Nathan and the squad had hit four more dungeons before he begrudgingly accepted that they were strong enough to go for a hunt. He didn't really want to take them on a hunt, but at the end of the day, the fruit the demons had left behind had decreased significantly, and if what his subconscious was telling him was right, then they pretty much had less than fifty fruits remaining.

So, after four days of clearing F-Ranked dungeons, he'd decided that they needed to find an alternative source of food before the fruit he had stashed in his bag of holding was exhausted. As it was, the squad were all standing outside Blood Rock, waiting for him to start leading the way into the forest, but a little part of him wanted to hesitate. Instead, he decided to analyze them to convince himself that he wasn't making a mistake.

[Name: Tasha Silco

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Ranger

Level: 11]

[Name: Diane Argent

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Priestess

Level: 9]

[Name: Daniel Perez

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Ranger

Level: 12]

[Name: Yola

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Ranger

Level: 11]

[Name: Pirlo Vox

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Rogue

Level: 15]

[Name: Ruben Reid

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Berserker

Level: 12]

[Name: Ciara Rone

Moniker: N/A

Archetype: Mage

Level: 13]

Unsurprisingly, it was none other than the rogue who led the way in levels at the end of their dungeon runs. A solid level fifteen was where the rogue now stood. The other teen head and shoulders above the rest of his peers, his single-minded focus showing end product.

What surprised him was actually Ruben's rapid growth. The Berserker had somewhere along the second and third dungeon decided to take a place at the front of the squad — like a real Berserker. For his troubles, he'd earned himself a massive boost in levels and confidence too. He'd started composing himself better, and Nathan could tell that the other Berserker's mind had started to tick better. His growth from a measly level five to a meh level twelve was still applaudable.

Ciara's growth was second only to Pirlo's. The female mage had begun taking more of a support role with the emergence of a new Ruben. Of course, from time to time she still popped up at the frontlines to take some of the heat before dishing out hers in kind. But between the last two dungeons, she'd had enough time to head back into the security of the rangers and recast her spells. So all in all, the new Ruben's influence had been felt all over the squad, with multiple members still praising the blabbering Berserker.

Another improvement that caught his eye was that of the priestess — Diane. She'd managed to get four more levels in their last four dungeons, meaning she was at a 1:1 ratio at the moment. How priests and priestesses leveled up he had no idea, and it was something he was probably going to ask about later. But right now, he'd rather not seem clueless asking mundane questions like that all the time.

The rest of the squad had seen a couple more improvements on their own end. Excluding the priestess, the rest of them were in double figures for levels, and while he didn't know if it'd be enough, he really hoped so.

"All right, so the hunt is today," Nathan said, clearing his throat.

"Whatttt areee you waiting for, lead the way, bro. I can't wait to stab something not dungeon-related," Ruben said ecstatically.

Nathan did his best to keep his expression smooth as both Ciara and Pirlo, who were beside the other Berserker, rolled their eyes at his child-like anticipation.

At least they aren't laughing at him anymore.

That was at the very least one point in the childish Berserker's favor. Now he could openly speak about wanting to slay a monster, and his squadmates wouldn't snort or chuckle at his words. Usually anytime he said anything like that — Ruben had talked like that a lot in the past few days — at most he'd get a couple of eye rolls, but his words now carried a little bit of weight to back them up.

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"Hold your horses, Ruben," Nathan said, raising a palm to stop the Berserker's incoming tirade. "Has anyone seen our furry friend?"

Murmurs broke out amongst the group, but Nathan knew what the most likely answer would be. Still, he waited, not quite sure which of the two answers he wanted to hear, but he waited for the murmurs to settle, and with order came his answer.

"Nope, we haven't seen the bunny since two dungeon runs ago," Yola said sadly.

The quiet ranger rarely ever butted into conversations, and Nathan could count on one hand the number of times he'd heard her speaking. It seemed the bunny had left quite the impression on the ranger.

Either way, the bunny hadn't returned in a while, and Nathan didn't really know if he was supposed to be happy or not. He and the bunny shared a much weirder relationship compared to the rest of the squad. The bunny seemed to be a docile house pet when around the rest of the squad, but he'd seen what it could do, and he was pretty sure that it knew that he knew what it could do. That was why they hadn't gotten along like the rest of the squad.

Doesn't matter, hopefully he's somewhere safe and he figures out a way to hunt for his own food.

The thought was harsh, but Nathan was running out of fruit, and the absence of the bunny helped conserve the little fruits they had. To be honest, Nathan could think of a couple of people that would've killed the bunny by now if they had the same power he had right now, but Nathan wasn't them. He was his own man, he was Nathan Orion.

"All right, let's move," Nathan said as he picked a random direction and began walking.

It was quite weird to be leading people when even he didn't have a definite direction in mind, but he did so anyway. Not like he'd actually seen a group of monsters anywhere, excluding the miners, that is. As he walked, he tuned out the conversations going on behind him, Ruben's voice seemingly dominated the talks. No doubt the Berserker was having another pointless conversation, and Nathan pitied whoever was unlucky enough to be exchanging words with a blabbermouth like Ruben.

