“Glad to see you’re all working hard,” Drim addressed the group after everyone had rendezvoused. They’d met up at a hotel near the southern border of Segrevide. This mission was actually their first time doing anything for Segrevide officially. Up until now, the country’s government had mostly ignored the Fiends For Hire despite them living there. The Central Peace had always remained the aggressor, while Segrevide itself had only stayed neutral up until now.

So of course the Fiends would jump on a chance to deepen their association. While the Segrevide government could almost assuredly do nothing to expel the Fiends if tensions rose, a symbiotic relationship would be best for everyone. The mission in question was to investigate reports of monsters that were working together; acting as one cohesive unit and performing raids on small villages. It was speculated that they were under someone’s control.

When they got to the hotel, Ahvra went and immediately locked herself in a room to get back to her research. They then found those who had already been deployed hanging around the pool. Itsy was alone in the hot tub, most likely since she was all that’d fit—sitting in the very center, being hit by jets from all sides.

Kada was swimming laps in the pool while Niloy sat on the edge, her feet dangling in the water. She looked like she was having the time of her life altering the water’s buoyancy, forcing Kada to rise or sink accordingly. Nachi was doing push-ups near the pool’s edge with Gatrim on her back who was flexing and posing to show off his somewhat existent muscles.

“Ehh, give ‘em a break,” Nachi actually defended laziness for once as she stood up, knocking Gatrim off her back and into the water. “They stayed up all night scouting without complaint. Just woke up and we were waiting for you guys before heading back out.”

“Good work. Get us up to speed then.” It was interesting seeing Drim acting like an actual leader. Jaid had only seen him act mostly aloof and disinterested to everything going on around him, besides being friendly with everyone.

“Okay, it’s definitely more complicated than the original mission report,” Nachi raised their expectations. “Segrevide told us there were only about five to ten monsters—simple enough for this lot to handle. And well, that’s true but not true. We ambushed the pack that was on its way for a raid, and there were seven in total.”

“It fell within the expectations presented, so we could have just killed all of them and then job well done, but we wanted to play it safe. Killed the two bobcans at the front to scare off the others and then tailed them back to their den. Well, hive is more accurate in this case, cus Cosdamn there’s a lot of them. Monsters of all kinds.”

“It’d take longer to list ‘em than for you all to just see yourselves. So, we’ll head over in a bit for another round of scouting. From what we’ve gathered, they tend to hunt around sunset then all come back and bunker down for the night. None in or out until the morning. After that, a few of the less strong and aggressive monsters come out to start foraging.”

“Damn, that really is organized. Certainly going against their natural behavior,” Drim confirmed and then pondered, “While monsters tend to tolerate other species, this is cooperation on another level. It’s almost like a monster society. Any sign of whoever’s controlling them?”

“Nope, unfortunately,” Nachi reported. “There’s plenty of buildings to hide in though, rundown as they may be. Could be they didn’t feel like going for a stroll in all that time we were watching. While I definitely agree with you that this reeks of a Fiend, there’s something you need to see.” She went over to her belongings, pulled out a jar, and then handed it over to Drim.

“Ever see a monster like them before?” Nachi asked as Drim studied the specimens.

“No. Can’t say I have.” Drim unscrewed the jar and then pulled one of them out, pinching one of its legs between his fingers. “It’s obviously an ant but-” The large ant’s entire body was covered in spores. There was also some strange mist that spewed out of its orifices as it was moved around. “And it’s not degrading even after death, so it’s not following the standard monster rules. Where’d you find them?”

“Strangely enough, they were inside the bobcan’s bodies,” Nachi answered, seemingly still uncertain about it herself. “They were all that remained after the bodies degraded away. We estimate that they would have been about where the bobcans brains were.” After sharing a curious glance with Drim, she added. “That’s why I’ve asked for our resident biologist to tag along. Where’d you stash her?”

“She’s in a room already. I’ll go drop these off and explain the situation to her.” Drim already started to walk away as Nachi called out to everyone.

“Alright! Go get dried off and get some food. We’re leaving in an hour!”

◆◆◆

The group got to their destination as the sun started to set. Those who had been there before went to scout from different vantage points, but the new arrivals all observed the main gate. “Eerie, right?” Nachi laughed a little to herself, pointing out the obvious, but it was also an ill description. This place was something straight out of a nightmare.

It was an abandoned zoo—the perfect place for a monster breeding ground after mutations started flooding the world. Everything about it was either rusted or collapsing: the gates, the buildings, and the enclosures themselves. If anything had still been captive inside them, they’d long since been freed.

