"So what's the plan Zeigel?" Saliza asked.

"Here." Zeigel handed the wooden box to Saliza and pointed at the nearest tree that had a patch of needlecaps growing around it.

"Go collect those." He ordered. "I'll keep an eye on the zinite and let you know if it's coming."

"Alrighty then!"

Saliza skittered to the needlecaps and manged to reach it without alerting the zinite. She gave a thumbs up to Zeigel who gave one back as well.

So far so good.

She placed her axe aside and grabbed one of the needlecaps.

That patch of needlecaps should be enough to fill up the box. Maybe I shouldn't have worried so much, this was way easier than I thought it would be.

As soon as Saliza plucked the needlecap out of the ground, a loud popping sound went off and attracted the zinite's attention.

Crap.

Reizo had failed to mention that they were supposed to cut the needlecap off its roots to collect it instead of pulling it out of the ground to prevent it from making that sound.

The zinite let out a violent shriek the moment it spotted Saliza and charged towards her with a claw raised in the air.

Saliza tossed the needlecap into the box and grabbed her axe before rolling to the side as the zinite brought its claws down, tearing through the tree as if it was paper.

"Focus, focus, focus! I just have to pay attention to its attacks and dodge it!" Saliza told herself.

As soon as she got up, the other claw came swinging towards her faster than she anticipated. She leapt backwards and narrowly avoided being sliced apart.

"Whoa! That was close!" Saliza exclaimed, excitement filling her voice. "But..."

The zinite pulled it's arm back, preparing for another swing.

"I think I've got the timing down!"

Saliza rushed forward as fast as she could. As the zinite swung forth its claw, Saliza slid underneath it and reached its legs.

"I'll be the first vanguard in history,"

Saliza tossed the box aside and pulled her axe back as far as she could. Using a spell, she surrounded her axe in flames for extra damage.

"To beat a three star monster at level two!"

With all her might, Saliza slammed her axe against the zinite's leg, only for it to bounce off the metallic feathers that covered its body with a loud clang.

"Uh oh."

She hastily grabbed the box that she tossed aside and ran for her life as the zinite chased after her.

"ZEIG HELP ME PLEES!" She cried in terror. The zinite was surprisingly fast for its size and was slowly catching up to her.

Despite her screams of terror, Zeigel refused to leave his spot as he cowered behind the tree.

"What am I supposed to do?" He panicked. "I know! I'll blame Saliza's death on Reizo."

"You'll what?" His trainer appeared before him looking disappointed and irritated.

"NOTHING!" Zeigel shrieked.

"That zinite is going to catch up to Saliza soon. Shouldn't you be helping her?"

Not wanting to put his life at risk, Zeigel came up with an excuse, hoping to stall for as much time as he could.

"I will! In a minute. After I formulate a plan. I just need a little more time."

"I'll give you three seconds to 'formulate a plan', and if you still refuse to do anything by then I'll kick you out of the vanguards." Reizo threatened.

"What! But I need more time!"

"One..."

Maybe leaving the vanguards wouldn't be so bad.

"Two..."

I won't have to keep risking my life like this everyday.

"Three."

But I don't want to be homeless and starving!

"Damn it all!" Zeigel forced himself out of his hiding spot, silently cursing Reizo as he did.

Ugh, First things first, I gotta get Saliza away from that bird of death, then I'll figure something out from there.

"Saliza! Come towards me!" Zeigel shouted while frantically waving his arms in the air. She did as she was told and using every bit of energy she had left, she sprinted towards him at full speed.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

As Saliza and the zinite grew closer, Zeigel threw a fireball aimed at the zinite's face. His attack didn't seem to do any damage to the zinite, but he was able to briefly blind it.

Using this small opportunity, Zeigel quickly pulled Saliza behind a nearby tree, praying that the zinite didn't see where they went.

He peeked his head out and breathed a sigh of relief once he confirmed that the zinite has lost sight of them. Its violent shrieks and the thought of it finding them was enough to send a chill down his spine.

Saliza lifted the bottom of her mask to catch her breath.

"Plan...?" She asked while panting heavily.

The only idea I have now is if Saliza distracts the zinite so that I can collect the needlecaps. But the problem here is that she's getting tired and it wouldn't be long before the zinite finds us. Even if she wasn't so tired, I'm not sure if she can distract it long enough for me to fill up the box with needlecaps.

"Plan!" Saliza impatiently nudged him.

"Let me think!" He hissed back.

What about using spells? I could lay out caltrops again, but it might not work since that bird of death is too durable. There's no way I could even slow it down. My best bet would be to blind it, maybe with sand? God, this is so risky, but my only other choice is to run away and get kicked out of the vanguards.

Zeigel nudged Saliza to get her attention.

"I'm gonna try to blind the zinite and if it works, get to another patch of needlecaps and pluck one out." He explained with a voice quavering in fear, so much so that Saliza felt uncertain about his plan.

"You sure about this?" She asked.

Zeigel shook his head with a face filled with dread. He tipped his fingers with metal claws and with trembling hands he began climbing up the tree.

Once he reached the top, he held himself up with a branch. His legs wouldn't stop shaking and he was already regretting his plan.

He created a vine and tied it as tightly as he could to a branch and held onto it tightly. In his other hand, he created a fistful of sand.

