Sleeping in the truck was more comfortable than he expected. Pretty much every seat except the backmost row was designed to almost fully recline. As long as you weren’t too tall, then they worked out well.

A couple of hours of sleep later, and the sun was starting to head toward the horizon when he stumbled blearily out of the truck.

The bodies in the trailer should be ready for use by that point, and frankly, he was ready to get things moving. Taking that nap might not have been the best idea, as all he wanted to do right then was go back to sleep.

His mom handed him an espresso-sized cup of her Wakeup tea as he joined them. “This is a special version of the tea, and it comes with an extra kick. It’s best not to drink too much of it.” She said in explanation of the small cup size.

He downed the liquid in one go and shuddered as liquid heat coursed through his veins, driving away all traces of fatigue. The colors at the edge of his vision pulsed a few times before settling into place like normal.

“What was that?” He asked with a lick of his lips.

“That was my Wakeup tea made with the natural spring water you collected. It turns out that it does indeed keep its properties inside the storage bracelet. At least for this long.” She had to add that caveat at the end.

“Well, it certainly hits differently from the regular version, that’s for sure.” He handed the small cup back to her and did a quick set of stretches to limber up. “Are we good to go?”

His father brought him to the back of the trailer and commenced with the tutorial. He showed him how to operate the fans, windows, shrouds, ducts, and various other items that went into using the trailer effectively. Each piece of equipment had a part to play in what they were about to do. Some cultivators used all of them, while others relied more on one or two in particular.

However, knowing them all, at least in the beginning, was key. After that, he could decide which method he wanted to go with.

In the past, Nina and Niall had mostly set the ductwork on a semi-focused spread and then left it alone. They preferred to work with the fan, shrouds, and windows to control the stream. Even the other bits and bobs, like tilt, and angle, they had set once and then forgotten about right afterward. Some people loved playing with those details each time, trying to maximize their gains.

His parents considered it pointless. Sure, it was fun for a little while, until you realized that it was largely pointless. A good gust of wind would ruin all the minute details you had put so much work and thought into like they weren’t even there. Which is why they mostly stuck to the basics. They still used the settings on everything, they just weren’t actively changing them each time.

It was what a lot of the expedition companies did, and where they had learned it.

Now they were teaching it all to Nate. Who took plenty of notes and asked a copious number of questions. He treated the matter seriously, not wanting to waste his parent’s time, and knowing that this could potentially be a life-or-death matter in the future. Hopefully not, but if they were swarmed again like they had the week before, then being able to understand and handle these controls would help.

Together, they ran through everything several times before he and his mother climbed to the top of the trailer. It was go time.

He had exchanged all the practice bolts in his quiver for the sharper, more durable, and far-nastier tipped hunting bolts. One of which was already loaded in his crossbow.

A few feet away, his mother was standing with her own bow at the ready. “Hit it, Niall. Let’s have the windows and shrouds open all the way for thirty seconds, with the fans going full blast. Then raise the windows halfway. After a minute, lower the first of the shrouds into place, with the second following fifteen seconds later.”

She glanced at Nate to make sure he was paying attention. Most of what she had just said was for his benefit, and not her husband’s. Only a few details changed each time, depending on what she could see of the sky and sense from the wind.

“You got it.”

The windows of the trailer all lowered with a thunk, letting out the qi-enhanced pheromones that the beasts released a few hours after death. Next, the fans kicked on and began blowing it all out over the old subdivision and into the forest beyond.

The first thirty seconds were quiet, and then the windows of the trailer were partly raised. That cut the amount of pheromone it blew into the surroundings by a portion. Not half, as it was still air. It simply started moving a little faster when the opening was compressed.

That was where the shroud came into play. It was what really cut the amount of pheromone being spewed into the surroundings when the fans were on full.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

It was still quiet after three minutes and, same for four minutes. At the five-minute mark, however, they began to hear the first distant screeches and noises of beasts coming their way.

“Cut the fan speed by half and get ready,” Nina told Niall as she brought her bow up to the ready position.

They were doing things very differently from the week before. He couldn’t figure out if it was because there were fewer cultivators present, or if that expedition simply had different variables he wasn’t aware of.

Nate knelt down on top of the trailer and kept his eyes open and ready for whatever was coming.

The first beast to make an appearance was a flying squirrel that leaped from the top of one of the houses. An arrow from his mother sent it spiraling to the ground, its wings limp and collapsed.

The next beast made itself known only a few moments later as it slithered through the trees and broken pavement. A giant emerald boa constrictor slid into view. It was easily as long as the trailer and its head was large enough that it could swallow a human if it tried hard enough.

