《Smoking Skull》


 SS1 0.0 – Prologue

    SS1 0.0 ¨C Prologue


    After graduating from Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, I went to join IDF and apply for sapper or combat engineer unit. The recruitment advert told me that my job as sapper would be basic sabotage, landmine planting or demining, application of explosive, breaching and opening routes, field construction, trench warfare, and operating various ground vehicles. It¡¯s really suited my passion as fresh graduate engineer who wanted to avoid infantry job.


    It¡¯s just that I missed one but vital piece of information. Every sapper in IDF had to go through high level infantry training and became skilled rifleman who was very good at infantry job. Moreover, as one of top three students in my class, I received forced invitation to attend sniper and demolition basic course in one package.


    After that, instead of putting me into regular sapper battalion, the chain command placed me into Yahalom, the most active combat engineer unit in IDF. And after my first deployment I couldn¡¯t tell it anymore, am I infantry who did sapper job or sapper who did infantry job.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.


    Then, time flew and after eight years of service, I had two major operations and dozens of special sapper mission under my belt. I also became sapper junior officer and led my own platoon.


    It seemed before I realized it, I had fell in love with my life as sapper. Without second thought I decided to stay a bit longer in IDF. However, a hello crash thwarted my plan. Fortunately, my sapper life doesn¡¯t end. I could continue it in another world.


    Long short story, this was a story of sapper officer who voluntarily go to other world to hunt monster. My hunting team consisted of demi-human, the unwanted kind in a country under strict human supremacy. However, despite the discrimination they received, my men always gave their best to finish their mission beyond the call of duty.


    *****


    Author¡¯s note:


    I¡¯m not a Jew, so when I write about Jewish tradition and Judaism in this work, there is a chance I make some mistakes or inaccurate depictions. If I do so, feel free to correct me through comment section.


    I will compare your correction to my source and edit my depiction in case your correction is more accurate.


    Thank you and Best regards.

 SS1 1.1 – Pukin Dogs

    SS1 1.1 ¨C Pukin'' Dogs


    I clearly remember the Little Bird I flew suddenly losing power, and then plunged to the ground and everything turned dark. However, when I opened my eyes I found myself standing in the middle of small room. I still wore my uniform, but I suffer no injury. I also felt some kind of disconnection with the world, so I guessed I already left the world.


    It¡¯s just that I had no idea about my current location. The wall, the floor, and the ceiling around me were all white, without any clue if it was hell or heaven. Fortunately, I didn¡¯t need to wait for too long to find out. A young man with white suit suddenly opened the door and entered the room.


    While having a friendly smile in his face he approached me and then casually said, ¡°Mr. Nathan Peres, welcome to afterlife. My name is Gideon, and I want to present you an offer.¡±


    I instantly creased my brows. ¡°What kind of offer?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s call it, a ticket to avoid imminent death.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Gideon, are you saying I¡¯m still alive?¡±


    ¡°Short of, my Boss freezes the flow of time exactly just before your Little Bird hit the ground in full momentum, and moves you to this room.¡±


    ¡°Well, give me the detail about the offer so I can decide it.¡±


    ¡°Basically, you will start over as 20-year-old Nathan Peres, but you will bring over every knowledge and skill from your past life in earth. In return, you will carry a duty to hunt and eliminate monster that threaten humanity.¡± An 8-inch tablet suddenly appeared in Gideon¡¯s hand and as he handed it over to me he continued, ¡°The detail is in this tablet. You can study it yourself.¡±


    ¡°What if I refused the over?¡±


    ¡°My Boss will put you back to your Little Bird and leave you to your own very fate.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I replied as I took the tablet.


    ¡°Please take your time to study the prospect of your second life,¡± Gideon said before leaving the room.


    I then sat crossed leg in the floor and studied the detail in the tablet.


    ---


    I was not a religious Jew, and maybe that¡¯s the reason why I didn¡¯t experience serious shock or heavy convulsion after finding there was omnipotent being that was rather different from the belief I had in mind, or the fact that there was another life other than in earth.


    Long short story, the place where I would have my second life was Planet Argus. There were six main races in this planet: human, elf, dwarf, beast folk, demon race, and monster. Each race had their own kingdom, and I would start my second life in Kingdom of Farwell. It was one of the three kingdoms under human rules.


    As someone who didn¡¯t possess magic aptitude to use magical means, I would hunt and exterminate low-level monster using firearm, explosive, and man-portable weapon system. The rule for weapon selection was simple.


    If I did my hunt using only firearms I could have two types of caliber for my firearms. While if I included explosive and portable weapon system in my arsenal, I could only use one type of caliber. I could also join or form a hunting team to diverse the weapon of choice and tactic.


    If I agreed to accept my second life, I would receive 200.000 mollar as sign-up bonus. One mollar was equal to 1 USD in earth, and through the tablet I received from Gideon I could use it to buy firearms, military equipment, and other things from earth.


    Without second thought, I decided to carry my hunt as sapper and use my second ammo slot for access to use explosive and man-portable weapon system. Then, I studied the low-level monsters that would become my primary target and determined the weapon system and equipment I would use.


    A moment later, as I finished my study Gideon entered the room and cheerfully asked, ¡°Have you decide?¡±


    ¡°I accept the offer.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± After a smile Gideon said, ¡°Other than the sign-up bonus, I will convert your house, savings, car, and other asset from your life in earth into mollar and add it to your tablet.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± I happily said.


    Most of money I made when I served in IDF went into my savings, so the amount was rather big and I was super glad that I didn¡¯t lose it. A moment later, I found my balance in my tablet changed from 0 to 386.000 mollar.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    Then, in a drop-dead serious tone Gideon said, ¡°Folk who accept the offer rarely suffer from lack of mollar as long as they regularly hunting monster. However, lot of hunters from Planet Earth didn¡¯t last for more than a year. Many even die in their first month.


    Also, Planet Argus is a place where the strong prey on the weak. Human is not exception to this rule. Be careful when joining a hunting team.¡±


    ¡°Understood and thank you for the advice.¡±


    ¡°Well, after you finish your shopping and preparation, I will send you to Planet Argus right away.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ---


    Karmen was one of post town in Kingdom of Farwell. It located in the western border, right next to monster danger zone. It was also the town where I would start my second life. The journey to this town went in a blink of one eye.


    I just closed my eyes and when I opened them, I already stood in the middle of platform, and not far from the platform I found two people casually stood. One was a middle-aged man in office suit, while the other one was a young man in ranger green short sleeve combat T-shirt and Marine pattern woodland tactical pant.


    ¡°Welcome to Karmen, venerable hunter. My name is Torrak. I¡¯m the manager of House of Hunter in this post town,¡± The office dude casually said. ¡°I have prepared your personal quarter.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you Manager Torrak,¡± I politely said. ¡°My name is Shimon Bergensen, and you can call me Berg.¡±


    ¡°Fresh meat,¡± The young man with Marpat tactical pant said in heavy tone. ¡°Are you ex-mil?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°What unit?¡±


    ¡°Sapper, IDF Yahalom.¡±


    ¡°Last rank?¡±


    ¡°First lieutenant.¡±


    ¡°Have you killed an armed opponent in close range?¡±


    ¡°I have.¡±


    After looking at MPX in my hand, Sig P320 in my right waist, and RPG in my back, the man with Marpat woodland tactical pant said, ¡°Michael Cunningham, 2nd LT, force recon platoon leader, 31st MEU, USMC. You can call me Mike.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you, Mike.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and a little suggestion, you can put back your RPG to your inventory.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Wasting no time I put back my RPG to my inventory.


    ¡°Are your weapons chambered in 9 mm?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s chambered in 6.5 x 25 mm CBJ.¡±


    ¡°Do you have family in earth?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I firmly replied. ¡°My mother passed away when I was in fifth grade. My father passed away two years ago.¡±


    After a short ponder Mike said, ¡°In thirty minutes, my team will assist a hunt for minotaur. You can join to get a hang of our job, or you can rest in your personal quarter.¡±


    ¡°I will join the hunt.¡±


    Mike then turned his gaze to Torrak. ¡°Do you mind if I take him?¡±


    ¡°Not at all,¡± Torrak casually said.


    Mike then turned his gaze back to me. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    ¡°Aye.¡±


    Wasting no time I followed Mike.


    ---


    Mike took me to a small preparation quarter, and inside the room I found four men were busy preparing their weapon and gears. They wore Marpat woodland tactical pant like Mike, but different color of combat T-shirt.


    One think that was very distinct from these men was that they were very young. They also had baby face like boy¡¯s band. However, their bearing and the way they handled their weapons and gears told me one thing. They were seasoned combatants rich of life and death experience.


    ¡°Berg, this is Pukin¡¯ Dogs, my team for the last two years. We start it with seven members, but we lost two good folks in our first mission,¡± Mike casually said. ¡°Everyone, this is Berg, IDF sapper officer. Introduce yourself, your old unit, role, and weapon system.¡±


    ¡°McKay, force recon, sniper and scout. My primary ammo is .338 Lapua Magnum,¡± A dude with brown hair and lean body calmly said, and then he pointed at SAKO TRG-42 in front of him. ¡°I pair it with this baby. My secondary is 6.5 mm Grendel. I use it with M249, Mk.12 SPR, and MCX SBR.¡±


    ¡°Sanchez, force recon, demolition, bobby trap, and coms,¡± A Hispanic dude with short curly hair and small body frame continued the introduction. ¡°My primary is .300 Blackout. I use it with M249, MCX DMR, and MCX Rattler. I use my second ammo slot for 81 mm mortar, Mk.19 AGL, HK M320, and Claymore.¡±


    ¡°Tim, 10th group, USSF, machine gunner, sniper, tracker, and climber,¡± An Indian dude with Mohawk haircut casually said. ¡°My primary is 6.5 mm Grendel. I use it with M249, Mk.12, and MCX SBR. My secondary ammo is .50 Cal. I pair it with M2HB and McMillan Tac-50.¡±


    ¡°Matt, 5th group, USSF, anti-tank and anti-low flying,¡± A white dude with muscular body said. ¡°My primary is .300 Blackout. I use it with M249, MCX DMR, and MCX Rattler. I use my second ammo slot for man-portable like Carl Gustav, Javelin, and Stinger, along with Claymore.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one hell of line-up you have here,¡± I genuinely said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Mike casually replied. ¡°We use various weapon systems, but it won¡¯t cause logistical issue because each individual can use their tablet to buy their own ammo and equipment anywhere anytime.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°And just friendly reminder,¡± Matt said as he looked at my MPX-PDW. ¡°You can use pistol round for low-level monster like orc and goblin to some extent, but to kill mid-level like minotaur you will at least need .300 Blackout from close range and 6.5 mm Grendel from mid-range, using pointed-tip steel round.


    Mince the body with volume of fire to outmatch their self-healing ability, or repeated headshot to destroy their brain.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± I calmly replied. ¡°I plan to kill the mid-level using bobby trap or shoulder-fired system, but if it doesn¡¯t work I will switch to bigger round.¡±


    ¡°Well, just don¡¯t die until then,¡± Matt casually said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I briefly replied.


    Mike then explained to me the prep I had to make for the job. Other than firearm, extra magazines, combat knife, individual radio, potions, and water canteen, we put everything else in the inventory.


    We also didn¡¯t wear ballistic plate and ballistic helmet because low-level monster like orc and goblin applied deadly poison in their edge weapon and they were very good at targeting unprotected parts. Ballistic equipment won¡¯t help us from such primitive but effective approach. It would only hinder our mobility. Investing on healing potion, stamina potion, and antidote potion would help us more.


    As for mid-level monster, they were strong enough to render ballistic gear useless. Protection gear being produced using magical engineering could withstand heavy blow from them to some extent, but only people with magic aptitude could use it properly.


    And so, we had light combat loadout using chest rig and tactical belt. As for the head gear, we wore ranger green short cap or Marpat boonie hat. After that we went to link-up with team that asked our assist.


    *****

 SS1 1.2 – Infil

    SS1 1.2 ¨C Infil


    Like any other post town in the border to monster danger zone, Karmen was being built to stop monster flood that took place once every few years. This fortress town had population about eight thousand people. More than half of this number was border guards along with a few hundreds of monster hunter. That¡¯s the general information I got from my tablet.


    Then, as our Humvee approached the west gate Matt gave me another piece of information. ¡°Every time we leave or enter the gate, the guard will register it.¡±


    ¡°All you have to do is letting them scan your face using their tablet,¡± Tim who sat in the back seat added.


    ¡°Roger,¡± I replied while my hands stayed on the wheel.


    Then, as soon as our Humvee arrived in the gate, a pair of guard approached us from both side.


    ¡°Newcomer huh,¡± The guard who approach the Humvee from our left said as he looked at me.


    ¡°Yes,¡± I replied the guard with friendly tone. ¡°A newcomer here.¡±


    After a slight nod the guard used his tablet to scan my face, and then he tilted his head as he checked the result.


    ¡°E-rank Hunter Shimon Bergensen,¡± The guard said before turning his gaze to Matt. ¡°For the last two years, Pukin¡¯ Dogs never took new member. But now, you guys bring newcomer who have just arrived into a hunt. Why?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s because he is cute,¡± Matt casually replied. ¡°Like me.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s funny. Ha.Ha.Ha.Ha¡­¡± The guard then shook his head a few times before turning his gaze to Tim in the back seat. ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°Berg has the potential and skill we need,¡± Tim calmly said. ¡°We want to check it.¡±


    ¡°I see, and good luck with the hunt.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Tim lightly nodded while the guard stepped back.


    Wasting no time I took the Humvee to pass the gate and entered a huge and wide plain. The road was unpaved, but it was dry, hard, and flat so the Humvee could traverse it with ease. Our formation was two roll-cage Humvees without windshield, three men each.


    Each Humvee had two machine guns. M2HB mounted in the skeletal roof, and M249 mounted in front of passenger seat. I was in the lead Humvee with Matt and Tim, and because I had no access to use machine gun I took initiative to take the wheel. Meanwhile, Mike and the rest were in the second Humvee.


    The RV for the mission was outskirt of Sherem Forest. It was about 8 km from the west gate of Karmen. And so, we arrived in no time. After climbing over a gentle slope, a grey Land Cruiser entered my field of view. It stood silently not far from the tree lines.


    ¡°That¡¯s Leg Breaker. Verona in the right, Ceres in the middle, and Mikaela in the left,¡± Matt said as his gaze was fixed on three women who leaned their back on the grey Land Cruiser. ¡°Do you still remember what Mike said in the briefing about those hunters?¡±


    ¡°They are B-rank hunters who easily got offended,¡± I calmly said. ¡°Humble approach is vital when working with them.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s always maintain low profile.¡±


    ¡°Roger, but won¡¯t they get offended because we are late?¡±


    ¡°No worry,¡± Tim casually said. ¡°They call us on short notice because the team who should assist them can¡¯t come in the last minute. It¡¯s not our fault that they have to wait for us.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Wasting no time I took the Humvee to approach the Land Cruiser. A moment later, the sight of female hunters we would work with became clearer. They wore khaki combat boots and tactical pants, along with ranger green combat T-shirt under a compact grey plate carrier. They had long sword on their back and short sword in their waist.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Most of all, even from distance I could see they were beautiful and overflowing with gracefulness. However, I tried my best to not get infatuated by their charming appearance.


    Mike had warned me earlier. Those three loved to punish anyone who pissed them off by breaking their leg. So far, 14 hunters already became their victims. Therefore, as soon as we arrived before them and got off from our Humvee, I gladly maintain a position in the rear and tried my best to avoid attention.


    ¡°Hunter Ceres, Hunter Verona, and Hunter Mikaela,¡± Mike said while putting amicable smile in his face. ¡°You look beautiful as ever.¡±


    ¡°Cut the chit chat,¡± The female hunter in the center, Ceres, said in flat tone. ¡°The Minotaur pack is spotted making nest in the base of Arden ridge.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Four at the least, six at the most,¡± Ceres casually added. ¡°If we manage to reach the nest, your team will use repeated short-burst to the head to kill the first two, or at least heavily wounded them. My team will do the rest.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Mike firmly replied.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get it done then.¡±


    Wasting no time, we put our cars into Inventory and started our infil through Sherem Forest. It was steep hike through the woods. The formation was McKay and Sanchez in the lead. Mike stayed with Leg Breaker in the center. While I, Matt, and Tim secured the rear.


    ---


    The trees in Sherem Forest were not big, but they were very high and had lot of long branches with lush leaves. Therefore, sunlight couldn¡¯t reach the forest floor. In a sense it¡¯s a good thing. Without sunlight the forest floor became free of weed or scrub vegetation and easy to traverse. Other than the tree, I saw only dark green moss that grew on some rocks.


    However, the dried leaves and twigs made it very hard for us to walk in silence. The combo of thick canopy and tons of dried leaves also made the forest humidity became very high. Sweats drenched me like a flood in no time.


    Also, as everyone walked without speaking while vigilantly scanning their vector, and the birds on the tree branches were also just quietly perching, the eerie feeling I got from the dark forest only became stronger as time went on.


    Worst of all, this was the first time I did a real operation inside a dense forest like this one. As the result, after only an hour since we started the hike I already became very jumpy. I even almost screamed when a black squirrel suddenly popped up from under a pile of dried leaves, and then climbed into a tree and caught the slowest bird among the flock.


    Fortunately, before I lost my cool and did something stupid, we already arrived at our first stop. While everyone silently kneeled, Mike took me to crawl to an edge of a cliff.


    ¡°See that cave,¡± Mike whispered as he pointed his finger at a cave mouth in the base of ridgeline about 130 meters in front of us.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied as I looked at the cave mouth and two goblins that guarded it.


    ¡°That¡¯s the minotaur nest. From here, we have two routes we can use to approach it. One is a gentle slope about 200 meters in our left. It¡¯s easy to traverse, but it doesn¡¯t have enough cover for us to sneak in. Goblins that guard it will see us coming from far away.


    The other one is steep slope through the woods about 50 meters in our right.¡± After a short pause Mike asked me, ¡°Which routes do you think we should use?¡±


    ¡°The steep slope through the woods,¡± I calmly replied.


    ¡°I will choose the steep slope too.¡± After a short paused Mike added, ¡°We will eliminate the sentry silently, and we definitely can¡¯t let Ceres and her team participates in the fight.¡±


    ¡°Why we can¡¯t let Ceres and her team participates in the sentry killing?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Magic creates magic ripple,¡± Mike casually said. ¡°When someone uses magic, mid-level monsters will notice it from a few kilometers away and they will flood us right away because magic user is their favorite food. If such even occur, we have to retreat right away.¡±


    ¡°What about the fight with the minotaur?¡± I curiously asked. ¡°Don¡¯t Ceres and her team have to use magic to fight them?¡±


    ¡°After reaching the cave, we can put magic barrier on its entrance. Then, Ceres and her team can fight using magic as much as they want.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying the cave wall can contain magic ripple?¡±


    ¡°Monster¡¯s nest is not ordinary cave. It can contain magic ripple or explosion. It won¡¯t even collapse from simultaneous detonation of hundred Mk.84 GP.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± I took a deep breath before continuing, ¡°In summary, we have to take Ceres and her team to reach the cave without letting them using their magic.¡±


    Mike nodded. ¡°Correct, and you will stay here with Tim to provide machine gun cover in case we have hot exfil.¡±


    ¡°Can I come all the way to the cave?¡±


    ¡°You can, but I can¡¯t guarantee you will survive the fight,¡± Mike said in a drop dead serious tone. ¡°And actually, you already show what we want to know from you. No need to take further risk.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I casually said. ¡°If I die, then I die. I already avoid it once. It¡¯s more than enough.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Mike then signaled Tim and Matt to set up their machine gun lookout while we provided security cover. The two did it swiftly and also planted Claymores to protect their rear and right flank. It was easy to tell they had done such task countless times. A moment later, Matt and Tim already settled themselves behind an M2HB while the rest of the team continued the approach.


    *****

 SS1 1.3 – Retreat

    SS1 1.3 ¨C Retreat


    About 50 meters to the right of the machine gun lookout, we found the steep slope. As Mike had predicted, five goblins stood by in the base of the slope. While lying down behind a tree, we observed them in silence.


    This was the first time I had a chance to observe goblin in detail. They were pretty similar to the goblin I saw in movie. As big as a kid, dark green skin, bat face with pointed chin and pointed ears, row of sharp teeth, and yellow eyes with thin black vertical slit.


    The only different was that they wore neat clothes made of gunny fabric. They also wore leather armor and leather helmet. Their main weapon was a club or small spear, with a small knife neatly tucked in their waist.


    In a glance I also could tell they were well disciplined, well organized, and followed strict hierarchy. If we let this kind of opponent to circle and overwhelmed us with number, I believed nine out of ten we would be ended up as their food. Fight them from distance, outside their flanking radius was the best option to deal with goblin I guess.


    Then, Mike radioed Tim in whisper. ¡°Gunner One, we will commence the silent killing. Any update?¡±


    [Two goblins are still in the cave mouth, no movement from first slope, you are clear to go. Don¡¯t let your target scream and we will be fine.]


    ¡°Roger, keep us aware of movement in the area, Lead One over and out.]


    Then, Mike and Sanchez silently crawled down the slope with suppressed MCX Rattler in their back. Before each crawl, they silently moved the dry leaves and twigs from the ground where their forearms and legs would land.


    It was easy to tell that each crawl took tremendous effort and patient. However, Mike and Sanchez did it calmly without haste. Most of all, at first I could follow their movement as they tried to flank the goblin sentry, but a moment after they split up they just disappeared from my sight.


    About thirty minutes later, flash after flash popped up from the darkness. One was from behind the goblins, while the second one was from their left. Throughout my military carrier, this was the first time I saw such beautiful pincer ambush.


    The goblins just dropped to the ground powerlessly. They didn¡¯t even have the chance to shout out a warning. I bet they also died without knowing what had hit them. Everything took place just so fast, almost without disturbing the silence of the forest. It made a flock of birds flew to all direction, but other than that the forest stay eerie and quiet.


    Then, Mike came out from behind the darkness. After checking the surrounding area and made sure there was no unwanted spoiler, he turned to McKay and gave him a hand signal.


    After giving Mike a nod McKay turned his gaze to Ceres. ¡°Hunter Ceres, we can go down now.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ceres replied nonchalantly before got up to her feet.


    Ceres and her team then walked down the slope while I and McKay guarded them from behind. After that Mike and Sanchez eliminated two goblins in the cave mouth with two silenced headshot and we managed to enter the cave undetected by sentry in the first slope.


    ¡°We are halfway done,¡± Mike casually said after he taught me how to set up the magic barrier in the cave mouth. ¡°Now, you guard the entry while we clean the nest. The barrier will prevent magic ripple or sound of commotion from leaving the cave, but it can¡¯t prevent someone who wants to enter.¡±


    ¡°Copy,¡± I firmly replied.


    Mike then led everyone to enter the deeper part of the nest. This time, Ceres and her team walked with their long sword in their hand.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ---


    As I kneeled next to the cave wall, I took my time to check my surrounding. The cave or the Minotaur nest was rather different from what I imagined. The entry was about five meters high and three meters wide. The tunnel was 300 meters long and led into the hall where the monsters took a nap.


    The floor was solid and flat, while glowing stone were scattered in the cave wall and ceiling made of smooth and black granite. The glowing stones were not as bright as light bulb, but it was more than enough to illuminate the cave. The air was also not damp or stale. In summary, the cave was livable even for human. With proper furnishings, it would become a good apartment.


    A moment later I saw repeated muzzle flashes at the end of the tunnel, followed by commotion. Then, the air suddenly became stuffy. Mike had warned me before. It was a sign that magic user was about to use their skill. A moment later, the commotion became more intense while collide of steel and angry roars echoed through the tunnel. And finally, I saw a blinding light bloomed perfectly.


    BO-BO-BO-BOOOOM!!


    I got a hunch the blinding light would be followed by thunderous explosions, but it still almost gave me a heart attack. The volume was far bigger than I anticipated even though it didn¡¯t generate wind blast or shockwave.


    Then, I saw three 4x4 All-Terrain Vehicle¡¯s silhouettes were approaching my position in full speed. I checked them using Acog TA02 on top of my MPX and found they were Mike and the rest. The panic on their face told me something was wrong. Then, I heard Mike radioed me.


    [Newcomer, pack the magic barrier and take out your ATV. We have to retreat on the double. This place is not a nest of a small pack of Minotaur, but a huge one.]


    Wasting no time I pressed PTT button in my chest, ¡°Roger.¡±


    After repacking the magic barrier and put it in my inventory, I took out the ATV that Matt lent me and took position next to the cave mouth. The goblins on the first slope must have heard the incoming ATV as soon as I took down the barrier. They would definitely return to the cave or even tried to ambush Mike and the rest.


    Therefore, I took initiative to guard the cave mouth. But turned out, it was unnecessary. About 30 meters from the cave mouth I saw six dead goblins scattered on the ground. Fresh green blood was still spurting from small hole in their head. It seemed Matt and Tim took them out using their silenced DMR just a moment ago. Then, I received a radio call.


    [This is Gunner Two to Newcomer, do you copy?]


    I pressed PTT button as I turned my gaze to MG lookout, ¡°Loud and clear, Gunner Two.¡±


    [As soon as Lead One and the rest exit the nest, immediately follow them and try your best to not get left behind.]


    ¡°Got it.¡±


    A moment later, Mike and the rest exited the cave and I immediately followed them.


    ---


    With ease the ATV convoy traversed the woods and exited Sherem Forest, but we didn¡¯t stop to change into car. On the contrary, we increased our speed and tried to arrive at Karmen as soon as possible.


    From rearview mirror, I also found Matt vigilantly scanned the sky behind us while holding a Stinger. All the way, we also had no conversation and I could feel everyone was very tense. It was only when we reached about 1 km from Karmen¡¯s west gate Mike suddenly made a radio call.


    [Everyone, good job. We can¡¯t say we have cleared the objective, but we manage to return safely, so let¡¯s cheer up a bit.]


    And finally I couldn¡¯t hold back my curiosity anymore and pressed PTT button. ¡°May I know the detail why we have to retreat in hasty?¡±


    [The nest has 19 Minotaur. We killed eight, but Hunter Ceres and Hunter Verona were heavily wounded in the process so we retreat.]


    ¡°What was the cause of blinding light and loud explosion just before we retreat?¡±


    [That¡¯s Sanchez dropped his handmade heavy flashbang on our pursuer. It won¡¯t kill anything, but it gives us enough windows to escape.]


