As the moon was slowly completing its phases, Harry's life was also changing. The Vulcans, who were angered by Harry as he disrespected their god, were now seeing him in the form of a new light. And it all happened in 26 days.
People were shocked when he was able to bring home so much meat on the first day of his Atonement Hunt. Some people even started to suspect foul play, pointing fingers at Imka, saying things like This man would have helped his son or Shame on Imka, he broke his oath as a protector.
But nothing came of the accusations. But when he did the same for the second and then on the third day, a meeting of the whole tribe was called. Some people complained, while some called for Harry's head to be removed from his body. To his surprise, Imka came to the rescue during the meeting. He just suggested that the accusers come with them on the subsequent hunt. And people gladly obliged.
Following that day, a group of people followed closely behind.
Harry, who was unfazed by the audience, showed his wits, archery skills to them. And most importantly, he showed the crowd his tracking skills, because of which the opinion of the people started to change. They started to realize that he was talented. By the 9th or 10th day, Harry was able to squash the suspicions of everyone that he had been skeptical of his work.
After 10 days or so, people started warming up to him again. They started treating him nicely once again, which bugged Imka. But that man was intelligent enough not to show his true emotions in front of everyone.
As the days passed by, Harry's control over his Vita also increased. Which gave him access to a state he called Accelerated Form.
Harry was already able to slowly use his Vita to increase his endurance. But then he figured that if he were to pump Vita in access to his muscles, all of his senses and the speed with which his organs work would go on overtime. He would attain speed in a burst that could get him out of some very tricky situations. It took him some days to get a hang of it, but soon he was able to master it, giving him his trump card in this world.
But he also understood the limitations of this form.
He had realized that he would not be able to maintain the form for a long time. He needed to increase the Vita in his body, artificially if he could…
The sun was high up in the sky, Harry was moving through long grass, preying on a creature similar to a deer, but with a green and brown striped coat of hair. He was crouched in the grass, and with him was his father. No one else came that day for a particular reason, and they were both alone for the first time since they started the Atonement Hunt.
"It is show time," he mumbled and then looked at his father, "You ready?"
His father nodded with empty eyes. Harry could tell that his revelation was weighing down on the man. But alas, he could not do anything about the matter.
Harry stood up with a new weapon in his hands. A few days ago, he had created a Bola out of some interwoven rope and rocks. It was a weapon in which two rocks were attached on either side of the rope. It is swung around from the centre of the rope and then thrown at the target. With the momentum that the rocks gain, the rope entangles itself around the legs of the target, making them come to a halt.
He used to have an electrified version of the weapon in his previous life. It was pretty useful to catch people who were just too fast on their feet. Harry figured that he could use this weapon to hunt down big animals using the weapon, so he created it. It had worked tremendously with small animals, which was why he was going to test it with a bigger animal today.
When Harry got to his position, he simply stood up and started waving his arm around. Imka, who was lying in the grass around those deer-like creatures, stood up abruptly and started shouting. The creatures got scared easily, and they started running. And they were heading straight towards Harry.
Seeing the herd of deer coming his way, he immediately started pumping Vita into his body. His eyes started scanning for the slowest creature that they could target. And within seconds, his HUD caught one on the rightmost side of the herd, as they passed him by.
With a burst of speed, Harry started catching up to the creature while swinging his bola over his head with speed. With his eyes, he was able to pick up the appropriate time to throw the thing, and it landed accurately on the creature's leg, making it fall.
The creature was big like a horse, and started flopping around in order to untangle itself. But Harry was faster; he immediately took out the knife, which was laced with paralysis poison, and stabbed the creature in its stomach and moved away. The creature flopped around for a few minutes, making it easier for the poison to reach the deepest part of the creature. And soon it became still, alive, but completely still.
In that time, Imka brought the cart that they had brought. As he always managed to procure a lot of meat, Groga thought that they needed to have a cart with them.
"Wanna do he honours?" Harry asked. He felt bad for Imka, so he asked to cheer him up. In his previous life, he didn't have a good grasp on emotions. And it seems that he had inherited that trait in this life as well.
"No. Your hunt. You do it," Imka said.
"Sure," Harry said, and went for the big battle ax from the cart. He first retrieved this knife from the deer's body and put it back on his waist. And then with one smooth motion, he chopped off the creature's head.
Done
It was then that something brushed off Harry's back, and he felt the thing cutting his back. Quickly, Harry turned around to see Imka standing with a knife in his hand. The wet feeling on the back told Harry what had happened, and he felt very angry at the moment.
Before he could move, his body stopped responding to his commands. He flopped down on the grass, with his head buried in the ground. He was paralysed, yet he could hear and see everything clearly.
He heard footsteps, and Imka sat down beside him.
"Gremla wanted me to kill you," he confessed, "I thought I would ask you first, whether you are truly what we believe you are. But you didn't deny. You didn't deny a thing."
Harry started hearing sobs, "I cannot kill my son." With sniffles, he added, "I am a very weak man, not at all deserving the title of protector of Vulcan. I cannot even kill the abomination that I brought into this world,"
Harry became angry at the man's foolishness. He wanted to yell, even question the man's sanity, but realized that there was no reason for him to do so. The man was essentially right, this body didn't belong to his son anymore. As far as him being a demon was concerned, that was just plain baloney.
But at that moment in his life, Harry accepted his faith. He never imagined that he would pass away just like that. But he already had a glorious death, he didn't need another one. He closed his eyes, waiting for the man to finish his rant and end his life. But the attack that he was waiting for never came.
".. I am going back to the village," Imka said, standing up, "I am taking your last prey with me. I will tell them you ventured deeper, saying that you will be back. No one will suspect a thing. And they will honour your name in the Great Fire of the Summer Solstice, I will make sure of that. Goodbye, my son."
Harry heard the sound of putting the deer on the cart, and Imka pulling it away. With that, the grass lands fell silent once again, with a gentle breeze brushing Harry's hair gently…