Nate took aim and fired. His finger immediately pressed against the indentation that would pull the string back into position. The bolt cracked through the hard scales protecting the snake and sank in deep a foot behind its head. It was a good shot, but his aim had been off.

The large snake beast was definitely feeling pain, but it wasn’t an instant kill shot.

He tried again as soon as he was able, and was able to kill it, despite it thrashing about in pain.

While he was doing that, his mother had eliminated another flying squirrel that had come from the same location as the first.

Down below, his father ran out and collected both squirrel bodies in the brief lull that followed. He even dragged the snake corpse closer to the trailer, but its large size prevented him from getting it inside for the moment.

The trees and brush surrounding them continued to shake and rustle about with more than just the wind. Despite that, nothing made an appearance to attack for the next couple of minutes.

“Be ready,” His mother warned, her eyes flicking from tree to tree. “When a calm this long happens, it’s usually because a hunting pack has arrived and is surrounding us.”

“Quilled wolves?” He asked, referring to the wolf species they had seen last time.

“Maybe, but there are other variations as well. It is probably a wolf pack of some kind though.”

Sure enough, a few moments later, they heard wolf howls and the beasts burst from the trees. Each one was covered in a sort of heavy-looking overlapping plate armor that ran down their sides and over most of their head. The muscular legs underneath were exposed and their obvious weakness as the beasts were rather slow.

Coming up behind them, acting as a sort of guard, was another type of wolf. This breed had long claws, and saber tooth-like fangs, with a thick trunk of a neck to support the extra weight.

Nina cursed when she saw there were multiple packs working together. The bow in her hands began to glow dimly beneath all the tape as she activated the full enchantments within it for the first time. Each arrow that she rapidly launched out would gain an extra burst of speed before impacting its chosen target. Her hands moved with unerring speed and accuracy, leaving Nate’s efforts in the dust.

For every one shot he took, she had already taken a minimum of ten. He had no doubt that she could have taken even more if the draw of the bow hadn’t been so high. Even using the enchantment that helped her draw it back, it wasn’t an easy bow to draw back and use.

The draw weight of the bow was just that high. However, it also meant that her arrows were incredibly powerful. Something that was being displayed firsthand as they punched through the wolves’ plate armor with ease, and then kept on going. Granted, both she and Niall were far too strong for this area, but natural armor was stronger than regular armor.

It was rare to see it dismissed so casually.

Needless to say, she was very impressed with her new bow.

The overall result was that two of the saber tooth wolves had fallen to Nate’s bolts. Fifteen wolves had been taken out by Nina, the majority of which had been plate wolves. Then, Niall had eliminated the rest of the saber tooth wolves with his bladed tonfas and throwing knives. Twenty-three wolves were the final count. Twelve had belonged to the plate wolf pack, while all the rest had been part of the nearly equal-sized saber tooth pack.

“We need to get your speed up with that crossbow,” His mother panted, wiping some sweat from the hair above her eyes. “You need to be able to load, aim, and fire it faster than that. I know there is a certain speed limit with crossbows. It will always be slower than a regular bow, but it should be capable of firing faster than what you were doing.”

Nate nodded; it was something he had noticed as well. “Yeah, the enchantment pulls the string back fairly quickly. I’m the slow part of the equation.”

They stayed on overwatch duty while Niall dragged the wolf bodies into the trailer.

“How many beasts are we expecting to get during this expedition?” Nate asked.

“Hopefully enough to fill up the trailer, which, depending on their size, is generally between one hundred to one hundred and twenty. If you remember the horde from last time, we could have gone well over that number. Probably twice over.” She shook her head. “We left a lot of cores and meat behind last week. Even for a low-tier area, that still would have been a decent amount of money.”

She shook her head. “Anyway, there is usually one big push of monsters each time you use the fan. If you do it correctly anyway. In this case, it was the wolves. Their packs would have pushed most of the other beasts out of the way. So we might get a few more stragglers over the next half-hour or so. Then it will be time to turn on the fan, open the windows and shrouds, and repeat everything again. Just being more careful, since there are more bodies in there now.”

Sure enough, over the next half hour, a few more beasts slowly trickled in before they stopped appearing entirely. Two raccoons, a rabbit, and the world’s ugliest rat had all joined the pile of bodies in the trailer.

Night had fully fallen by that time, and the various lights they had placed around the area were blazing at full strength.

They took a brief break to eat, drink, and regain their strength before retaking their positions. Niall moved to the front of the trailer and began operating the controls. The fans whirred to life as the windows dropped down halfway, and the shrouds opened three-quarters of the way.

They were being much more conservative this time around. The guards for the girls might have given them glowing reviews, but Nina and Niall knew the truth. They had been too excited, too lax, and had screwed up.

It could have cost them their son if things had turned out differently. They needed to be better, so they were being better.