    ¡°I see.¡±


    [For now, just go back to House of Hunter with Matt and Tim. They will show you our personal quarter. Make sure you eat and get proper rest, and tonight Matt and Tim will take you to have some fun in House of Healer.]


    ¡°Copy.¡±


    After entering Karmen¡¯s west gate, the ATV convoy split into two. Mike, Sanchez, and McKay took Leg Breaker to mansion for A-rank hunting team, while Matt and Tim took me to their living quarter.


    Other than managing the hunter and their hunting activity, House of Hunter also provided living quarter for hunting team below A-rank. Each quarter had 12 rooms, along with one mission prep room, small kitchen and dining table, and a lounge. Since their arrival two years ago Pukin¡¯ Dogs was staying in one of these quarters, and Matt offered me to use one of vacant room in their place.


    I had to admit the room was smaller than I expected, but it came with a small but good bed, small study table, and bathroom with shower so I gladly accepted it. Not to mention, it was free, neat, and very clean.


    After taking a shower, I went straight to my new bed. With ease I fell asleep, and that¡¯s concluded my adventure on the first day of my second life.


    *****

 SS1 2.1 – Patricians and Plebeians

    SS1 2.1 ¨C Patricians and Plebeians


    In the evening Matt and Tim took me to House of Healer. It was located near the center of Karmen while House of Hunter was located near the west gate, so we went there on a Humvee. Along the way, I took my time to study Karmen.


    In a glance, it was no different from a small but advance town in earth. It had neat and wide high-end road with proper post lamp to illuminate it. Other than some roll cage Humvees or Land Rovers, a fair amount of nice looking SUV filled up the traffic.


    As far as I could see, there were no building higher than four floors, but each building looked as good as modern building in earth. The store, caf¨¦, restaurants, or other establishment in each side of the road were also bustling with visitors.


    ¡°This is a nice town,¡± I said as the Humvee stopped before a traffic light.


    ¡°Actually,¡± Matt said without letting go the wheel. ¡°If you overlook the absent of high-rise building, Karmen it¡¯s much better than the most developed city on earth.¡±


    After a slight nod I asked, ¡°How do the locals produce electricity and fuel?¡±


    ¡°They use magical science and technology to produce electricity, bio diesel, and everything else. Magical science and technology is the core of civilization and development in this world,¡± Matt casually replied.


    ¡°How good is the magical science and technology if you compare it to science and tech from earth?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s much better in every aspect. It¡¯s also more environmentally friendly,¡± Tim who sat in the back seat added. ¡°It¡¯s just that they can¡¯t use it to build major military equipment like howitzer, main battle tank, attack hello, fighter jet, or warship.¡±


    Question mark in an instant popped up on my forehead. ¡°Are you saying they don¡¯t have capability to build military power like country in earth?¡±


    ¡°For warfare purpose,¡± Matt said. ¡°They can use magical science and technology to develop weapon, armor, scroll, potion, and other individual equipment to hunt and eliminate monster. It¡¯s very powerful, especially the stuff for A-rank and S-rank hunter.


    It¡¯s just that people who decide to become hunter is very few. Most of them also has low magic aptitude and have to start as low-rank hunter.¡±


    ¡°Is that the reason why they outsource hunter like us?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Tim paused for a moment before explaining, ¡°To prevent their beginner hunter from getting over exhausted and die young, they hire us to eliminate some portion of low-rank monster.


    This way, the beginner hunter will have a better chance to grow into high-rank hunter. Sometimes, we also receive request to assist high-rank hunter in certain situation.¡±


    As the traffic light turned green and we continued the journey Matt added in low voice, ¡°They love to phrase this solution as ¡®Low-rank problem need low-rank solution.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Maybe I¡¯m wrong,¡± I hesitantly said. ¡°But to me, it sounds like they try to down tone our contribution as outsource hunter.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Matt took a deep breath before continuing, ¡°The pay and benefit we receive is excellent, but the public view about us is not pleasant, especially in first-tier city.¡±


    ¡°Without magic aptitude, we will never grow stronger beyond D-rank hunter,¡± Tim said before letting out a sigh. ¡°In a kingdom where people have unhealthy amount of obsession towards beauty, fineness, magic might, and human supremacy, outsider who don¡¯t have magic aptitude like us are no more than lowly plebeians.¡± If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°I see.¡± After a short ponder I asked another question, ¡°If most people who become hunter are people with low magic aptitude, where does the one with high magic aptitude go?¡±


    ¡°People with high magic aptitude mostly are patricians, or being recruited by patricians¡¯ household since young age. After completing their military term to become elite border guard in post town, they return to their household and continue developing their talent,¡± Matt casually explained.


    ¡°And just a friendly reminder,¡± Tim said. ¡°Be humble if you want to last in this world. And even though most patricians are staying in big cities, some will come to monster danger zone to hone their combat skill. Don¡¯t ever offend them, by all means.¡±


    ¡°Copy,¡± I firmly replied, while inwardly I got it why all this time Matt drove the Humvee in a very civil manner.


    We then continued the journey in silence, until finally we arrive in front of big building with huge ¡®House of Healer¡¯ sign on its top floor.


    ---


    Tim chose an executive suit for our party tonight. The room was big and comfy, while the furnishing was luxurious. It had nice sofa set, big beds, mini hot springs, bar counter, and buffet table full of delicacy.


    Most of all, two super beauty immediately walked over to us as soon as we enter the room. One had long brown hair, while the second one had straight short silver hair with half bang. The two had sweet smile on their beautiful face, around 175 cm high, and with ease I could see they had nice curve and perfect figure under their neat uniforms.


    I couldn¡¯t tell they came from northern or southern Europe, but I was very sure about one thing. The two were more beautiful than Ceres and her team. On earth, they without a doubt would become brand ambassador of world class cosmetic company. It was profession that for decades became the epitome of absolute beauty and fineness. Yet, here they only became healer lady for plebeian hunter.


    ¡°Welcome, Matt and Tim,¡± The healer lady with the straight long brown hair happily said, and then she turned her gaze to me, ¡°And this is?¡±


    ¡°He is Berg,¡± Matt said.


    ¡°He just arrives today,¡± Tim added.


    After giving me a sweet smile the young beauty with brown hair said, ¡°Nice to meet you, Berg. My name is Laurie, welcome to Karmen, and I pray you find great success in your new life as a hunter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I happily replied. ¡°Nice to meet you Laurie.¡±


    ¡°My name is Laura,¡± The young beauty with short silver hair continued the introduction. ¡°Welcome to Karmen, I pray you find great success in your new life as a hunter.¡±


    ¡°Nice to meet you Laura.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to enjoy first?¡± Laurie said as she guided us to the sofa in the middle of the room.


    ¡°We have not eaten dinner yet,¡± Matt casually said. ¡°A big serving of steak and wine will be nice.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Laurie then went to the buffet table. She took two huge chunks of smoking hot tomahawk steak and then cut and arranged it into three big serving plates. As for Laura, she went to mini bar next to the sofa set and took three bottles of red wine and five wine glasses.


    A moment later, the two returned and dinner began immediately. We did not sit in the dining table, but it was not a big problem. We just hold the serving plate in our left hand, and put the steak slice into our mouth using our right hand.


    In a glance, the steak was not different from the steak I usually enjoyed on earth. However, as soon as I put the first slice into my mouth, it melted right away into an explosion of rich and deep flavor.


    Throughout my life, I never tasted such a tender, juicy, and delicious steak. The black pepper sauce that accompanied the steak slices was also on another level compared to black pepper I knew. Before I realized it, I already finished the whole serving.


    ¡°Berg, do you want a second serving?¡± Laurie cheerfully asked.


    ¡°Yes, please,¡± I replied in reflex.


    After a smile, Laurie got to her feet and prepared a second serving for me. At the same time, Laura handed over a glass of wine to me.


    ¡°Here, it will help you reset your palate.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    I happily received the wine and took a sip. Pretty similar to the steak, the wine was also beyond from what I expected. It was crisp clear, smooth, but rich of flavor. With ease I finished the whole glass, while Laurie returned with my second serving.


    Honestly, this dinner was too good for a team who just failed to clear their objective. I also felt a sense of guilt to enjoy such good dinner when I didn¡¯t do something useful in today hunting. However, Matt and Tim looked so happy while enjoying their dinner.


    They even laughed breathlessly when Laurie skillfully told us a very good joke. In the end, I chose to not ruin the mood and just went with the current.


    *****

 SS1 2.2 – Joining Pukin’ Dogs

    SS1 2.2 ¨C Joining Pukin¡¯ Dogs


    The four signature services in House of Healer were food, alcohol, drug, and healer lady. After our belly was full, we then casually sat in sofa. Matt and Tim happily enjoyed the cocktail Laura made for them.


    As for me, I took my time to dig information from Laurie. It was casual conversation, but I learned a lot because every healer lady in House of Healer was also being trained to teach newcomer hunter about custom, culture, and social structure in Kingdom of Farwell.


    Then, Matt handed over several vials of blue potion to me while saying, ¡°Watch and learn.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I replied while giving the blue potion a big wondering gaze.


    At the same time, Tim and Matt got up to their feet and went to bar counter where Laura was preparing another cocktail for them. The bar counter was made of clear glass, so I could clearly saw as the two had wide steady stance as the put Laura between them. As far as I knew, it was a stance when you wanted to subdue someone.


    Then, without a warning Tim cupped Laura¡¯s cheeks with his hands and gave her a deep French kiss. At the same time, Matt lifted up her skirt and his fingers went straight giving her fingering from behind.


    Laura flinched when Matt¡¯s fingers touched her private area She also spontaneously tried to push Tim away. But Tim refused to let her go, while Matt skillfully maintained her fingering. A few minutes later, the double attack had robbed Laura¡¯s strength and will to fight.


    When Tim held her mouth open and gave her blue potion, she just obediently accepted and swallowed it. At the same time, Matt pulled her panties down to her ankle. Then, Tim and Matt skillfully sandwiched her. Tim lifted her leg, took her front and became steady anvil, while Matt pounded her rear hard.


    I believed any woman would scream hysterically when received such a rough double penetration. Yet, Laura was in ecstasy right now. She looked up to the ceiling with half-opened mouth and happy face, and made a short gasp every time Matt pounded her rear.


    ¡®What the heck?¡¯ I muttered in big wonder while Matt and Tim happily gangbanged Laura like there was no tomorrow.


    ¡°Laura is deep under effect of blue potion right now.¡± Laurie took a vial of blue potion from my hand as she continued, ¡°When a female consume it, blue potion will amplified the pleasure she have when someone do her, and the harder and the rougher the pounding, the higher her ecstasy will go.¡±


    ¡°What a strange effect,¡± I said as I took a close a look at the remaining blue potion in my hand.


    ¡°And the higher the ecstasy she experience, the more the breast milk she will produce,¡± Laurie added.


    ¡°Huh? Breast milk?¡± A huge question mark instantly popped up in my forehead. ¡°Doesn¡¯t only woman who just gave a birth will produce breast milk?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not the case for healer lady like us,¡± Laurie said in casual tone, but I sensed a bit of sadness in her eyes. ¡°Our body receives biological modification to fulfill one role, pleasing the hunter and strengthening their physical body. In return, we will never give a birth to a child.¡±


    I slightly nodded my head, but honestly I didn¡¯t get it at all. Then, when I turned my gaze to Laura, I found she was biting her lower lips and tried her best to hold back her moan as Tim greedily sucked her breast. At the same time, I couldn¡¯t help but became hard as rock.


    ¡°Is the breast milk has specific purpose or it just for the sake of having fun while having intercourse?¡±


    ¡°It will strengthen the hunter¡¯s body. It¡¯s just that if you don¡¯t have magic aptitude, at most you will only become three times stronger than normal human or D-rank hunter like Matt and Tim,¡± Laurie calmly explained. ¡°It will also make your appearance look better.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± I nodded before warily asked, ¡°But will Laura okay after receiving such rough gangbang?¡±


    ¡°She will. Blue potion also has healing properties.¡± Laurie then cupped my cheeks using her soft hand and turned my gaze to her, ¡°Don¡¯t mind them. Let¡¯s have our own fun.¡±


    After a smirk I replied, ¡°Our own fun?¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Wasting no time Laurie striped me buck naked. After that she took her panties off before getting up into my laps. Then, she took a vial of blue potion before putting forward another one to me.


    ¡°You should drink one too,¡± Laurie calmly said.


    ¡°Wait a second,¡± I said in panic. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want to suck my breast milk.¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± After a smile Laurie explained, ¡°If a male drinks it, it will enable him to have 5-8 consecutives round without killing him.¡±


    After I saw Matt and Tim also took the blue potion while letting Laura to have short break without pulling out from her, I immediately took the blue potion. A moment later, Laurie put my dick inside her full in.


    ¡°Be a good boy and stay still,¡± Laurie said before moving her hip back and forth.


    This was not my first, but every first intercourse with a smoking hot babe was always as good as first time, or even better because you were not clumsy anymore and could enjoy the sensation to the fullest.


    Not to mention, down there Laurie had perfect tightness and perfect heat, and the way she moved her hips was so good to the point I experienced another whole level of heavenly sensation I never knew exist.


    Then, Laurie¡¯s breaths starting to become erratic, and her hip movement became shorter but harder.


    ¡°A-ahh¡­ a-ahh¡­ a-ahh¡­ a-ahhh¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Just stay still like th-is¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°N-ngggghhh¡­. M-nnnn¡­.y-ees¡­ a little more¡­.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but Laurie¡¯s moan made my dick became harder and harder. Then, she took off her shirt and bra, fully exposing her snow white skin, and suddenly she pulled my head into her beautiful and provocative breasts.


    ¡°N-nnow¡­ I can hold it anymore,¡±


    Wasting no time, I started sucking Laurie¡¯s pink nipple and as she explained previously, with each suck sweet milk spurted into my mouth. It sweet, warm, and taste so good. I couldn¡¯t get enough of it.


    And each sucking made Laurie¡¯s moan became harder, while down there she squinted nonstop and sucking my dick so hard. As the result I just came inside her, and as soon she received my shoot she also came, and then lost all her strength and slumped into my embrace.


    After that, she slowly become loosen up down there while a huge amount of our mixed love juice drenched my dick and flew out from her private area. It felt disgustingly so good somehow.


    ¡°Let me rest a bit before we have second round,¡± Laurie weakly said.


    ¡°Okay,¡± I replied as I helped her to fix her position so she could rest more comfortable in my embrace.


    In total, the intercourse took place about three minutes, but it¡¯s so intense to the point that the good sensation continued to linger and cloud my mind even after we stopped. Then, we started the second round, the third, and so on.


    In the end, I lost track how many time I did Laurie. I only stopped when she passed out. After putting her in the bed and cover her with blanket, I went to take a bath.


    ---


    When I came out from bathroom, I found Matt and Tim already finished their deed on Laura. The three peacefully slept on the bed with Laurie, while in the sofa I found Mike sat with a can of beer in his hand.


    ¡°How is it?¡± Mike casually asked as I sat in front of him. ¡°Did you have a good time?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a super good time.¡±


    ¡°Good.¡±


    ¡°Where are you before? Why did you, McKay, and Sanchez not having fun with us here?¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± Mike took a big gulp of his beer before continued, ¡°We need to give Ceres and the other two a service. McKay and Sanchez is also have not done with it yet.¡±


    ¡°What kind of service?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°The kind of service that Laura and Laurie give to you.¡±


    ¡°Do you mean sex?¡±


    ¡°Most of the time it¡¯s pleasing service without penetration, but sometimes they will get up to our lap and have some rodeo.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s sound like you are their bitches.¡±


    ¡°In a sense, we are. Here, in this world, the weak serve the strong. You should get yourself used to it as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°I will try my best,¡± I calmly replied, and then I curiously asked, ¡°Do Ceres and the other two produce breast milk?¡±


    ¡°They never took blue potion before the intercourse, so I don¡¯t know for sure.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s talk about the money we make from today kills,¡± Mike said as he took out his tablet and showed me several notifications.


    [2 Minotaur kills, +20.000 mollar.]


    [29 orc kills, +5.800 mollar.]


    [16 goblin kills, +800 mollar.]


    After checking the notifications I said, ¡°10.000 mollar for each Minotaur kill, 200 mollar for each orc kill, and 50 mollar for each goblin kill.¡±


    ¡°Totaling 26.600 mollar, after subtracting it for ammo, fuel, etc, we have 24.000 mollar left, and I split it into six shares evenly.¡± Mike doing something with his tablet before continuing, ¡°Check your tablet. I just sent your share.¡±


    I immediately checked my tablet and found a silence notification.


    [You receive 4.000 mollar from Pukin¡¯ Dogs.]


    ¡°Thanks,¡± I happily said.


    ¡°As for our share from Leg Breaker, it¡¯s 20% from their total kill. Today they killed six Minotaur, dozens of orc, and some goblins. The money is about 13.600 mollar, but I hope you don¡¯t mind if I put it into Pukin¡¯ Dogs operational fund.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind,¡± I firmly replied.


    After a light nod Mike said, ¡°Now, what do you say if I ask you to join Pukin¡¯ Dogs?¡±


    ¡°I gladly accept,¡± I casually replied. ¡°But, may I know the reason why you invite me?¡±


    ¡°First, you have the gut and mindset we want. Second, you are a sapper officer,¡± Mike casually said. ¡°For small sapper ops, Sanchez and Matt can do it well. But for mid sapper ops, we need sapper officer to build the outline.


    Sometimes ago, Matt also told me. Sapper from IDF Yahalom is unmatched in term of creative problem solving and unconventional tactic.¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t know how good my skill compares to combat engineer officer from other country,¡± I said in a drop dead serious tone, ¡°But I can guarantee you, I always put my life on the line for every sapper job I have.¡±


    After a smile Mike said, ¡°That¡¯s more than enough.¡±


    Without delay, Mike registered me as member of Pukin¡¯ Dogs, while deep down I wondered how long I would survive in this foreign world.


    *****

 SS1 2.3 – Post-hunt Brief

    SS1 2.3 ¨C Post-hunt Brief


    Morning in Pukin¡¯ Dogs¡¯ quarter went quietly. After returning from our adventure, everyone went straight to their room and continued their sleep. We were very tired after all and I was not exception. It¡¯s just that every time I closed my eyes, Laurie¡¯s beautiful breasts and tits instantly popped up right in front of my face. The impression was too strong.


    In the end, I couldn¡¯t sleep in peace. Then, at noon Mike knocked everyone door one by one, asking us to take a bath before gathering in the lounge for post-hunt brief. I managed to get up and arrived in the lounge together with everyone else. However, even after the bath I was still plagued with heavy drowsiness.


    ¡°Take a vial of stamina potion,¡± Mike said after seeing my sleepy eyes and sluggish body. ¡°Right now, your body is not strong enough to take the blowback from blue potion without it.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Without delay I took one of stamina potion Mike gave me before we carried out yesterday hunt. If I recalled correctly, Matt also said that I should took a vial of stamina potion when I finished my play with Laurie, but it seemed I totally forgot about it.


    A moment later, I felt my drowsiness was being swept away while my mind became clearer in rapid pace. At the same time, Mike using his tablet to buy tones of chicken cutlet, fish and chips, strawberry yogurt Mochi, and draft beer from a diner in Tokyo.


    ¡°Japanese food huh?¡± I said while helping Mike to arrange them in the table.


    ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate Japanese comfort food,¡± Mike firmly said.


    ¡°Japanese is very good at making cheap and delicious but fully safe food,¡± McKay added. ¡°Their work and dedication in this field is unmatched.¡±


    After letting out a sigh Sanchez said, ¡°When I was stationed in Japan, I was always complaining on Japanese food and beer even though it always became my first pick when I went outside the base.


    Now, after I left the country, I always crave for it. It¡¯s karma I guess¡±


    ¡°I love Japanese comfort food by the way. I also understand how much the work and dedication they put on it,¡± I happily said. ¡°When I visited Kyoto with my father back then, we just randomly pick eatery or food truck in the business district that was full of salary man, but the food never disappointed us.¡±


    ¡°But you should be careful when ordering Japanese food using your tablet,¡± Matt warned me in friendly manner. ¡°Not all Japanese stores outside Japan are being run by Japanese or carry their spirit and dedication. Mostly it¡¯s owned and ran by Kainese.¡±


    ¡°Kainese?¡± I asked as a question mark popped up in my forehead.


    ¡°It¡¯s a group of people who love to cutting corner in everything they run in every chance.¡± Matt casually said. ¡°And maybe that¡¯s the reason why food from their store is very often pale in comparison in taste and quality compare to what we buy from Japan directly.¡±


    ¡°To be safe, if you want to eat Japanese comfort food, just buy it directly from Japan, Japanese-run store, or Taiwanese international chains that their store in Japan is flourished,¡± Tim added. ¡°Don¡¯t waste our hard-earned money on shady food, when we have access for the real deal.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± I firmly replied.


    It seemed Pukin¡¯ Dogs was very serious about their food, or perhaps they had tasted the dangerous side of shady comfort food. Well, whatever it was, I took their words seriously. In a glance I could tell they were strong folks who could eat any edible material almost without repercussion. Therefore, I should avoid food that made them wary at all cost.Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    After toasting our beer and gulped down a mouthful, we then wolfed down the food heartily. As expected, it didn¡¯t disappoint me. It¡¯s still as delicious as I remembered, and brought me back a good memory when I visited Japan with my father.


    We couldn¡¯t eat pork, but the porkless Japanese food was still delicious as hell. There was a possibility the chicken, fish, or turkey we ate was not kosher enough because it was not slaughtered in accordance to Jewish tradition, but when we were traveling overseas my father taught me to slightly lower our kosher level.


    Then, as everyone took their second portion Mike started the post-hunt brief. ¡°Yesterday, we carried out the hunt based on bad intels, so we failed to shut down the nest and seize the main prize.


    But we managed to retreat safely after scoring some kills. We also obtained good intels like the nest size, the number of remaining Minotaur, and the absence of human prisoner.


    So, it¡¯s not too bad and don¡¯t let it get us. There are still lots of hunt we can carry. We have to stay sharp.¡±


    ¡°Roger that.¡±


    Mike firmly replied while the rest of us firmly nodded our head.


    ¡°So,¡± I curiously asked. ¡°What will we do to yesterday nest?¡±


    ¡°Nothing,¡± Mike casually said. ¡°Unless A-rank or B-rank team asks our assist, we will have to find another target. Torrak also told me earlier, another B-rank and D-rank team will hit it in two days. They will carry the hunt based on our intels, so I guess they will finish the job completely.¡±


    ¡°In summary we will let it go,¡± I said in low voice.


    ¡°That¡¯s the wisest move,¡± Matt casually said. ¡°We can take down 2-3 Minotaur using precision or overwhelming firepower, but fighting eleven in close quarter is out of our league.¡±


    I nodded and asked another question, ¡°Can we use explosive to wipe them out in one sweep? I believe one Mk.82 GP will do the job.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple,¡± Sanchez said before putting a piece of chicken cutlet to his mouth.


    Question mark instantly popped up in my forehead. ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°The biggest non shoulder-fired ordnance we can buy is 81 mm mortar round,¡± Matt casually replied. ¡°Most of all, even if the nest is only 30x25x20 meters at most, it doesn¡¯t have flat floor. Some area is 2-2.5 meters higher, while some other is 2-2.5 meters lower.


    The difference in floor height forms the cubicles where the monster sleep separately based on their rank in the pack, and these sleeping cubicles make it impossible to kill them all in one sweep using blasts fragmentation or other detonation means.¡±


    ¡°Can we use poison or sleeping gas?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± McKay replied before taking a sip of his beer. ¡°Poison and sleeping gas won¡¯t work on monster.¡±


    If I asked another question, I believed I will be sounded very stubborn, but I was trained to check every possibility thoroughly, and this line of thought had become one of my second natures. Therefore, even if there was a risk I would piss off someone, I couldn¡¯t help but would check every possibility instinctively.


    ¡°What about detonation that generate extreme heat? We can design extreme heat that wills fully envelope the nest center.¡±


    After letting out a sigh Matt replied, ¡°Minotaur can resist heat exposure up to 700 degree Celsius for 4 minutes. To kill it using extreme heat, we have to expose it to 900 degree Celsius heat for 3-4 minutes. This is the minimal math to destroy them beyond its self-healing ability.¡±


    ¡°The problem is,¡± Sanchez added, ¡°Until now, no hunter who know how to handle explosive manage to translate this math into practical weapon. A demo dude detonated a Thermobaric package in the nest center once. It killed some but only heavily wounded the rest as the heat that reached the sleeping cubicles is not high enough or remains long enough to kill them.


    And if we take this route, we also need to think how we will retreat into safety distance after delivering the package while holding back the monster inside the nest.¡±


    Without delay I took out a notepad and a pen, and asked, ¡°How much budget we can use?¡±


    Mike instantly turned his gaze to me. He kept looking at me for a while before finally he said, ¡°I don¡¯t know how much the reward we will receive from shutting down a nest. Last time we support a C-rank team to do it, they just gave us 100.000 mollar as a reward.


    But killing 11 Minotaur will give us 110.000 mollar for sure. Let¡¯s put 5000 mollar for fuel and ammo, and 90.000 mollar to build the bomb and the delivery system.¡±


    I immediately made the calculation. I could use my tablet to buy things from earth, so it enabled me to build something I was familiar with and finished the calculation in no time.


    ¡°We can do it below the budget,¡± I confidently said.


    ¡°Well, share us the detail,¡± Mike calmly said. ¡°If it¡¯s feasible and the risk is acceptable, let¡¯s do it.¡±


    *****

 SS1 2.4 – Uneasiness

    SS1 2.4 ¨C Uneasiness


    The plan I had on my mind was simple. We would use car bomb to wipe out the Minotaur pack. After hearing the detail, Mike and the rest agreed with it. We then went into the plain on east of Karmen and started the work to build the car bomb.


    For the car, Mike bought me a nice second-hand Toyota Hilux pick-up model 2019 for USD 15.000, along with the kit to turn it into remote-controlled car for USD 3200. When I was in IDF, I was often being tasked with the work to build remote-controlled car.


    It was part of program to train our troops on how to counter suicide car bomber in highly-realistic training environment. Now I used this very same knowledge, and it took me about an hour to turn the Hilux pick-up into a remote-controlled car while also modifying it into a more silence car. Mike and Tim then learned how to drive it using remote control.


