The giant beast's body laid on the ground motionless, vast amounts of blood pooled around it. While it laid there dead, a sickeningly sweet smell echoed out of its carcass, spelling the beginning of its rot.

A short distance away, a figure appeared from the shadow, a notable figure, one that would receive painful beatings from his subordinates for ditching them for an unknown reason.

“Damn, I didn’t think you two were gonna get this hurt… Or rather, just you Hikaru”, the Captain came into the orange light of the sun, “Mia looks to be exhausted… but not hurt in the slightest”.

He looked at both of his subordinates, as well as the large corpse in the middle of the crushed debris-ridden clearing.

“I’m proud of both of you for taking down a ganado of this proportion… Though it’s odd that one like this would gain so much power… I’ll have to look into this later”, he pondered for a moment while walking to the incapacitated Hikaru.

Hikaru’s body laid still against a broken truss. The young lieutenant has been in many battles and has hunted many beasts. It was odd, or rather, unheard of, for a lieutenant to suffer such heavy damage against an enemy that would be typically thought of as weak.

“Damn. Looks like he’s barely clinging to life. You’ve got several broken ribs, probably a concussion, various broken bones, and of course let’s not forget the huge hole in your abdomen”. A droplet of sweat trickled down the Captain's brow, “You’re lucky that it’s a requirement for Captains to know first aid… Now, don’t die you idiot, I can’t imagine a world without your cooking”.

He raised up his hands, “dear god I hope this works”.

Arcana healing: Verjungen!

A glow surrounded his palms and surrounded Hikaru, enveloping him in a pure radiance.

Twenty minutes passed and the healing span seemed to be slowly working, Hikaru’s injuries slowly began to heal.

“Come on Hikaru, your quelle looks like a flickering flame born from a match”. With the lieutenants quelle so low the Captains worries worsened, “If your quelle is completely extinguished then you’ll die, don’t you dare give up on me!”

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Another ten minutes passed.

…

Hikaru’s eyelashes began to flutter, his once rugged and uneven breath began to calm.

He slowly opened his eyes, “Ca-Captain… Is that you?”

“Yes it’s me-”

WAM!

A raging fist shot through the air and connected with the Captain's cheek, causing a reverberation throughout his entire body. He fell to the ground, squirming in pain.

“What was that for?” He squeamishly said, cowering and caressing his swollen cheek.

Hikaru slowly adjusted his position, shifting his weight and preparing his verbal onslaught.

“WHAT KIND OF CAPTAIN ABANDONS HIS LIEUTENANT AND A NEW DIVISION MEMBER MID-MISSION?!” He screamed.

“Ow, ow ow. Pain, pain, ow”. He pressed his hand to his stomach, trying to dampen the sharp pain that rose within him.

“Ah, about that. I left because… I had to remove the possibility that there were other beasts hiding in the area”. He looked away, “totally not because I had some secret business to attend to”, he thought.

“So you’re saying that you left us to deal with this beast so that you could protect the villagers from any other beasts that could be hiding? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Shit, he’s totally onto me”, the Captain nervously murmured.

A moment of silence passed.

“Hm, that makes sense”. Hikaru was content with the Captain's reasoning and dropped the subject.

“Another reason why I left is because I knew that you two would be able to handle him… Although barely “, he paused, “though it’s strange that this beast was so strong”.

“I was thinking the same thing. I’ve slain hundreds of ganado before… But this guy… He seemed stronger, to the point of being something that evolved further”. Hikaru threw his head back, still dealing with small bits of sharp pain.

“Also, Captain, I’m not sure if you noticed this but… Did you feel Mia’s get a rapid spike? WhileI was unconscious I just got a burst of her quelle all of a sudden…”

The Captain got to his feet, his face still slightly swollen, “I felt it as well, it seems that she tapped into the power within her… And so quickly… Quite astonishing”.

He walked over to the unconscious Mia, “well, that’s one hell of a first mission for you Mia, usually a huntsman's first mission is to clean the division bathroom… Lucky you huh?” He smiled, and turned back to Hikaru, “time flies doesn’t it?”

“Yeah”.

“Captain”.

“Hm?”

“Do you think things are gonna start to change? I mean, within Seiren and all… I have an odd feeling, or rather, a bad feeling”. Hikaru looked uneasy.

“I think… That sometimes change is necessary, even good. And I know how you feel. The change that’s about to happen will rock everyone's world, and one of us is surely to be at the center of it”.