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Three days, we spent hunting the Hwachas.

Skaris and Aurora’s teamwork had noticeably improved, they were able to ping-pong off of each other much easier than before. Keeping the monsters distracted meant that Stole got plenty of aiming practice as well. If I had to nitpick, the only ones who didn’t improve in leaps and bounds were Kyrian and I. But then again, in teams of teamwork we were already better than the others.

Stole, being the lowest level out of all of us, was close to level 20. I already had her next Core planned out, but the problem was getting our hands on it. Speaking of which, Aurora and Skaris had an empty Core slot as well. Which all equated to us needing gold. Gold, gold gold.

Damn this capitalistic game.

“Aurora! Wait for me!”

“Ms. Stole, in times like this you want to keep your Arbalest at the ready.” Aurora didn’t say anything but I saw her slow her steps.

“Ugh! Always with the nagging!” But Stole brought out the Arbalest nonetheless.

Ever since that day when Aurora took to protecting Stole from the Scavengers, the young girl followed the older warrior like a duckling to... to a mother duck I guess. I’m pretty sure Aurora didn’t mind either. If anything, Aurora seemed to be teaching Stole a lot of little tips and tricks that could come useful. Their relationship had evolved to something resembling… Well, maybe not as good as mentor-student, but older sister to younger sister would be pretty close.

Stole wans’t the only one who leveled up. Aurora, Skaris, Kyrian and I had all leveled up as well. We were all in the low 30s now, getting used to our new abilities.

Yup. A great three days.

…And for those three days the Scavengers levied taxes on us.

Once again, we were heading towards the field next to the cliffs.

“Lock, I did some digging. Technically, those fields do not belong to the Scavengers and neither does the cliff.” Kyrian walked alongside me, explaining.

Skaris lumbered behind us, steps quickening to keep up and listen in on the conversation.

“Leave it.” I said, “There’s no reason for us to get into a fight with them.”

'Not yet anyways' But I didn't say that out loud.

“We could tell Marc Pointell.” Kyrian suggested.

“We could.” I agreed. “But I think it’d put him in a bad position.”

“How sssso?”

“He’d be outright taking our side against a Clan. Sure, they’re breaking the Guild Laws; but what Clan doesn’t? It’s not the only Clan that keeps a field for their private use and extorts adventurers.”

“Sssso the law is on our ssssside. I do not ssssee the problem.”

“The problem is the number of Clans that does the same thing.” I shook my head. “The moment Marc Pointell acts, the other Clans will see it as a threat to their own power. They’ll step in. Then people will start paying attention to us… worst case scenario, we won’t enjoy the support of the Guild like we have been now.”

Skaris glowered. “I tire of their anticsssss.”

“Well their antics are to bring fifty or so of their own members.” I put a hand over my head, blocking out the sun and looking at the huge cliff in the distance. “Kyrian, how many official members did you say there were?”

“400.” Kyrian answered easily.

I grunted. “A mid-sized guild then… on paper at least. Who knows how many other unregistered members or criminals with bounties on their heads they’re hiding in that Ant’s nest over there?”

“Could be anywhere between 500 to a thousand.” Kyrian was looking at the cliff as well. “No way to tell for sure.”

“Sssso we jusssst lie down and lossse our sssspoils?”

“That’s the thing. Isn’t it strange? They haven’t taken anything valuable. They only take the few coins and scraps we throw them each time.” I bit my lip, trying to think. “Also, we’ve had Stole basically sweep the area whenever we hunt. They have no scout spying on us either. Maybe it’s just an annoyance.”

Even as I said it, I didn’t believe it. The look of Skaris’ face was incredulous at best.

“Mr. Lock, how much longer will we be resting here?” Aurora walked up to us, sweating. Lately, she’d been helping Stole with hand-to-hand combat.

Over Aurora’s shoulder, I saw Stole stretched out on the ground, her chest heaving.

“Easssssy on the whelp, Vetilian.”

Aurora glanced over her shoulder. “She is talented. I am not teaching her anything that is above her capabilities.”

Damn. If Aurora, someone who’d been trained by the Great House Vetilius was saying Stole was talented, then she really was talented. Maybe I really do have an eye for people after all.

“Let’s get a move on then.”

So we continued on, hunting Hwachas and hoping for a Core or item drop. But nothing compared to [Hwacha’s Hair] from the first day, which Aurora had made into a small bracelet.

“This is too easy now!” Stole complained as we rested. “Is there another monster we could hunt in this place? How about you come up with another challenge for us, Mister?”

Stolen novel; please report.

“No.” I sharpened my katana. The jagged bits which gave it a serrated edge had become dull. I couldn’t afford a proper repair so I resorted to doing it myself. Sighing, I ran the whetstone over it the way I did after every hunt. “We’re ready. I want us to spend the time honing the skills we already have.”

“Speaking of, isn’t it time for them to appear?” Kyrian was referring to the scavengers. “They appeared like clockwork until now…”

“No complaintsssss.”

Aurora was strangely silent.

“...Aurora?” I called.

She didn’t answer.