    As for the explosive, I didn¡¯t use mil-grade explosive. If I could buy the basic compound unrestricted, I preferred to mix my own explosive and customized the detonation into my need. Once I got everything inside the working tent, I asked everyone to guard the perimeter from 1 km away. That way, if something went wrong and the bomb went off, only one idiot would die.


    I then started the bomb building and it took five hours to finish it. In summary, I used several hundreds of 600 ml stainless thermos as the shell and attached three thick skewers on it. After securing a board of 18-cm-thick Styrofoam on the Hilux¡¯s flatbed, I arranged the shells with skewer on it, facing all direction in 35-90 angles. This way, once we put the Hilux in the middle of nest center all we had to do was pressing the detonation button.


    Usually, I would make some simulation using computer and build a miniature of the system to check my calculation. Unfortunately, time was not in our side. In two days another team would hit the nest one more time. We had to carry out our raid tomorrow or never.


    And so, I could only do the math one more time before calling Sanchez to explain the procedure to detonate the package.


    ¡°So, basically, we can use the procedure on RDX to detonate it,¡± Sanchez asked me after I finished the explanation.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied while handed over the remote-detonator set.


    Sanchez put everything into his inventory and then asked me another question, ¡°How stable the package?¡±


    ¡°Very stable,¡± I firmly replied. ¡°It won¡¯t detonate even if the car crashed. Fire will turn it into a fierce bonfire, but won¡¯t ignite the detonation chain. You can detonate it only using the detonator.¡±


    Sanchez nodded and said, ¡°And after we trigger the first detonation, the shells would simultaneously burst out to all direction, hit the ceiling, fell to the floor, and then the second detonation will produce fireball. It will spread over 1500 degree Celsius extreme heat up to 3 meters radius and last for 5 minutes.


    ¡°The second detonation will also produce flash bang effect that will cause the target temporarily losing their sight and hearing,¡± I added. ¡°That way, they will hardly be able to escape the nest to evade the heat until it¡¯s too late.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s one of hell detonation for effect.¡± After a short pause Sanchez continued, ¡°Most of all, this is the first time I see someone build a massive package using basic compound in matter of hours, and spend only about 3500 dollars.¡±


    ¡°I have built it once, so I already know the math and don¡¯t need to start from scratch.¡±Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s pack the tent and go back.¡±


    ¡°Copy.¡±


    Actually, one thing was bothering me deeply. The car we used as the carrier was too good in my opinion. We could just use older and cheaper ones. But in the end, I kept the thought for myself.


    ---


    We had our dinner while driving back to House of Hunter. Therefore, when we arrived we could go straight to our room. Tomorrow, we would depart at 06:40 in the morning, so we had to rest our body and mind as much as possible.


    After taking a bath, I immediately laid down my body on the bed. However, my eyes refused to shut. I then took my tablet. Mike told me that I could switch the time setting to follow the calendar system and 12-fixed hour system on earth.


    Without delay I immediately changed it, and while doing so I remembered that today was Jewish New Year on earth. Since I was child, my father would take me to welcome it by attending services in synagogue, fasting from daybreak to nightfall, attending service in synagogue, and reflected on the year we have had while pondering how we would improve it.


    Honestly, the fasting part was too hard for a child like me, but my father would secretly gave me a small piece of Choco bar and let me leaned on his side while sleeping. And so, when I woke up it was already in the final moment before the celebration.


    Once the rabbi finished blowing the ram¡¯s horn, we then ate apples dipped in honey, and greeted each other with, ¡°For a good New Year.¡±, and then enjoy a festive meal.


    Even when I couldn¡¯t go home and had to stay with my unit in the base or forward post, I never failed to carry the tradition my father taught me. The only exception was when I had to carry a 36-hour combat tracking in Golan height with a squad of paratroopers, just a day before the New Year.


    It didn¡¯t end well. We were ambushed, lured by a trail of explosive. Our tracker became the first KIA, followed by our squad leader a few seconds later. Then, in the middle of chaos, our paramedic was taken and we found his body a few days later, full of torture remarks. All of that was my fault. I ignored the sign of ambush because I was too eager to find the explosive.


    It was already four years since that disastrous afternoon, but it still gave me nightmare and heartache sometimes. I also still clearly remembered the expression of the fallen paratroopers¡¯ family when they came to the base trying to find out what had really happened to their love ones.


    Those families didn¡¯t look for me because chain of command didn¡¯t release the detail of the event and spared me from the blame. However, it made my sense of guilt became heavier and almost drove me crazy.


    After letting out a sigh a few times, I lit a candle and recited a pray for every Israeli fallen serviceman and servicewoman. Then, I heard someone knock my door lightly. I immediately snuffed out the candle, wiped out my tears, and opened the door.


    ¡°What the¡­¡± Mike looked at me for a while before asking in low voice, ¡°Did you just cried?¡±


    ¡°A little,¡± I honestly replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you already homesick?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t. I just remembered some fallen friends.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± After a short pause Mike said, ¡°I did say we should rest as much as we can, but it doesn¡¯t mean you should lock yourself in your room and force yourself to sleep. If you don¡¯t mind, join us in the lounge.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Wasting no time I closed the door and followed Mike. In the lounge, I found Matt and Tim were playing chest, while Sanchez and McKay were watching soccer match from earth.


    ¡°In this quarter, the curfew is at 22:30, so we still have around 70 minutes,¡± Mike casually said. ¡°Feel free to enjoy whatever hobby you have, or if you want to talk to me or asking whatever you want to know about our job, I will gladly answer.¡±


    I nodded before turning my gaze to the soccer match. ¡°Is this match new?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a live match,¡± Mike replied. ¡°We can buy things, watch movie, TV show, or sport match, read book, newspaper, or magazine, or access the internet from earth. We just can¡¯t communicate with anyone from earth. To people from earth, we already leaved their world for good.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Well, I will continue read my favorite manga.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Happy reading then,¡± Mike said before joining Sanchez and McKay watching the soccer match.


    As for me, I immediately sat and used my tablet to access my favorite manga. Actually, what we did right now was pretty similar to what I did with my unit every time we have free time in the base. So, it brought some familiarity to me.


    It¡¯s just that right now, deep down I felt a strong uneasiness. Today was the second time I skip the tradition to welcome the New Year just before a mission. Yesterday I was on a hunt and then went to a heavy sex party, while today I used my time to build a car bomb.


    I really had a bad feeling about this, but I didn¡¯t know how to tell it to everyone.


    *****

 SS1 2.5 – Shutting Down The Nest

    SS1 2.5 ¨C Shutting Down The Nest


    In Argus, mana was strategic resource with fixed amount. Monster absorbed and used it to strengthen their might through two means. First, by sleeping inside the nest that would gather and refine mana so they could absorb it directly through their breathing. Second, by devour magic user from other races and digested their mana.


    And so, when you kill a monster its mana would be release back into nature and could be absorbed by magic user from other race, while shutting down a nest would reduce their direct access to mana. This was one of the reasons why hunting monster and shutting down their nest became vital for humanity survival.


    The job itself was being divided into two categories. Knight from Patrician Household and S-rank hunter from House of Hunter would eliminate high-level monster and high-level nest, while A-rank hunter and below would taking care of mid-level and low-level monster and their nest. That¡¯s what Mike told me as we departed from Karmen.


    And now, I and Mike were already lying flat on the cliff edge we used to set up machine gun look out yesterday. A few meters on our left, Tim and McKay stood guard behind a tree. Their job was to anticipate in case goblin sentries from the steep slope decided to take a stroll and entered our perimeter.


    Meanwhile, Matt and Sanchez went to eliminate goblin sentries on the smooth slope 200 hundreds meter on our right. Then, they radioed us.


    [Gunner Two to Lead One, do you copy?]


    Without delay Matt pressed PTT button. ¡°This is Lead One, loud and clear Gunner Two.¡±


    [We have eliminated the sentry, and the package is ready on the starting line.]


    ¡°Copy. Be ready and wait for my signal.¡±


    [Roger, Gunner Two over and out.]


    After taking a deep breath Mike then pressed PTT button one more time. ¡°Gunner one, how is our left flank?¡±


    [Coast is clear, all calm and quiet here.]


    ¡°Copy, and stay vigilant.¡±


    [Roger.]


    Mike then turned his gaze to me. ¡°Set the relay antenna.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Without delay I deployed the mini relay antenna. Once the package entered the nest, the signal reception would decreased or even fully gone. To prevent it, we extended the signal reception using relay antenna and it had to be positioned in straight line to the deepest part of the nest.


    ¡°Fortunately, the tunnel to nest center is in straight line,¡± I said after checking the signal was strong and solid. ¡°We are ready.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Mike then cocked up his suppressed MCX DMR and put one round in the chamber. After that he took aim at goblin sentries in front of nest entrance. Then, his breath gradually became as gentle as breeze.


    Beeb!!


    Beeb!!


    Two suppressed precession shooting beautifully hit the goblin sentries in the head. Their lifeless body then slumped to the ground like a rag. That was magnificent display of marksmanship, but Mike¡¯s expression stayed casual as if it was nothing.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Once he was sure the goblin sentries didn¡¯t get up anymore, he put the selection-lever back to safety and pressed PTT button.


    ¡°Gunner Two, package is a go, I say again package is a go.¡±


    [Roger, sending the package.]


    A moment later, I saw the Hilux approached the nest entrance at 15 km/h. Matt deliberately limit its speed below 15 km/h to maintain the element of surprise. Then, it smoothly entered the nest and gone from our sight, and before long we heard a series of rapid explosion.


    It seemed the goblin sentries on the steep slope also heard the explosions. They ran back to the nest as fast as they could, but McKay and Tim annihilated them all using their suppressed rifle. Pretty much like goblin sentries in the nest entrance, this flock also lifelessly fell to the ground right after well-placed shooting hit their vital. I bet they also died without knowing what killed them.


    Then, Mike took out his tablet while saying, ¡°No angry roar or commotion. I hope it¡¯s a good sign.¡±


    ¡°I hope so,¡± I calmly replied.


    A moment later, Mike received a silence notification and after checking it a smile bloomed in his lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good sign,¡± Mike said as he showed the notification to me.


    [11 Minotaur kills, +110.000 mollar]


    [16 Orc kills, +3.200 mollar]


    [23 Minotaur kills, +1150 mollar]


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a good sign,¡± I happily expressed my agreement.


    ---


    After waiting for 20 minutes to let the temperature in the nest center dropped into a level where we could enter it safely, I and Mike went to perform the final touch to shut down the nest. In the nest entrance, I found the dead goblins had turned into sand piles.


    ¡°After mana fully left their body, monster remains will be disintegrating into sand,¡± Mike casually explained. ¡°For a goblin, it will take about 12 minutes. For a bigger one, it will take a few hours.


    If they left mana crystal, we can take it and put it on sale through our tablet.¡±


    ¡°What about magic user?¡± I curiously asked. ¡°Will they also turn into sand after they die and mana leaves their body?¡±


    ¡°No, you have to cremate their body to speed up the mana release. You also definitely can¡¯t let monster to have them because they can digest and absorb mana within the flesh and blood of magic user.¡±


    ¡°Is that the reason why we hunt monster while monster prey on magic user?¡±


    ¡°Well, monster is native of Argus.¡± After a short pause Mike added, ¡°Initially, the high-monster summon weakling from other race to be used as their livestock.


    But fifty years ago the rebellion against monster broke out place, and here we are trying to hold our ground against monster which number is 25 times bigger than the combination of other races.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Other question?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s get the job done then.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Wasting no time we entered the nest, walked down the tunnel, until we arrived in the nest center. I found the nest center¡¯s layout was pretty much like the one that Sanchez drew for me. It had dozens of sleeping box with different height.


    Meanwhile, white smoke raise from Hilux remains in the middle of nest center. I also found pile of charcoal in each sleeping box, while strong smell of burn pricked my nose. However, other than that I didn¡¯t find burning mark on the floor, ceiling, or wall, or any trace that the room had just experienced extreme temperature.


    ¡®What a sturdy infrastructure and magnificent material.¡¯ I muttered as a desire to study the nest filled my mind to the brim. ¡°Mike, can we study this nest before shutting it down?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Mike firmly replied. ¡°Let¡¯s stick to the plan. Shut it down and then leave on the double.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    I was very disappointed, but I realized I had to follow the plan. Wasting no time, we then walked over to a glowing red orb as big as volley ball. It was being planted on the floor in the middle of nest center. This red orb was mana refiner orb. It would gather and refine mana directly from the air, and also the nest life support.


    All we had to do was putting in a piece of golden coin called dissolver. It would dissolve mana refiner. After that the nest would revert back into ordinary cave and crumbled on its own.


    ¡°Here is the moment of truth,¡± Mike said as he pressed the dissolver into mana refiner using his index finger.


    With ease the dissolver coin sank into refiner orb. Then, its glow became dimmer and dimmer until it fully died and the orb crumbled into fine sand. At the same time, the glowing stone on the cave wall also dimmed down and disappeared. Then, Mike received silence notification through his tablet and showed it to me.


    [Shutting down a low-level nest, +1.000.000 mollar.]


    ¡°That¡¯s one of a hell bonus,¡± I happily said.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Mike casually said. ¡°The manual say this place will totally crumble one hour after we dissolve the mana refiner. Let¡¯s leave before that.¡±


    ¡°Copy that,¡± I firmly replied.


    Let alone studied the nest structure, I didn¡¯t even have time to study the car bomb post-detonation to find reference for future improvement. However, I didn¡¯t want to be too greedy. We had just become the first D-rank team that shutting down a nest after all. That¡¯s already a great achievement.


    Now, returning alive was more important than anything. We would celebrate and prepare ourselves for the nest hunt.


    *****

 SS1 3.1 - Celebration

    SS1 3.1 - Celebration


    After returning to House of Hunter and took a bath, we went straight to House of Healer. This was the first time Pukin¡¯ Dogs managed to shut down a nest. And so, we celebrated it rather wildly.


    We took a room bigger than the one I used with Matt and Tim two days ago. Other than Laurie and Laura, we also had another four healer ladies. Without delay everyone chose their pairs and secured a spot for action.


    I got Laura and brought her into sofa. Wasting no time, we stripped each other buck naked. Laura then got into my lap and we started the kinetic right away. And before I was realizing it, it¡¯s already our third round.


    ¡°A-ahhh¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°A-ahhh¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°A-ahhh¡­¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Aa-aaahhh¡­¡±


    Laura made short gasp every time she moved her waist forward in staccato manner. Honestly, she was a bit too rough, but she clearly enjoyed it so I said nothing. Not to mention, it felt so good every time my dick entered her all the way in.


    Down there, she was not too tight or too wet. It was perfect, and the way her pussy wrapped and gripped around my dick was amazing. Then, she started to look up to the ceiling with half-opened mouth, and pulled my face to her breast as her movement became shorter but faster.


    ¡°It¡¯s coming! It¡¯s coming!!¡± Laura said as she pressed my face to her breast tighter.


    At the same time, I couldn¡¯t hold back my load any longer and shot it inside her.


    ¡°The-The-eeere¡­.¡±


    Laura¡¯s body froze for a moment before slumping down powerlessly. I immediately held her before putting her left tit in my mouth. After using my tongue to tease it a bit, I gently sucked her tit and every time her milk spurted in my mouth she also squinted hard down there. It was another heavenly sensation and I became hard again in no time.


    ¡°Do you have a good time?¡± Laura asked me after she managed to catch her breath.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied after letting go Laura¡¯s tit.


    ¡°Glad you have a good time with me.¡± After a short pause Laura asked me again, ¡°Do you want to switch to other girl?¡±


    After a short ponder I said, ¡°Before I switch to other girl, can we take another blue potion and do another 2-3 rounds?¡±


    ¡°Are you not bore of me?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I said before putting Laura¡¯s right tit in my mouth and sucked it.


    ¡°In that case, after you finish with my tit, let¡¯s take another blue potion and have another 2-3 rounds,¡± Laura said before gently stroking my hair and letting me to suck her milk to the last drop.


    ---


    Other than blue potion, I and Laura also took a glass of wine. Then, we are ready for another series of kinetic action. At the same time, in sofa across me Matt gave me a hand signal, asking me to hold my next round with Laura for a bit. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I didn¡¯t get it what he wanted to do, but I silently gave him my thumb. Wasting no time, he then put the healer lady he just knocked out into unconsciousness to sofa before putting condom to his dick and left index finger. After that he approached Laura from behind, putting his right hand on her shoulder while his left arm went straight to her bottom.


    ¡°Yikes!!¡±


    Laura instantly froze while her pussy gripped my dick very hard, and then she slowly turned her head and found Matt grinned at her.


    ¡°Matt. No!¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Mike casually replied. ¡°This is not your first time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not my first time, but it¡¯s still embarrassing every time you fingering my rear,¡± Laura protested as her face gradually turned red all the way to her snow white neck.


    ¡°Well, your cute reaction is the reason I can¡¯t stop doing it.¡±


    Matt¡¯s grin became deeper as he continued loosening up Laura¡¯s rear, ignoring her face that became redder and redder.


    As for me, I said nothing. Why? Well, it¡¯s because Laura¡¯s pussy continued to squint as Matt had his way with her rear, and it felt so good.


    It took about a whole minute before Matt finally stopped the fingering, and I had no complaint for the delay. After peeling off the condom in his left index finger and threw it into waste bin, Matt used his right hand to cover Laura¡¯s mouth and pulled her head to his shoulder.


    ¡°Here we go,¡± Matt said as he impaled Laura¡¯s rear. ¡°Fox four!¡±


    ¡°Hmmph!!!¡±


    Muffled sound came out of Laura¡¯s gagged mouth while her eyes widened, but Matt ignored it and started pounding her roughly.


    ¡°Will she be fine?¡± I asked out of concern.


    ¡°She will,¡± Matt casually said without slowing down his pounding. ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, just suck her tit.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I replied before putting Laura¡¯s left tit into my mouth, and as I sucked it a memory on my first encounter with anal penetration suddenly resurfaced in my mind.


    In my third year of college life, I got picked to attend one semester exchange program in MIT. Over there, I met with a smoking hot exchange student from Europe and we entered an intimate relationship with her. Everything went very well for the first two months, until finally I made a fatal and unforgivable mistake.


    I forgot how I did it, but one day I managed to coax her to have special combination package for our intercourse. In short, I blindfold her eyes, gag her mouth, tie her hands on her back, and then pounded her rear from behind in doggy style.


    Then, right after I impaled her rear, she was jerking left and right violently. It seemed she also tried to ask me to stop using her muffle sound, but I didn¡¯t get her message. It couldn¡¯t help. It was the first time we have doggy style and I was too excited to stop midway. Therefore, I kept impaling her and when I was done I found she already fainted with whited eye and foamed mouth.


    The next morning, while I made breakfast for us as usual, she used her finger to point at my nose while hatefully said, ¡°I will never forgive you.¡±


    She then left with staggering steps while covering her butt using her left hand, and at noon her friends came to pack her things while giving me sword stare at every chance. After that, she never talked to me for the rest of semester.


    Five years later, I got picked to attend one day seminar about net-centric ecosystem for combine urban warfare. It was held in Italy and I met her again. From her social media account, I found she had married and Italian dude and had one-year-old baby boy. In her picture with her husband and son, she looked very happy.


    I was genuinely happy for her as she could find her happiness. Not like me who was still stuck as singleton. And so, after the seminar I approached her when she was alone. I wanted to congratulate her for her happy marriage. Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t end up the way I expected. As soon as I arrived before her, she instantly raised her brows while giving me a sharp glare.


    Then, she hatefully said, ¡°Damnable Bastard, go die!¡±


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, yes Ma¡¯am,¡± I helplessly replied as she left with hasty steps.


    And moral of the story, don¡¯t ever use scene from adult video as reference for your intercourse. It made you exited, but actually it was full of crappy and painful stuffs. Unfortunately, I learnt it bitter way by applying the crappy and painful stuffs to my first intercourse partner, which was also the woman I genuinely fell in with.


    As for my current situation, Laura¡¯s milk was flowing out in my mouth like a flood. It meant she hit the highest pleasure she could reach as Matt pounded her rear hard and rough. To make sure of it, I let a go her tit and checked her condition.


    And I found her eyes were in dreamy state while both her hands freely dangling in her side. I already saw it previously, when Matt and Tim sandwiched her roughly she fell into ecstasy almost right away. However, looking it from close up was felt so different. It made me become harder and harder, while Laura also kept squinting hard down there.


    Without delay, I put Laura¡¯s right tit in my mouth. Now, I could continue the deed without the worry I would make another long life enemy out of a smoking hot babe.


    ¡®When in Rome, you fuck like a Roman,¡¯ I muttered before sucking Laura¡¯s breast milk greedily.


    *****

 SS1 3.2 - Additional Reward

    SS1 3.2 - Additional Reward


    The morning in the quarter went as usual. First, exactly at 05:30 AM, Mike woke up everyone one by one. After that we took morning bath before gathering in the lounge. Then, we had slices of white loaf along with our favorite jam and drinks as our breakfast.


    Actually, I still wanted to have another 2-3 hours of sleep. However, when we were back at our quarter a few hours ago, Mike told us that Torrak wanted to meet us at his office this morning. It seemed Torrak had something important he had to talk with Pukin¡¯ Dogs. So, we have to wake up early today.


    Then, as I spread peanut butter on my second loaf slice, my mind went back to the last night party in House of Healer. After I and Matt done with Laura, we continued our join operation on other girls in the room. We sandwiched them one by one until they all passed out, and we even sandwiched Laura one more time while she was still unconscious.


    Honestly, I never thought I was capable of such sexual carnage. This was the first time I let loose myself and now it sent chill to my spine when I recalled it. In the future, I should be more careful about my lust and strengthen up my inner awareness.


    ¡°How are you?¡± Mike suddenly woke me up from my pondering, while looking at me straight in the eyes.


    ¡°Alive and kicking,¡± I casually replied. ¡°The stamina potion helps me a lot in dealing with the recoil from last night party.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Mike then took a sip of his coffee before continuing, ¡°Honestly, last night you scared the shit out of me. I never saw a new guy who can play toe in toe with the gorilla-in-human-skin like Matt.¡±


    ¡°Even Matt was not as wild as you when he was still a new guy,¡± Tim added.


    ¡°I see.¡± As I took a bite of my loaf I couldn¡¯t help but muttered, ¡®It surprises me too actually.¡¯


    ¡°Well, seeing you are alive and kicking, I guess we don¡¯t need to worry about you anymore,¡± Mike calmly said.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± I firmly said.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s talk about the money distribution.¡± After everyone nodded their head Mike continued, ¡°We will have 150.000 mollar each, and put the rest in operational fund. Any objection?¡±


    Everyone shook their head in unison and wasting no time Mike transferred the money. Then, after finishing our breakfast we went to Torrak¡¯s office.


    ---


    Torrak¡¯s office was located at front section of House of Hunter, just right behind the lobby. Her secretary had a desk in front of it and as soon as we arrived before her she immediately took us to enter Torrak¡¯s room.


    ¡°Venerable Hunters,¡± Torrak¡¯s secretary said in tone full of respect. ¡°Manager Torrak will meet you in a moment. Please have a seat.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Mike casually replied.


    ¡°Any beverage that this humble servant can prepare for you?¡±


    ¡°No, but thanks for the offer.¡±


    After lightly nodded her head, Torrak¡¯s secretary quietly left the room. As for us, we immediately sat on the sofa in the middle of the room.


    Overall, Torrak¡¯s room was a big and nice office. It had nice furnished and was super comfy. On one side, it had big and clear glass wall facing an inner garden with vibrant color. On the other side, it had big screen displaying the name and statistic of hunting team with ten highest body counts.


    I found Pukin¡¯ Dog was perching on fifth places while Snow Mexican was on first place, and the statistic gap between the two was immense. Big question mark instantly popped up on my forehead as I turned my gaze to Mike.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°How many hunters work with Snow Mexican?¡±


    ¡°Eight,¡± Mike casually replied. ¡°Two former Canadian shooters, two former Canadian light infantry, two former Army Delta, and two former Army Airborne Ranger.¡±


    ¡°Only eight men?¡± I said out in disbelief. ¡°And yet, this month alone they already have 1500+ kills.¡±


    ¡°Those locos are the type who won¡¯t stop at anything to get monster kill,¡± Matt said.


    ¡°Well, their MO is definitely nasty,¡± Tim added. ¡°But, it¡¯s very effective and bear good statistic.¡±


    I nodded and said, ¡°I see.¡±


    Then, Torrak suddenly entered the room and sat with us right away. ¡°Gentleman, I¡¯m sorry for making you wait, after asking you to come in specific time.¡±


    ¡°No problem.¡± Mike looked deeply at Torrak before asking, ¡°But may we know, why do you have such gloomy expression?¡±


    ¡°A B-rank team just returns from a hunt with unpleasant intel. I went to confirm it personally,¡± Torrak said in dejected tone.


    ¡°What kind of unpleasant intel they bring over?¡± McKay asked.


    ¡°Yesterday evening, they spotted Old Jack glided down to Kubran Valley, but they can¡¯t track and kill it.¡± A deep regret flashed in Torrak¡¯s eyes as he continued, ¡°Half of their members suffered heavy injury from the fight to close a scorpion nest, so they have to return to Karmen and let a go the chance to kill Old Jack for good.¡±


    ¡°Who is this Old Jack?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a sly wyvern,¡± Mike said. ¡°His favorite prey is children and so far more than three thousand kids had ended up in its belly.¡±


    ¡°Is it very hard to kill this wyvern?¡± I asked another question.


    ¡°Sort of, we call it Old Jack because this wyvern manages to live for more than 15 years even though House of Hunter already put a hefty bounty on its head.¡±


    I nodded and asked another question, ¡°How much the bounty you can get from killing it?¡±


    ¡°Wyvern kills worth 30.000 mollar, and House of Hunter put additional 30.000 mollar for Old Jack.¡± After a moment of pause Torrak continued, ¡°But I will ask the higher echelon to increase the additional bounty to 40.000 mollar.¡±


    ¡°60.000 mollar huh,¡± I casually blurted out. ¡°Even without the bounty increase, it¡¯s more than enough to get a piece of Stinger to nail Old Jack.¡±


    ¡°A piece of Stinger is not enough to kill a wyvern,¡± Matt said.