At the very front of the zoo, laying in front of the ticket counter, was an Eagliger—an elegant monster standing sentry. It was a cross between an eagle and a liger; birdlike head, wings, and talons with a large liger body. “Good choice for the front guard. I’m impressed they were able to tame such a thing,” Drim couldn’t restrain his compliments.

“Extremely territorial, but also very respectful. They’ll defend their domains with their lives, but don’t try to butt in on other monsters. Usually, they only fight with other Eagligers, not that too many exist. They’re a 2nd-tier monster, and would make for a good, honorable opponent, if you’d like to challenge them, Jaid. Otherwise, I’ll take them on.”

“Uhh, sure,” Jaid hesitantly accepted. “Guess I should get this rank test over with. So should I just go down and attack it?”

“I’d strongly discourage it,” Drim tried to dissuade her. “They’re very intelligent and follow their own code of honor. If you try to ambush it, the Eagliger will go on a rampage and certainly alert everything here. But if you challenge it to a duel, it’ll respect that. Even though these monsters are being controlled, I can tell that they’re still following their instincts even just from a glance.”

“It’s pretty common knowledge, for monster hunters at least, that if you bow before an Eagliger, it’ll bow back to accept your duel. It’s always the recommended tactic to minimize collateral damage. However, what most don’t know since they don’t read the bestiary entries I add, is that there is a second form of duel.”

“The first duel, that's just a bow, is more meant as a spar, used to settle territorial disputes. If you go in for the kill during one of these duels, you’ll lose all respect of the creature, and they’ll go on a rampage and attempt to kill everyone nearby as punishment.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“For the second duel, you have to hold out your hand as you bow. If they accept, they’ll touch it with their talon. This makes it a fight to the death, and they will come at you full force until the bitter end. You won’t have to worry about them trying to flee or attacking others.”

“Err, what happens if they don’t accept?” Jaid was quite hesitant about the prospect. “They won’t just bite my head off or something, right?”

“No.” That caused Drim to chuckle slightly. “By not agreeing to fight, they’re essentially surrendering. Normally, that’d mean they’d abandon their territory and fly away. Unfortunately, we can’t say for certain what will happen in this case. If it were a regular Eagliger, I’d say it’d be fine if you just beat it, but this time, it’ll have to die.”

“That goes for all the monsters here. I’m fine letting monsters be if they’re not aggressive or actively hurting anyone. I’d prefer to let nature take its course. But these are undeniably a threat, even if they didn’t make the choice themselves.”

“Okay, guess I’ll just go challenge it to a fight to the death then. That’s not crazy at all…” Jaid mumbled the last bit to herself, barely audible.

“Hold up a second Jaid,” Nachi interrupted. “Let us get ready to start the raid first. Then, we’ll lure the Eagliger away from the entrance. While you’re fighting it, we’ll begin the rest of the mission. From what we could tell, that’s the biggest threat here. There’s still plenty of other nasty beasts, but they’re only threatening from their numbers.”

“This is also why I wanted Rez here to join us,” Nachi picked him up by the scruff of his shirt, showing him off like a newborn cub. “I’ve found a nice clearing nearby. Rez will lure the Eagliger there and then Jaid will start the duel. He’ll also serve as support in case anything goes wrong. You’re capable of that much, right?” Rezin gave a confused but confident nod.

“Good. When it’s dead, you’re both welcome to join the main mission. You don’t have to, since this isn’t your test. Same goes for you, Tize. You’re welcome to bail if you feel you’re not contributing much or just get bored. Now, Kada, you should start getting ready. This is going to take a lot of dirt.”

◆Rank 9◆

Jaid stared at the majestic monster. It really was even more magnificent from up close—larger too. Rezin had lured it to the clearing by creating a hallucination of another Eagliger, whatever the opposite of this beast’s gender that would entice it and tempt it away from its post. The monster had seemed confused at first when its fellow had vanished, but now all eyes were on Jaid, studying her carefully.

She unsheathed her sword, and the monster lowered itself in turn, readying itself to strike. But it eased up when Jaid stabbed the sword into the ground. She then took a single step forward and bowed as deeply as she could. Cosmos, what in the frozen hell am I doing?

The creature took a few steps towards her, studying her bow to see if she’d falter or reach back for her sword. When it was only a few feet away, Jaid stuck out her hand. The Eagliger recoiled for a moment, just a step backwards—likely confused why this human understood their customs. But it couldn’t retreat. It had to respect the challenge.

