Yoshitsune and I crouched our bodies low and used the hillside that we crash landed into as cover from the unseen assailant. A metallic glint barely spotted in the opening shot was all I had to go off of. But, a smart hunter would have moved as soon as they fired the shot to make that sort of intelligence meaningless.

“What was that?” Yoshitsune asked, her head poking over the hill for a moment. “A teppo?”

“I think it is a rifle,” I answered as I yanked her back down.

A loud banging sound echoed through the trees as another projectile was shot our way. A plume of dirt shot into the air as the projectile bounced against a tree and rolled nearby. It was a large metallic ball covered in runes. It sizzled and steamed for a moment before falling completely inert.

“An old rifle,” I clarified as I picked up the musket ball to feel the metallic heat seep into my fingertips. The runes cracked and sizzled when touched. In a world of augmented physical bodies and magic powers, it wouldn’t make sense for someone to willingly choose a gun that old civil war reenactors use unless it had some fun tricks behind it. “It is likely magic-powered or we’d see some sort of smoke cloud. We’ll need to find a way to flush him out.”

Golden light sparked out of Yoshitsune’s hand to create her bow. She drew her lightning ammunition and pointed it in the direction the last shot came from.

“They are not the only one that can attack from a distance,” Yoshitsune stated. “I will keep them busy while we both move closer. Then, we will win in a face to face attack.”

I nodded in agreement at Yoshitsune’s strategy. As I did so, Yoshitsune popped up from her fortified position and launched a blind bolt of lightning into the woods. The sounds of cracking wood and creatures screeching in surprise greeted us.

Like a runner hearing the starting gun, I bolted into a sprint at a wide angle. A musket ball grazed my scales and hit the trees beyond. I grinned at the gunner’s eager trigger finger and immediately changed course to chase down the shooter. Like a bulldozer to a beloved town park, I crushed any and all foliage that I came across.

Around ten seconds passed before another iron slug ripped through the air. I side stepped to allow an inert tree to take the shot for me. However, by some unseen force, the bullet curved around the trunk to hit me in the ribs.

It felt like getting hit with a tire iron. Blood leaked from the damaged scale and filled my mouth with a metallic taste. However, like an angry grizzly, I had to shake off the pain and charge forwards before Hell’s own Chris Kyle had a chance to make more space and turn my skull into a decorative piece.

With the last two shots in my direction, Yoshitsune had the opportunity to advance her position and grow more accurate in her return strikes. Large blast of lightning speared through the trees right where the shooter used to be and cleared the way for me to pursue.

The third shot rang out with a bolt of lightning immediately following it. The bullet ricocheted somewhere that I did not see; a clear rush job.

I quickly encroached on the area that the last shot came from. It was then that I got to meet our little hunter face to face. They were a hyena or some other kind of mangy spotted dog with a long burnt-orange Mohawk that was swept to the left side of their head. They wore a gold-engraved steel breastplate cinched over a royal blue jacket with white breeches and knee-high leather boots.

“Hello,” I growled in greeting as I charged the hyena.

A furry cannonball the size of a Pomeranian rocketed from the trees to intercept me. It dug its teeth into my forearm and I bit it right back. It screeched as I ripped it from my body with my powerful jaws and flung it into the air. I teed it up for my tail to smash it directly at the hyena in a spray of blood and miasma. The corpse bounced off the hunter’s breastplate and steamed at their feet.

More beasts like that toothy beast were flung from the trees, seemingly from nowhere to dig into my flesh and slow me down. A far larger, bull-sized monster charged me and hit me like a midsize sedan whose driver was looking at their phone.

My feet dug up dirt while my claws and teeth punctured the creature. Its tenacity or mindlessness prevented my damage from making much impact on it. It appeared to be single-minded in its task to carry me as far away from its owner as possible. I flexed my back and slightly lifted the creature from the ground. Numerous limbs slapped against my scales as it continuously tried to push me in vain.

As I ripped into the beasts set upon me, I saw a brief metallic glint in the grasses in front of the hyena. The metallic jaw of a bear trap briefly showed its piercing teeth. I could hear small cracks of lightning as my partner activated their movement skill and completed the kill.

“Yoshitsune, wait!” I advised her a moment too late.

The trap, powered by some unseen magic, snapped at the perfect moment to halt Yoshitsune in her tracks. Only a small amount of the energy crackled off of Yoshitsune’s body and collected along the breastplate. A deep bite pierced the flesh around Yoshitsune’s ankle and she grunted in pain.

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I ripped the throat out of the bull-sized beast and punted another of the toy-sized dog beasts to shatter its frame. Before I could close the distance to the hunter, the barrel of the gun was pressed underneath Yoshitsune’s chin.

“Tut-tut, not another step,” the hunter advised me. “Let’s resolve this with the intelligence that God bestowed upon us.”

I felt the sharp pain that covered my limbs lessen as the remaining beasts let go of my flesh and sizzled out into a stinking miasma. The hunter and I stared into each other’s eyes for a time, neither willing to stand down.

“Does the threat of death mean much to those that will not stay dead?” I questioned. “Shoot her, and I’ll rip you apart before you have the chance to load another shot.”

