The fated day finally arrived and I prepared to head into the Class-3 Ruin. My combat suit was folded into the carrying case and a bag of animal bones was stored along with it. I scraped together enough money to buy some very basic healing supplies, but I hoped I wouldn’t need them.

I took one of the last apples that Rosemary gave to me and headed to a taxi that was already waiting for me.

On the way out, I passed a teenage girl planting flowers in the dirt outside of my apartment.

“Ah, one of Rosemary’s?” I asked as I headed toward the cab.

“Yes and you’re Casper, right?”

“Mhm, that’d be me.” I headed toward the vehicle and gestured for the driver to open the trunk before placing my armor case inside.

“I’m Hope!” She introduced herself.

“Nice to meet you, Hope.” I smiled while thinking that all of Rosemary’s children seem to have optimistic and positive names.

“Sunny said she already met you.”

“Yeah, that’s true. I met another one too, but I’m not sure if she’s your sister.”

“You met Joy?”

“Hmm?” I shut the trunk and moved to enter the car. “The one with black hair, right?”

“No,” Hope shook her head. “That was Miss Rusalka, she’s like a distant relative. Joy has blonde hair and she’s a little shy, you’ll know her when you see her.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” I opened the door to the taxi. “Well, see you later, Hope.”

“Yup.” Hope nodded and went back to planting flowers.

…

A little drive later and I was at the Class-3 ruin site. As I stepped out the taxi and retrieved my armor case, I was reminded that not all ruins were at the same in terms of difficulty to clear. That’s why shared information was so important since only those who had cleared it was able to understand how hard it was to do so. Creatures that could fly, burrow into the ground or camouflage were among the hardest and would have a big impact on how things proceeded. That’s why selecting a ruin carefully was just as important as having the right party members.

“Casper!” Jameson waved at me from afar, with the others standing next to him.

Somehow, I was always the last to arrive. It made me wonder if I should look into getting a car or something. I quickly put away the thought as it wasn’t even on my top five list of current needs.

“Am I late?” I asked.

“Nope, besides, even if you were we wouldn’t mind, right?” Jameson addressed everyone else and I was met with casual shrugs. “See?”

I nodded and looked around before speaking up, “Should we get changed?”

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“You read my mind,” Jameson replied.

We all split up, heading to the changing rooms before re-emerging, donning our gear. I had broken in the synthesized combat suit during my Class-1 and Class-2 ruin clearing so it fit comfortably. I shrugged my shoulders as the firm material clung to my body. It was in an entirely different category when compared to the basic combat suit.

After that, we made our trip to the dispensary machine and purchased the necessary medical supplies, though I couldn’t get much with my current financial situation being the way it was.

“Everyone ready?” Jameson asked to which we all nodded. “Then let’s go.”

Without further delay, we descended into the Class-3 Ruin.

…

We entered a humid marsh environment. The heat and moisture combined to encapsulate the very definition of discomfort.

“You know…” Grant started, “Our country is pretty lucky with the Ogres we have.”

“How so?” I bit as moisture began to form on my brow.

“To begin with, Western Europe has larger Ogres that are more vicious. They love eating humans, specifically younger ones. It’s really not something you’d want to witness. The Scandinavian countries in Northern Europe call them trolls but they're pretty much the same thing. They’re a craftier than other variations of Ogres. They hide in caves and tunnels like rats so you have to burn them out. As for Japan, they have some of the most bloodthirsty bastards.”

“Is there that much of a difference between the ones found on our island?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah, those guys have to deal with ones that look uglier and carry around iron clubs.”

“That must suck,” Emma chimed in.

“Frankly, all of them sound terrible, but I’d hate to deal with any hiding in caves if I were to pick.” Jameson gave his opinion as we pushed through the moist grass.

“I’m not too fond of Western European Ogres, they are known to go for children first.” Sophia was surprisingly soft-hearted when it came down to it.

“I agree with Sophia.” I put my thoughts out there.

“Alright, let’s stop here. We’re already a good distance in so we should focus up.” Jameson knelt down. “We need to find out if there are any of those bastards waiting for us.”

“Oh, I can scout around the area if you want.” I quickly volunteered.

“You sure?” He asked.

I’m sure he trusted in my ability but didn’t want me to force myself. It was very mindful of him, but I had it under control.

“Yeah, don’t worry.” I sat in the wet grass and closed one eye.

“...What are you doing?” His forehead wrinkled with confusion.

“Give me a sec’,” I replied.

After a few seconds of silence, a black crow flew out of my chest while leaving black feathers behind.

I sent my second pair of eyes into the sky and began surveying the area around us. I immediately found three groups of ogres in three different directions. North, East, and West are where our enemies were.

The northern group was the largest, with those Impish creatures skittering around the group of Ogres like vultures. In the center of the group, there was an Ogre wearing bones as armor which made me assume it was the Ogre Brute.

The eastern group consisted of four Ogres that were currently engaged in other activities. They seemed to be enjoying themselves as they tossed stones at a tree.

To western group was a trio of Ogres that were lazily sitting around a pond. Occasionally, they would splash around in hopes of finding a quick snack maybe?

I recalled the crow familiar into my chest and opened my eye before blinking as my senses quickly readjusted.

“There are three groups. The Brute’s to the north, a group of four to the east, and a group of three to the west.” I quickly listed out what I discovered.

“Uh...I want to ask about that ability, but I’ll wait until we’re clear of danger.”

I wanted to say there was more to my ability, but I held it in. They’d discover it when the time was right.

“We’ll start with the western group first. I want to take them out without a fuss and since we know where they are, we’ll have Casper take the lead so we can get the drop on them. Any problems?” Jameson’s question was met with silence so he nodded toward me and I walked toward the front.

I would be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for the fight to come.