Only a hair’s breadth away now, the Eagliger began stirring its head around Jaid’s hand, likely sniffing her pheromones to get a good feel for her. It reared back on its hind legs and then slammed back down to the ground. Drim had warned her of this. It would be an attempt to try to scare her into backing down from the challenge if it felt threatened. But she would not falter.

Finally, the Eagliger gingerly raised its front arm and placed a talon into her open palm. It huffed with its nostrils and then backed away to the other side of the clearing. Jaid stepped backwards and grabbed her sword. The Eagliger bowed, signaling the start of the fight to the death.

Right away, the monster started beating its mighty wings, lifting itself off the ground. Jaid had to shield her eyes from the wind with one of her arms, her long hair and twin-scarves on the back of her neck billowing in the wind. Once it had enough height, the beast dove straight down towards the Fiend.

Unlike the foolish monster hunters Drim had mentioned, Jaid actually took the time to study up on the Eagliger while waiting for all this to start. The bestiary entries he submitted really were top-notch. It had anticipated that this would be its first move and even gave tips on how to counter it. Even if she distrusted his morals and motivations, she’d forever trust his reputation as the best monster hunter in the world.

The Eagliger kept picking up speed as it dove, soon leveling out until it was coming at Jaid horizontally. She saw it rear back one of its arms, preparing to gore her with its talons. Jaid gripped her sword tightly, and ducked as low as she could, moments before its strike.

As soon as the attack buzzed over her head, Jaid cleaved her sword upwards, slicing through the beast’s wing, severing it from its body with a single blow. The wing went flying off to the side as Jaid was doused in blood from the open wound. Now off balance, the Eagliger immediately lost control and went spiraling to the ground, its body slamming into a nearby tree.

The creature picked itself up quickly, already charging again. Even with such an injury, Drim had been right. It would not stop until one of them was dead. As it ran, the beast started weaving to try to confuse Jaid. At the last second, it used its remaining wing to jump high and reared for another strike.

Fundamentally, it was basically the same attack as before. Jaid went to repeat her tactic, but was greeted by a sharp pain in her side. The damn thing pulled a feint! she winced in agony as sharp talons dug into her body. It had kept spinning on its side, missing entirely with its reared front arm. Instead, it latched onto her waist with its back leg.

Zjik, that hurts, but Jaid grit through the pain. She wasn’t going to let such an opportunity go to waste. Since it had grabbed onto her, it meant it wasn’t able to escape quickly either. She spawned a clone on top of her shoulders and sliced off the Eagliger’s remaining wing.

Now it was the monster’s turn to reel in pain as it released its grip from her—collapsing to the ground and then stumbling away to get some distance. Then, something completely unexpected happened. As the Eagliger stared her down, its pupils suddenly turned stark white. The beast suddenly started sprinting away, but it didn’t make it far.

The monster dug its hind-legs into the ground while its front continued to run, causing it to flip over and tumble. When it got up, it started spazzing and running in circles, like it was fighting with itself. The Eagliger ran over to a tree and started bashing its skull into it over and over.

Jaid glanced over to Rezin, who had been hiding behind her just past the tree line. The boy merely shrugged, clearly not responsible for whatever was happening. After a few more bashes, the Eagliger marched back over to Jaid, bleeding from the front of its head. It stared at her again, but there was no ferocity left. It looked sad and scared, but not of her.

The monster’s eyes began flickering again, fading to white and then back normal—again and again until the white completely took over. Now, the monster resumed its attack, but its moves were completely different. It stomped towards her, repeatedly swiping its front talons, one after the other in an endless cycle. There was no tact behind its strikes, just mindless repetition to try to land a hit.

What had happened to the beautifully intelligent creature she’d been facing in a battle of death mere moments ago? That monster was gone. All that was left was brain-dead flesh that was failing pathetically to kill her.

Out of pure respect for what had once been, Jaid took a heavy step forward. She leaned into it, swinging her gigantic sword above her shoulders and struck down at the monster. With a single blow, the Eagliger’s head separated from its body. The epic duel had devolved into nothing more than a mercy killing.

[Rank 9 Results | Passed: Jaid]

On a hunch, Jaid waited for the monster to dissolve completely, taking that moment to get herself cleaned up. She wiped the Eagliger’s blood off her face and looked at her own wound. It was already healing, but her side was stained in blue blood. That made the new holes in her outfit hard to make out, but she’d still have to get Chorus or Mallea to patch it up later.

Once the corpse had dissolved to dust, Jaid found what she’d expected and picked up the ant monster that squirmed in her hand until it died a second later. Rezin joined her, and the pair headed back to the zoo.