Instead she pointed a finger in the distance. “Ms. Stole. What is that?”

Stole immediately leaped up to take a look. The rest of us joined them, squinting our eyes and trying our best to see what Aurora was pointing at.

At first glance, I thought it was a dust cloud.

But there was movement in the clouds. Flashes of yellow-white and hollow eyes; empty beaks and skeletal wings. A creature that should have belonged on a display at the History Museum for animals that went extinct long ago, or what should be used to teach the name of different bones in a college Anatomy course. It was completely white, except for the odd patches of dust here and there. It had a wingspan that stretched well-over twenty feet and bordering on thirty.

Despite the lack of leathers or any flesh on it at all, the creature hardly flapped. It flew straight towards us.

[Skeletal Vulture] - Grade 6.

“It’s a bird that’s a skeleton.”

Aurora turned to me immediately. “Mr. Lock.” Her voice was urgent, panicked even.

I nodded. “We won’t face it.”

“W-wait! It’s being chased by something! Look! Look you dolts!”

Right behind the [Skeletal Vulture] was another creature.

Imagine a dog with a long curved tail, where the hair near the tip coalesced into a wicked looking scythe. Now take that dog and imagine its body covered in snow white fur, that stood up straight like a porcupine and looks as fragile as glass. Then give that dog black fur all around its neck and head; like you dipped the animal in an oil spill. No distinction between the eyes, ears or anything; a True Black that absorbs all light.

Now enlarge that dog so that it’s the size of a mini van and give it wings on its shoulders like a pegasus.

That’s what was chasing the [Skeletal Vulture].

[Cheonma ( 天馬)] - Grade 5

“We’re getting out of here.” I ordered, turning to leave.

“They’re hurt! The monsters are hurt!”

Stole was right. The monsters were injured. The Cheonma especially, it had cuts and bruises and if I wasn’t mistaken, the creature was limping. Whatever had hurt it, it had hurt the creature bad.

Still… a Grade 5 was in a different class. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to face the [Skeletal Vulture] in an open field like this one, where it could fly circles around us.

“No.” I said finally, realizing that everyone was waiting for my answer.

“But it’s hurt! Can’t we… I don’t know, hunt it?” Stole tried again.

Kyrian joined in this time. “Lock… most likely, the Scavengers were hunting it and lost track of the monster. And now, it got into an altercation with the [Skeletal Vulture].”

That got Skaris’ attention. “Sssslaveborn?”

I knew what they wanted. They wanted to get back at the Scavenger’s Guild by finishing this monster off. Yeah, it was an attractive deal but I wasn’t fond of kill stealing… and I wasn’t sure if we could anyways. Even if we did, we’d be wounded after. Too weakened to put up any fight.

Helpless.

I gritted my teeth. “Too dangerous.” As much as I wanted revenge, it was another thing to throw our lives away.

“Mr. Lock’s right.” Aurora came to my defense. “Besides, look behind them.”

Stole, too preoccupied to keep her eyes on the double calamities heading our way, had missed the crowd of scavengers that were chasing after the monster. I counted them from the distance.

Five… ten… twenty.

“Twenty adventurers. So they’re what? Grade 8? I guess twenty grade 8s could do it… though it’d be close. Their teamwork would have to be near perfect too.”

I grabbed Stole by the shoulder, turning the girl around. Everyone else followed suit, calling our farming off early today.

But as we left, I couldn’t help but think how sweet it would have been to see their faces as we stole that monster from right under their noses.

…Day 4…

The next day we came back to the field, but found the scavengers waiting for us.

I eyed them carefully.

They were hurt.

Badly.

I licked my lips.

“...as I was saying, to keep the area safe we suffered a lot of damages. So from today, we’ll be collecting taxes upon entry.”

A few of the other adventurers scoffed. Word had gotten out in town about how my party was hunting the Hwachas. I can’t speak for their motives. Maybe they wanted to get a glimpse of me using [Aura]. Maybe word had gotten out about Aurora and Stole’s beauty, attracting those single adventurers wanting to show off their thews. Or perhaps it’s because it was the chosen hunting ground of the up-and-coming party: Us.

Either way, it wasn’t just us hunting here anymore. There were other adventurers.

“You’re supposed to collect it upon entry, aren’t ye?”

“Bah. Who cares. Just give it to them. Those big clans, we all know their hearts are black.”

“Fucking scavengers…”

Ah, the last part was said by Stole.

If the insults hurt, it didn’t show. The wounded Scavengers collected the ‘donations’ and smiled. “Thank you for your generous donations! Please! Feel free to hunt!”

We hunted for hours but once again, our hunt was cut short.

Why you ask?

“Those fucking scavengers!” Stole cursed, throwing a piece of a rock at them as we left.

“To think they still hadn’t hunted that monster… and had the audacity to collect an entry fee… then collect another tax…”

Yes. They’d charged us the entry fee plus another ‘donation’ as we left. Not to mention our hunt got cut short by the Grade-5 Cheonma that was running wild throughout the area.

