Mark got out of the jeep looking around at the campgrounds. "I wonder what Nick is doing" he thought to himself, just as he started heading into the camp his group got called to go and kill shriki.

While Mark was heading to his group's spot, he was stopped by a guard and asked, "How long have you been in training?" He replies, "A few months, sir."

The guard nods, "Alright, make sure you stick with your group and don't go off alone. The shriki lost their sense of sight but they can smell fear and with those unnaturally sharp claws they have for climbing its best to fight in a group, don't forget there weak around the joints and we just need the bone plating on their limbs and chest"

He then waves him on.

Mark finds his group and they are sent out on patrol to kill shriki. After a few hours, they come upon a nest of shriki and they all rush forward with their weapons, chopping and hacking away at the shriki.

I tell them to aim for the joints and we all start stabbing and slashing at the joints, after a few minutes the shriki starts falling.

A shriki lunges at me and I raise my shield, it latches onto my shield, ripping halfway through the metal and I swing my saber at its neck, the saber bites deep into its back and it screeches in pain. I keep hacking at its neck until its head comes off. I stand there gasping for breath as my adrenaline slowly dissipates. I look down and notice my hands are trembling and I can feel blood trickling down my face.

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I tell my group to "cut off their armor plates and head back to camp."

When we get back, the captain takes the armor and asks us "what was it like?"

My group says things like, "It was intense, if Mark didn't tell us how to kill them we would've died."

"That's why I'm appointing him as the leader of this group, now get some rest you'll be going out again tomorrow."

After he leaves, I go to the bathroom. After my shower I stop in front of the mirror and look at my reflection. I look tired and drained, there is dried blood covering my nose and cheeks, scratches and bruises are visible all over my body. But thankfully the captain is happy with my performance. If he had known about my lack of skill and experience he would've dismissed me and picked someone else as the leader. I hope I can live up to his expectations, once i get on my bed i immediately start dozing off. I dream of holding a weapon in my hand and slicing apart creatures much bigger than myself, as the battle goes on, I think, This is how it's supposed to be, slaying beasts and savoring the sweet flavor of victory.

As I walk towards the battlefield once more my mind begins to wander and I start imagining myself standing over a dead tulk, smiling at the corpse but gradually the face shifts to Nicks and he seems to be staring at me as if it was my fault. I woke up with a start. As the sun began to rise, i wake my team up saying it's time to go out and cull the ever rising population of shriki. I head back to grab my sleeping bag and get ready for another grueling 48 hours of killing shriki.