It's been a full day since we've departed from Auburn. There weren't any major incidents throughout the past day. We were on schedule for most of the time. Our breaks for food and rest were slowly taking its toll on me that we're camping out again and not some actually home cooked meal though outdoor cooked food was still enjoyable in its own way.

We were gathered around the first rest stop, which made campfire cooking a bit more convenient than the conventional campfire cooking. There was a source of freshwater nearby, and a couple of sites specially ready for placing stoves and pans.

It was during these times that I got to talk with Joran a lot. Ian and Victor were guarding the wagons while Cameron and Melanie were talking about the route, leaving Rona and I to sit with Joran while he stirred the pot. It was a simple consommé pot. I asked him why this was our first dish camping out and he said,

"We're not that far out yet that we won't reach a town by nightfall if we hurried so we don't need to consume all our perishables just yet. We can save them for when we're about to hunt so we get more energy." He muttered in a low tone that he thought wasn't audible, "And I kind of don't want to put in too much effort unloading yet."

I turned to Rona, "Was Auburn like most cities you get deployed to?" Rona looked up at me from reading her book, "More or less but I would say Auburn had a more countryside feeling to it than other cities located similarly." She closed her book as she continued to explain, "Most settlements that are near the edge of a noble's territory typically don't grow to a size as a city, mostly staying as villages and towns but Auburn is different. Do you remember the expansive fields we saw when we arrived?"

I nodded, "Those fields enable them to grow to such a size, however their population can't match with their field area? Why is that?" I don't like how this is turning to a lecture on governance. "Though there aren't urgent news about the cities' birth rate nor death rate, there just is limited opportunities for jobs there."

Though I appreciate her powers of observation, I wasn't really looking forward to that kind of answer. "Don't go into analytical mode on me Rona, think of it more as question about the city' impression compared to other cities you've been dispatched to."

That gave her pause so I think rephrasing the question helped but I certainly hoped it did. "What about you Joran? What do you think of Auburn compared to other cities?" I passed the question onto him before Rona could think of a different lesson.

"What do I think huh?" He groaned as he stretched his back after some stirring the pot. "It feels kind of cozy just like my home town, but it is pretty big so you would expect it to be more lively." He took a taste of the soup before sprinkling in more spices, "I share the same thought with Rona about younger folks there wishing for better opportunities." He looked upwards and had a distant look as he covered the pot, "The grass is always greener on the other side they say."

Looks like I touched on a sour topic there. "I'll ask for Ian and Victor's take on this." I made my escape nonchalantly and strode over towards the wagons parked not far away. They were parked side by side, with both horses tied to a tree as they grazed across the plains.

Victor was laying down on one of the carts while Ian was just perching on the other. I waved at them as I approached.

"Ah Captain! What brings you over to us?" Victor waved backed and sat up to greet me. Ian acknowledged my approval with a nod.

"Nothing much. Just wanted to ask your thoughts about Auburn now that we've left it behind." I brought myself to sit beside Ian. As I leaned towards Victor, "Rona gave me an governors' view and Joran gave me a rural commoners'," I let out a sigh before continuing. "So I wanted to ask you too on what you think. Considering that Victor here might say something a lot different with his adventurer past."

Victor chuckled at my remark, "What are you now Captain, a tourist?" He sat up from his position and settled with his finger under his chin as he recollected about his journey. "Ah I know!" he exclaimed and pointed at me, "Auburn's a kind of city you would like to retire in since it nice and quiet but still has access to numerous luxuries." I nodded along, prompting him to continue, "It's a complete opposite of the any city under the influence of Duke Hellsworn."

I furrowed my brows, "Duke Hellsworn? What brought that on?" He looked flabbergasted, as he let out a tired sigh,

"Rumors say that though the Hellsworn's loyalty to the crown is unwavering, the state of living in there quite the opposite of Auburn. it's not someplace you can just kick back and relax while you enjoy the slow idle life," He turned serious suddenly, "Life there is a hard top to bottom hierarchy where the Hellsworn's stand at the top."

