"U-um, Mr. Loran, how much farther is the camp?" Calix asked, breathing deep as the party stopped to rest.

"It shouldn't be much farther," Loran said.

"You said that like an hour ago," Bates complained.

"We'll get there sooner or later," Loran snapped back, "it's not like the campsite could just disappear in less than a week."

Loran and the others had been walking for several hours now and it was well past noon. The day was particularly warm, and the party was starting to feel irritable. Because the non-combatants in the party rarely raised their AGI, the party's travel speed was much slower than the hunters were used to, and the trip that should've taken approximately six hours was now nearing twelve.

Fortunately, they had not had to do any fighting so far. There were a few close calls with some wolves, but it seemed like the beasts were intimidated by the party of twenty-three players.

'Maybe they're survivors from the battle against The Wise One,' Loran considered as he watched the perimeter. Although the others were also keeping watch the fact that he had a much higher PER stat made Loran try to monitor every direction since most threats in the area could easily close a few dozen meters in a matter of seconds.

Loran was beginning to feel drained from keeping watch for so long, but he refused to relax. 'It can't be that much farther, I can take it easy once we have the barrier for protection.'

"Woah, this stuff is good!" Alexx said, startling him from his concentration. He was extremely focused on a handful of jerky.

"Th-thanks," Calix blushed, "it's my own recipe." She quickly turned and walked over to Loran. "Um, Mr. Loran? I'm handing out snacks, would you like any?" Calix asked.

"Sure," he said, curious about Alexx's reaction.

Calix pulled a handful of jerky out of her pack, handing it to him before moving to give more to the others.

Taking a bite, Loran could see why Alexx was so surprised. The jerky made in the Kitchen was generally treated like rations, made for easy storage and transport for the hunters. Meanwhile, the meat that Calix had just handed him tasted like it had been seasoned or marinated before it had been dried out, giving a much better, almost sweet, flavor than what the hunters were used to.

'Aman said they weren't experimenting much with the jerky because it was only ever eaten by the hunters on long trips and the drying process already took a long time. Did she make all of this specifically for the expedition team?'

Loran looked at Calix as she handed out the jerky. Her avatar was a short, young girl with a slight build. Her hair was orange, black, and white in a curly bob with two little tufts sticking up at the top like cat ears. Her green eyes had also been modified to have cat-like pupils. Looking closer, Loran noticed various healing injuries on her hands from cuts and burns.

Her pack was also loaded up with food supplies and cooking utensils made from wood and bone. One of the builders had offered to carry her pack for her earlier since STR was one of a builder's primary stats, but she had refused. She was red in the face as the party marched but never fell behind.

She was obviously one of the younger players to have been trapped in New Eden Online and was timid even for her age, but she wasn't allowed to take it easy no matter how scared she was.

Loran turned his attention back to the perimeter, a bitter feeling in his stomach. He continued chewing on the sweet jerky. It didn't help.

After a few minutes, the party refilled their waterskins and continued walking along the river. It took nearly another hour, but eventually, Loran was able to see the campsite.

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"About time," Bates grumbled when Loran let everyone know. It would still take a while because of how far Loran could see, but knowing the trip was almost over put everyone at ease.

"Wait, there's something-" Loran's eyes widened, "it's ants."

"What!" one of the builders shouted.

"Quiet!" Bates said in a hushed voice. "How many and where?"

"I count four, and they're at the campsite," Loran said, "Seems like they followed the scent of the one we killed."

"Does that mean they'll follow the trail to the village?!" We have to take them out!"

"We have to do that even if they don't follow the trail," Alexx said. "They're in our camp."

"Not anymore," Loran said. "They've smelled us, we have a few minutes."

"So what?" asked Zed. "We came out here to hunt them anyway, we can't be getting cold feet now."

"B-but what about us!" Calix said, taking nervous glances towards the camp. "We can't-"

"This was always part of the plan," Loran said. "Bates, you and your team take the others while Zed, Alexx, and I intercept the ants."

"And why do you guys get to hog the glory again?" Bates asked, his teammates nodding in agreement. "No way. We'll take the ants."

"Are you serious!?" one of the builders shouted.

"I thought we settled this already?!" Alexx said, stunned.

While they were planning over the last few days and dividing up the roles, Bates and his crew were insistent that they should be the ones to scout the area and hunt the ants.

His argument wasn't completely baseless. His party had fifteen people in it so they could easily split up and cover more ground. They could've just gathered more hunters from different teams, but since the teams were generally in competition teamwork had proven difficult during the planning process. Infighting could become a problem later on, problems they couldn't risk in such an unknown and dangerous environment.

However, this was their only advantage. Almost all of Bates' team used bows, which would be completely useless against the ants. Although they were currently armed with Bone Clubs specifically for the expedition, their stats and Skills weren't built for this kind of combat. The ones that were melee fighters also had relatively low AGI, which meant they would almost certainly be out sped by the ants. Comparatively, Loran, Alexx, and now Zed were experienced with weapons that were distinctly effective against the Iron Ants' defenses.

Additionally, not even Bates was willing to argue that Alexx and Zed were two of, if not the best fighters in the village. No matter what they ran into they could probably win, or at the very least make it back alive. Neither of them had the ability to properly navigate and map out the unexplored woods, but that's where Loran came in.

Overall, Bates' team was more suited for exploration, but Loran's team had a higher chance of survival and of gathering more Iron Ants for the Workshop. Almost everyone agreed that Loran's team should do the actual hunting, but it took nearly a week to organize the expedition because Bates had spent several days arguing that his team should do it instead.

He had obviously felt like he had been mocked when his team's big hunt last week was overshadowed by the discovery of the Iron Ants and wanted to prove himself. Loran had thought Bates had let it go when he finally agreed to the plan, but apparently, he just wanted to force Loran into conceding by making the situation more dangerous.

'He's not even pretending like he has better chances than us anymore,' Loran thought, 'he seriously just wants to show off.'

"Bates," Loran said in a low voice.

"What's the matter?" Bates walked up to Loran, grinning smugly as he looked down at the shorter player. "Getting mad because someone else stole your spotlight?"

"I'm only going to say this once." Loran stared into Bates' eyes, feeling strangely calm as the taller player got in his face. "If you don't pull your head out of your ass and stick to the plan, I will end this whole expedition right now."

"What are you-"

"I will take the non-combatants back to the village, and let everyone know that the expedition was a failure because you couldn't do what you agreed to! When we get back we'll put together a new team, without you and your buddies."

"You're going to run from the ants?" Bates asked, thinking Loran was bluffing. "They're too fast, the others will get caught."

"We'll cross the river. It may damage our equipment but ants can't swim," he said. 'At least, I don't think they can.'

"..." Bates' eyes were uncertain as the seconds ticked by.

"Two minutes until the ants get here," Loran said, the clicking getting louder in his ears, "and one minute until I'm calling the retreat."

"...How do you want to do this," Bates said through gritted teeth.

"Me, Alexx, and Zed will move to intercept, while you take the non-combatants around to the camp. Now go."

With that, Bates, Calix, and the rest of the party headed deeper into the woods, leaving Loran, Alexx, and Zed standing on the riverbank.

"Heh, since when were you able to hand out orders like that?" Zed asked.

"I'm too pissed off to be anxious," he said, pulling out his Bone Picks. "Now, are we going to stand here and talk, or are we going to squash some bugs?"

Alexx and Zed grinned. "Lead the way."