The first contract the next day was a newly spawned locust swarm. It was Iron rank, but it was a swarm. Rod was given leadership, and those with Wind, Water and Fire excelled at sweeping and clearing locusts.

My nets were not fine enough, but covering them in sticky resin helped. Kai had a lot of fun chasing locusts, and Ardisia eventually got the hang of spearing them with her thorns. My fur got a workout, as they would attempt to eat everything.

I saw Maiele finally shine. I knew she was worried about not performing, but with her wind essence, she would sweep locusts up, and they would literally fall to the ground under the power of her song. Her harpy Vynora was having a ball darting around, stuffing locusts in her mouth to eat.

When we eventually found their nest in the ground, Kai went in with Pete’s Iron snakes. Ardisia planted herself on top and extended her roots into the nest. Once the summons had a good time, Rod had Iris open the area with her Earth essence, and Pete fired everything. It was important to get every last one of the reproducing queens.

I wasn’t interested in eating locusts, so I converted all the magic into spirit coins and hunger quintessence. We discovered a Hunger Essence in the nest. This was a rare essence and very valuable.

Overseer Agere just said, “The leader is in charge of loot, to keep or distribute as they please.” Up until now, the leader had been given the monster cores as a reward, and everybody kept anything they found. Loot was sparse when not in a magically saturated zone like the astral space. I am sure this was also a test. Would we fight over loot?

Everyone looked at Rod. “We will sell it when we get back to Stillwater and distribute the coin evenly.” Everyone settled down. Nobody was dumb enough to think this was not part of the assessment.

Iris was put in charge of the next contract, and she was hesitant but accepted. The next contract was a Ground Hog. It was a huge cart-sized hog with earth abilities. It had a tough hide, earthquakes, earth spikes and lots of health.

I could hear it moving as soon as the skimmer stopped. The ground shook. It was bronze-rank, and a pit trap was useless because of its earth abilities. This would be a pretty standard fight, with Josh and Cal switching out the defender place between them, Iris and Anji countering the earth abilities when they could, and Anji layering on venom. The rest of us were to reduce it’s health as fast as possible.

I chose a spear for this fight. It was a brutal, hard slog. Cal ended up with a broken arm. I had an earth spike through my leg. Iris overdrew her mana and collapsed, trying to counter the earth attacks, and Pete’s serpent Smokey had to be rescued when a hoof broke its back.

That was the last fight of the day. I suspect they put the other one off because of the injuries. There were still two days to go, and everybody was wearing out. Cal and Anji were the only two who had not had a chance at leadership yet, so they were expecting to be up first tomorrow.

I spent the evening cooking jucy hog and making crispy crackling from the fat. I also had a good amount of tough earth-aspected hide.

My leg was not fully healed the next day, but it was close enough that I chose not to drink a potion. Nibbling bronze-rank food all day is good. I have to be careful with the amounts, or too much bronze-rank mana could give me mana poisoning. Ardisia had the same issue with the bronze-rank soil and could only dip her roots in it for half an hour at a time. Too much bronze-level material also strained the Tranquil Garden skill, so I couldn’t really skip levels like that with it. It was worth a try, and it did level again.

Anji was first up the next day. It was a mine shaft that had to be abandoned due to something inhabiting it. Shadowy figures and sharp claws were the description. One miner was dead, and two needed extensive healing. Anji and Pete went into scout, as they could see in pitch black. My eyesight only enhances low light, but I needed low light.

They came out half an hour later. “Shadow Bats. They can phase in and out of physical form. They are all bronze, and there are dozens.”

“We can’t smoke them out or something?” I asked.

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Anji shook his head. “They are not entirely physical. Who here can deal with non-physical beings?”

Both Rod and I indicated we could.

When we explained our skills, I realised my simple Rend paled in comparison to what Rod could do.

“Not enough,” Anji said. “We are not going in there. If they were iron rank, maybe, but not dozens of bronze.”

He went up to the overseers and told them his decision. They just nodded, and Agere went into the mine. An hour later, she came out with armour ripped and wounds healing, and she nodded to Williams. He marked the contract complete and said no more. We got back into the skimmer and headed to the next contract.

The others discussed Anji’s decision quietly, but in my mind, if the bronze-ranked Shadow bats could significantly damage the silver-ranker, it was the correct decision.

Anji was left in charge of the next contract. It was an Earthworm and was right up in his sweet area. He and Iris coaxed it to the surface, and Maiele and I held it there while the others decimated it. Each segment had to be killed, but it was regular butcher work.

I carved into it with my axe, and Kai feasted again. No injuries and no problems. I refused the meat and turned the magic into bronze earth quintessence. That would fetch a good price.

Cal had the last leadership position. The last monster was a tree panther. That triggered alarm bells for me as I remember the stories from the astral space in Ironwood when they would come in pairs.

“The problem,” said Cal, “is finding them. They roam over a large area and are excellent at hiding.”

“The solution is not to look for them but to make them come to us,” I said. “We can bait a trap, and then we wait. What attracts them? Meat. They attack local animals, but to ensure they come to us, I am willing to sacrifice some bronze-level meat I have.” I got some very curious looks. “Don’t ask why I am carrying it, and I won’t lie to you.”

Cal agreed to try it, and I set a trap. Then we waited. And we waited. Night fell, and still we waited. This was the life of a hunter. Waiting.

It was after midnight, and my eyes picked up movement in the trees. A sinuous cat shape cautiously approached, carefully sniffing and looking for danger.

It approached my precious hog meat and licked its lips. It nibbled at it and tugged at a larger bite. The trap sprung, and a net of Cutting Webs fell on it, trapping it. This was followed by Ardisia and my Hunter's Tether. It was a bronze-level beast.

I went in with my spear and skewered it with Piercing supplemented by Mighty Oak and all my Blessings of the Reaper. It screeched and clawed at the trap as Cal came from the other side with Anji, who sent earth spikes into it. Josh stepped up beside me and stabbed it. If we could hold it long enough, then we could kill it. Ardisia was doing fantastic ripping with her thorns rather than just stabbing.

Then I got a warning from Kai and said, “Phase two.”

The second tree panther launched itself at Josh, and the second trap sprung. Gail and Maiele caught it in their wind and threw it to the side, where a freshly healed Smokey landed, wrapped himself around it, and burst into flames. Iron snakes joined him, and I concentrated on killing this one while the others had the second.

Half an hour later, it was done. I was converting magic to nice cat fur pelts and more claw and teeth quintessence. It is a shame that this is all bronze-rank material, and I can’t wear it myself.

Overseer Williams appeared and said, “Good, that took less time than we thought it would. We expected the hunt to take all day tomorrow, so we are done. Overseer Agere will portal you to Stillwater, and you are free until our scheduled portal back to Vitesse at 8 p.m. tomorrow evening. If you miss that portal, you are responsible for getting yourself back to Vitesse. The results of the assessment will be available from the Adventure Society the day after we return there. Accommodation will be available in the Adventure Society bunk rooms.”

Overseer Agere opened a portal, and I saw Williams get in the skimmer. He was obviously driving it back.

Kai rejoined me, and I stepped through the portal on Val and Gail's heels.

“What is your plan, Theo?” Val asked.

“I will bunk down here for the rest of the night and visit friends tomorrow.”

“You have friends here? Gail and I are going to spend the day at the shops. We haven’t been to Stillwater before. Do you want to meet up sometime?”

“I could. One of my friends does enjoy shopping. I will have to see if they are around. They are not expecting me.”

“How will we get in touch?” Val asked.

“Kai will find you if you stick to the city centre.”

“Sounds like a plan!”

I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.