He clenched his fists, and his face tightening into a scowl, "Though the North is known for their beaches and resorts, for locals and those without much to fork around, it's a place you don't want to stay too long in." He expelled a long and tired sigh before laying back down.

I pondered his out of the blue rant. He might've hailed from the North where the Hellsworns rule and judging from form his tone, it wasn't a fun time. "I never knew the disparity inside Imperial land was that big." I muttered in a lower tone, "I might need to thread cautiously whenever I get assigned anything north-related."

Placing that conversation as a finished one, I turned to the third person in proximity, "How about it Ian? Any additional thoughts you would like to bring?"

He gave resigned sigh, "What really brought this on Captain?" He got me there with that question.

I chuckled as I scratched the back of my head, "Well I do admit the high I'm feeling because this is quite far from my usual desk job and maybe I would consider volunteering more field work." It was my honest opinion, it was a really great breath of fresh experience. Now that I think about it, this feeling was close to that of my hectic days at the academy, minus the actual life threatening instances of course.

Ian shook his head, "I guess desk-type folks like you will think of this as a novel experience." He looked up to the sky and pondered for a bit, closing his eyes as he did so. When he opened his eyes again, he focused on me, "Frankly speaking Captain, it will make you homesick."

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Homesick?". He has a point there though, being regularly deployed in the field in different locations every time will put a sense of homesickness for an individual, especially if there was little time to recuperate. "How long it is usual for your unit in between deployments?" It was a curious topic for me.

Ian groaned, "The shortest was around a week, the longest was about almost a month or so." Suddenly, Victor joined back in the conversation, springing up to a sitting position, leaning forward,

"The week long break was the worst!" He howled, "It was such as grueling post and then we were sent off to the other side of the world! It was such pain!" He expelled out another tired sigh, and slumped his shoulders. "Sometimes I just want to yell my hat off to those bureaucrats deploying all all willy-nilly! We aren't the only enforcers that can deployed."

I gave him an exasperated look, "You can complain all you want to me but I'm not gonna be able to do a thing about it Victor." He needed to hear that, since different bureaus typically don't meddle in things outside of their jurisdiction.

Once our conversation entered a lull, Joran's called out to us, "Food's ready!". Exchanging looks with both Ian and Victor, I bid them farewell as we would rotate later to watch over our wagons.

Back at one of the designated cooking area in this rest stop were the five of us gathered around the pot. Though it wasn't as filling compared to our stay back in the city, it was packed with enough nutrition to last us out the rest of the day.

"Tomorrow afternoon is when we should reach a hunting ground no?" I asked after I finished up my bowl.

Cameron nodded, "Ideally yes, it would be safer to hunt while the sun's in its peak. Then when the sunsets we have to get back on the road and prepare for camp." He passed on his bowl to Joran, "As soon as Ian and Victor are finished, we should get moving again."

Rona slumped, "No time to rest huh." I patted her on the shoulder as I stood up,

"Well, you have to remember we're also on the run from assassins."

She let out a tired sigh, "You're right. The past day has been nothing but normal. I guess it's a case of a false sense of security.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Well as long as not all of us let our guards down, it would be okay to relax for a bit. Being too relaxed or too tensed is not a good thing for an enforcer." Melanie chided her as she finished up her bowl.

"Duly noted Ma'am." She replied a bit dejected.

I think I should try to cheer her up, but the question is how?

Well after Victor and Ian took their lunches, we set back up on the road. Though we tried a faster pace to get back to the Capital quicker, we made sure to not look suspicious as we travelled. Occasionally passing through other travelers such as merchants, villagers, and adventures, the rest of the day was just like yesterday, nothing but peace and quiet.

The following day went as planned also. There was difference this time compared to our other experiences in that after lunch today, we would venturing out further into the woods to hunt for game since we weren't able to pack all our requested provisions in time.

I felt myself feel tensed since this would be my first time going on an animal hunt. The academy didn't have this venture as a mandatory class so I never took it back then.