“If that was your intention, you wouldn’t have stopped,” the hyena mused. “We both know that, while impermanent, none of us want to be saddled with the unnecessary loss that comes with dying. Now, how about we have a nice chat?”

I clicked my tongue at the hyena’s insight. Neither Yoshitsune nor I could afford to lose a single crucial stat or point of XP. I didn’t like the overly amicable way that the hyena spoke. Somehow, it made me feel like a savage even though it was hostile first; like punching an acquaintance when they greet you in the dairy aisle of the grocery store.

“Alright then, civilized beast,” I said. “Would you like to enlighten me on why you started shooting us?”

“Do you want to hear the honest answer or the one that will keep us as friends?” The hyena asked with an honest tone.

“Both,” I responded.

“You’re right, good relationships are built on honesty and tact. Truthfully, it’s because you looked like some opportune XP. Nobody exits the Corpse Copse unscathed and I thought I bagged a couple free kills,” the hyena explained with an overly friendly smile for the words it was saying. “The tactful answer is that I heard a loud banging near the entrance to the Corpse Copse to find a black scaled reptilian looming over a damsel. What else should a good and genteel person do except to ensure their safety?”

“A damsel you shot at and that you currently have hostage,” Yoshitsune angrily pointed out.

The hyena slowly moved the barrel away from Yoshitsune’s jaw. As a warrior who shows respect with respect and mercy with mercy, she predictably did not move to chop off the hyena’s unprotected head. Disappointed, but unsurprised, I relaxed my own posture.

“It’s good that you are not a mindless drake,” the hyena said with a boisterous chuckle and looked at my attire. “You’re just an Englishman.”

“I am not that either,” I spat in annoyance. “I’m American. I just bought these clothes to stay warm.”

“Ah, a former colonial. My apologies for accusing you of possessing such a distasteful nationality. Call me Capitaine, friends,” Capitaine greeted with a toothy grin.

“When did we become friends?” I spat angrily. If it didn’t invalidate my passive ability, I wanted to rip their gun from their hands and smash them with the butt end of it until they looked like raw hamburger meat.

“Anyone that isn’t my enemy is my friend,” Capitaine explained jollily. “Since we are all alive and speaking like the civilized people of Enlightened times, I must assume that we are now friends. And, since you are people that passed through the Corpse Copse, I must ask you an important question. Did you encounter the Corpse-Watcher?”

Even the mention of the beast’s name filled me with strange unease as if saying the name would suddenly summon it forth from the dense dark forest. Even if it did not, I became acutely aware of how much time we wasted subduing Capitaine.

“Do not worry about meeting the creature here,” Capitaine reassured as it keenly watched my reaction. "It cannot leave its territory. If it sees you, you’ll know.”

“I was messaged as much,” I remarked. “I feel like I’ll see those red eyes tearing through the trees at any moment.”

Capitaine nodded gravely at my words; a sharp contrast from their behavior to this point. They stowed their rifle over their shoulder and summoned a potion.

“I’m on a quest to be the first one to kill it,” Capitaine explained. “So far, I have tried three times with different parties and had my throat ripped out three times. If it’s not the Corpse-Watcher that kills you, the smaller ones will ambush you. Not to mention the trees that constantly close you in. A nasty place.”

“The first to kill it?” I questioned skeptically. “People have been dying for thousands of years. Someone else must have killed it by now.”

Capitaine shook their head at my assertion. Even Yoshitsune looked as though she wished to correct me over my claims.

“You can tell that it hasn’t been killed because it has yet to be confined to an official Dungeon,” Capitaine explained. “A feral beast like that is often ignored by others or seen as more trouble than it is worth. You have experienced it yourself. Many that stumble across it will die without any hope of escaping or fighting back. Even with preparation, would you be willing to risk everything to kill such a monstrous existence?”

“Depends on the reward for completing it,” I responded.

“Of course,” Capitaine laughed powerfully at my simple response. “If this offered nothing in return, I wouldn’t even think to do it. Anyone who completes anything for the first time gets rewarded far more handsomely than simply completing a Dungeon. And, I assure you, there are few things left to conquer in this place.”

My tongue flickered greedily out of my mouth. Even in this realm that has been walked by all the evil people that predated me, there was still a small corner of the place that remained untamed. The excitement I felt towards the chance to take on a true unconquered challenge warred with my quickened pulse that remembered that brief encounter.

“I am forming another hunting party to take on this challenge another time,” Capitaine explained. “Now that I know that you can hold your own, would you like to be members of this potentially historic hunt?”

I looked towards Yoshitsune who seemed hesitant about the prospects of joining forces with a personality like this. However, she simply nodded towards me. She was bound by loyalty; whatever decision I ultimately made, she would have to comply without complaint. Though it did not bring me much joy to force her to fight against her will, I felt like I could not allow such a delectable opportunity to be passed up.

“I assume you have a plan,” I said. “I’m willing to hear you out.”

“Excellent,” Capitaine replied jubilantly. “Follow me, I’ll show you to my camp.”

Capitaine wishes to join the Equal Benefit Party.