Chapter 43 Hunting Life

Chapter 43 Hunting Life

After Qiyana arrived in the village, Tarin and the others rested for a while.

At first, Qiyana wanted to leave the village as soon as possible, return to Ixtal to show off and humiliate her parents and incompetent sisters, and let them know who the most talented and promising person in Ixtal was.

But not long after, on the very next day, Qiyana became so engrossed in the game that she forgot all about home.

In the afternoon, after discussing the connection between life energy and primordial axioms, Qiyana saw Tarin, Nidalee, and the pack of forest cats, all ready to go.

"What are you doing?" Kiana asked, tilting her chin up as she watched Tarin pack his things.

"Hunting," Tallinn gestured toward the herd of beasts poised to pounce.

"With so many jungle cats, the amount of food consumed by people and horses must be considerable."

"Ha, only forty or so. Even if it were a hundred times more, it wouldn't be much different! I could just give a single order and countless meats would be served up!" Qiyana scoffed.

"Oh—are you coming?" Tallinn invited casually, "It would be very interesting."

"—Qianna is giving you a chance to prove yourself!" Hearing Tarin say it was interesting, Qiyana also became interested.

Then Tarin gave Qiyana three adult jungle cats and five or six young jungle cats, and arranged for Neeko to assist Qiyana in communicating with the pack.

Tarlin can issue hunting commands using pheromones, Nidalee can directly command herds, and Qiyana—definitely needs a translator.

At first, Qiyana didn't think much of it. After all, it was just leading a pack of wild beasts to hunt other wild animals—

As a princess of Ixtal, although Ixtal has no tradition of hunting, Kiana herself is a seasoned warrior who has trained in combat skills under many Yuntars. The Oretar Ring Blade is the best proof of this—without a solid foundation, that huge ring blade, at least 1.4 meters in diameter, cannot be wielded by strength alone, like a sword.

At least, none of Qiyana's sisters could handle such a massive axiomatic arc.

I thought this was a trivial matter, just something to kill time outside of my studies at the Yuan Chu Axiom University.

After all, no matter how clever these Paka jungle cats are, they're still just a bunch of wild beasts. As the chosen one of Ixtal, she wouldn't even consider them a threat.

The result was much more interesting than expected.

Because Qiyana discovered that the wilderness was a pure world.

Here, nobody cares about your inheritance rights or anything like that. Or rather, these Paka jungle cats are more pure and unadulterated.

At first, Qiyana could sense that the herd had many doubts about her arrival and whether she could hunt enough prey—after all, when she followed Tarin and Nidalee, they always returned with a full load.

Qiyana discovered the beasts' intentions and was initially displeased. However, after Qiyana personally killed a young dragon lizard, the beast horde began to prioritize Qiyana.

The dragon lizard, a specialty of the Sutarku Mangu Mountains, is one of the top predators, with individual combat strength far exceeding that of an ordinary Paka jungle cat, and can grow to a considerable size.

In Noxus, young dragon lizards are prized mounts, powerful and unable to effectively resist their riders.

However, when they grow too large to be controlled, they become heavy-duty pack animals, tools subject to numerous restrictions to prevent them from suddenly turning on their own. On the battlefield, they are also used by the Noxians as living battering rams, directly ramming into enemy walls.

Paka jungle cats can kill young dragon lizards, but when a dragon lizard reaches a young age and is already nearing adulthood, its scales, which are derived from dragon blood, are not something that ordinary Paka jungle cats can penetrate.

Killing such a dragon lizard was by no means an easy task, even for Qiyana.

Qiyana was initially just feeling a bit annoyed, having inexplicably broken out in a sweat after hunting. But while she was resting, she noticed the jungle cats seemed interested. A moment later, they even led Neeko away.

Still wondering, when Neeko returned, she was carrying a bulging water pouch and excitedly announced in a thick, slurred accent, "The cats made Qiyana angry! They told Neeko to get you a bath!"

This made Qiyana subconsciously glance at the big cat leading Neeko. The jungle cat also crouched slightly towards Qiyana's upper body, then stood up and nudged the water sac, growling at Qiyana.