Victor took the lead, using his skills and experience from being an adventurer, alongside the new wind skills I've taught him beforehand, he can virtually be a one man scout. We left Ian and Rona back at the clearing before the forest while the rest of us pushed deeper.

Our objective for this hunt was to get me accustomed to a hunting party, but in future expeditions, we would be hunting around two to three wild boars to last us through dinner and breakfast, and only using our provisions for lunch. This forest wasn't that far off from the main road but it was dense enough for wild animals to flourish without much human intervention or so Cameron told me.

The formation that was decided during these hunts would be Victor as the scout in the vanguard, with Cameron behind him. Joran and I would be in the middle, while Melanie would be the rearguard long range support. Though I am kind of nervous since half the people here are fire mages and that we might accidentally start a forest fire. Just thinking about it is already giving me a stomachache.

The sun was a bit past its zenith, but the foliage from the leaves of the forest made it appear darker than what it would be. Everyone was suppressing their presence to not startle the wild animals. We were navigating through the forest slowly, waiting for Victor to find a vulnerable wild boar.

I'm not sure how long the hunt took but once Victor signaled us that he found one, he dashed in to corner it and we shortly followed after him. We were running as fast as we could to follow up on Victor. When we reached him, he was trying to pressure it to a corner by establishing a zone of control with his spear.

Wild boars can typically grow up to two meters tall but the one Victor found one was smaller, just about a meter. "It's probably a young adult wild boar." Joran murmured as he loaded up the crossbow he carried. We were still running through the forest though but everyone was already splitting into their positions.

Cameron was looking to position to close off the opposite side to where Victor was blocking. Melanie and Joran would be finding a good enough elevation point to snipe the boar. Melanie would be for zoning shots while Joran would be the one shooting for immobilization since actual ammunitions rather than magic or magic-infused ammunitions. I would stay behind and act as a watcher for both them incase a different animal decides to attack us.

The execution was done cleanly, with Victor and Cameron perfectly guiding the wild boar to stay within the area between them. Melanie was grazing it with bullets to stagger if, giving Joran the perfect shot to kill it without damaging it too much.

"Alright! Now we have to drain it out of blood before it rots the rest of the meat." Joran quickly scrambled towards it. We were all gathered around the wild boar which was on its last breath. Joran whipped out a hunting knife and secured our dinner.

After draining it of its blood, it was tied up with a branch and carried by Cameron and Joran. Our formation on our return trip was still the same, with the only difference is that Cameron and Joran are directly linked now due to them carrying our spoils. The return back took longer than what I expected because we had to be careful with transporting the wild boar and to not run into too much other wild animals eyeing our spoils.

Heaving a loud sigh, I asked Joran next to me, "How much further? It feels like we've been detouring from the path we used to get here." Everyone else was still maintaining their stances and caution while I was already tired and slouching. He turned to me so casually like the boar they were carrying was just nothing,

"Because we just followed Victor when he found this guy," He pointed to the wild boar dangling from the branch that he was carrying with Cameron. "So we're trying to get back to the nearest trail so we can move a bit quicker." We were still moving the same pace, I was already starting to feel my body tiring down, "Does that mean someone maintains these trails?"

Joran shook his head, "Not quite exactly, but the hunters in the villages nearby use these forest, and some adventurers also venture out to collect herbs or to scout out any potential magic beats that may dwell within it." I nodded,

"And because of those activities, trails exist as a pathway for easier traversal through a forest?" My senses are already tired that I think I'm only aware of the three other people around me. I couldn't detect Victor even though he was just a few meters ahead.

As I was deciding to suggest another break, a faint cry growled throughout the forest causing everyone of us to stop. I had to strengthen my wind magic again. Cameron and Joran had laid the wild boar down to the side and scrambled to positions. I refocused on Direction Sensing to find out where the sound came from and what Victor is doing. Our current position has everyone scrambling for a ideal spot to stand their ground. Cameron was set up in front of the three of us, while Joran retreated until he was further back than me on my left while Melanie was on the right. Both have their ranged weapons ready to engage.