    ¡°Even though it¡¯s not as strong as dragon, wyvern¡¯s self-healing and vitality are still the highest among mid-level monster,¡± Sanchez explained. ¡°We have lots of case where a wyvern managed to escape after receiving heavy damage from a Stinger direct hit.¡±


    ¡°So, how do we kill a wyvern?¡±


    ¡°For a shooter, the surest way is by nailing their head using .338 LapMag,¡± Mike said. ¡°But it¡¯s almost impossible to do it when they are high in the sky. The best option is to headshot them when they are fully on the ground.¡±


    ¡°The problem is,¡± Matt added. ¡°Experience has turned Old Jack into a very sly wyvern. When A-rank or B-rank hunter was tracking its resting spot, Old Jack always managed to evade them. But when weaker hunter did the track, he never failed to kill them all.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s really a troublesome wyvern.¡±


    ¡°Well, you can continue the talk about Old Jack on your quarter later,¡± Torrak casually said. ¡°As for now, let¡¯s talk about the reason why I call you here.¡±


    Mike immediately gave Torrak a light nod. ¡°We are all ears.¡±


    ¡°Higher echelon wants to give you additional reward for your success in shutting down a nest.¡± Torrak¡¯s eyes flashed with excitement as he continued, ¡°Other than Berg, they want to give you a body enhancement that will turn you to C-rank hunter.¡±


    ¡°How come I never heard about such reward?¡± Mike asked as he gave Torrak a big wondering gaze.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s never exists before. The higher echelon decided to issue it only last night, after they heard about your success,¡± Torrak happily said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Mike slightly nodded his head before continuing, ¡°But why is Berg being excluded from it?¡±


    ¡°With his current level, Berg can¡¯t receive body enhancement. It¡¯s too dangerous,¡± Torrak calmly explained. ¡°In return, he will receive additional reward of 500.000 mollar.¡±


    ¡°If the body enhancement can truly level up a D-rank into C-rank, then it definitely worth more than 500.000 mollar.¡± Mike said in a drop dead serious tone. ¡°Can we postpone Berg¡¯s reward until he is ready to receive the body enhancement?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t do that,¡± Torrak dejectedly said. ¡°But I can guarantee you, next time Berg shut down a nest without the help from hunter above D-rank, he will definitely receive body enhancement.¡±


    ¡°Do you realize that such possibility is almost impossible unless Berg leave Pukin¡¯ Dogs?¡± Mike mockingly asked.


    ¡°I do, but that¡¯s the decision from higher echelon. I have no say on it.¡±


    ¡°It is fine,¡± I casually said to prevent tension from blooming. ¡°I will take the money.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± Mike asked while looking at me straight in the eyes.


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I casually replied. ¡°Jew loves money and I¡¯m not an exception for this trait.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Mike calmly said.


    ¡°So,¡± Torrak calmly asked. ¡°Will you receive the reward?¡±


    ¡°We will,¡± Mike firmly replied.


    After a smile Torrak said, ¡°In that case, other than Berg, you all will go to Numma City tonight.¡±


    *****

 SS1 3.3 – Weapons Check

    SS1 3.3 ¨C Weapons Check


    Evening, after having dinner we went to teleportation hall. It was the same teleportation hall that received my arrival to Karmen. Then, while waiting for Torrak to prepare the teleportation platform, Mike and the rest took their time to give me some words.


    ¡°You can get every piece of information that Pukin¡¯ Dogs has gathered or experienced in this memory card,¡± Mike said as he took out a piece of SD card from his inventory. ¡°Study it in your spare time, and share us your insight if you have better way on how to deal with the situations we have faced.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± I replied as I took the SD card.


    ¡°And just a friendly advice, until our return don¡¯t go into a hunt with other team,¡± Matt casually said. ¡°When shit happens, most hunters will just try their best to save their own ass. Often times, it leads to fatal outcome for new guy.¡±


    I nodded and said. ¡°Roger that.¡±


    ¡°The exception is Snow Mexican,¡± Tim added.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those people rather loco?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°They are definitely loco. No question. No explanation,¡± Tim said. ¡°But, they won¡¯t stab their own in the back, especially someone from Pukin¡¯ Dog.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think their hunting style suit you though,¡± Mike added. ¡°But in case you want to try it, just come to their living quarter and tell them you want to go hunt with them. I already send your personal info to them, with a note that you are one of our own.¡±


    ¡°Or you can just stay still until our return. Get familiarization with facilities in this House of Hunter, the life in the town, while drilling hunting knowledge to your mind as much as you can,¡± Matt firmly said. ¡°I think this is the best option you can take until you gain enough experience.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± I firmly replied.


    Then, the teleportation platform was finally ready. I calmly watched as Mike and the rest disappeared before my eyes. After that, I returned to Pukin¡¯ Dogs living quarter and took some time to read info in the memory card. Out of curiosity, I gave some attention to info about Old Jack.


    Before I realized it, it was already 11:00 pm. I immediately stopped the reading and went to the bed. For some reason the quarter felt rather lonely and too quiet. It bothered me for a while, but in the end I fell asleep.


    ---


    So far, I fired only a few training rounds from my MPX and P320. It was before I went for a hunt with Pukin¡¯ Dogs. I fired it into firing bin to ensure that both weapons were working. Therefore, today I wanted to give every weapon I had a full check.


    After having a light breakfast I went to one of shooting ranges in the House of Hunter. The SD card from Mike mentioned Karmen House of Hunter had several shooting ranges. Without second thought I chose the open-air range with maximum distance up to 600 meters.


    It was the farthest range from living quarter for the hunters and that¡¯s why it was almost empty all the times. But for me, it was an ideal place to test my toy. With casual step I entered the range front office.


    As soon as I arrived before the reception desk a middle-aged man welcomed me. ¡°Venerable hunter, what can I help you with?¡±


    ¡°I need firing lane to test my weapon,¡± I casually reply.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°May I know the weapon system you will use?¡±


    ¡°Hand gun, PDW, SMG, and precision rifle, all are chambered in 6.5x25 mm CBJ armor piercing, and RPG.¡±


    ¡°How far do you plan to set up the target?¡± The middle-aged man asked me another question as he took out a tablet.


    ¡°600 meters if you let me to test my RPG, 200 meters if you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only you, or someone will join you later.¡±


    ¡°Only me.¡±


    ¡°How long do you plan to use the range?¡±


    ¡°Four hours at least.¡±


    After busying himself with his tablet for a moment the middle-aged man said, ¡°I will give you Firing Quarter A3 for four hours. It has three shooting lanes, extended up to 600 meters.


    You will also have three automaton to help you set up the target, but don¡¯t shoot them or you will have to pay the fine along with restoration cost.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    The middle-aged man then used his tablet to scan my face and took me to Firing Quarter A3. As he said before, the quarter had three firing lanes. Each lane was four meter wide and extended up to 600 meters. It also had thick and solid wall in all sides. After teaching me how to use the automatons and told me that he would put the bill on Pukin¡¯ Dog¡¯s tab, the middle-aged man then left.


    Wasting no time I started the work. The first weapon I checked was my P320. It was standard Sig P320 with 120 mm threaded barrel. I paired it with Trijicon RMR HD and micro flashlight. I chose this build because the minimum barrel length to fire 6.5x25 mm CBJ was 120 mm. Other than that, by using Flux Raider package I could turn my second P320 into PDW.


    The package I chose came with rapid deploying stabilizing brace, ambidextrous safety and dual mag release system, Raider gray full slide, non-reciprocating Picatinny optic mount, Picatinny front mount, 30-round mag, and integrated flared magwell. I ran this build with Surefire flashlight, Trijicon RMR HD, and my custom-made sound suppressor.


    Bang! Bang! Ba-ba-bang! Ba-ba-bang!!!


    Before I realized it, I already fired 30 rounds using both guns and found that everything was pretty good. Now, I could fully confidence using the silenced P320 Flux Raider as primary when cleaning tight space, and used my P320 as side arm.


    ¡®Time to check the MPXs, my other primary,¡¯ I muttered as I took out two MPXs from my inventory.


    The build I used was 8.9¡± barrel, bird cage flash suppressor, 9¡± MLOK handguard, Magpul vertical mini-foregrip, rear & front flip-up sights, and ACR stock. I added Trijicon Acog TA02, Trijicon RMR HD, and flashlight to the mix.


    Ra-tatatar! Ra-tatatar! R-aaarrrrr!!!


    I tested both MPXs by firing two 30-round magazines on each gun, hitting paper target up to 200 meter distance and I got another good result. My MPXs were not super-duper SMG as I didn¡¯t put customization on it, but it served its intended purpose very well.


    ¡®Now for the precision rifle,¡¯ I muttered as I took Sako TRG M10 chambered in 6.5x25 mm CBJ from my inventory.


    Some would think it was weird to pair pistol round with bolt-action precision rifle, but this was not the first time I did it. On earth, I had TRG M10 chambered in 6.5x25 CBJ. It didn¡¯t reach out as far as common precision round, but it was more than enough to get precise armor nailing done from a healthy distance.


    My current TRG M10 had similar build with my old one. I only replaced the 12¡± barrel with 14¡± barrel. After ordering the automatons to set up three pieces of 40x40 cm paper target at 100 meters I started the firing test using a bench-lock to hold the rifle.


    Bang!


    Bang!


    Bang!


    ¡­.


    Phut!


    Phut!


    ¡­.


    In total I fired 10 rounds of match-grade armor piercing and 5 rounds of match-grade subsonic armor piercing, five rounds on each target and I fully cleaned the rifle before switching to next target. When I circled the grouping on each paper target, the diameter didn¡¯t go beyond 1.016 cm. It meant the rifle had .4 MOA in five groupings.


    Honestly, that was such an insane grouping. It was two times tighter than my old TRG M10 which had 0.8 MOA in five groupings. Well, my new TRG M10 cost me USD 9800 for the rifle alone. It was USD 1200 more expensive than my old one, but the tighter grouping justified the price increase. Then, I zeroed my TRG M10 at 200 meters before going to check my RPG.


    The piece I used was PSRL-1 or the US made RPG-7, and I paired it with Trijicon ACOG TA11. This RPG was backwards compatible with all existing RPG-7 ammunition. And so, to get cheaper ammo I bought it from Serb manufacture.  After firing one high-frag rounds and one tandem-warhead to a target at 600 meters, another smile bloomed in my lips. The result was better than I expected.


    With a big happy face, I then cleaned every weapon I just checked while the automatons cleared the range. At the same time, sun was already high in the sky while faint rumble echoed from my stomach.


    ¡®Damn, I¡¯m freaking starving right now,¡¯ I muttered as I recalled this morning I only ate a piece of raisin bread and a piece of apple. ¡®After having a good lunch, I will look for a car.¡¯


    *****

 SS1 3.4 - Toyota HMV

    SS1 3.4 - Toyota HMV


    Even though I was not a strict Jew, I still put some effort to adopt daily diet under Jewish tradition, and believed me it was very complicated. Therefore, when I went overseas I adopted the simplified version. I would still avoid pork, lobster, shellfish, bird of prey, and other prohibited animal, but I won¡¯t avoid beef, chicken, fish, and other non-prohibited animal even though these animals were not being butchered in accordance to Judaism.


    I also wouldn¡¯t avoid processed food that was not being processed or served based on Jewish tradition. My father called this diet as porkless path and my big family had been practicing it since a few hundred years ago. It was far before the state of Israel existed, where we could live our life as Jewish folk to the fullest in our very ancestral land.


    My ancestor couldn¡¯t help but had to take this measure or they had to go fully vegetarian while also avoiding milk, cheese, wine, butter, oil, and other processed food that were not made in accordance to Jewish tradition. My father called the full vegie option as rabbit path and some of my uncles adopted it when they on overseas trip.


    But rabbit path was too hard for me, so I chose the porkless path and applied it to my current life. And so, as soon as I arrived in the terrace at Pukin¡¯ Dog¡¯s quarter, I immediately bought my lunch from a shop in Tokyo. It was a set of Hamburg beef steak with grilled mackerel fillet, fried egg, cheese, steamed potato with butter, and lemonade.


    The cheese, the veggie oil, and the butter were definitely not being produced in accordance to Jewish tradition. Mixing protein from land animal and water animal in one meal was also a violation to Jewish tradition. Such combination would generate enzyme that hinder brain development on children with certain DNA.


    ¡®Unfortunately, my family carries that certain DNA,¡¯ I muttered as I took a glance the Hamburg steak and grilled mackerel alternately. ¡®Fortunately, once the children with certain DNA reach age of twenty, the negative effect from the enzyme would strengthen their body instead.¡¯


    The lemonade I bought also had additional sweet grape juice to smoothen the flavor, which would also be considered as a violation if the grape was bought from non-Jewish vineyard or being planted without following certain method.


    However, as I said, it would be too complex and pain in the butt to apply Jewish tradition on your daily diet when you were outside of Israel. Then, I was about to put a piece of Hamburg steak in my mouth when Torrak entered the yard and walked over straight to me.


    ¡°Do you have a moment?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied before putting the piece of Hamburg steak into my mouth.


    ¡°Do you have something you want to do after finishing your lunch?¡±


    ¡°Not in particular. I just want to search and buy a car using my tablet.¡±


    ¡°In that case, can you do it while you become back up personnel for northern wall?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but is there any emergency?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not an emergency. The northern wall just sends me a request for additional 20 hunters as back up for wall duty,¡± Torrak explained. ¡°I already got nineteen, and need another one.¡±


    ¡°I will go after finishing my lunch,¡± I casually said.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Torrak genuinely said. ¡°After reporting to guard office in the north wall, you can go to the lounge and leisurely search for your car.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Torrak then left while I ate my lunch as fast as I could. After that, I went to guard office in north wall.


    ---


    As Torrak said, after reporting to officer in duty I could go to the lounge. It¡¯s simple lounge, but it was spacious and clean. It also had a big side yard. After introducing myself to other hunters in the room, I went to the side yard and started the hunt for second hand car.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    I already decided I would buy roll-cage Toyota HMV. The official name was Toyota Mega Cruiser BXD10, but JSDF serviceman I knew love to call it Toyota HMV or just HMV, and before I realized it I already followed his naming.


    I met the HMV for the first time in a multilateral land insertion exercise in US. The organizer was a team from US JFK Special Warfare Center and School, while the participants were member of special operation community from UK, Japan, Australia, Canada, and Israel.


    I attended the exercise with folks from Balnam 444, Unit 5515, and land insertion specialist from Matkal, but we were being mixed with participant from other countries through drawing. As the result, I ended up in 4-man team with dudes from US Airborne Ranger, Canadian shooter, and JSDF SF operator.


    As for the car, the organizer provided us with Humvee, Toyota HMV, Ford Ranger, Jeep Cherokee, Nissan Frontier, Toyota Land Cruiser, Land Rover Defender, and Mitsubishi Estrada. All cars were on roll-cage configuration with proven-modification that had conquered the latest world-class long-range trekking.


    As for the exercise, in five days, we had to cover 300 km across the desert and savanna, using compass, map, and short-range recon drone as our only navigation means, hide at the day, move silently at night, and collecting visual intels on hostile outpost along the route.


    Covering 300 km in five days using off-road SUV maybe looked easy, but people who designed the exercise really knew how to place the target outposts in nasty spot. Therefore, no matter the route we took to approach the outpost, it would deliver a living hell for our car.


    In the last day of the exercise, only Toyota HMV and Humvee were still in a decent shape to continue the event. The rest of the cars suffered fatal damage in various degrees. Some even broke it axle. It was a clear testify how the trek was abusive beyond common sense.


    I heard that later, the evaluation from this exercise became one of driving forces behind the acquisition program for JLTV and MRZR Polaris. As for me, this exercise gave me a serious lesson about Japanese dude. Despite their amicable look, some of them were definitely a crazy mother fucker.


    Here was the story. In the last day of the exercise, my team got left behind about 2 km. We came from high ground and could see that the Humvee in the distance was skimming the river side. They looked for shallow spot they could use to cross the river. After that, they only had to close 5 km distance to finishing line.


    We knew it was impossible to beat the Humvee team so we took it easy. But then, Watanabe, the Japanese dude with amicable face who had the wheel calmly said, ¡°Be ready to get wet and leave the car.¡±


    Everyone instantly had big question mark in their face. It couldn¡¯t help as there was still some distance to the river. Even so, we carried out the preparation to enter the water. We completed it in no time, and then Watanabe looked at us one by one before smirking and stating his intention.


    ¡°Brace for impact! Cliff! Cliff! Cliff!!¡±


    ¡®Huh¡­ Cliff?¡¯ I muttered as Watanabe took the HMV out of the trek, and then drove it straight to cliff edge a dozen meter in our left.


    A moment later the HMV happily jumped off the cliff, and actually I recognized the cliff. This morning just before the dawn, Watanabe asked me to fly the recon drone to scout it. He also asked me to scout the wide body water about 80 cm deep in the cliff base from close range.


    However, doing drone recon on a cliff and jumped off it personally was two day and night different animals. Not to mention, I clearly remembered our HMV could absorb impact of falling only from 4 meter height and the car had to properly land on four wheels.


    Meanwhile, the cliff was 6 meter high and just before the rear wheel on the left took off, the cliff edge that supported it crumbled and it made the car went to the air in a tilted position. Worst off all, when I looked down at the water body below, I found it had shrunk significantly and only about 20-30 cm deep.


    And so, my blood run cold as I gripped the roll-bar with everything I have. Then, my eyes widened as the thin water surface was rapidly closing in straight to my face. After that, everything turned pitch-dark.


    When I opened my eyes I found I was weakly laying in the bed, facing white ceiling, with a body full of patches and bandages. On the beds next to mine, lay the rest of the team with various degrees of injuries.


    When the HMV jumped off the cliff, we didn¡¯t put our FAST helmet and seat belt on, and so we reaped what we sowed. It sucks to spend two whole weeks in hospital putting together our broken body, but at least no one go beyond ER.


    As for the HMV, despite the fucked up landing it didn¡¯t receive fatal damage. It was still more than capable to reach the finishing line in full speed. If we didn¡¯t suffer heavy injury and had to be sent to ER, we would definitely win the game.


    Not to mention, the leading Humvee got stuck in the mud not long after we jumped off the cliff. Other car had to tow it out of the river, while the team continued the journey to finishing line on foot.


    And that¡¯s the reason, why I bought a Toyota HMV after my return to Israel. The life and death experience I had with this car still gave me a shudder every time I recall it, but at the same time I was fell in love with its resilience. It made me remember the resilience that my folk possessed throughout our long history, along with the painful and unbearable moment we had to gone through on each generation.


    Now, I would buy Toyota HMV one more time. I would also use similar set up and configuration with my old one.


    *****


    Warning:


    In case you have Toyota HMV, please don¡¯t try to imitate the scene where the car happily jumps off the cliff. It¡¯s freaking dangerous and there is a high possibility it will send you beyond ER. Thank you.

 SS1 4.1 - Long Line of Bait

    SS1 4.1 - Long Line of Bait


    The production for civilian Toyota HMV had discontinued since 2002, so I thought I could get my hand only on second-hand HMV. However, when I searched for it using my tablet, I got an offer for fresh built and it was the exact car for JSDF like my old one.


    I don¡¯t get it how that¡¯s possible. Not to mention, when I checked the engine I found it had the original spec of Toyota HMV, without component replacement or supplementation from newer technology.


    It had old-tech 4.1L turbo diesel intercooler, along with 4-speed automatic transmission and 2-speed transfer to all four wheels power. In short, it was freaking pre-historic power train. However, this pre-historic engine was the reason why Toyota HMV possessed robust and unmatched field reliability. It had no problem digesting trash quality fuel in long duration, and required only simple maintenance to keep it running in peak performance.


    Meanwhile, the rear compartment had a bit different feature compared to my old HMV. Instead of foldable long bench, each side had four foldable seats equipped with seat belt. The portable room heater located under the foldable seat on the right, just behind the driver seat, was also from the latest model.


    Other than that, a portable auxiliary power unit was tightly secured in the floor just behind the passenger seat. Next to it, I found a compact compartment that stored small electric stove, 1.5 liter electric kettle, a skillet, and 4 set of eating utensil made of aluminum. My old HMV didn¡¯t have this feature, and it made me exited. It made thing easier in case I had to stay in the wild for days.


    And as currently it was late spring, I decided to take off the door, wind shield, and canvas that cover rear compartment. Then, I installed the roll-cage and weapon mounting kit on the rooftop and in front of passenger seat. In short, I went to roll-cage configuration in olive green. Once I confirmed the configuration, color, and specification were exactly the way I wanted, I made the payment.


    The whole package cost me USD 125.000. It was almost two times more expensive than my old HMV, but I had no regret. It was a fresh built HMV after all, something that I failed to get my hand on when I was in earth.


    A moment later, I received a notification that I had a Toyota HMV in my inventory. I immediately took it out and went for a little test drive. Right now, I could only do a little test drive, but tomorrow I would definitely took the HMV for a full-speed and full-course drive.


    Then, I just got down from the HMV when two hunters came out from the lounge and walked over to me. If I recalled it correctly, the one in the left was Hou Lie Fuk while the one in the right was Hou Lie Sie. They were siblings from China.


    ¡°That¡¯s a nice car,¡± Hou Lie Fuk cheerfully said. ¡°Can we borrow it for a joy ride? We will return it in 2-3 days.¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± I flatly replied, while wondering what kind of people who tried to borrow a brand new car from someone they just met. ¡®Bully? Or maybe, shameless?¡¯


    ¡°Brother, come on,¡± Hou Lie Fuk said. ¡°We all are family here. You don¡¯t need to acts like stranger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not your family,¡± I gave another flat reply. ¡°And in fact, we are in just stranger who just met.¡±


    ¡°Even if we are not family and only stranger who just met, you should know how to treat your senior better,¡± Hou Lie Fuk said as cheerful expression in his face evaporated. ¡°In this place, seniority is paramount.¡±


    ¡°You are not my senior,¡± I said as I put the HMV back into my inventory.


    ¡°Can you see that we just try to befriend you? We are doing you a favor here.¡±A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need your favor or friendship.¡±


    ¡°Listen to me fool,¡± Hou Lie Fuk suddenly snapped. ¡°Your team is not here right now, so don¡¯t create trouble and show some respect to hunter who have worked here longer than you.¡±


    ¡°What trouble did I create?¡± I mockingly asked. ¡°Did I come to you and bother you? No, it¡¯s you who come to me and bother me.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Fuk, let¡¯s forget it,¡± Hou Lie Sie said. ¡°It¡¯s just trashy Japanese car. It¡¯s not worth our attention.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Hou Lie Fuk snorted before adding, ¡°Chinese car is much better, and even though haters keep badmouthing it with fake data, Chinese EV still dominates the field with the highest safety record never seen since the dawn of automotive industry.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s thanks to the party that China become so advance in various field.¡±


    After a smile Hou Lie Sie proudly expressed his fascist fetish, ¡°Glory to the party!¡±


    ¡°Glory to the party!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but want to puke as soon as the rubbish talk from two commies before me hit my ear. I had no interest in Chinese car, but I still got my hand on some pieces of valid information about it. Take their EV for example. It turned into bonfire left and right, so how could it have the highest safety record. The other example was their military jeep. It broke right away after hitting a roadside curb and created a traffic jam in the middle of a coup.


    Therefore, I couldn¡¯t help but felt an urge to give the fools a reality slap. Fortunately, I managed to hold it back to prevent further tension. Then, after giving me a sharp glare Hou Lie Fuk and Hou Lie Sie turned around and returned to lounge.


    As for me, I heaved a deep sigh. Entering radar of annoying fools was not a good thing. I should avoid them as many as I could. And so, I went up to the wall, looking for fresh air to brighten my mood.


    ---


    The defensive wall that circled Karmen was 12 meters high, and its top part was wide enough for six adult to walk side by side. I scaled the wall using steps near the gate, so after arriving at the top of the wall I could clearly see people who were going in and going out through the gate.


    Then, a guard on duty walked over to me. ¡°Are you hunter on back-up duty?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I replied as I put forward my hand. ¡°Shimon Bergensen, Pukin¡¯ Dogs. You can call me Berg and nice to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Kurk, just Kurk.¡± The guard shook my hands as he added, ¡°And nice to meet you too.¡±


    After a smile I turned my gaze to the gate. ¡°Is the traffic in the north gate always this high?¡±


    ¡°We will celebrate Karmen anniversary in a few days, and it is four day long festival.¡± Kurk explained. ¡°That¡¯s why lot of merchant and entertainer from other town come here to sell their craft.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    I then turned my gaze to the long line of carts that waiting their turn to enter the town. Some carts were being permitted to carry entrance registration after entering the gate and being asked to line up in the training field near the guard office. However, outside the gate there were still about 30 carts waiting for their turn, while the training field still had enough space to accommodate them.


    ¡°Is it really okay to let a long line of carts and people stays outside the wall?¡±


    ¡°It is fine,¡± Kurk casually replied.


    ¡°Really?¡± Big question mark instantly popped up on my forehead. ¡°I read a report that such a long line will become easy target for wyvern¡¯s dive and snatch hunting style, and currently a troublesome wyvern has entered Karmen vicinity.¡±


    ¡°Do you realize that the guards and ballista crew on the wall are rather slack right now?¡± Kurk casually asked.


    After checking the guards and ballista crew in the wall I nodded. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you guys are setting a trap for Old Jack right now?¡±


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Kurk firmly replied.


    ¡°Using civilian from other town?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the order from higher-ups. We have no say in this matter?¡±


    ¡°Do you plan to nail Old Jack using ballista?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. Ordinary ballista is not enough to kill a wyvern.¡± Kurk turned his gaze to a nice small house next to the guard office as he added, ¡°A young knight from Silva Family and his servants are standing by in that guest house.


    He is a specialist javelin thrower and so far he already kills three wyverns using his javelin. Once we spot Old Jack make a dive on the bait, we will ring the silent alarm and let the young knight nail it using his javelin.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    I said nothing further, but deep down I had big frown. When I went to report to officer in duty, I passed the guest house and I smelled a thick scent of alcohol from inside of this nice small house, along with laughter of young man. It didn¡¯t need bright brain to know that alcohol and waiting for a prey to enter killing zone was not a good mix.


    And even if, let¡¯s say, the alcohol was only an act. I still think the plan was too reckless. The bait was too big and too open. It could lead into high number of unnecessary death. However, there was a possibility I missed one or two vital information from the plan, so I just tightly zipped my mouth.


