Go and meet the Hunter master, Fern¶

Your first task as a Novice Hunter is to meet Fern, Castele’s leading Hunter expert. She’s living a quiet life in East Castele , which is a little far from your current position.

Make your way to the town square where Gramps is during the day, then sprint all the way east, towards the Castele Artisans’ District. Then keep running east, as fast as your little legs can take you. (Walking is OK too, if you’re tired.)

Once in East Castele, head across the bridge to your east and follow the trodden path, past the School of Magic and Fern’s house will be directly to your left. Fern herself is standing outside, so wave and say “hi”.

Despite your unyielding enthusiasm, Fern isn’t really in the mood for taking on disciples, so she imparts you a Novice’s Bow and sends you scurrying off to find Huntin’ Pete, her only other disciple.

Speak to Pete in South Castele¶

At the moment, Huntin’ Pete is slacking off at the sheep pen in South Castele . Head in a south-westerly direction, following the dirt paths, then cross the wooden bridge into South Castele.

The sheep den is just a few paces to the south-west and Huntin’ Pete in the top-right corner. Despite being a slacker, Pete is a bit more approachable than Fern and promptly teaches you the Archery Skill . With this, you can equip bows!

Equip your Hunters Bow¶

The next thing to do is try using your bow, but first you must equip it. Open the Menu and go to the Gear section, then select the Novice’s Bow to place in your hands. Now you’re looking like a real Hunter!

Then with bow firmly in hand, speak to Pete once more.

Try to break the target!¶

Pete will set up an archery target for your to practice on. Face the target and press the A button to draw your bow. Then press the A button to fire arrows.

As expected, arrows can hit their target from a good distance, so you needn’t be too close to the target to hit it.

Talk to the sleeping man¶

At this point, Pete will finally notice the sleeping man on the floor. What the heck is he doing? He’s going to catch a cold!

Talk to Pete at the sheep den¶

So the man isn’t sleeping for no reason: he’s physically exhausted. Better speak to Pete to see how we can help him.

Of course: we need to give him something substantial to regain his stamina. What better than Castele’s finest honey, growing in South Castele?

You will also be taught how to sneak . Hold the B button before you move (and with no weapon drawn) and you will sneak instead of walking or running. Useful for avoiding enemies in tight spaces or for preparing for a snipe.

Search around for some honey in South Castele¶

Return to the trodden path and follow it west till you reach the crossroads (where the Save crystal is). Then follow the path down and towards the end of town. Once you’ve passed the second wooden bridge, Pete will direct you towards a honeycomb tree.

Defeat the Worker Bees¶

But where there’s honey, there’s bound to be bees. Very angry Worker Bees . If you want to avoid a stingin’, you’d better use those Hunter skills of yours. Fast!

There are two Worker Bees, but you’ve also got Huntin’ Pete on your side. Take down the bees like you did the archery target, but try to move away from danger.

Go back to the sheep pen¶

After exterminating the bees, you’ll get a pot of Grassland Honey . Hurry back to the sheep pen, the same way you came, so you can wake up the sleeping man.

As a reward, the sleeping–now awake–man will teach you the Piercing Arrow skill.

Go and see Fern¶

That’s one good deed done, but you need to do more to impress Fern. Why not go and see Fern again?

You do remember where she is right? Head north-east from the sheep pen into East Castele, then follow the dirt paths north. You can follow the red arrow on the bottom screen too.

With a little persuasion, Fern agrees to accept you as her pupil, but one condition: you need to defeat a Hootwink before Pete does.

To help you a bit, Granny Cotton teaches you the Sleep Arrow skill. She also suggests brining Lucky , Fern’s loyal hunting dog along. Anything to help with the hunt!

Track down the Hootwink¶

The hunt is now on. No pressure at all. Quick, hurry before Pete gets there first!

Run east from Fern’s house and enter the woodland path up ahead. Follow the path, past the grass arch and turn right at the branch. At the very end, you’ll be in a small clearing with Huntin’ Pete.

Have a look around the woods in East Castele¶

According to Pete, the Hootwink has lost since gone, but is that really true? What’s that red exclamation mark in the corner of the clearing…?

Defeat the Hootwink¶

Now that looks like a Hootwink alright! For this battle, you’ve got Lucky at your side, plus a few more tricks.

When your weapon is drawn, hold the A button and release after the chime to perform a charged attack. If you press the D-pad , you can also toggle your arrow type. Press Down for Sleep Arrows or Up for your regular ones.

Report back to Fern¶

Following your successful hunt, it’s high time you reported back to Fern. Granny Cotton will thank you for teaching Pete a lesson and rewards you with a generous 500 Dosh .

Meanwhile Fern delivers on her promise and finally agrees to accept you. You will subsequently rank up from a Novice Hunter to a Fledgling Hunter . About time too!