Ha! He doesn't even need anyone to reply.

The Berserker often failed to pick up on social cues, and it had Nathan wondering if perhaps Ruben had been homeschooled or partially isolated from social gatherings as a child. Not only did the Berserker not know how to speak, he didn't know when to speak or when to shut up. Any normal person would shut up when they realized that the others weren't listening or paying attention to whatever they were saying, but not Ruben. He never shut up. He just talked and talked and talked, most times to himself, which Nathan found a bit weird, but he wasn't going to judge. While the Berserker's fighting prowess had seen minor improvements, the social side of the Berserker desperately needed one, and Nathan cursed the fact that there wasn't a stat for that.

"Ruben?" Pirlo called out to the yapping Berserker.

"Yep," Ruben answered, perking up at the chance that someone wanted to talk to him.

"Shut up," Pirlo said. "Or you'll scare away anything that we're supposed to hunt."

"Oh yea," Ruben said sheepishly.

With that came the end of the blabbering and a peaceful silence that Nathan was grateful for. That wasn't the only good thing that had come out of Pirlo's interruption; he could tell that the rogue had added those extra words to let down the Berserker gently rather than run him into the ground. Which also meant that the rogue himself was improving on his social cues, and if someone like Pirlo could take such a step, then surely there was going to be hope for Ruben to do the same.

"Sssss"

Nathan really, really hoped that that sound wasn't coming from what he thought it was. His run-in with the Nagas in the dungeons still gave him nightmares sometimes, and a snake was the last thing he wanted to deal with at the moment.

Hisss

The sound seemed to be coming from up above, which was kind of bad considering the fact that up above were the branches of so many tall trees that littered the forest. The branches had somehow interwoven themselves and now formed a canopy of sorts. Crimson light still spilled through, but Nathan knew that he'd have a hard time pinpointing the exact location of the monster. Still, he tried to.

Shit.

Nathan barely had enough time to process the incoming threat before he threw himself to the side. The spot he'd previously been standing at was now sizzling as whatever venom the snake head carried had been sprayed at the spot he'd been at moment's ago.

"Everyone, get back!" Nathan yelled, already scrambling to his feet as he sought the snake he knew was up in the trees. He'd seen the green scales that the snake had – perfect for camouflage considering their current environment.

The rest of the squad didn't need any more warnings before they hopped back by themselves. No doubt the still sizzling floor had given them a glimpse of just how terrible the monster that they were about to face was.

Nathan would've given them the order to retreat back to Blood Rock, but he wasn't sure that they'd make it back before they'd be picked apart by the snake. Ironically, the same dexterity that he wasn't sure the rest of the squad possessed to make a clean break away was almost certainly the same stat that would make fighting whatever monster that was up there an indirect death sentence for some of the squad members.

No, I'll not stand idly by. No one is going to be losing their life today.

Nathan wasn't one to make idle convictions. Everything he'd said he was going to do, he'd done it. Even cutting himself off from a gang lifestyle that paid more than Mr. Wong's ever did, he'd done that. This snake wasn't going to be any different. No way was it going to take any of his people when he was still breathing. It'd have to kill him to get anyone else. Unfortunately for the slithering monster, Nathan had no plans to die today.

"Get into formation, keep close to your squad mate. Rangers, eyes up for danger and shoot on sight," Nathan ordered. "Attack to kill."

Nathan didn't know where half of the things he was saying was coming from. Might've been from books or movies, but he couldn't think about that now. All he knew was the words sounded right for the moment, and though a little part of him felt bad for snatching off the reins of command off of Ciara and Pirlo, he still wasn't going to give it back to them until the current threat had been erased. Plus, it wasn't like anyone else had complained, so he also had to go with the flow right about now.

"Ciara, your fireballs should be at the ready. Diane, buff her. Pirlo and Ruben, stay back if possible. I'm not sure that is something you can get up close and personal with right now."

Their dungeon runs had given him an idea of their strengths and weaknesses, and at the moment he was using that information as best as he could. Ruben and Pirlo probably weren't going to be strong enough to lay a crucial hit on the monster purely judging by the size of its head only. If the pair even tried to get close to the monster to get hit, there was a good chance that they'd lose their lives.

Hopefully, it doesn't come to that.

Thud!

Nathan resisted the urge to curse out loud at the massive figure that had just dropped off from the trees above entirely. The snake seemed to have given up on a sneak attack and had now ungracefully dropped to the ground, showcasing the full length and breadth of its body.

It was almost as long as a yellow school bus, and its width was more than half of his torso. It had reared up its massive head and was staring right at them. It was currently a few yards away from where they stood, but Nathan did not doubt that it could close the distance in a heartbeat.

"Shit."

The curse came from someone behind him, but he wholeheartedly agreed with the sentiment.

Shit!