    *****

 SS1 4.2 - Troublesome Enemy

    SS1 4.2 - Troublesome Enemy


    New convoy of cart kept coming to north gate, and the guards in the gate faithfully followed the plan to maintain a line about 20 carts long outside the gate. Then, before I realized it, it was already 4:30 PM. Talking to Kurk really made time flew faster.


    ¡°It seems Old Jack won¡¯t show up today?¡± Kurk said.


    ¡°Maybe he already got a prey from somewhere else?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, and if it¡¯s the case we will heard about it soon.¡±


    I nodded and then turned my gaze on the long line outside the gate. I watched the cart one by one before stopping my gaze at a cart with two kids in the middle of the line. They were a pair seven or eight-year-old girl and a slightly younger boy. The two happily played with a small windmill in their hand, and that brought me some memory.


    When I was in 3rd grade, I loved to make similar windmill from used-paper and disposable chopstick. I would then put it in my bicycle and took it for a ride around the neighborhood with smug face. I could do it for hours and never got bored of it. I only stopped doing it because my father put me into after-school language course.


    As for the pair of sibling I watched in the distance, after kept begging at their mother, finally they got permission to get down from the cart. They immediately ran across the grass field while holding the windmill in their hand and had a big smile in their face.


    Then, the kids went away further and further from the road. I instantly realized it was not a good idea. Old Jack had no history of hunting at dusk. As daytime wyvern, his favorite hunting time was at noon. He would do the scouting by flying far above the cloud, and when he found a prey he would approached it with the glaring sun in his back.


    In short, the chance of Old Jack showed up at dusk was low, but there was always first time for everything. Unfortunately, it took place faster than I expected. I got a chill in my spine as a black shadow move very fast across the grass field¡¯s surface. When I looked up to the sky, I saw a giant bat with long necks, long legs, and long tail flew in high speed glide. That¡¯s Old Jack. I recognized him from his size and azure head.


    It made a dove to the grassland before flying straight to the kids with windmill, just about four meters above the grounds. Chaos instantly broke out among the people in front of the gate. They immediately rushed to the gate, leaving their cart and belongings. The only exception was the sibling¡¯s mother. With all her might, she ran towards her kids.


    As for me, I ignored the commotion and switched into full-killing mode. After replacing the soft-point loaded mag with AP-loaded mag, I raised my MPX with both hands while slightly bending my upper body forward, and then put my elbows on the rail wall and took aim.


    The pair of kids was about 100 meters from my position. They were running from my left to right, while Old Jack approached them from behind. The distance was inside my MPX effective range and I could read Old Jack¡¯s flying path unhindered.


    At this condition, I could even double tap engine block of an SUV running at 100 km/h. Old Jack was about 50 km faster, but it still give me enough window to complete the math. With ease I acquired the placement where I should put the cross hair to deliver the impact point I wanted, a double tap in the head.


    Other than that, Old Jack¡¯s head was also far bigger than engine block of an SUV. Even his brain was bigger. This shot would be a walk on the park. The only problem was, I didn¡¯t know if double tap in the head from 6.5 mm CBJ AP round would be enough to kill the beast. But I was certain for one thing, it would hurt and slow him down significantly and gave the kids a chance of survival.


    Then, I was about to switch the selective-lever from safety to semi-auto, when a hand landed on the MPX¡¯s handguard and pushed it down.


    ¡°Let the knight from Silva Family take care of it,¡± Kurk said as I turned my gaze to him. ¡°It¡¯s his idea to bait Old Jack using incoming cart from other town. He will be very angry if someone snatches his opportunity to kill Old Jack.¡±


    ¡°Copy,¡± I said as I canceled my aim and straightened my back.Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Honestly, it felt like a shit when someone stopping you from a perfect target opportunity, just before you pulled the trigger. In some case, the backlash from adrenaline rush that was being stopped in abrupt manner could also make a shooter snap. Fortunately, this was not my first time experiencing it. I was well-trained in this aspect, so I could handle it well.


    Then, I checked the young man with light body armor a dozen meter in my left. He already took a stance to throw the javelin in his hand, but his legs slightly wobbled and he had a hard time trying to get a sure footing.


    ¡®You shouldn¡¯t drink in the middle of a hunt,¡¯ I muttered inwardly.


    After seeing the young knight condition, I couldn¡¯t help but questioning my decision. I hoped I didn¡¯t make a bad call, by letting go the opportunity to snipe Old Jack¡¯s head. Then, the young man launched his javelin.


    SWOOOOSSHHH!


    Throughout my life, this was the first time I heard a javelin made a loud hiss as it flew through the air. It was easy to tell the javelin had more than enough speed. If it was made of hard metal or something harder and with enough mass, it would definitely deliver a devastating kinetic energy. And so, in a blink of an eye the javelin arrived before its intended target.


    Boooommm!!!


    Loud impact echoed to all direction as a tower of dust and gravel spiked up high to the air. Unfortunately, it was a miss. The javelin passed Old Jack one meter below his head, hit the ground in the distance and created a loud explosion.


    Worst of all, before the young knight form Silva Family had the chance to threw second Javelin, Old Jack already arrived before the siblings kids.


    Previously, as soon as the commotion broke out the kids immediately realized the imminent danger that came for them. With all their might, they ran towards their mother, but it was futile. With a single sweep from his claw Old Jack snatched both kids.


    ¡°MAMA!!!¡±


    The girls cried in terror while hugging her little brother with one hand, and tried to reach her incoming mother with her other hand. At the same time, the mother increase her speed with all her might, but once Old Jack took off, all she could do was only watching in despair as her kids became further and further away from her reach.


    As for the young knight from Silva Family, he managed to throw another javelin, but it was a hasty throw and ended up as a big miss.


    ¡°SOMEBODY!!!¡±


    The mother screamed in heart wrenching pleads as she dropped to her knee.


    ¡°PLEASE SAVE MY KIDS!!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°I will pay you with anything¡­. Huuuuuu¡­..¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t let that monster taking my babies¡­. UWAAAAAAAA!!!¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Even before the mother exploded into heart wrenching plea, I already raised my MPX. This time, I aimed at his leg, just a meter above the claw that gripped the kid. At the same time, an image of unpleasant outcome crossed in my mind.


    There was a possibility my shot would make Old Jack squeezed the kids to death instead of releasing them. Other than that, even though Old Jack released them from his grip, I was not sure if the kids would survive the fall.


    Even so, I still firmly took aim. My chance to save the kids was thinner than a single hairline, but if I didn¡¯t do it they would definitely ended in gruesome end. Then, without hesitation I squeezed the trigger in two gentle but quick successions


    Ba-bang!!!


    I could only heave a deep sigh as my shoot missed by a large margin. At exactly as I squeezed the trigger, Old Jack made a quick banked and exited my line of fire. With a churned stomach I could only watch as the damnable wyvern flew away with two crying kids, and their cries became louder as their mother suddenly fainted.


    Then, I felt a strong and rough push on my left shoulder. When I checked the person who pushed me, I found it was the young knight from Silva Family.


    ¡°Fool!¡± The young knight cursed me while also giving me a sword glare. ¡°You distracted me and made my aim miss.¡±


    ¡°Will all respect, Sir. How was that possible?¡± I asked in disbelief. ¡°I took the shoot after you throw both your javelins.¡±


    ¡°Rubbish!¡± The young knight snorted before adding. ¡°You will pay for this. Two innocent kids became Old Jack¡¯s food because of your stupid action.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    Before I finished my words the young knight from Silva Family and his servants already jumped off the wall and then left with hasty steps. A moment later, Kurk approached me and whispered.


    ¡°People from patrician family are really good at screwing someone, especially the one they chose as a scape goat,¡± Kurk said in regrettable tone. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t take the shoot.¡±


    Kurk then also left with hasty steps, while I tried to register the shit I just received. It seemed I just created a troublesome enemy, and I was afraid it was not only for myself. There was a possibility the bastard would also put Pukin¡¯ Dogs in his crosshair.


    A moment later the officer in duty came to relieve me from back up duty. With a bleak mood I then took my leave. I planned to return to the quarter right away, but when I scaled down the steps I heard some guards planned to evacuate the fainted mother only after the sun fully set in the west. The wanted to be sure Old Jack wouldn¡¯t make a dive on them as they evacuated her.


    Somehow, it rubbed me in a very wrong way. Without delay, I went to take the poor woman inside the wall. A senior guard then guided me into nearby healer. After leaving the money for nursing fee, I returned to the quarter.


    After taking a bath, I decided to buy sumptuous dinner to liven up my mood, but as soon as I recalled that tonight two kids would become a dinner for a wyvern, I instantly lost my appetite. In the end, I only ate a piece of milk bun before went to the bed.


    *****

 SS1 4.3 - A Fake Hunt

    SS1 4.3 - A Fake Hunt


    The thought about the sibling kids who became Old Jack¡¯s dinner and the threat from Silva Family¡¯s young knight kept plaguing my mind for the whole night. As the result, I barely got any sleep.


    With heavy eyes, I got up from the bed. Then, I was about to enter bathroom when I heard someone knocked the front door. When I went to check it, I found Torrak looked at me straight in the eyes with a drop dead serious gaze.


    ¡°Morning,¡± I casually said.


    Torrak nodded, and then he used his tablet to show me a face of a handsome young man. He had chiseled jaw line, brown curly hair, green eyes, and fair skin.


    ¡°Do you remember him?¡± Torrak asked me, and he sounded like a detective who interrogated a suspect.


    ¡°I do,¡± I replied. ¡°He is a young knight from Silva Family.¡±


    ¡°His name is Edwark de Silva. He is not a full knight yet, only at the level of A-rank hunter at most. He is also only a fifth child of Silva Family,¡± Torrak explained. ¡°In summary, his influence and power is the weakest among the young generations from Silva Family. However, he possesses unmatched arrogance.¡±


    ¡°And I have become his scape goat,¡± I added.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Torrak said in a regretful tone. ¡°And because the matter is tightly related to Silva Family¡¯s image, he has some leverage to use Silva Family¡¯s influence.¡±


    ¡°In short, I have shit coming for me.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Even though it¡¯s clearly visible I have nothing to do with his failure?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Can I bring this case to the court?¡± I asked out of curiosity. ¡°Maybe, I will find a way to defend myself and clear my name."


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Everyone who was present in the event fully knew it was not your fault that Edwark missed his throw,¡± Torrak said. ¡°But no one will step forward to help you with your case.¡±


    ¡°In that case,¡± I casually said. ¡°Tell me the shit I have to face.¡±


    ¡°You will join a hunt for Old Jack. The party will depart this evening.¡±


    ¡°What is the level of strongest hunter in this party?¡±


    ¡°A D-rank shooter, his name is Sam Ting Wong, leader of Jie Ten Bie.¡±


    ¡°How many hunters will join this hunt?¡±


    ¡°Nine hunters from Jie Ten Bie, two demi-humans, and you.¡±


    ¡°Only twelve dudes and the strongest is only D-rank shooter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Big red flag instantly popped up in my mind. ¡°You know. This hunt sound like a one way ticket to the next world. Why don¡¯t you just execute me here?


    It will be far simpler and no one will say a thing about it anyway.¡±


    ¡°In this hunt, the things you should worry the most is not your life,¡± Torrak calmly said. ¡°It¡¯s Hou Lie Fuk and Hou Lie Sie. They are senior member of Jie Ten Bie and Edwark have specifically asked them to use this hunt as an opportunity to mess around with you.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°So, we won¡¯t go after Old Jack actually?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°How long this fake hunt will take place?¡±


    ¡°Three nights and four days.¡±


    ¡°Can you guess what kind of shit that Hou Lie Fuk and Hou Lie Sie will throw at me?¡±


    Torrak immediately showed me a picture of two demi humans using his tablet. One is female with long and dark brown hair, and wolf ears. The other one was a girl, about 12-year-old, and other than her long black hair she also had wolf ears.


    Other than their wolf ears, one thing that was very striking about the female demi-humans in the picture was their facial feature. Without their wolf ears, I would definitely think they were mixed blood between easterner and westerner. And honestly, the female was beautiful and had nice figure and curve, while the girl had cute face and bright smile.


    ¡°This is W 0-1 and W 0-2. They are demi-humans who will go to the hunt with you,¡± Torrak calmly explained. ¡°Hou Lie Fuk and Hou Lie Sie will definitely use W 0-2, the demi-humans girl to agitate and provoke you.¡±


    ¡°What kind of provocation,¡± I curiously asked. ¡°I have no relation or sentiment to this young demi-human.¡±


    ¡°Here in farewell, demi-human is being treated as slave hunter without civil right or protection like a normal citizen. Whatever they do, it will be a very nasty.¡± After having a sigh Torrak continued, ¡°So, make sure you don¡¯t lose your cool until your return to Karmen. Even if Hou Lie Fuk and Hou Lie Sie beat the demi-humans girl until she is half-dead, don¡¯t do anything and just look away. That way you will be fine.¡±


    I curiously asked, ¡°How can you are so sure everything will be fine as long as I look away?¡±


    ¡°I have used every single means in my disposal to ensure it, and Silva Family¡¯s representative in this town has agreed. This event will be a mere warning for you.¡±


    ¡°Why do you go that far for me, a new E-rank hunter?¡±


    After a short silence Torrak replied, ¡°Yesterday, when everyone were chicken out in a corner and waiting for the sun to set, you took initiative to evacuate the poor woman who just lost her kids. You even brought her to nearby healer and paid the nursing fee.


    Twenty odds year I works with outsider hunters and I have met many kinds. Some are decent, some other are lowlifes, with most of them are in between, but this is the first time I meet a hunter who put so much care to locals like you.


    I think it¡¯s a shame to lose you in a circumstance where you become a scape goat because you try to do the right thing.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± After taking a deep breath I added. ¡°I will do my best to hold back my temper.¡±


    After a smile Torrak said, ¡°Good.¡±


    I then took a glance to the picture one more time. ¡°But, are you sure you want to send a kid to a hunt? Even though it¡¯s a fake hunt, shit still can happen out of nowhere. I hope she won¡¯t become a burden.¡±


    ¡°She maybe is only a kid, but her hunting skill and physical fitness are no less than a decent E-rank hunter.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but both of them only have leather armor, short sword, dagger, and hunting bow as their hunting equipment.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s hunting equipment are plenty enough for them, and they are really good at using it to sneak on their target and kill it silently.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°They are also very good at tracking Old Jack, even though in this hunt I specifically order them to avoid this sly wyvern,¡± Torrak added.


    I nodded and after a moment of silence I curiously asked, ¡°Yesterday, may I know why you didn¡¯t prepare multiple spear throwers?¡±


    ¡°No one thought the plan would work, so when Edwark refuse my suggestion to deploy multiple spear throwers, I didn¡¯t argue,¡± Torrak casually replied.


    ¡°Was that the reason why he drinks while waiting for Old Jack to show up?¡±


    ¡°Edwark will drink whenever he has the chance, even in the middle of a hunt.¡± After a light snort Torrak added, ¡°Yesterday, at first he just drinks lightly, but once dusk came and Old Jack still showed no sign to show up, he started drinking unreservedly.¡±


    ¡°What a cluster fuck fellow.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but unfortunately he comes from family with strong influence.¡± After a short pause Torrak asked me in a drop dead serious tone. ¡°If you have the chance to take your first shoot, will you hit Old Jack?¡±


    ¡°I will definitely hit him.¡±


    ¡°Damn!¡± Regret and frustration instantly became visible in Torrak¡¯s eyes. ¡°Yesterday, it was the first time Old Jack flew so low and so close to city wall. Yet we have let a go a golden opportunity to kill him for good.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, what a shame,¡± I said in regretful tone.


    Torrak then gave me the personal data about W 0-1, W 0-2, and Jie Ten Bie. After that, he left while I went to read the data from him. The demi-humans overall circumstance was very bleak, but the thing that drew my attention the most was the behavior and conduct from Jie Ten Bie¡¯s member.


    These people were epitome of trash, but they were really good at provoke their prey, both human and monster, to fall into their trap. Unfortunately, this time they met with a wrong opponent. They wouldn¡¯t be able to provoke me. Not to mention, they all had committed an act that made them a mortal enemy of Shimon lineage.


    ¡®I won¡¯t lose to these disgusting people, and actually they should avoid me,¡¯ I muttered as I strengthened my resolve.


    A moment later, I took morning bath, ate breakfast, and then made preparation for the hunt.


    *****

 SS1 5.1 - Night Ride

    SS1 5.1 - Night Ride


    In the evening, I went to departure station. There were several teams who would also go to the hunt at night. They were busy warming up their car while waiting for the sun to set in the west. I passed several of them before arriving before Jie Ten Bie.


    As the data from Torrak had stated, all member of Jie Ten Bie were Chinese from mainland, seven males and two females. All of them were ex-member of PLA and had devoted heart for CCP. However, despite their patriotic trait, they didn¡¯t use Chinese car, weapon, or equipment.


    Their cars were two units Toyota Land Cruiser in roll cage configuration. Their sidearm was Sig P228R. Their carbines were Sig 553. Their precision rifles were AW 338. Their webbing and coms were Italian made, while their combat knives were from Solingen, a Germany manufacture.


    Then, Sum Ting Wong had a big smile in his chiseled face before welcoming me, ¡°Brother Berg, thank you for join with us for the hunt.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I casually replied.


    ¡°We short one car, so can we use yours,¡± Sum Ting Wong said. ¡°We will pay the fuel.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Wasting no time I took out the HMV.


    ¡°You will ride with Hou siblings. I believe you already know them.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°And please have no worry. I already warn them to not provoke you by all means.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°W 0-1 and W 0-2 will also ride with you,¡± Sum Ting Wong added while pointed his thumb at two demi-humans who stood next to Hou siblings. ¡°And if you fancy one of them, feel free to use them however you like.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡±


    ¡°Well then, you can warm up your car.¡±


    Without delay I started HMV¡¯s engine. Then, Sum Ting Wong explained the hunting plan. Our objective was to eliminate orc and goblin that infested Sidra Forest. In two nights and two days, we would try to kill them as many as we could.


    As he pointed Sidra Forest¡¯s location using a map in his tablet Sum Ting Wong said, ¡°160 km south of Karmen, through a flat and hard surface of Millar Plain, we should be able to reach the last safety area before midnight. Get a good rest, and then start the hunt in the first morning right away.¡±


    ¡°The air is cooler at night so it¡¯s suitable for a ride, but more than half of monster is nocturnal,¡± I said. ¡°Is it really okay to drive across open plain at night?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s absolutely fine,¡± Sum Ting Wong confidently said. ¡°There are several outposts along the Millar Plain, and the guards in this outpost do a really good job in ensuring the monster population in this plain stay low.


    Other than that, we will have recon drone above our head all the time. In case a flock of monster approaches our position, we will have the initiative to engage or evade them.¡±


    I nodded before asking, ¡°How high the number of orc and goblin in Sidra Forest?¡±


    ¡°Very high, but if we can clear this forest and establish a network of outpost on it, we will be able to build a new town in middle of Millar Plain,¡± Sum Ting Wong explained. ¡°That¡¯s the very reason why Manager Torrak flow lot of hunting team to Sidra Forest for the last few months.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Sum Ting Wong then introduced me to the rest of Jie Ten Bie, and after asking me to synchronize my coms to Jie Ten Bie¡¯s network we then departed.


    ---


    In casual mood I drove the HMV at 40 km/h, following the Land Cruisers in front. We turned the light on, but everyone also mounted their NVG in their helmet. The exception was W 0-1 and W 0-2. They had natural night vision capability, so they didn¡¯t need NVG to see under the darkness.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    When I took a glance at rear compartment, I found W 0-1 and W 0-2 still carried out the lookout duty faithfully. They vigilantly scanned the area around the road while holding their bow and an arrow. W 0-1 scanned our left, while W 0-2 scanned our right. As for Hou Lie Sie, he still played War Thunder using his PSP. He already played the game since we left Karmen two hour ago, but showed no sign he would stopped soon.


    Meanwhile, Hou Lie Fuk who sat next to me kept smoking and threw the ash and the cigarette butt in the HMV¡¯s floor. When he wanted to put the light on the cigarette butt off, he would also pressed it in the dashboard directly. So far, he already created six burnt mark on the dashboard before him, and every time he did it he would did it while smiling at me.


    Other than that, every time Hou Lie Fuk spat out his phlegm he would also threw it straight to the HMV floor. And so, my brand new HMV now accumulated cigarette butt, cigarette ash, and phlegm more than any amount I had accumulate myself for the whole of my life.


    ¡°K-or-orrrk¡­. Cuih!¡±


    Hou Lie Fuk threw another thick phlegm to HMV¡¯s floor before turning his gaze to me.


    ¡°Brother Berg, do you have something we can eat?¡± Hou Lie Fuk casually asked. ¡°Something light, but enough to fill our stomach until we can have proper dinner at the last safety area.¡±


    ¡°Wait for a moment.¡±


    While maintaining my right hand on the wheel, I used my tablet to buy 10 pieces of assorted bun and 10 boxes of juice. Then, I took a bun from the bag and handed over the rest to Hou Lie Fuk.


    ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Hou Lie Fuk accepted the bag with a big smile. He immediately took a bun and ate it, but he didn¡¯t hand over the rest to rear compartment.


    ¡°The buns and the juices are for everyone,¡± I casually said.


    ¡°I will hold Hou Lie Sie¡¯s share,¡± Hou Lie Fuk said while munching his bun. ¡°As for W 0-1 and W 0-2, you don¡¯t need to worry about them.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t argue, but wasting no time I bought another pair of buns and juices and handed it over to W 0-1. Then, W 0-1 was about to take it when Hou Lie Fuk gave me a sharp glare.


    ¡°Brother Berg, didn¡¯t you heard me? You don¡¯t need to worry about them.¡±


    ¡°If they don¡¯t get proper intake, they won¡¯t be able to properly carry out the lookout.¡±


    ¡°Our drone will make up for it,¡± Hou Lie Fuk said as he snatched the second bag from me.


    ¡°¡­¡±


    I said nothing, but I happened to see W 0-1 glanced at the bun in Hou Lie Fuk¡¯s hand with longing while W 0-2 swallowed her saliva hard. Unfortunately, I could do nothing about it for now.


    At the Sume time, as Hou Lie Fuk looked at the bun in his hand I saw a familiar gleam in his eyes. It was a gleam from insatiate greed and jealousy that manifested into inability to see other people enjoyed something nice. I saw this gleam for the first time on my first roommate¡¯s eyes when I was an exchange-student in MIT.


    His name was Shi Shie Pee and coincidently or not, he was also a Chinese from mainland China. In a glance he was a nice and polite guy, but appearance could be deceitful.


    One day, I ate a big bag of roasted peanuts while watching a movie. Shi Shie Pee than came and politely asked me for the peanut. When I gave him a nod, he just took the whole bag. When I told him to take his share and leave the rest for me, he smiled before asking me to let him had the whole bag and then left before I gave him my reply.


    After that, it was getting worst and every time he took something from me right when I started enjoying it, and most often before I gave him my approval, he would have the same gleam in his eyes. When I checked his background, I found Shi Shie Pee was far from a poor. His father was a big shot in CCP, and his monthly allowance was five times bigger than mine.


    Compared to me who had to take weekend part-time job in nearby supermarket to fund my school project or get the money to buy steak once in a while, Shi Shie Pee was like a king while I was only a damn peasant among peasant. Therefore, his behavior provoked my curiosity. I really wanted to know why he seemed like have an obsession with my peasant food.


    So, I asked my uncle to secretly give Shi Shie Pie a quick diagnosis. My uncle had two post-graduate degrees. One was for studying psychoanalysis for pathological behavior, and the second was for studying personnel development & management. He also spent half of his life as HR manager in a huge multinational corporation. Therefore, he completed the diagnosis and observation only in a few days.


    ¡°That kid has inability to see someone eat something he deems nice,¡± My uncle told me. ¡°And this something nice is including ordinary food. As long as the people who eat it enjoy it so much, he won¡¯t be able to see it. He will try to take the food for himself as much as he can.


    I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because he is being raised that way or it¡¯s a result of psychological trauma, but I¡¯m very sure of one thing. It¡¯s just a symptom for his worst flaw. With a correct guidance, maybe, he will be able to balance it and become a decent folk, and who know if he can even turn it into an effective means to survive in crooked environment. It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t have time or intention to spare right now.


    So, in his current state, you should avoid him and limit further interaction at minimum. Nothing good will comes from mingles with folk like him.¡±


    Later on, Shi Shie Pie became my sworn enemy even though I already avoided him as much as I could. He even hired triad goons to kill me. If it was not for my big family strong influence, I would have become fish food in bottom of Charles River.


    As for my current situation, Hou Lie Fuk¡¯s shitty personality and bad manner was not the biggest issue I had to worry about. So for now, I just brushed it off and put my mind back on the wheel.


    *****

 SS1 5.2 - Morning Orgy

    SS1 5.2 - Morning Orgy


    Around midnight, we reached the last safety area before Sidra Forest. It was a wide mound 3 km away before the forest outskirt. We set up a defensive position in this mound, with 360 degree of vantage point. We also put the recon drone on a mount on top of leading Land Cruiser. This way, we would be able to scan the area up to 3 km, and if a big contact approached our position we would retreat immediately.


    We then distributed dinner and took turn for night watch. The HMV team got the first watch. Hou Lie Fuk and Hou Lie Shie would man the drone electro optic ball and stayed in the leading Land Cruiser, while I, W 0-1, and W 0-2 set up a lookout facing Sidra Forest.


    We dig a hole facing Sidra Forest, 50 cm deep and 2 meter wide, and cover it with low para-net before sitting inside it. After that, I set up my TRG M10, added thermal extension in front of the scope but tilted it to the side. This way, I had option to use helmet-mounted NVG or thermal extension when scanning the area using the scope.


    Then, we checked our dinner. I got a cheapskate bacon sandwich, while W 0-1 and W 0-2 got a thick slice of baguette. Without second thought I handed over my bacon sandwich to W 0-1.


    ¡°I don¡¯t eat pork,¡± I casually said.


    ¡°Thank you, Sir.¡± W 0-1 happily received the bacon sandwich and then she shared it with W 0-2.


    ¡°You can call me Berg,¡± I said as I took out butter, peanut butter, and a whole piece of sourdough from my inventory.