If I die, I need to make sure that I use my dying breath to tell Saliza to get Reizo a death sentence for getting me killed.

Zeigel took a deep breath and whistled to get the zinite's attention. He hid in the leaves, waiting for it to get close enough.

The zinite came rushing towards the tree, searching for whatever made the sound.

Saliza is right below, I can't let it spot her. It's now or never!

Summoning as much courage as he could, Zeigel leapt out of the tree and threw the sand into the zinite's eyes, successfully blinding it and causing it to shriek in pain.

As soon as he did, Saliza sprinted towards the nearest patch of needlecaps.

Zeigel screamed in horror as he dangled right in front of the six foot tall metallic bird of death. He climbed back up the tree as fast as he could using his vine and held on tightly to a branch. The blinded zinite wildly swung its claws in front of it, slicing apart the tree and bringing it down.

Zeigel crawled out of the leaves, suffering a few small bruises on his body. He froze in place as a large talon stomped the ground right in front of him. He wanted to run, but his legs had turned to jelly.

Before the zinite took another step, a loud popping sound was heard. The zinite turned its attention to the sound and began rampaging in its direction.

Once it was gone, Zeigel clutched his chest in an attempt to calm his racing heart.

Never doing that EVER again!

He glanced at the direction where the zinite went and thankfully he only spotted Saliza running towards him.

"You did it Zeigel!" Saliza cheered as she helped him up. "So what's our next move?"

"We fill up the box with needlecaps and get the hell out of here."

"Great plan!"

The two searched for a patch of needlecaps in the opposite direction where the zinite went. Once they found a patch, Zeigel created a wooden cover for the box and set it aside.

"We have to do this fast or the zinite is gonna come back." Said Zeigel. "On the count of three we start pulling these out. One...two...three!"

On Zeigel's mark, the two plucked out as many needlecaps as they can, ignoring all the popping sounds that they made and shoved them all into the box. Once it was full, Zeigel slammed the cover onto the box and held it tightly.

The loud, violent shriek of the zinite could be heard in the distance, getting closer and closer with each second.

Knowing that Zeigel was far slower than she was, Saliza placed her axe under one arm and carried Zeigel under her other arm before sprinting at top speed.

"Alright, that's enough." Reizo appeared in front of Saliza as she was sprinting, startling her and causing her to trip. Reizo caught her in his arms before she fell and gently set her down, while Zeigel was dropped onto the ground face first.

"Good work." He said as he took the box from Zeigel and shoved it into his bag.

"What about the zinite? It's right behind us!" Zeigel exclaimed.

"I'll get rid of it. It shouldn't be in this forest anyways." Said Reizo.

"What do you mean 'it shouldn't be in this forest'?" Zeigel asked.

"There are many invasive monsters that roam into lands where they don't belong in and they tend to mess up the ecosystem there as well. Zinites are one of those monsters."

Reizo summoned a katana with a dull and battered red scabbard.

"Heal yourselves up while I take care of the zinite." Reizo advised. "Healing spells can help you recover from exhaustion."

Saliza healed herself while following Reizo from behind.

"Where are you going?" Zeigel asked.

"I'm gonna go watch Reizo fight!" Saliza enthusiastically replied. "This'll be the first time we get to witness him in action! Don't you wanna see what it's like?"

"No, that's too dangerous......Ah screw it, now I'm curious too."

The two followed Reizo from behind, eager to see him face the zinite. Reizo was aware that they were following him and didn't mind. It was a good chance for him to demonstrate the power of a max level vanguard anyways.

The zinite came running towards him with its claws swinging wildly. In an instant, the zinite was decapitated. As it dropped to the ground, the two trainees could see that its severed neck had already been cauterized.

To Zeigel, it looked as if he never moved, but to Saliza who had a higher SPD stat, she was able to see Reizo unsheathe the katana for a split second and slice the zinite's neck with a blade made of flames.

"So this is what a max level vanguard is capable of." Zeigel mumbled to himself. "Scary."

"Whoa.....am I gonna be able to do that one day?" Saliza asked enthusiastically.

"I hope so."

"By the way," Saliza pointed at the katana. "Where'd you get the flaming sword? I want one too!"

"This is a special weapon called a soul link. I'll teach you more about it in the future."

"Aww..."

Reizo's katana disappeared into light as he rested himself against the zinite's corpse.

"We'll rest for five minutes before resuming with the missions."

Saliza laid down on the ground. She felt thirsty after all that running and lifted the bottom of her mask so that she could pour water that she created with a spell into her mouth.

The moment she tasted the water, she immediately spat it out. Zeigel who was sitting right beside her shifted himself further away from her.

"You better not spit on me." He warned.

"Sorry. I didn't expect water created using spells to taste so awful."

"It's just water. It can't be that bad."

Zeigel created water in his palm and drank it, spitting it out immediately as well.

"Nevermind, it really is that bad. It's not poisonous or anything is it?"

"It's perfectly safe to drink." Reizo said as he noticed the two spitting out water. "It just tastes really awful for some reason."

Reizo grabbed a bottle of water from his bag and tossed it to his trainees.

"Before missions, try to bring you own supply of water or you'll be forced to quench your thirst with that rancid tasting water."

Noted.