Even Aurora looked miffed by the turn of today’s events. “Mr. Lock, perhaps it’d be best to look for a different hunting ground for the remaining days. There are three days left until we leave with the Church. This might not be the best use of our time.”

I didn’t answer, deep in thought.

Those Scavengers looked very, very very tired. And the Cheonma looked ready to keel over…

“Sssslaveborn. You are ssssalivating.”

“Huh? Oh.” I swiped at my mouth, my thoughts still transfixed on the situation.

Skaris looked at me with knowing eyes and then smirked.

“...No we’re not.” I answered.

He shrugged. “Sssaid nothing.”

“I said we’re not.” I shook my head. “And I’m not thinking what you think I’m thinking.”

“Again… ssssaid nothing.”

“Leave him alone, Skaris. Lock has a lot to think about.”

“Wait! What are you guys talking about?! What’s Mister thinking about?”

“Sssslaveborn is hungry.” Skaris laughed. “He was sssalivating.”

Stole snorted. “Ugh. Disgusting. But I am pretty hungry too…”

I couldn’t join in the conversation. Because all I could think about was ‘What If’.

What if… they were even more wounded tomorrow?

What if… the Cheonma was still running amok?

…Day 5…

“Entry fee again?!” One of the adventurers cried out.

“It’s our field.” The Scavenger member picked his nose, blowing on it. “Don’t blame me.”

“Your field?! Your field! That Cheonma was running around the whole field yesterday! We couldn’t even get a decent hunt in!”

“Also ye taxed us again after?” A particularly dwarfy-looking dwarf waddled up and spat at the Scavenger’s feet. “Scum! The lot of ye! Scum! I’m done with this!” Then turning on his heel, the dwarf and his party left.

That started the exodus, all the adventurers leaving until only we remained.

“You guys leaving too?”

“No.” I sighed and brought out the gold coins, passing them along. At this point in time, Skaris’ Core was a necessity. Also the party was so good at hunting the Hwacha that I couldn’t imagine us getting better EXP elsewhere.

Yeah yeah, and it’ll rain cats and dogs.

The truth is that I was being stubborn. I was frustrated that we hadn’t encountered a Core yet, percentages be damned. I was angry at the Scavengers who were using the situation to scalp us, while scaring us with their numbers. Really at the end of the day, the Scavengers reminded me of my old bullies and I was determined to ‘win’.

Whatever winning may be.

But the rest of the day was uneventful. Hunting Hwachas –their numbers having dwindled noticeably since the Cheonma appeared– and picking up the pathetic drops that we saw. On the bright side, Stole had just hit her third sanctification, hitting level 20 at last. With the lack of monsters, we were wasting time and decided to call it a day.

Then we saw it.

“Is that… the Cheonma? From the first day?” Kyrian asked in disbelief.

It sat, lying down on all fours and dozing. Blood stained its forepaws and if its head wasn’t void of light, I’d bet that its jaws were bloodied too. Its wings had been ripped apart and more than one weapon was still embedded in it. The grizzled monster snored, revealing a flash of pearly white fangs, serrated in a way that no normal beast’s dentures could be.

…I’m not a KSer. I’m not. Gamer’s have their pride. Yet, my identity wasn’t limited to just Han the Gamer, my innerself whispered. At the same time, I was Lock the Adventurer whose patience had just reached the limit. If the Scavengers had left the monster alone long enough for it to fall asleep, they were asking for it.

Skaris was cackling behind me.

I glared at him then immediately turned to Stole. “Stole. Is there anyone around us?”

“What?”

“Mr. Lock!” Aurora was aghast. “We can’t-”

“I’ve had enough of this.” I answered. “That monster’s been running around and bothering our hunt for the last two days and it’s obvious that the Scavenger Clan doesn’t have the manpower to deal with it. Either that or they don’t want to invest in their more seasoned adventurers. Either way the monster is sleeping. That means they gave up in my book.”

I waited for Aurora to argue but nothing came.

My eyes were glued to the Cheonma’s porcelain hide. “I think it’s time we take care of this issue.”

“None of those bastards around us.” Stole answered.

“...Aurora.” I asked.

She took a deep breath. “You are right. They have forfeited the rights to this monster.”

“Then let’s go.” I nodded at the others. “Standard formation. Stole and Kyrian, strike it first. There’s no chance of sneaking up on this thing.”

As I said the words, the air changed; shifting like a tangible thing. Stole’s eyes gained a hint of fear, realizing that we were about to hunt a Grade 5 monster. Kyrian and Aurora, as seasoned as they were, simply put their game faces on, focused and alert. Skaris gripped his spear so tight that his knuckles turned white.

A Grade 5 monster. Another step above Grade 7. Even I was nervous.

“Get rid of its feet first, it’s a speed-type monster. We don’t want to let it start using [Air Walk]. Don’t even think about flanking it, this thing’s sense of smell is off the charts. Stay away from its jaws and tail; the only one who could take a hit from that thing is Aurora.” Then to Aurora specifically, I added, “And I advise not taking a direct hit from that scythe, Aurora.”

Then the hunt was on.