    ¡°Understood, Mr. Berg.¡±


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°If we count it since we came out of the tank, I¡¯m 4-year-old while W 0-2 is 2-year-old,¡± W 0-1 replied. ¡°But if we use physical maturity as the measurement, I¡¯m equal to 20-year-old natural born human, while W 0-2 equal to 12-year-old kid.¡±


    I nodded while cutting a thin slice of sourdough, spread over a bit of butter on it, and topped it with tons of peanut butter. Then, I took a bite and the taste was superb. It would be perfect if I could lightly pan-toasted the sourdough slice, but for current circumstance cold sourdough was good enough.


    ¡°I hear you can get a citizenship if you score 25.000 monster kill. Is that true?¡± I asked before giving the sourdough peanut butter in my hand a second bite.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± W 0-1 casually replied. ¡°I have reached a third of that quota, while W 0-2 is just starting but compare to me she did a better start.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I gave my sourdough peanut butter another bite before offering the butter and peanut butter to W 0-1. ¡°You can put these spread on your baguette. I guarantee it will taste better.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± W 0-1 happily replied.


    It was only a simple conversation, but it gave me a clue that W 0-1 had a very simple personality, or to be precise she was being indoctrinated to be such person, and it gave me an irony. She killed at least 8000 monsters using bow and sword only in a span of four years, but she showed no sense of achievement for this feat, not even a bit. In this sense, she was like a piece of a tool, faithfully and silently doing its intended purpose.


    As for W 0-2, she just looked at me with her clear eyes while eating her sandwich, but this simple act was also more than enough to give me a clue that she was no different than W 0-1, another effective and efficient hunting tool.


    But at least, the two showed a sense of enjoyment for a good food. They happily enjoyed the bacon sandwich as if it was the most delicious sandwich in the world. When they enjoyed their baguette slice with combo butter and peanut butter, they also had jubilant smile all over their face. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    So, even though it was only at minimum level, they still possessed human heart with desire and emotion. This confirmation strengthened my resolve to proceed with my plan.


    ¡®It seems I have to leave Pukin¡¯ Dogs,¡¯ I muttered in silence before turning my gaze to W 0-1. ¡°If House of Hunter possesses an effective hunter like you, why do they need outsider hunter?¡±


    ¡°The project to mass produce demi-human hunter is failed,¡± W 0-1 casually explained. ¡°They put it into full stop two years ago. In total, there are only less than ten demi-human hunters in Farwell right now.¡±


    ¡°What do you say if outsider hunter wants to recruit you to their team?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t refuse, but no one in their right mind will asks us to join their team.¡±


    ¡°Because no local hunter or patrician family will be willing to work with such team,¡± I tried to confirm the information I got from Torrak.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± After a moment of silence W 0-1 added, ¡°That¡¯s why we can only become scout for house of hunter, conduct hunting on our own, or providing temporary support for short-duration hunting like we have right now.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    After W 0-1 and W 0-2 finished their bacon sandwich and baguette, I offered them the remaining sourdough and they happily accepted it. They ate it with the butter and peanut butter, and when they were done W 0-2 happily muttered this was the first time she could eat until she full. That was the first word I heard from W 0-2, and she sounded like a normal happy kid.


    After that we continued our night watch until team from second Land Cruiser replaced us.


    ---


    I forced my eyes open as I heard a light sob and heavy pant. The first thing I saw was the morning sky that started to brighten up. Then, when I turned my gaze to my side, I found Hou Lie Fuk was pinned the fully naked W 0-2 under him. The little girl tried her best to hold her sob, while the animal pounding her roughly.


    ¡°Morning.¡± Hou Lie Fuk smiled at me as he paused his pounding. ¡°Do you want to do her too? She is really tight down there.¡±


    ¡°No, thanks,¡± I replied as I get up, and then took a few gulp of water from my water canteen.


    ¡°Or do you want the normal size?¡± Hou Lie Fuk said as he turned his gaze to W 0-1, just right next to him.


    The gall was on her four, fully naked, exposing her perfect figure and nice curve. Hou Lie Shie was screwing her from behind, while Sum Ting Wong stuffed his dick inside her mouth. In a glance, I could tell their morning orgy was just starting. It meant it wouldn¡¯t stop soon.


    Torrak had warned me about it. He said every member of Jie Ten Bie was horny animal with nasty sexual appetite, including minor. That¡¯s the very reason why they often took along W 0-1 and W 0-2 to their hunt. Other than to get money, they also used their hunt as a chance to satisfy their carnal desire.


    So, the event didn¡¯t surprise me. This was also not my first time saw such occurrence. The only thing that I didn¡¯t expected was that, W 0-1 and W 0-2 had a thick sense of embarrassment and humiliation as the animal did them.


    ¡®They are really just human being, even though the way they came to this world is not so natural, with animal traits like ears, tail, sharp sense, super athletics body and reflex.¡¯


    ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t want to get some?¡± Hou Lie Fuk woke me up from my pondering.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in the mood,¡± I casually replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s your lost then.¡±


    Hou Lie Fuk then started to pound W 0-2 again. A moment later, he stopped while his body lightly trembled. Then, he had a disgusting smile while pulling his dick from W 0-2. It seemed he just came inside W 0-2.


    At the same time, Fu Kin Dum, another male member of Jie Ten Bie, approached W 0-2. Then, he lowered his tactical pant and said to W 0-2, ¡°As usual.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    The little girl said nothing other than biting her lower lips harder. Then, she got up and started licking Fu Kin Dum¡¯s dick before putting it halfway inside her little mouth.


    ¡°Use your tongue more. Didn¡¯t I tell you that many times?¡± Fu Kin Dum sternly said.


    A moment later, a satisfying but also disgusting smile bloomed in Fu Kin Dum¡¯s face. He then pulled W 0-2¡¯s head forward, making his dick fully entered her mouth and it almost choked her.


    ¡°You can do it too you know,¡± Hou Lie Fuk said. ¡°She is just a slave and who know how many hunters already do her mouth and holes. We just follow the trend.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t like sharing a meat fuck,¡± I casually said.


    After a smile Hou Lie Fuk nonchalantly said, ¡°I see.¡±


    I believed it was very easy for W 0-1 and W 0-2 to kill their rapist from close range. Unfortunately, no matter how shitty the circumstances they had, their indoctrination made them unable to put a fight against human. Throughout my life, I never saw people with such tragic fate.


    ¡°I will make us breakfast,¡± I said while doing a little stretching. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    Hou Lie Fuk lightly nodded. ¡°Ask So Dum for the ingredient and equipment.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Wasting no time, I went to Yu So Dum. She was on duty to man the EO Ball on the leading Land Cruiser with Yu So Dim, her sister and another female member of Jie Ten Bie. When I told her I would make the breakfast, she immediately gave me the equipment and the ingredient, and asked me to set up my working station next to the Land Cruiser where she could leisurely watch me.


    *****

 SS1 5.3 - Heartless Bastard

    SS1 5.3 - Heartless Bastard


    The equipment I got from Yu So Dum were two portable gas stoves, four portable gas canister, 4 liter stock pot, 30 cm skillet, a gallon of mineral water, and 10 sets of eating utensil. As for the ingredient, I got 16 packs of instant noodles, a carton of 10 chicken eggs, 10 links of pork sausage, 3 bundles of bok choy, and a big bowl of pickled cabbage.


    Everything, both the equipment and ingredients were being bought from Japanese supermarket. So, while Chinese nationalists threw hatred campaign against Japanese, some of them actually ate and used Japanese product when they had the chance and money.


    Well, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m complaining about their choice. I was very happy about it actually. I preferred Japanese-made ingredient compared to Chinese-made. Last time I ate a meal made of Chinese-made ingredient, it didn¡¯t end well for my stomach.


    ¡°Cook the instant noodles and bok choy together, and then used the fried egg, fried sausage, and pickled cabbage as topping,¡± Yu So Dum instructed me with a commanding tone.


    ¡°Roger,¡± I firmly replied.


    ¡°Also, set up your cooking station next to the car where I can watch you unobstructed.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    After putting a piece of gum in my mouth, I set the cooking station next to leading Land Cruiser. Then, under the eagle watch from Yu So Dum I cooked our breakfast and finished it in matter of minutes. Yu So Dum then checked the food using a test kit before signaling everyone that breakfast was ready.


    Hou Lie Sie was the first person to come. He wore only his boxer even though the morning air was pretty cold. Well, he just had some heavy workout on W 0-1, and then he also took a turn on W 0-2. So, maybe that was the reason why the cold air was not a big deal for him right now.


    While taking the bowl and chopstick he asked Yu So Dum. ¡°This food is safe, right?¡±


    ¡°It is,¡± Yu So Dum replied while showing the testing kit she previously used to check the food.


    ¡°Are you sure he didn¡¯t put anything funny or deadly on it?¡± Hou Lie Sie asked another question while giving me a glance.


    ¡°If you are so afraid he poison the food, just ask him to eat it first,¡± Yu So Dum nonchalantly said.


    Wasting no time, I used the ladle to scoop a full bowl of noodle from the pot and topped it with fried egg and pickled cabbage. After gulping down a mouthful of noodles and a mouthful of soup, I turned my gaze to Hou Lie Fuk.


    ¡°Happy?¡±


    ¡°Very happy, and thanks for the food.¡±


    After a big smile Hou Lie Sie ladled some noodles into his bowl, topping it with the fried egg, fried sausage, and pickled cabbage. Then, he ate it with gusto, and rather messy if I may say.


    ¡°I thought you will snap as soon as you saw we make a move on W 0-2,¡± Hou Lie Sie asked while looking at me straight in the eyes.


    ¡°Torrak have warned me about it,¡± I said as I took out a small container of Sichuan chili oil from my inventory and put a full of tea spoon on my noodles. ¡°And he strictly prohibits me from doing anything that will create unnecessary tension.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Hou Lie Sie said while smiling, but his smile didn¡¯t reach his eyes.


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡± I casually asked.


    ¡°Nope,¡± Hou Lie Sie said before taking the Sichuan chili oil in front of me.


    After checking the brand, and also saw that the remaining chili oil was only a half of its full volume, Hou Lie Sie immediately turned his gaze to me.


    ¡°Do you have another jar? This Sichuan chili oil is a very good one. A half of small jar won¡¯t be enough for everyone.¡±


    I immediately took out another three containers of Sichuan chili oil and handed it over to Hou Lie Sie. ¡°Here.¡±Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Hou Lie Sie happily said.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡±


    Then, People who were on lookout duty take their noodles, put lot of chili oil on it, and then returned to their position. People who had morning orgy also stopped their party and went to get their breakfast. After asking W 0-2 to put her clothes on, Hou Lie Fuk took her to sit in the HMV rear compartment. After whispering something to her ear, he left the girl as she started to lightly sob.


    As for W 0-1, Sum Ting Wong put a leash on her neck and dragged her to my direction. I didn¡¯t know what he was up to, but I believed it was not a good thing. Then, while everyone took their noodles, Sum Ting Wong leisurely penetrated W 0-1 from behind.


    After giving me a grin he said, ¡°Do you want to see something that will make you exited beyond anything you can imagine?¡±


    ¡°No, thanks,¡± I casually replied before slurping my noodles.


    ¡°Too bad, but I will still show it to you.¡±


    Sum Ting Wong then started pounding W 0-1. A thick sense of humiliation instantly filled W 0-1¡¯s face. She also tried her best to make no sound while biting her lower lip. At the same time, I got a hunch Sum Ting Wong would do something irreparable.


    As his pounding became harder and harder, Sum Ting Wong tightened the least on W 0-1¡¯s neck. Before long, W 0-1¡¯s eyes widened while desperately gasping for air. She also tried to undo the leash on her neck, but it was futile.


    ¡°She will die if you do nothing,¡± Hou Lie Fuk said while putting another ladle of noddle to his bowl.


    ¡°Yeah, she will,¡± I casually replied.


    I really couldn¡¯t do anything to save W 0-1. Three men in front of me looked very casual while holding their bowl with their left hand and slurping their noodle, but their right hand was already on their sidearm. I would lose the fight as soon as I made my move.


    Even if Torrak already made sure they wouldn¡¯t kill me, they would still had the upper hand on how they would end the fight, and it could be worse than dead. And so, I did nothing.


    Before long, W 0-1¡¯s body started to lightly convulse while her eyes rolled back. A moment later, her body became fully limp and Sum Ting Wong had to hold it. Then, after unloading his load while having maniacal smile in his face, Sum Ting Wong let a go his hold. W 0-1¡¯s body instantly fell to the ground with a light thud.


    And just like that, a skillful hunter who killed more than 8000 thousand monsters was being gang raped to the dead. As I looked straight at W 0-1¡¯s lifeless eyes, I started to have a doubt in my heart. Is it worth the effort, to fight for a kingdom that treating such good hunter as a slave?


    But in the end, I stopped my thought from growing further. I didn¡¯t need to give a fuck about Kingdom of Farwell, but I still had to fulfill my oath as Shimon lineage. While taking the last slurp of my noodles, I strengthened my resolved to take care of W 0-2.


    ¡°Damn!¡± Hou Lie Fuk vexingly said. ¡°He really did nothing to save the whore.¡±


    ¡°What a bastard,¡± Hou Lie Sie added.


    ¡°I told you, didn¡¯t I?¡± Yu So Dum smugly said. ¡°You can¡¯t provoke him to risk his life for someone else. He is not a na?ve but a heartless bastard, and maybe he even more bastard than you all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Sum Ting Wong said while putting on his pant. ¡°Now, I¡¯m fully convinced you got a degree in psychology from Harvard not for nothing.¡±


    After a smile I said, ¡°Is it wrong, to put my safety above anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, of course it¡¯s not wrong,¡± Sum Ting Wong said before putting a full ladle of noodle into a bowl, and topping it with two table spoons of Sichuan chili oil. ¡°It just makes us sick every time a bastard like you looks at us as if we are animal.¡±


    ¡°Sorry about that,¡± I said before smiling and muttered, ¡®But you all are indeed animals.¡¯


    Then, Yu So Dim who so far only quietly listening the conversation suddenly turned her gaze to me and said, ¡°W 0-1 and W 0-2 usually only put a deadpan face when someone screwed them, but previously, they had thick sense of humiliation in their face. Do you know the reason?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± I gave Yu So Dim a brief reply.


    ¡°It was your presence that triggered their sense of humiliation and embarrassment. They didn¡¯t want you to see their embarrassing moment.¡± After a short pause Yu So Dim added, ¡°In other words, they likes you.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I casually said. ¡°But, I still won¡¯t risk my life for them.¡±


    ¡°You are really a heartless bastard,¡± Yu So Dim said before putting her attention back to the EO ball console.


    After having a deep sigh I said, ¡°I don¡¯t give a fuck that you gang rape W 0-1 to the death, but at least, let me clean her body before putting it in body bag.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Sum Ting Wong said before slurping another mouthful of noodles.


    Wasting no time, I took W 0-1¡¯s body to HMV. After laying her naked body in the rear compartment, I turned my gaze to W 0-2. She only sobbed lightly, but her tears flowed like a flood.


    The little girl already took stamina potion and healing potion, so physically she was fine, but inwardly, it was easy to tell that she had broken into pieces. Through time she may healed, but the scar would never gone and would affect her for the rest of her life.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry for your loss, and I¡¯m sorry because I didn¡¯t do anything to save her.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    W 0-2 said nothing, but she gave me a light nod. Then, I took several small towels and two gallons of water from my inventory.


    ¡°Can you help me to clean W 0-1¡¯s body before we put her into body bag?¡±


    ¡°I can, but can we burry or cremate Big Sis later?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t we will bury or cremate her after we return to Karmen?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± W 0-2 weakly said, ¡°Usually, hunter will use body of dead demi-human as bait for monster.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t do that. We will definitely burry or cremate W 0-1 later,¡± I firmly said.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    After wiping her tears, W 0-2 then helped me cleaning W 0-1¡¯s body. At first, she did it calmly, but a moment later she sobbed again with tears like a flood, and all I could do was only ensuring she could sobs for her big sister undisturbed.


    *****

 SS1 5.4 - Throes of Heart Seizure

    SS1 5.4 - Throes of Heart Seizure


    After cleaning W 0-1¡¯s body and putting it in the body bag, and zipped it up to her upper chest, I lit a candle and put it next to her, along with a can of hot tea, a piece of apple, and a piece of meat bun.


    ¡°We can¡¯t let her to depart with empty stomach,¡± I said to W 0-2.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± W 0-2 weakly nodded while maintaining her gaze at W 0-2¡¯s face.


    ¡°You also need to eat,¡± I said as I handed over a piece of Choco bun and a can of warm tea to W 0-2.


    The little girl said nothing, but accepted the bun and the tea. She immediately tore the bun package and ate the bun with gusto. When she looked at the canned tea with confuse look, I immediately helped her to open it.


    Then, after finishing the tea and the bun she weakly said, ¡°Mr. Berg, Sum Ting Wong and the others plan to frame you as Big Sis killer, and make sure you receive heavy punishment from House of Hunter.¡±


    ¡°How do you know about this?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Hou Lie Fuk whispered it to me,¡± W 0-2 said, still in low voice, but I could see anger flashed in her clear eyes. ¡°He asked me to cooperate and become the witness for the report, or they will torture and kill me too.¡±


    ¡°So, you know they will kill your Big Sis?¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± W 0-2 admitted with watery eyes. ¡°But W 0-2 can¡¯t prevent it and can only watch in silence.¡±


    ¡°Because your shackles prevent you from fighting back?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± W 0-2 looked at tattoo of chains that circled her left wrist as she continued, ¡°This shackle prevent us from harming human or going against their wish.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± W 0-2 suddenly gave me a pleading gaze. ¡°If a human become our master, he or she can give us permission to harm or even kill other human.¡±


    ¡°Do you want me to become your master and give you permission to kill those animals?¡± I calmly asked.


    ¡°Mhm.¡± W 0-2 firmly nodded. ¡°It will also prevent them from carry out their plan to frame you.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you can kill them all?¡±


    ¡°I will be able to kill the first four if I catch them off guard from close range, heavily wounded the next three, and you can handle the last two.¡±


    ¡°And you will die in the process?¡±


    ¡°Most likely,¡± W 0-2 gave me another nod. ¡°But it¡¯s not a problem. W 0-2 doesn¡¯t want to live without Big Sis.¡±


    ¡°I see. You really wants to kill them that badly.¡±


    I already read the procedure to take a demi-human as my servant. I only had to scan the tattoo in their wrist using my tablet. Wasting no time, I did the procedure. A second later, I got a notification that W 0-2 had become my servant.


    W 0-2 then looked at me with pleading gaze. ¡°Master, give this servant the order.¡±


    ¡°Well,¡± I turned my gaze to check Jie Ten Bie¡¯s members one by one before continuing, ¡°At this point, you don¡¯t need to kill those animals anymore.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    W 0-2 looked at me as anger erupted in her eyes. She must thought I betrayed her. After a smile I immediately explained to her.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Just looks for yourself.¡±


    W 0-2 immediately followed my gaze and she instantly tilted her head. All member of Jie Ten Bie were laying down with stiff and arched body right now, five on the ground around the cooking station, two on the Land Cruiser¡¯s rear compartment, and two other on the lookout nest. Their feet were slightly trembling, while their mouth was gasping for air every a second or two.


    ¡°What happen to them?¡± W 0-2 curiously asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s what we call walking the throes of heart seizure, and they will reach the end of their journey soon.¡±


    ¡°Master, did you poison their food?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°But they have checked it before eating it.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t check the three small jars of chili oil I gave them.¡±


    ¡°In that case,¡± W 0-2 said. ¡°You don¡¯t need to take me as your servant anymore.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°If you take a demi-human as servant, local hunter and patrician family will avoid you,¡± W 0-2 explained. ¡°It means, no C-rank hunter and above will work with you, and the big money come when you work with them.¡±


    ¡°I see, but I will still take you as my servant.¡± After a short pause I casually added, ¡°We don¡¯t need to take high rewarding job. Hunting low-rank monster will give us enough money if we maintain humble life style.¡±


    After a short ponder W 0-2 said, ¡°Okay, but if later you change your mind, you can return me to house of hunter. Even if they torture me, I will never tell anyone about what happened here.¡±


    ¡°Fair enough,¡± I happily said. ¡°Now, you have to take a morning bath and then we can have a proper breakfast.¡±


    After storing W 0-1¡¯s body in my inventory, I prepared warm water for W 0-2. It was pretty easy procedure. I put two gallons of water in the thermo-plastic bucket and heated it up using dipping-heating element I connected to APU in the HMV.


    I also assembled a platform made of two empty beer crates I layered with rubber floor mat. Then, I put the bucket with warm water on the platform¡¯s edge and asked W 0-2 to kneel next to it.


    One of the animals put his fucking sperm on her hairs and she didn¡¯t realize that she was not cleaning it clean enough, so I helped her to wash her hairs clean. After that, I gave her a new set of clothes, shoes, and towel, and asked her to continue the bath on her own while I went to clean up the trail of my morning murder.


    First, I had to store everything in my inventory and disposed it later as soon as I found a good opportunity to do it. With ease I moved everything and dead bodies in the lookout nest and cooking station.


    After that, I went to the leading Land Cruiser and found that Yu So Dum was still alive, half alive to be precise. She gave me a sharp glare as I smiled at her.


    ¡°You have planned it even before the hunt, right?¡± Yu So Dum asked in weak voice.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Even though you have received guarantee that we will not go after your life?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s say, I just don¡¯t like you all.¡±


    ¡°Damnable bastard!¡± Anger erupted in Yu So Dim¡¯s eyes, but then she managed to calm herself. ¡°Spare me and bound me as your servant. You won¡¯t regret it.¡±


    ¡°Why do you think I won¡¯t regret it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m smart and capable hunter. I also have nice figure and face. You can use me all you want.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a nice offer,¡± I said as I checked Yu So Dim¡¯s figure from head to toe. ¡°You really have nice figure and curve¡­ long legs, perky butt, sensual hips, slim waist, provocative breasts, and beautiful face. I bet you also have nice pussy under your pant.¡±


    ¡°My pussy is not only nice and beautiful. It¡¯s also very tight,¡± Yu So Dum proudly said. ¡°Just pull my pant down and see it yourself.¡±


    ¡°I see. That will be nice to give your pussy a fingering and then screw it.¡±


    ¡°I bet you will like it, and once you cum inside me, you will want to do it again and again,¡± Yu So Dim charmingly said.


    I nodded and smiled. ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have means to stop your heart seizure.¡±


    ¡°Wai---¡°


    Without further ado I put Yu So Dim to my inventory. Normally, I couldn¡¯t put a living thing to my inventory, but Yu So Dim was only an inch before the end of her life. So, the process went smoothly. After that I put both Land Cruisers to my inventory before cleaning the HMV from remains of Hou Lie Fuck¡¯s bad manner.


    When I finished the cleaning, W 0-2 already finished her bath and put her new clothes and shoes on. The woodland AOR2 tactical pant, the ranger green summer field shirt, multicam chest rig and tactical belt, and the flat dark earth hiking boots were really suit her.


    ¡°How are the clothes and shoes?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It fit this servant very well. It also feels so comfortable and nice,¡± W 0-2 cheerfully said.


    ¡°How does master know this servant size?¡±


    ¡°Manager Torrak gives me your personal info, and I find your size is being listed on it.¡±


    ¡°Did master buy this clothes and shoes before the hunt?¡± W 0-2 curiously asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± After having a deep sigh I added. ¡°I also bought some for your Big Sis, but unfortunately she wouldn¡¯t need it anymore.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    W 0-2 instantly pressed her lips. It was easy to tell loss of her Big Sister was still very painful for her. And so, I immediately change the subject to distract her pain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a proper breakfast and then talk about our next move.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    I then took W 0-2 to sat in the HMV before buying a breakfast package from a shop in Osaka. It was teriyaki chicken, scramble egg, and pickled green leafy on top of warm rice, along with warm lemonade to wash it down. We ate in silence, but W 0-2 finished her food so I could put my mind at ease.


    *****

 SS1 5.5 - Shimon Family

    SS1 5.5 - Shimon Family


    Long time ago, a few hundred years before state of Israel being founded, lived a small but happy Jew family. They bore Simon as their family name. The husband and his wife worked as labor in a big olive farm. Their children, Ariel, a 12-yeard-old fine boy, and Ariella, a 10-year-old sweet girl, helped them as minor labor and received a piece of plain bread and water as their only payment.


    It was only peasant among peasant life, and as Jew they received lot of discrimination and limitation from the society they lived in, but Simon family happily lived their life. Unfortunately, their happiness didn¡¯t last long.


    One day, Ariella got a fever and Ariel had to look after her, so the siblings couldn¡¯t go to help their parent as usual. Never did the two will imagine that in the afternoon, they would receive news that their parent had passed away. Looter who raided the olive farm had killed them the news said.


    The olive farm owner then took the siblings as their servants and forcing them to convert and left their faith, but it was not the worst part of tragic life they had to go through. The farm owner turned out was a child predator, and Ariel and Ariella became his favorite toys and soon as the two entered his household.


    Later, Ariel and Ariella also found out that their parent didn¡¯t die in the hand of looters. The other farm workers killed his father, and then raped their mother to the death. Everything was being done under the order from far owner. This revelation crushed the siblings¡¯ tender heart and soul into pieces, but it also gave them a rebirth.


    The siblings then secretly changed their family name from Simon to Shimon, and concocted a plan to revenge their parent unjust death. It took eleven years of unbearable pain and suffering before Ariel and Ariella could full fill their revenge.


    The sibling didn¡¯t only kill everyone who was taking part in their parent death. They also crippled the olive farm they have grown to the biggest and richest farm in the country by taking away 90% of its liquid asset.


    They then ran to a country in other continent where the people were more tolerance to Jewish folk. In this country, they started Shimon Family from scratch and they established an iron rule for Shimon lineage, ¡®If you encounter child predator in your path, kill them without anyone knowing about it, and take care of the victims as best as you can.¡¯


    That was the story about the birth of Shimon Family, and I recited it to W 0-2 after we had our breakfast.


    ¡°And that¡¯s the reason, why master have decided to kill Sum Ting Wong and the rest from the start?¡± W 0-2 asked while giving me a curious gaze.


    I firmly nodded. ¡°Consider it as their bad luck, to bring a Shimon lineage to a quiet place.¡±


    ¡°In your previous world, did master actively hunt child predator?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± I casually replied. ¡°In my previous world, other than sex to minor service provided by black market dealer, some tradition and religion allow a legal marriage to a minor. So, the number of child predator is rather huge.


