in due time. But for now he had solved the issue and shifted his focus to completing the mission of eradicating the goblins. The rewards were too lucrative to let go of, and the clock was ticking, and he already had a plan with how to deal with the goblins and had already began proceeding with it.
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