"The big cat tells Qiyana to rest well; it's going to take care of its stomach!!"

After hearing Qiyana's translation, Qiyana realized that while Neeko went to fetch water, the other adult and young cats were guarding her, vigilantly watching the surroundings, so that she could rest and recover her strength after killing the young dragon lizard.

These big cats have their merits too!

During the subsequent hunt, Qiyana was even more surprised to find that these jungle cats began to take the initiative, actively seeking out prey and then obeying her, following the commands she had Neeko relay to them, and assisting her in hunting, helping her create opportunities to strike large prey.

With Neeko repeatedly saying, "Get ready to freeze your hands! Get ready to freeze your hands!", Qiyana began to understand more and more how to coordinate the beasts to cooperate with her.

This also seemed to help Qiyana understand why Tarin was so passionate about hunting—it was a pure, survival-of-the-fittest mentality, where strength reigned supreme, ability was paramount, and there was no room for human relationships, inheritance, civilization, law, or tradition—it was the naked law of the jungle!

Returning from the hunt.

Tarin looked at the young dragon lizard that Qiyana had hunted with surprise. It wasn't that he couldn't beat it, but rather that he couldn't find it.

Despite their dragon-like name, dragon-like creatures are primarily lizards. While some lizards do live in groups, this is usually an adaptation to their environment. For example, marine iguanas bask in the sun to increase their body temperature, and desert night lizards share burrows to huddle together for warmth in low temperatures.

The tropical rainforest climate of Ishtar is rich in resources, and the high temperature and humidity mean that there is no need for them to huddle together for warmth. Therefore, most dragon lizards live alone and are difficult to find.

Now that Qiyana had actually found and hunted a nearly adult dragon lizard, Tarin was slightly surprised and couldn't help but exclaim sincerely, "Amazing!"

Nidalee examined the dragon lizard for a moment, staring at the huge ring-shaped cut on its neck, before nodding and giving Qiyana a thumbs up.

Although nothing was said, it was just a brief encounter. Qiyana knew that Nidalee, as the former leader of the beastmen, didn't have much contact with the humans of Ixtal. She was still learning, rarely spoke, and hadn't yet mastered the flattery common among humans.

Giving a thumbs-up like this is probably the most effective way of expressing agreement and recognition she has learned recently.

Neeko was incredibly proud, jumping and shouting in circles, "Neeko and Qiyana are amazing!"

This sudden sense of belonging and identification with the herd left Qiyana momentarily stunned.

After regaining her senses, Qiyana turned her face away and snorted, "It's just a dragon lizard, nothing special for Queen Qiyana—nothing to worry about."

Tarin was not surprised by Qiyana's reaction.

It's not what you call tsundere, but purely a protective denial.

The main reason for this cognitive dissonance is that Qiyana has lived in a negative environment for a long time. Although she is now recognized in a new environment, her self-perception is still stuck in the past environment.

It's not modesty; it's the fear of being rejected again and suffering even greater hurt that makes me reject myself first. That way, even if I'm rejected by this new environment later, I've already rejected myself in advance, so I won't feel sad.

This core low self-esteem may not seem like a problem, but it was the key to Qiyana's later extreme actions—it's predictable that someone who has long suffered from inferiority would do something to vent their past resentment after suddenly becoming an emperor and discovering that they have unlimited power.

For a child like Qiyana who has long lacked recognition, it is not a good thing to let her receive praise too intensely.

Old information is too ingrained, and new information that is too intense will only further amplify traumatic low self-esteem. The more praise is given, the more it is criticized.

This is one of the reasons why many people feel particularly guilty when they are praised for doing something good that deserves praise.

People who have lived in the shadows for a long time cannot adapt to sudden exposure to the spotlight; this is because past wounds are protecting them.

So Tarin didn't offer harsh praise. Instead, after staring at the dragon lizard for a while, he looked calmly at Qiyana and said, "Although I know you are exceptionally talented, this was my first time hunting, and I was just trying my luck—I never expected you to be able to hunt such a large creature as a dragon lizard. This far exceeded my expectations."