    It will bring nasty repercussion to Shimon family if we hunt all those animal. Therefore, Shimon lineage killed only child predator they encountered in their path, in silence. Then, help the victim using family resource.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°And just so you know, if Sum Ting Wong or the others made an attempt to kill you, I would risk my life to stop it.¡± After taking a deep breath I added, ¡°Or, I won¡¯t be able to face the family founder. My father would also definitely disown me if I did nothing.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°Now, if you want it, you can join Shimon Family,¡± I calmly said to W 0-2. ¡°And it¡¯s not a forceful offer. Even if you don¡¯t bear Shimon as your family name, I will still do my best to take care of you.¡±Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°I want to join Shimon Family,¡± W 0-2 firmly replied, almost in instant.


    ¡°In that case, I represent the head family to give you Shimon Ariella as your name.¡± After a smile I added, ¡°Ariella has meaning Lion of God. I know your physical trait is a wolf and human, but it doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t have lion heart.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± W 0-2 firmly nodded. ¡°W 0-2 now is Shimon Ariella and will do the best for the family.¡±


    After a smile I said, ¡°My full name is Shimon Bergensen. You can call me Berg and I will call you Ariel, and starting from now we are sibling and we will take care of each other with our utmost.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± Ariel nodded and then asked me, ¡°Berg, what is the meaning behind your name?¡±


    ¡°Bergensen is name of a musician. My father gave me this name because he wished I would become a musician, a profession that never popped up from Shimon lineage.¡± After a smile I added, ¡°But I found my calling in the military.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°And here is your tablet,¡± I said as I put a hunter tablet on Ariel¡¯s hand. ¡°I have put 20.000 mollar on it, along with the rest of your clothes, shoes, and some other things.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Ariel happily received the tablet and examined it with sparkling eyes. She must be very happy right now. Well, she couldn¡¯t help it.


    As demi-human, she didn¡¯t receive money from monster kill she scored. The money went directly to House of Hunter. She only received food, clothes, weapon, and hunting equipment and other basic necessity, no matter how much money she produced.


    But now, after I took her under my wing and granted her a hunter tablet, everything had changed. She could receive money, buy anything she needed on her own, and possessed inventory with unlimited capacity.


    ¡°The tablet is still ownerless. Use it to scan your face and right palm, and it¡¯s fully yours.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Wasting no time I taught Ariel how to scan her face and right palm. A moment later, she received a notification that she had become a full-fledge hunter under my direct authority.


    ¡°Do you need anything else?¡±


    Ariel nodded. ¡°Can Ariel wear my old leather armor?¡±


    ¡°How much protection you can get from your leather armor?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s only low-rank passive magical equipment, but it¡¯s enough to protect my vital from direct thrust of edge weapon launched by low-rank monster,¡± Ariel explained. ¡°In a close combat against multiple low-rank monster, it will help Ariel a lot.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second,¡± I said as big question mark popped up on my forehead. ¡°You can use magical equipment?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Ariel firmly gave me a nod. ¡°Ariel is DD-rank by birth. It means Ariel can use passive magical equipment and has physical fitness equal to new C-rank.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± I deeply looked at Ariel as I asked her another question. ¡°How many monster kill do you have so far?¡±


    ¡°A little above five thousand,¡± Ariel casually replied.


    ¡®Holy cow! That¡¯s some insane body count.¡¯ Shocked gripped my heart, but then I realized that it was still too low if Ariel truly had physical fitness equal to a new C-rank.


    After taking a deep breath I said, ¡°If you do a full-time hunting, I believe you will have far higher score than 5000 monster kill.¡±


    ¡°Mhm, Big Sis also said that a lot.¡±


    ¡°In that case, our life won¡¯t be so bad even if we hunt only low-rank monster,¡± I happily said. ¡°We will be able to enjoy a good steak on weekend at least.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    I then taught Ariel how to make purchase using her tablet, and asked her to buy new protection equipment with color that could blend with her new clothes. Without second thought, she bought soft-armor long vest to protect her torso and upper thigh, along with shoulder protector, arm protector, and shin protector.


    Every piece of equipment she bought was in ranger green, had thin and compact shape, and very light. She wore the soft-armor vest by sandwiching it between her field shirt and chest rig. As for the other piece she wore it like regular protector equipment wore by anti-riot personnel.


    Her new protection equipment cost me 70.000 mollar, but I happily paid it as it would boost her survival rate when she was in a pinch. After that, I bought two cones of strawberry ice cream from a store in Tokyo, and enjoyed it while continued our talk.


    I couldn¡¯t just tell Torrak that Sum Ting Wong and his pack were on permanent leave after they put wrong chili oil in their noodles. So, I had to prepare an alternative to explain the situation.


    ¡°We will report it to Manager Torrak that after a quarrel, I make a rush bet with Hou Lie Fuk. We will go to separate hunt,¡± In a casual tone, I explained the cover story for my morning murder to Ariel. ¡°I will take you with me while Jie Ten Bie will take your Big Sis with them, and the loser has to pay 100.000 mollar to the winner.


    And that¡¯s the last time we saw them and your Big Sis.¡±


    ¡°Understood,¡± Ariel firmly replied.


    ¡°As for now, let¡¯s carry out a low risk hunt for two days. Get some monster kills, and then go back to Karmen.¡±


    ¡°Okay. Ariel knows Sidra Forest well. We will definitely score a good monster kill.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Without further ado I and Ariel made the last preparation for the hunt. After that I put the HMV into my inventory and then we approached Sidra Forest on foot.


    *****

 SS1 6.1 - A Sign of A Nest

    SS1 6.1 - A Sign of A Nest


    Once we entered Sidra Forest, Ariel started the tracking right away. And as usual, tracking would take me back to two events in my life that had shaped the core of my personality.


    First event was my adventure with algebra. Back in the first year of middle school, I had math teacher who held PhD in Mathematics. So, you could say he had undisputable knowledge for the job. However, as a math teacher for middle school kids who just started their journey building foundation for higher education, he was sucked beyond recognition.


    When he introduced algebra to the class, all he did was writing an eight-line formula in the white board, using handwriting that resembled long lost hieroglyph, and then he said, ¡°This is the basic principle of Algebra I recap using every bit of my knowledge. Comprehend it and I guarantee you will have easy day in algebra for the rest of your life.¡±


    As the result, everyone in the class instantly dropped their jaws. I believed they were also cursing, ¡®What the fuck is this hieroglyph teacher saying!!?¡¯, like me. In the end, I had to study algebra on my own.


    I made a lot mistake in my algebra homework and test, and ended up with a very bad score countless times. This situation pushed me to invest a massive effort to study algebra. I even studied algebra material beyond middle school curriculum. In the end, it took me eight months before I could comprehend the eight-line formula from the damnable hieroglyph teacher.


    For the rest of my life, I would never forget my stubborn adventure with algebra, as in each step it gave me tons of migraine, nausea, and even tears. However, this painful experience gave me a huge self-confidence that nothing I could not master as long as I tried hard enough.


    Years later, after my promotion to second lieutenant to be precise, my overflowing self-confidence gave me courage to take tracking course despite the preliminary assessment showed I didn¡¯t have the cut to be a tracker. I even repeated the tracking course two times in row after I failed in the first and second one.


    Up to this very second, I still clearly remembered it. In the first day of my first tracking course, the lead instructor said, ¡°Read the trail using your five senses. If it¡¯s beyond your five senses, perceive it.¡±


    After that, all we did was 8-hours of field tracking for every single day for three whole weeks. Unfortunately, unlike algebra that no matter how complex the outer appearance, deep down it had structured pattern that would stick in my head as long as I tried to comprehend it hard enough.


    As for the field tracking, no matter how many migraine, nausea, and tears I offered as payment, I never found the pattern I could use to establish an effective reading method. At the same time, my instructor kept saying to me, ¡°Read it like how you read a story, or listens to it like how you listens music.¡±


    However, until the end of the course I still didn¡¯t get it, and after I failed the course for the third time, out of his frustration the lead instructor lashed out on me, ¡°LT, why the fuck did you kept attending this course? You are spending IDF limited resource for nothing.¡±


    After that, I never took any course in IDF just because I think it would give me a cool skill. As a matter of fact, I would never take any other course again if only the chain of command didn¡¯t ordered me to and threatening me with, ¡°Refusal will be translated as insubordination with big reward.¡±


    Long short story, my conquests of algebra have given me immeasurable confidence to the point I believed I could become the second Alexander the Great if I tried hard enough, while the tracking course humbled me by slamming me back to earth face first. These two life lessons made me realize that acknowledging my own limit was as important as self-confidence. After that, I lived my life with light heart but ready to put my life on the line when it matters.


    From a happy cheeky kid, to a teen with overwhelming self-confidence, to a self-over proud young man, and then ended up as a happy-go-luck dude, that was the journey of my growth so far. I hoped I didn¡¯t become cranky old man later.


    As for now, Ariel carried out the tracking beyond anything I could imagine. After gently sniffing the air a few times she said, ¡°We have four trails. Let¡¯s follow the closest and freshest one.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    ¡°Copy,¡± I expressed my agreement.


    Honestly, I had no idea how Ariel¡¯s tracking work, but I fully put my trust on her and followed her lead. Twenty minutes later, we found a clear goblin¡¯s trails and it led us to a sentry guarding a small path.


    ¡°An orc and three goblins,¡± I said as I watched the sentry from behind a thick low shrub.


    Ariel who lied down next to me took out her tablet and checked the map of surrounding area. Then, she said in low voice, ¡°A sentry indicates there is a nest in the area. It seems it¡¯s new and no one reports it to House of Hunter yet.¡±


    I nodded and took the chance to test Ariel¡¯s field craft. ¡°Can you estimate the nest¡¯s exact location?¡±


    ¡°Here,¡± Ariel lightly tapped a spot in the map. ¡°The path guarded by sentry before us lead to this remote spot, and there is two other paths lead to this place.¡±


    ¡°It means, there are two other sentries we have to watch out,¡± I calmly said.


    ¡°That¡¯s the minimum number.¡±


    ¡°How will you proceed?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Berg, do you have means to eliminate the monster in the nest?¡± Ariel asked me back.


    ¡°As long as they are only orc, goblins, and Minotaur, I have an effective means to defeat them inside their nest.¡±


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s eliminate this sentry before going for the next one, and so on. If we managed to eliminate all sentries without alerting the nest, we will proceed to shut down the nest.¡±


    ¡°Do you suggest we don¡¯t need to check the other sentries before making a more cohesive plan?¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel firmly nodded. ¡°In case we fail to eliminate the sentry, we will retreat immediately and disappear. That way, we at least scores some kills.


    On the other hands, if we carry recon to other sentries and make accidental contact, we will have to retreat empty handed.¡±


    ¡°You seem very confident you will be able to avoid hot pursuit in our six,¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s very easy for two people to disappear in a dense and lush forest, if you know the trick.¡±


    ¡°I see. You have lot of experience in this matter.¡±


    ¡°Mhm, Ariel and Big Sis always managed to carry this kind of hide and seek in the deeper area of Sidra Forest, where the monster has tracking ability far better than goblin or orc.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go with your suggestion then.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ariel happily replied.


    Wasting no time, I and Ariel constructed the plan. Overall, we would carry out our hunt on the basis of quick get in and quick get out bite, so the hunting plan didn¡¯t required complex preparation and thinking.


    ---


    Unlike Sherem Forest which was dark, quiet, and eerie to the brim, Sidra Forest looked more like tropical forest. The trees were heterogeneous. The highest was about 10 meter high, while the shortest was about 3 meter high. Most of all, sunlight could reach the forest floor with ease so it had lot of grass, shrub, light colored moss, and vine. The lush vegetation was hard to pass through, but at the same time it would give you a good cover when you want to approach a target silently.


    The presence of birds and small animals were also abundant and easy to spot from their movement or noise. Honestly, if I didn¡¯t see orc and goblins with my eyes, I would think I was on a hunt in an ordinary tropical forest in earth. Then, the time to carry out the murder arrived.


    Krssk krssk krssk¡­.!


    Three consecutives short static noises, it meant Ariel was already in position. Wasting no time, I took aim at goblin on leftmost position form my point of view. The distance was only 65 meters, and MPX could reach it with ease, but I chose to use TRG M10.


    At a distance above 50 meters, suppressed TRG M10 was the most quiet weapon system I had in my disposal. The rifle was also capable of delivering variant of 6.5x25 mm CBJ with biggest stopping power at full potential.


    People around my victim wouldn¡¯t hear anything other than the sound when the projectile hit its intended target on their chest or head, fragmented, and created a cone with the biggest diameter no less than a ping pong ball.


    And so, as I already done the math before Ariel started the approach, all I had to do was make a simple final confirmation before squeezing the trigger.


    Phut!


    With ease the subsonic fragmenting-round hit the goblin at slightly above his right ears, and the violent jolt froze him.


    Phut!


    Before the first goblin fell to the ground, I had nailed the second one. Then, as the first goblin hit the ground with a light thud, commotion instantly broke out among the orc and the two remaining goblins. They looked at their two fallen comrades as their hand reached out for weapon at their waist.


    At the same time, Ariel approached them from behind at a lightning speed, with shortsword in her hand. Then, a blurry flash hit the orc and the two goblins right at their nape, in a quick and agile succession. A second later, the orc and the goblins fell to their knee with wide open nape, and then tumbled to the side.


    Wasting no time, Ariel moved the dead bodies to her inventory before retreating to my direction, and then jumped into behind a shrub 5 meter on my left. With a drumming heart, we then waited and vigilantly scanned the area.


    Other than bird and small animals that scattered to all direction we didn¡¯t see any movement, but I decided to wait for three whole minutes before signaling Ariel to regroup with me. She then carefully crawled to my position.


    ¡°It seems we can proceed to the next sentry,¡± Ariel said in low voice.


    ¡°It seems so,¡± I said while looking at Ariel¡¯s childish face. ¡®She maybe a kid, but she really know how to go ballistic when in a killing mode.¡¯


    After gulping down a mouthful of water, we then went to the next sentry.


    *****

 SS1 6.2 – Kill Zone

    SS1 6.2 ¨C Kill Zone


    In span of four hours, I and Ariel managed to eliminate three sentries that guarded the path to the nest, along with one sentry in the nest entrance. We even took out a group of four goblins who patrolled the area.


    Up to this second, it still shocked me that we managed to kill all of them and reach the nest. Most of all, every single one of our victims tumbled down straight into afterlife without having the chance to figure out who pushed them.


    This kill stroll with Ariel convinced me that she truly possessed eyes, ears, nose, and instinct of a wolf, maybe it was even better as she could adjust their sensitiveness. She was also good at reading map, reading terrain, and tactically navigated through it. With such excellent tracking skill and fieldcraft, hunting became no different than a child play.


    That¡¯s my assessment on Ariel as she kneeled in the nest entrance while sniffing the air. A moment later she turned her gaze to me.


    ¡°It¡¯s only two days old.¡±


    ¡°How many opposition we have?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Five Minotaur and eleven orc.¡±


    ¡°And the shape of the nest?¡±


    ¡°About three hundred meter long straight tunnel, connected to nest center when the monsters sleep in their box.¡±


    ¡°I see. Let¡¯s finish them off.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    After my first experience of shutting down a nest with Pukin¡¯ Dogs, I found that my method to burn the target in their sleeping box was rather inefficient. It did made me look smart and gave me a chance to show my skill, but now, it made me felt like an idiot every time I recalled it.


    Unfortunately, that was how sapper grew and developed their skill, and most of the time it took starts from something that later would you deemed stupid after you found better way. But you had to start from somewhere even if it was stupid, or you would never grow and stuck in place.


    As for the current hunt, I would use an entirely new method. Something simpler and easy to prepare, but would deliver expected result. With a firm step, I entered the nest and stopped at a spot 100 meters from the entrance. I then asked Ariel to put the dead orc and goblin she collected on each side of tunnel floor, covering 20 meter distance.


    In total we had 24 dead bodies, and I planned to put a piece of 81 mm high-frag mortar round on each body, right at their waist beneath their clothes. To detonate it, I would use 2G cellphone command-detonated.


    There was no commercial cellular network in the area, but I could make my own with radius a few hundreds meter to all direction and this was more than enough to get the job done.


    ¡°Berg, is this okay?¡± Ariel asked me in low voice after she put the last goblin on the floor.


    ¡°It is,¡± I calmly replied. ¡°Now, watch my back.¡±


    ¡°Roger,¡± Ariel replied before kneeling facing the entrance.


    Without delay I started the shopping. In a glance, 24 pairs of 81 mm mortar round and 2G cellphone sound a lot and took lot of money, but it was not as expensive as second-hand Hilux. I also believed I need that amount of firepower to get a sure kill result. Most of all, the money from a single Minotaur kill was more than enough to cover the cost.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    A few minutes later I already started the work to assembly the mortar round and the 2G cellphone to demo package. I had done it hundreds times using dummy round and several times using live-round in real combat ops. So, for me, it was as easy as making windmill toy made of used paper and chopstick. It took me about 90 minutes to complete the brand new kill zone.


    After taking a final glance at nest center in the distance, I turned around and approached Ariel. ¡°Everything is set. Let¡¯s go to final firing position.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    Wasting no time I and Ariel went to the spot next to nest entrance. I was on the left, while she was on the right. We sat on the ground and leaned our back on the base of cliff wall.


    When Ariel turned her gaze to me and looked at me straight in the eyes, I asked her, ¡°Ready?¡±


    ¡°Ready,¡± Ariel replied with resolute face. ¡°If the ambush doesn¡¯t go as we hope for, Ariel will lead the quick retreat.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    I then took out my ready-to-fired RPG from inventory, kneeled before the nest entrance right in the middle, and took aim at the nest center.


    SUOOOOOOSSHHH!


    BLAAARRRRR!!!


    The HE round reached the nest center in a blink of one eye, hit the wall, bloomed into deafening and dazzling explosion, and woke the monsters up.


    ROOOAAARRR!!!


    It seemed the leading Minotaur was very angry. I immediately switched to my MPX and opened fire to the nest center.


    Ra-tatar! Ra-tatar! Ra-tatar!!!


    A consecutive short burst managed to draw the monster attention. They immediately formed a line and went straight to approach me. Two Minotaur became the head of formation. They held a huge shield while moving forward with steady steps. Behind them, the rest of the pack walked with drawn weapon.


    The fragment round couldn¡¯t penetrate the huge shield. It only scratched its surface while creating small spark. Wasting no time, I switched to mil-grade AP round. It managed to penetrate the shield and leaving behind 6 mm wide holes, as expected from a round that its intended purpose was to penetrate things.


    However, it didn¡¯t stop the incoming formation. It didn¡¯t even slow it down. I also didn¡¯t have clear line of sight to the leading Minotaur¡¯s head. So, I canceled my intention to head shot them and continued with consecutive short burst. And finally, the formation fully entered the kill zone.


    I immediately took cover on the cliff wall next to the nest entrance, reached out for remote detonator in my chest and opened the safety lid.


    ¡°Fire, fire, fire!¡± I calmly signaled Ariel to lower her hearing level, and then gently gripped the detonator.


    Tu-la-lit¡­ Tu-la-lit¡­ BO-BO-BOOOOMMMM!!!


    Deafening explosion shocked the air, followed by strong wind and heat wave that blasted out of the nest entrance. When I turned my gaze to Ariel, I found she had a very tense face. It seemed this was the first time she encounter such large explosion.


    I immediately said to her, ¡°Check it.¡±


    After giving me a light nod Ariel immediately put her right ear to the edge of nest entrance. A few seconds later she said, ¡°No movement. No breathings.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    I immediately used corner-EO to get visual confirmation. Once I was sure there was no movement or heat signature of living being in sight, I said to Ariel, ¡°Let¡¯s get the final touch.¡±


    ¡°Roger.¡±


    With full alert, we entered the nest. When we reached the killing zone, we found there was only a small amount of monster remains, mostly in small chunks of charcoal. Well, that¡¯s the result I expected.


    The blast fragmentation from 24 mortar rounds with ease shred those monsters to bits and pieces. Then, the heat wave burn it. It was not as hot as heat wave from Thermobaric munitions, but in closed space it would get the job done. This combo destruction was beyond the regeneration of low-rank monster.


    Wasting no time we then continued our walk and reached the nest center in no time. After Ariel ensured it was empty, I immediately put body counts, equipment, and anything else that belong to Jie Ten Bie in the middle of the room. After that I inserted the dissolver coin to mana refrainer orb and made a quick retreat.


    ¡®I hope Sum Ting Wong and the rest don¡¯t become vengeful ghost and knocking window of my room on the 7th night of their death,¡¯ I muttered as from a healthy distance I watched the nest crumbled and disappeared. Then, I turned my gaze to Ariel. ¡°Let¡¯s find a quiet place to rest and tonight we will cremate your Big Sis.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel firmly nodded.


    *****

 SS1 6.3 - Sierra Lodge

    SS1 6.3 - Sierra Lodge


    About 2 km west of the nest we just shut down, stood a cave on a cliff wall. It was located 8 meters above the ground, so we had to climb it. Ariel climbed it first and she performed dyno from one foothold to another like a spider. It was fast and nimbly, and she didn¡¯t lose her grip, footing, or balance even for a bit.


    In summary, she needed only about 10 seconds to reach the cave entrance. That was the faster rock climbing I had ever seen throughout my life. After ensuring it was safe, she then set up a climbing rope for me. Then, my struggle began.


    I was a good long runner and decent weight lifter, but climbing required an entirely different skill set and body build, and I didn¡¯t have climbing qualification. All I had was only an introduction to basic rock climbing when I was in sapper school, followed by a few climbs on indoor climbing wall for beginner.


    And so, it took me 45 minutes to scale the 8 meter high cliff, along with lot of panting, sweats, sore at the wrist, arms, and shoulder, and also slightly sprained right ankle. I also had some bruises and scratches from slip of footings.


    ¡°This was harder than I thought,¡± I said as I reached the cave entrance and sat on it. ¡°The cliff is made of solid rock, but it¡¯s definitely not ordinary rock. It¡¯s very slippery like a surface of glass. The climbing route is also trickier than its look.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel said while packing up the climbing rope. ¡°Even orc and goblin that inherently are natural climbers will have hard time to climb this cliff without a rope.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I said before gulping down a vial of healing potion and stamina potion. ¡°That¡¯s the reason why you chose this cave as our resting spot.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel firmly nodded.


    ¡®I should build a rope ladder later,¡¯ I muttered as my tattered body returned to its full capacity. It was as if the previous torturous climbing was only my imagination. After a smile I said to Ariel, ¡°Let¡¯s check our harvest and have a lunch.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Wasting no time, Ariel took me to enter the cave. The cave entrance was small. It was only 0.8 meter wide, 1 meter high, and had a shape of four meter long sharp curve, so we had to crawl our way. However, the cave interior was spacious. It was about 7 meter long, 5 meter wide, and 3 meter high. The floor was also flat and clean.


    ¡°No bat¡¯s shit, bugs, or anything that show presence of other animal in this cave,¡± I said as I checked every corner of the cave. ¡°The air is also not stale and the temperature is nice.¡±


    Ariel immediately pointed her finger at piles of dark purple crystal in a corner. ¡°Purple monn stone enable us to have such condition. After sunset it will also emitted a small glow so this cave won¡¯t be in total darkness, but people from outside won¡¯t notice it.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± After a smile I added. ¡°This is not the first time you use this cave.¡±


    ¡°Ariel and Big Sis take cover here a lot when doing scout mission in Sidra Forest,¡± Ariel explained. ¡°We call this cave Sierra Lodge.¡±


    I lightly nodded and asked, ¡°Do you have other cave like this one?¡±


    ¡°Another one, 5 km south of this place, and another three in deeper part of Sidra Forest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s nice.¡± After a smile I continued. ¡°Let¡¯s have a lunch.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    I immediately took out the HMV from inventory and then we sat in the rear compartment facing each other.


    As I put an upside down beer crates between us I asked Ariel, ¡°Do you have food you can¡¯t eat?¡±


    ¡°No, Ariel can eat any food.¡±


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s have BBQ.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    Without delay I ordered BBQ from Texan Char. It was a small BBQ house in Shinjuku, serving Texas style BBQ using A5 Wagyu beef. Based on the review I watched, the BBQ went well with both white rice and bread. Therefore, it became very famous among foreigner and locals. Now, I wanted to try it.


    I ordered a big plate of 775 gr A5 Wagyu beef ribs for 18.350 Yen or about 121 mollar. It came with two small bowls of white rice, a small plate of pickled cucumber, a big bowl of shredded cabbage, three types of sauce in mini cup, and two big glasses of lemonade.


    I couldn¡¯t help but had a big smile as Ariel looked at the BBQ in front of us with sparkling eyes. She also kept gulping down her saliva hard. Wasting no time, I offered a gratitude for the food and then our late lunch began right away.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± I said before giving my lemonade a sip.


    ¡°Mhm. The meat looks very tasty,¡± Ariel said while taking her rice bowl.


    ¡°It has to be tasty.¡± I took the biggest ribs in the plate and put it on Ariel¡¯s rice bowl while added, ¡°It¡¯s a celebration meal to welcome you to Shimon family.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Ariel immediately gave the ribs a small bite, chewed the meat, and a second later her eyes widened. She then gave the ribs another big bite.


    ¡°How is it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s super tasty. Ariel never eats such delicious meat.¡±


    ¡°Glad you like it.¡±


    Wasting no time, I took a piece of ribs and gave it a bite, and a deep and juicy savory instantly erupted in my mouth.


    ¡®The review doesn¡¯t lie,¡¯ I muttered before taking my rice bowl and put spoonful white rice to my mouth. ¡°This is really a good BBQ.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel replied before giving her ribs a finishing touch. Then, she gave me an expectant gaze. ¡°Berg, can I have another rib? The smaller one is fine.¡±


    I immediately put another rib in my bowl and pushed the rest to Ariel. ¡°You can have them.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    ¡°Really, it¡¯s your celebration meal, remember?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°But you have to eat the vegies too."


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ariel immediately took another piece of rib and gave it a big bite.


    The lunch then went in silence and swift, but full of happiness. I thought Ariel would eat all the ribs that became her share, but she only ate half of it and put the other half in a lunch box and then stored it in her inventory.


    I said nothing. It was her share. She could do whatever she want as long as she didn¡¯t waste it. Not to mention, she ate her share of vegies clean. Then, the cleaning began.


