I was finding it hard to believe that had had such an impact on people. I was just a Huntsman, what they were training to be. I swallowed and cleared my throat. It was a little unnerving to. Be the focus of so many sets of eyes - amber, amethyst, golden yellow, the range of hues of drow irises spread out around me, locked onto me, the men and women, or rather boys and girls, hanging onto my words. I was used to operating mostly in the shadows, away from other people.
“I did slay the Valewulf that was attacking in the southeast. And yes, I was the one who stopped the artificial snowfall. I am also, however, well acquainted with hunting normal foes, animals and lesser monsters like gnolls.” This admonishment did nothing, absolutely nothing, to lessen the enthusiasm of the people around me. Some even looked happier, bizarrely enough. A man stepped out of the crowd - and I recognized him. A single long, ropey claw mark stretched down the right side of his face, extending from his hairline all the way down off the edge of his jaw. He had been one of the village watch at the last village that the hideous wolf thing had been attacking when I caught up to it. I hadn't realized he had survived the assault.

“You.. Have the.. Spear?” His voice was raspy, and hard to hear. Unsurprising, as the scar ran over the edge of his mouth. He likely had trouble speaking. In response to his question, I unhooked the Saw-Spear from its holster and slowly brought it out from beneath my coat. His eyes locked on it, before he finally nodded. “That.. Is the blade that… Saved my life.” I had? By the time I caught the Valewulf, I had been completely focused on stopping and slaying the beast, I - hadn't realized that its victim had still been alive when I interrupted it.

His words made many of the people in the crowd grin widely, triumphantly. He stepped up to me and helped out his hand, offering me a shake - and I clasped it, shaking it twice, sharply, as my other hand returned my weapon to its holster. The energetic young woman who had initially confronted me took that hand as soon as it came out from beneath my coat, and held onto it as she began speaking at a league a second. I actually had no idea what she was trying to say at this point - her words were running over each other far too much for me to make out the individual ones.

She seemed to realize the problem, and she gave me an embarrassed smile before letting go of my hand and stepping back. The scarred man had also let go and stepped away, though he had returned to the small crowd of watching people. As the smoggy air hung about us, she grinned brightly at me. “Do - do you have any words of advice for us? So many of us are trying to become a Huntsman like you, someone who really makes a difference.” I felt my eyebrows disappear back into my hairline. They wanted advice from me? This was - not at all how I had forseen my trip to the Academy going. I had thought I'd be shunned and ignored not - not looked up to as a damn role model.
What the hell did I say here? I - was thoroughly unprepared for this. All I had was a lifetime as a Hunter, I had left the speeches to Ri when someone needed something. Even if she had always called me the manipulative one. I - right. I cleared my throat again.

“A Hunter must hunt. Large and small, our prey are Beasts, things that threaten innocent lives. Huntsman strike out, delving into the dark places to find their foes, while Guardsmen wait upon the walls, to be the steel that breaks the fangs when they come. You refer to some of my more outstanding deeds - but bear in mind that I have long Hunted things like packs of wolves that threatened farmers, boars that were running rampant and destroying property, and the like. Big or small, it is important for someone that our prey falls.” I had started to see some boredom as I spoke - of course, they'd likely heard this a thousand times during their courses. The boredom faded as I spoke of my smaller hunts.

"And because our prey must fall, the Beasts must be stopped. I bear this in my mind as I hunt. A Huntsman uses all the tools available to them. I do not just mean the trick weapons you will be learning to forge, or science, or even things like the genetic experiments some of you have likely heard about.” I reached back and tapped where the Saw-Spear hung, obscured from sight. “I utilize magic as well. A mild enchantment, one that allows me to continue fighting even when I am hurt. A lesson I learned when I fought the Valewulf.” I unbuttoned my coat and my shirt and pulled them open, wincing as the cool air hit my skin. I heard gasps, as people saw the thick scars that ran across my body.

“That thing nearly killed me. Because everything I had let myself use before then, was not enough. This is the path we tread as Hunters. We never know when the next Beast will be too much for us. Do not limit yourselves, because the beasts that threaten what we hold dear will not.” I slowly started to button back up my clothing as a sharp, loud clapping rang through the courtyard I had been stopped in.

“Excellently put, most excellently put Huntsman Ansari! Students, off you go, you are late for classes I believe. I'll see if I can convince the good Hunter to come speak with some classes, but I'm sure he came here on business. Off with you, go on.” The man speaking was older, a short, white haired drow who I remembered distinctly as being the headmaster of the Academy the first time I went through it - hundreds of years ago. My eyebrows rose. I didn't think I had ever seen the man during my ‘second’ life.