"Found him." I muttered. We could heard the rushed footsteps of Victor from in front of us, and soon after a large black shadow rose further behind him.

"Captain! A magic boar appeared in the trail up ahead! It was chasing a group of adventurers!" He turned around once he reached Cameron, "I manage to get its attention so the survivors should be able to scrape up and get themselves out of trouble, so we have to take it down!".

I still kept my eyes closed as I focused on my direction sensing to the approaching magic beast. "That's a lot of mana circulating around that beast. What is it even?" I slowly opened my eyes and glanced to Victor.

"Kind of looked like a black bear, though it looked like it was further mutated than that." He had his spear at the ready. I nodded,

"Got it." I turned to look at Melanie and then Joran, "Once you're in range, pelt it with some grazing shots, we'll need some preliminary assessment to its toughness." They both answered in the affirmative and I turned to address the two in front me.

"Cameron, Victor, we'll need you to focus fire to get a big hit off. Can you do that." Cameron nodded, while Victor grinned excitedly.

"Good!" I returned my attention to the magic beast which was now visible to the naked eye. It was indeed a black bear, a common wild animal that mutated into a magic beast to an influx of mana in the air, but this one longer a lot bigger, and meaner than usual black bears.

I smiled unconsciously, "This is not what I thought my first hunting would be." I readied my artifact and thought of the spells I would cast at the approaching monster.

Time felt it ran longer as we waited for the beast to approach. It was coming towards us at a full run on all fours, and it's eyes are glowing red.

The monster and I met gazes and it unleashed a ferocious roar. "Now!"

A blast raced through my right side while a whistle zoomed from my left side. The projectiles made contact with the bear, staggering it a bit not wasn't enough to halt its charge. It replied with a more louder roar and sped up.

"Now that's a tough hide." I heard some mutter but as the one with the actual authority here I have to step up and do my responsibility. "Don't let up! Make it stay on course!" Melanie and Joran continued to pelt at it from their respective sides, trying to both stagger the monster's approach and keep it in one general direction.

"Can you hit with your dragon Cameron?!" He didn't look back me but he replied back, "I just need to someone to pin it down. We might burn the forest otherwise."

I turned to Victor, "You heard him! Let's do this!" He laughed,

"Looks like you got all fired up Captain! What's the plan." I grinned at him mischievously, "We're wind mages right?" I turned to face the beast, "All we have to do is get it's attention from above it, and keep it like that until Cameron hits it." I glanced at him, "Not hard right?"

He cackled, "What an insane plan Captain! But it's not bad if it means we'll avoid causing a forest fire. Let's do it!". He levelled his spear at the monster and let out a cry rivaling its roar. I grinned, "Now that's the spirit! Let's go!" I let out my own war cry.

I dashed towards the rampaging beast, trusting in that Victor has the other side covered. I stopped just outside of what I think its range would be. The bear stopped for a moment, looking surprised that I stop, but it was only for a split second. It stood on its rear legs and let out a mighty roar as it readied its right foot to swipe at me.

Channeling my next spell to propel me upwards, I waited until the bear was about to swing and get a few seconds of time to pepper some Wind Bullets at it when I get the high ground.

After I launched a couple of Wind Bullets, it had a more nastier look its face, glaring at me. I couldn't let myself freeze up from its overwhelming malice so I quickly dropped back down and prepared to get up high again. Good thing it was too slow to catch me during my dashes.

Now that the bear was standing, there was more surface area to shoot at. Melanie and Joran fired more at it while I continued to zip up and down and pepper it with my wind projectiles. Victor was grazing it with his thrusts as he goes up and down as well.

"Now." I said as I heaved my shoulders, fatigued running through my body and having a stare down with the battered bear. "Let's end this."

It narrowed his glare at me and lunged to bite at me. I smirked and I dashed to the side. Even from afar, I felt the heat from the approaching Dragon's Roar magic that Cameron had casted to score a direct hit to the magic beast straight to the face. A huge explosion erupted from the point of contact, covering the whole area in smokes and small sparks.