As he said this, Tarlin shook his head with a sigh.

When Tarin assigned Qiyana some herds for hunting, he genuinely intended to give Qiyana something to do—given Qiyana's strength, even if she couldn't hunt, she could still protect herself.

But I never expected it—I can only say she truly deserves to be called a supermodel.

"Adult dragon lizards are the ecological apex predators of their area, and even sub-adult individuals are no exception. Ordinary forest cats would find it incredibly difficult to survive their predation, let alone hunt them. Yet, not only are they all safe and sound, they even managed to complete the hunt. This is all thanks to you."

As he said this, Tarin extended his hand and said, "As the lord of the beasts, I thank you for protecting these forest cats."

Upon hearing Tarin's words, Nidalee nodded in agreement once again.

Without Qiyana, if the few forest cats had encountered a sub-adult dragon lizard that was almost the regional overlord—not to mention that none of them would have survived, they would have inevitably been seriously injured.

Thinking about it, Nidalee gave another thumbs up.

Seeing Nidalee's praise and glancing at Tarin's outstretched hand, Qiyana felt a strange emotion surging within her.

Unfortunately, having been used to being rejected, whether it was arrogance, pride, or haughtiness, this protective shell had seeped into Qiyana's instincts. Faced with Tarin's frank explanation, she still scoffed, "Nothing worth mentioning—"

The arrogant and haughty attitude has truly become obsolete.

Seeing Qiyana still denying it, Tarin was slightly helpless. But then, he didn't withdraw his hand; instead, he stared at Qiyana even closer and said, "How can it be insignificant? You protected them."

As he spoke, Tallinn gestured to one side with his chin.

While overly enthusiastic praise isn't necessarily a good thing for protective denial, sometimes a slightly firmer approach is necessary, depending on the individual—for example, in this case...

If Qiyana makes a slight excuse and acts like nothing happened, given her stubborn personality, she might think, "You were just trying to fool me, weren't you?"

Upon hearing Tarin's words, Qiyana was taken aback, then glanced at the herd of beasts in the direction Tarin pointed.

Although she used to think all jungle cats looked the same, now Qiyana can clearly spot the few jungle cats that hunted with her among the herd.

The adult female forest cat, who resembled a "squad leader," paused slightly after noticing Qiyana's gaze. She then led several cubs to Qiyana's side and growled softly. The cubs then meowed and sniffed around Qiyana's feet.

The female cat nudged Qiyana's thigh with her head, then let out a low meow before sitting down to rest, her tail coiled around her forepaws.

"She's thanking you, and incidentally letting the cub remember your scent," Tarin explained, bowing his head.

"————Oh." After humming a few times, Qiyana also turned her gaze to Tarin.

Feeling Tarin's gaze and his outstretched hand, Qiyana pursed her lips, then casually placed her hand in Tarin's and said, "They're alright, these big cats are all pretty well-behaved."

"Um."

Seeing that Qiyana had accepted the praise, Tarin nodded as well, without continuing to shower her with compliments.

Children who lack recognition for a long time are most afraid of sudden changes in attitude.

A stable, inclusive environment with small daily affirmations can greatly improve Qiyana's personality—like boiling a frog in lukewarm water.

"Alright~"

Seeing that everything was alright, Qiyana hummed and said, "If there's nothing else, Queen Qiyana will be leaving now! This queen needs to rest!"

"Yes." Tallinn nodded, then reminded him, "Don't forget dinner time."

"oh."

Qiyana waved casually to indicate that she had heard, then went back to her room and closed the doors and windows.

After confirming that no one was around, she leaned against the headboard and briefly recalled what she had seen and heard that day. Then she hugged her pillow tightly, buried her head in it, and only after a while did she release her arms with satisfaction.

Perhaps it was from holding her too tightly, or perhaps it was from burying her head in the air and feeling a bit suffocated, but a slight flush appeared on Qiyana's pretty face, and a hint of pleasure flickered in her eyes.

"Qiana deserves these compliments!!"

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