    The plate and bowl were made of thick oiled paper, while the glass was made of food-grade plastic. So, I asked Ariel to throw all of them to trash bag and store it in her inventory until she had a chance to throw it to trash bin.


    ¡°Berg,¡± Ariel said after she finished the cleaning. ¡°Do you always eat tasty food like this?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± I casually said. ¡°For such as high-end and big plate BBQ like the one we just ate, I only ate it in special occasion like birthday or religious celebration. It¡¯s about 3-4 four times a year.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°But my daily food is not bad. There are lots of affordable but tasty foods in my world.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°The BBQ we just ate also has personal plate for 1800 Yen or about 12 mollar. If you like it, we can buy it as dinner once or twice a week.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°Now, let¡¯s check our harvest.¡±


    Wasting no time, I took out my tablet. Then, together with Ariel, I calculated the money we got from our hunt. The money for monster kill was same as usual, but the money for shutting down the nest was only 300.000 mollar.


    Maybe it was because the nest was only a few days old, but it was not a problem. If we could shut down such nest once a month, we would still be freaking rich. Then, I transferred 30.000 mollar to Ariel¡¯s tablet.


    ¡°Use the money wisely.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel nodded and then she asked me, ¡°Berg, can you teach Ariel how to buy something using my tablet?¡±


    ¡°What do you want to buy?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Cherry,¡± Ariel happily said. ¡°Long time ago, a kind hunter give Ariel and Big Sis a bag of sweet cherry. Ariel wants to buy some as offering for Big Sis.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± After a short ponder I continued, ¡°Let¡¯s buy it from Japan.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Without delay I taught Ariel how to search and buy using her tablet. A minute later, we found an offer for fresh harvested cherry from Yamagata. I believed right now was not the harvest time for Japanese cherry, but the offer was there so I asked Ariel to take it.


    The price was 245 mollar/kg. It was freaking expensive for a mere cherry, but it worth every penny. Japanese cherry was one of the best cherry in the world, and a decade ago there was even a case where a group of professional thief was specifically targeting Japanese cherry orchard.


    After tasting it a piece, Ariel also agreed with my assessment, ¡°This is super-duper good cherry.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said before putting a piece in my mouth and chewed it. ¡°Very juicy, and deep sweetness with a hint of refreshing sour instantly pop up in your mouth as soon as you chew it. It¡¯s the best kind for crafting high-end cocktail.¡±


    ¡°Big Sis will love it so much.¡±


    ¡°I bet she will.¡±


    Wasting no time Ariel bought 20 kg of Japanese cherry. It was equivalent to harvest from one whole mature tree. She then also bought lychee and grape from Japanese orchard, 20 kg each like the cherry. The grape and lychee were also freaking expensive, but I said nothing. W 0-1 was a heavy lover of cherry, lychee, and grape, and Ariel wanted to give her the best parting gift she could get.


    After that it was resting time. We would cremate W 0-1 after sunset, so we still had some time for some errand. Ariel immediately cleaned and stoned her sword. Honestly, it gave me a mix feeling to see a 12-year-old girl had a serious face while skillfully gave her shortsword maintenance.


    Well, I was sure I would get used to it sooner or later. So, I immediately went with my intention to build a rope ladder. We then were busy with our own errand and working in silence.


    *****

 SS1 6.4 - Warrior Heart

    SS1 6.4 - Warrior Heart


    As soon as the sun set in the west, I and Ariel started the preparation to cremate W 0-1. First, I bought a portable crematorium box and put it next to the HMV. It would take a lot of electricity to operate it, but the APU in the HMV would handle it with ease. As long as the HMV had fuel in the tank, the APU would continue generating electricity.


    The only thing I had to put extra caution was the smoke. The dark of the night wouldn¡¯t be enough to camouflage it, but fortunately thick fog always blanketed the cliff around Sierra Lodge every night. So, I canceled my intention to build extended exhaust pipeline and put the exhaust end just next to the cave entrance.


    Then, I helped her to put W 0-1 to crematorium box, fully naked. After that Ariel put a new set of folded clothes, BBQ ribs she spared from her lunch, and 3 kg each of cherry, grapes, and lychee.


    Honestly, I didn¡¯t get it when people put clothes and food together with a body they would cremate, but I was not stupid enough to ask Ariel about it. Not to mention, Ariel looked so solemn and tried her best to hold her sob, as she arranged her final parting gift for W 0-1.


    Then, after reciting some kind of prayer, burning W 0-1¡¯s face to her memory as best as she could, and gave her a last kiss on the forehead, Ariel gently said, ¡°Berg, we can cremate Big Sis now.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Without further ado I helped Ariel closed the crematorium box and turned it on. Then, she sat before it and reciting some kind of prayer in whisper while sorrow filled her eyes to the brim.


    As for me, I sat in a corner near the entrance and leaned my back on the cave wall. I didn¡¯t want to disrupt Ariel¡¯s prayer. I also had no idea how to console her. So, I chose to use my time to give the map of Sidra Forest another study. I planned to launch another hunt tomorrow and as precaution in case we found another nest, I build some mortar cellular packages.


    And 90 minutes just flew like that, in silence, before the cremation finally finished. I immediately helped Ariel to put W 0-1¡¯s ash to a container. She seemed in no mood to talk, so I helped her without saying a word.


    Then, after closing the container in her hand Ariel turned her gaze to me, ¡°I will climb to the cliff¡¯s peak to spread Big Sis¡¯ remains to all direction and we are done with her burial.¡±


    I nodded before asking, ¡°Do you need my help?¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s too dangerous for you to climb the cliff in zero visibility.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Wasting no time Ariel left the cave, while I packed the crematorium box to my inventory.


    ---


    It took about 30 minutes before Ariel returned. We then took afternoon bath. We sat in each side of HMV, on top of beer crate we layered with rubber floor mat. I was on the left, while Ariel on the right. We couldn¡¯t let the water flood the cave, so we used antiseptic wipes as replacement for regular soap, wait for 30 seconds, and then wiped our body clean using hot water and towel, and then dried it using another towel.


    After that we put fresh clothes and slipper on, and stored our dirty clothes in the inventory. Then, we went for dinner in HMV rear compartment. Today, we already had heavy protein for lunch, so I chose something light for our dinner.


    Without many words, I arranged a whole size of sliced loaf, fruit jam, a bowl of melon seed, and a jug of warm tea on top of beer crate.


    ¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± I said after offering gratitude for the food.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel gave me a brief reply before taking a piece of loaf slice and spread strawberry jam on it.


    ¡°Do you want to eat something with more filling?¡± I asked as I pour a cup of tea for her. ¡°I can order a dinner set for you.¡±


    ¡°No, Ariel is not too hungry right now.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    It seemed she was still drowning in sorrow. Unfortunately, I was useless in this kind of situation. No matter how I racked my brain, I couldn¡¯t find any words I could use to console Ariel. Then, right when I thought we wouldn¡¯t have another conversation for the whole night, Ariel suddenly turned her gaze to me.


    ¡°Berg, I can convert to your religion now.¡±


    Big question mark instantly popped up in my forehead. ¡°Why do you want to convert to my religion?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I have to convert to your religion after joining Shimon Family?¡±


    ¡°I never said that,¡± I casually replied.


    ¡°Are you saying I can stick with my current religion?¡±


    ¡°Absolutely,¡± I firmly replied. ¡°Even if the founders are a pair of Jew sibling, Shimon Family is not only for Jew. We have people from other religion too. We even have non believer among us.¡±


    ¡°Shimon Family seems very nice,¡± Ariel said as curiosity was clearly visible in her childish face.


    ¡°To be honest, the family has too many annoying old men, and you can¡¯t help but want to slap them as soon as they starts nagging on you,¡± I casually explained. ¡°But in term of faith, we are very open-minded, and hold no rabid ambition to convert the whole world to our belief.


    The thing that matter the most for the family is our willingness to look after each other. Just like that, and no matter how weird you are or how negative the world sees you, we will gladly receive you as one of our own.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    ¡°And if my father is still alive and here with us, he will be jubilant to have you as his daughter.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    I had a big smile as Ariel looked at me with sparkling eyes.


    ¡°Really. You would be a daughter he longed for, in his old age.¡± After a short pause I added, ¡°Two weeks before the time to give birth to my little sister, my mother had traffic accident. Both my mother and my unborn little sister passed away, and it hit my father very hard.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Silence then enveloped us and I thought it would be the end of our conversation, but Ariel suddenly turned her gaze to me one more time.


    ¡°Berg, do a demi-human like Ariel can only become a monster hunter?¡±


    I could sense a deep curiosity in Ariel¡¯s tone, but I could also tell she was trying to distract me from my sadness. It seemed deep down she was a very considerate kid. I immediately looked back at Ariel with a big smile in my face.


    ¡°Who did tell you that rubbish?¡±


    ¡°People who trained Ariel.¡± After a short pause Ariel gloomily added. ¡°They said it¡¯s impossible for demi-human to master a craft other than monster hunting, and they say that a lot.¡±


    ¡°Believe me,¡± I firmly said. ¡°That¡¯s a freaking bullshit.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    I immediately took out a bowl of Japanese cherry from my inventory and put it on the table. ¡°Do you know what kind of people who grows this cherry?¡±


    Ariel tilted her head to the side before replying, ¡°People who are really good at farming.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but they are not always people who are really good at farming.¡±


    Without delay I told Ariel about the unique origin of Japan. Legend said, one day a warrior god used his sake to wash his sword, and the droplets that fell into ocean became an island country called Japan.


    As a country that was born from divine sake and divine sword, Japanese couldn¡¯t help but carried the basic trait of those two in their blood. And so, they dedicated their life for two things, brutal warfare in weekday and drop drunk in the floor in weekend, and do the rest of their life in between.


    However, one day shit hit the fan and they couldn¡¯t wage brutal warfare as they please anymore. So, in their sorrow and frustration, those nuts warriors directed their warrior discipline and heart to other field like culinary, farming, technology, literature, movie, and many other things that moved their warrior heart.


    Now, most Japanese spent their life for two things, pushing themselves beyond limit like a madman to craft something they love, or drop drunk in the floor when they want to put their mind at ease, and do the other things in between.


    That was the origin of Japan I got from the damnable Watanabe. I got a feeling there was a serious inaccuracy on it, but his version was very suitable to encourage Ariel that she could develop craft other than monster hunting. Therefore, I chose to tell her this version.


    ¡°Japanese is a living example that when a true warrior put their life, mind, and heart on something, they will produce great result,¡± I casually closed my explanation. ¡°And you are not exception for this nature.¡±


    ¡°So, Ariel can also excel in other craft other than monster hunting, like Japanese?¡±


    ¡°Definitely,¡± I firmly replied.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ariel happily said. ¡°Ariel will start learning wood craft whenever Ariel has time to spare.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you should do that.¡±


    ¡°Ariel will also start drinking alcohol and learn how to drop drunk in the floor properly.¡±


    Ariel added with a drop dead serious tone, and my eyes instantly widened.


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t drink alcohol yet.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Ariel curiously asked.


    ¡°You need to wait until your 20th birthday before you can drink alcohol and learn how to drop drunk in the floor properly,¡± I sternly said.


    ¡°Do Japanese warrior also waits until their 20th birthday before they start drink alcohol?¡±


    ¡°Yes, even the strongest warrior in Japan drink alcohol only after their 20th birthday, or they will face serious legal consequences.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Ariel will also wait until my 20th birthday before starting drinking alcohol.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± I said before giving Ariel a firm nod.


    Then, I taught Ariel how to use her tablet to watch one of the most popular Japanese craft called anime. I picked D-Frag! as her first anime. It locked her interest right away. Then, she got totally hooked up after watching halfway through the first episode. She even had to try her best to hold her laugh several times.


    ¡®Glad she like it. She really needs something to distract her from her sorrow, even if it¡¯s only for a moment,¡¯ I muttered before taking a breath full of relief.


    *****

 SS1 6.5 - Shutting Down Another Nest

    SS1 6.5 - Shutting Down Another Nest


    For the whole night, I and Ariel did the night watch in turn. I took the second watch. It was from two to five in the morning. Initially, I thought I would need a med to help me awake, but turned out it was unnecessary. The fierce and bone freezing wind that entered the cave every a few minutes would keep me awake as long as I didn¡¯t hide myself in sleeping bag.


    It was long and cold night watch, but I managed to preserve to the end. Then, exactly at 5:00 am I heard a movement from HMV¡¯s rear section.


    ¡°Morning,¡± I said as Ariel came out of her sleeping bag and sat up. ¡°You can use the bathroom first.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel weakly nodded.


    After rolling and storing her sleeping bag in her inventory, she then went to the bathroom. Other than using it to take a bath and brush our teeth, we also used the bathroom as toilet. Of course, it was not regular toilet.


    The toilet we used was a one-time-used wide cardboard filled with low-quality synthetic cotton and ash. We could use it for both of liquid and solid biological waste. Then, we folded and tightly tied it before storing it in our inventory.


    Throughout my life, the only time I carried around my own shit was when I attended tracking course, on a simulation of counter tracking deep inside hostile territory. I thought I would never do it again but life was full of surprise.


    Then, after we were done with our morning private routine, we went to make a breakfast. As I took out the portable electric stove from HMV¡¯s compact compartment I said, ¡°We can cook without fire by using this stove.¡±


    ¡°Can we use it to cook scramble egg?¡± Ariel asked as she curiously looked at the stove in my hands.


    ¡°We can.¡±


    ¡°Can Ariel make it for us?¡±


    ¡°Are you saying you want to cook scramble egg for our breakfast?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    After a smile I said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Wasting no time I taught Ariel how to connect the electric stove to APU. After that, it was just regular cooking and I let Ariel to fully handle it. Coincidently, her way to make scramble egg was similar like mine. She used low heat and after putting the 42 cm non-sticky frying pan on top of the stove, she added two table spoons of olive oil and then cracked the eggs on it. I gave her ten chicken eggs and asked her to use them all.


    After that, she waited until the egg white started to solidify before adding a pinch of salt, and then gently stirred the whole pan. Once the yolk fully cooked, she divided the hard scramble egg to two plates. Then, we enjoyed it with tomato ketchup. As for the drink, I bought two boxes of apple juice from a convenience store in Osaka.


    ¡°This scramble egg is very good,¡± I said after munching the first spoonful of Ariel¡¯s scramble egg.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Ariel often makes it,¡± Ariel happily said.


    ¡°No wonder.¡±


    ¡°But usually Ariel only use one egg.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Ariel then turned her gaze to the APU and the compact compartment next to it. ¡°When rain pours down, do we have to cover the APU and the compartment?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± I casually replied. ¡°The two uses rain-proof compartment. As long as you close it properly, rain won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Berg, can Ariel buy frying pan, stove, and other cooking utensil like yours?¡±


    ¡°Do you want to have your own cooking utensil?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    I gave my apple juice a sip before saying, ¡°I will buy it for you using our operational fund, but for the stove let¡¯s buy a portable gas stove.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Ariel happily said. ¡°And thank you.¡±


    With ease we then wiped out the scramble egg to the last bit. After that, we brushed our teeth and then had tactical meeting for today hunt.


    ---


    ¡°Today,¡± I casually opened the meeting. ¡°Let¡¯s carry out a low risk hunt before retreating to RV.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s shutting down another nest¡± Ariel asked while giving me an expectant gaze.


    ¡°It will take too much time to find another nest.¡±


    ¡°But we have a new nest very close to our position,¡± Ariel nonchalantly said.


    Big question mark instantly popped up in my forehead. ¡°How close?¡±


    Wasting no time Ariel used her tablet to show the map around Sierra Lodge. Then, she pointed her index finger at a gorge about 700 meters south of our position. ¡°Here.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very close to our position,¡± I said as I got a chill in my nape.


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Ariel casually gave me a nod.


    ¡°That¡¯s very dangerous you know,¡± I said as I tried to calm my shock. ¡°To have a resting spot so close with a nest.¡±


    ¡°It is.¡± Ariel gave me another nod. ¡°However, low-rank monster can¡¯t track well under the fog.¡±


    ¡°What if they accidentally discover us?¡±


    ¡°We will kill some and then leave Sidra Forest.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure we can escape their pursuit?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Ariel confidently nodded.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    We were fully safe and sound up to this moment, so I guessed Ariel¡¯s confidence was not baseless.


    ¡°Do you know how many sentry we have to face?¡±


    ¡°If they don¡¯t place new one, they have one on top of the gorge and another one on the nest entrance.¡±


    ¡°Only two, and so close with the nest entrance?¡±


    ¡°It seems their number is still too little to expand their security network.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± After taking a deep breath I decided. ¡°Let¡¯s hit this nest. After eliminating the sentries, we will ambush the rest using explosive.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Wasting no time I prepared 20 packages of IED made of 81 mm mortar rounds and 2G dumb phone. After that we packed our things.


    ---


    We left Sierra Lodge at 8:20 and the fog was still blanketing the area. The visibility was almost zero, but Ariel could firmly confirm we had no orc or goblin in the base of the cliff. I had no choice other than to trust her. Without delay, I set up the rope ladder I made yesterday.


    Then, I scaled down the cliff while Ariel covered me using her bow. I took each step super carefully and it felt like forever before my feet reached the base of the cliff.


    After that Ariel packed the rope ladder and scaled down the cliff without a rope. Unlike me, she arrived at the base of the cliff in matter of seconds and without making a sound. She was like mini Spiderman.


    And, never did I imagine that scaling down from Sierra Lodge was the hardest part of today hunt, as after that we eliminated the sentries in nearby nest like a walk in the park. When doing silent killing under the fog, Ariel didn¡¯t need my assistance. She instead insisted I shouldn¡¯t take part on it. She worried I would mistakenly shoot her.


    Honestly, it hurt my feeling a bit but I managed to shut my mouth and followed Ariel¡¯s suggestion. And so, Ariel went for about an hour, leaving me behind in a high ground, and then came back to lead me to the nest entrance.


    ¡°How many bodies we have?¡± I asked while peeking inside the nest.


    ¡°Five orc and nine goblins,¡± Ariel casually replied.


    ¡°Let¡¯s use them all.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    As usual, while I setting up the kill zone, Ariel watched my back. After that, everything went smoothly. I used a single high-explosive RPG round to wake up the sleeping monster, and then killed them all using the IED.


    And just like that, we received another 300.000 mollar from shutting down a nest in second day of our hunt. We then returned to the RV where we supposed to regroup with Jie Ten Bie.


    *****

 SS1 7.1 - Hunting Old Jack

    SS1 7.1 - Hunting Old Jack


    When we arrived at the RV it was already past noon. It still looked like how when we left it yesterday, a quiet small mound in the middle of huge plain. We had clear vantage point to all directions, so we could a bit relax while waiting for Jie Ten Bie.


    After taking out the HMV and hopped up on its rear section I said to Ariel, ¡°Let¡¯s have a lunch.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Ariel lightly nodded as she followed me to hop up on the HMV. ¡°Will we cook our lunch?¡±


    ¡°No, let¡¯s buy it,¡± I happily said. ¡°From a food vlogger, I know a shop in Tokyo that offers delicious deep-fried cutlets bowl. Let¡¯s give it a try.¡±


    ¡°Deep-fried cutlets bowl?¡± Ariel curiously said.


    ¡°Basically, it is breaded deep-fried cutlets being quick simmered on a splash of soy sauce-based stock with onions, and then being bonded using beaten egg and used as topping for a bowl of warm rice.¡±


    ¡°Is it delicious?¡±


    After a grin I replied, ¡°It¡¯s super delicious.¡±


    Without delay I ordered two sets of deep-fried cutlets bowl. For Ariel, I ordered deep-fried pork cutlets or pork katsu bowl. As for me, I ordered chicken katsu bowl. After offering the gratitude for the food, we ate our lunch right away.


    The food vlogger was right. The katsu bowl was superb. I didn¡¯t know how they did it, but after being quick-simmered in stock, large part of the chicken katsu was still crispy. It also went well with the stock and beaten egg, and perfectly matched warm white rice.


    As for the pork katsu bowl, I didn¡¯t need to ask Ariel to know that she liked it or not. From the way she heartily wolfed it down, it was easy to tell she loved it. In summary, we finished our lunch in no time and then enjoyed a small bag of mikan orange as desert. After that I asked Ariel to be on lookout while I did some daily chores.


    We knew Jie Ten Bie would never come, but I and Ariel had to pretend we didn¡¯t know about it. We had to wait for them until tomorrow morning before we could return to Karmen. Honestly, I didn¡¯t want to sleep at a place where a day ago I put nine lives to permanent leave.


    Who knew if their vengeful spirits were still staying around and would wake me up in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, I had no choice. So at least, I would make sure I didn¡¯t spend my time for nothing while faking our waiting.


    Wasting no time, I dug a pit to bury the trash we accumulated in our inventory. After that, I bought a washing machine and did laundry for both Ariel¡¯s dirty clothes and mine. It took about 90 minutes before I finished the laundry and hung every piece of the half-dried clothes in the foldable clothesline made of aluminum frame. Then, I regrouped with Ariel in the HMV.


    ¡°Berg,¡± Ariel said as I leaned my back on HMV¡¯s side. ¡°Can you teach me how to use washing machine when we return to Karmen later?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± After a moment of pause I added, ¡°I will also teach you some crafts I know.¡±This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°Like using firearms?¡± Ariel asked as her eyes sparked with excitement.


    I gave Ariel a light nod. ¡°If we will hunt together, it will help us a lot if you master some craft I know.¡±


    ¡°Okay, but what about Pukin¡¯ Dogs?¡± Ariel warily asked. ¡°What if they don¡¯t want Ariel to join the team?¡±


    ¡°I have decided I will leave Pukin¡¯ Dogs and form our own team.¡±


    Surprise was clearly visible in Ariel¡¯s eyes as she asked me, ¡°You will leave Pukin¡¯ Dogs?¡±


    ¡°We will need another two hunters who know how to drive and shoot,¡± I said firmly, ¡°and we are good to go for low-risk hunt.¡±


    ¡°What if we can¡¯t find another two hunters who know how to drive and shoot?¡±


    ¡°As long as we keep looking, we will find them sooner or later.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Silence then descended upon us. At the same time, the thought about Old Jack resurface on my mind. Wasting no time I checked the bulletin from House of Hunter, but I found no update on Old Jack other than the bounty raise on his head.


    ¡®Old Jack is still online out there,¡¯ I muttered before tuning my gaze to Ariel. ¡°What do you know about Old Jack?¡±


    ¡°He is very sly, but Ariel and Big Sis managed to predict his resting spot several times,¡± Ariel casually said. ¡°We then sent it to house of hunter, but the hunters who received the assignment to kill him always failed or killed to the last man.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Berg,¡± Ariel said as her gaze became drop dead serious. ¡°Do you have a means to defeat 9 mm thick armor?¡±


    I nodded as I recalled that Old Jack¡¯s outer hide was equivalent to 9 mm thick armor. ¡°6.5 mm CBJ, the round I use can defeat 9 mm thick armor with ease.¡±


    ¡°How far its effective range?¡± Ariel curiously asked.


    ¡°If I use suppressed TRG M10, it¡¯s about 120 meters in flat trajectory,¡± I casually said. ¡°If the height difference is higher than third floor, I can extend it up to 160 meters.¡±


    After a short ponder Ariel said, ¡°If Ariel can get you that close to Old Jack, can you get his head?¡±


    ¡°I can,¡± I confidently said. ¡°But, are you sure you can get me that close to Old Jack?¡±


    Ariel gave me a firm nod. ¡°Super sure.¡±


    ¡°Kubran Valley is very huge and Old Jack changes his resting spot every 2-3 days. How do you will find his resting spot?¡±


    ¡°We will track resting spots he used recently. It will narrow Old Jack¡¯s option for his next resting spot,¡± Ariel confidently explained her plan. ¡°Then, we pick the resting spot with best shooting position and wait for him.¡±


    ¡°And if Old Jack doesn¡¯t show up as we hope for?¡±


    ¡°In that case we miss the chance,¡± Ariel said in low voice.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    ¡°Do you know why lot of hunters failed or get killed when hunting Old Jack?¡±


    ¡°They made their approach in daylight when Old Jack¡¯s five senses are in highest level,¡± Ariel casually said.


    ¡°Are you saying we should approach Old Jack at night?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    ¡°But Kubran Valley is full of low rank monster that are very lively at night.¡±


    ¡°Ariel knows how to evade them.¡± After a short pause Ariel added, ¡°Big Sis and Ariel always offered night guidance to the hunters who hunt for Old Jack, but they all refused, especially when they had C-rank hunter with them.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Honestly, carrying out a hunt in Kubran Valley only with Ariel gave me a chill in my nape. The population of low rank monster in this valley was really too high. No matter how good Ariel¡¯s evasion skill, she still could make a mistake.


    I also didn¡¯t know if I had enough physical fitness keep up with her in case we had to avoid hot pursuit. If we encountered a mishap, there was a possibility I would get both of us killed. However, after recalling that a few days Old Jack took away two kids before my eyes, I felt an urge to take the chance. I really wanted to kill this wyvern.


    ¡®If I die, then I die,¡¯ I muttered as resolve to kill Old Jack blanketed my heart and mind. Then, I looked at Ariel straight in the eyes. ¡°What will you do if we encounter a situation where we have no escape route?¡±


    ¡°Ariel will fight to the death,¡± Ariel firmly said.


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Despite her age, Ariel was truly a hunter and a warrior. I should treat her disposition accordingly. She was not ordinary child.


    After a smile I said, ¡°Well, let¡¯s bag Old Jack¡¯s head or die trying.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel firmly nodded.


    Wasting no time we left the RV. At the same time, I felt a great relief. I didn¡¯t need to spend the night where there was a possibility Sum Ting Wong and his pack would visit me with their pale face.


    *****

 SS1 7.2 - Final Firing Position

    SS1 7.2 - Final Firing Position


    Kubran Valley was located between Sidra Forest and Sherem Forest. It was huge, had a shape like a plate, and its surface was being covered by trees and vegetation at moderate density. Most of all, it had enough mid-size games to sustain large low-rank monster population.


    From the monster¡¯s perspective, Kubran Valley was the mirror city of Karmen. Torrak launched several major hunting operations on it, but it never brought expected result. The monster population in this valley remained high, far from preferable level. And now, I carried out a hunt and kill for Old Jack in this very valley.


    I followed Ariel¡¯s suggestion to enter Kubran Valley from Sidra Forest at night. Two nights later, we arrived at one of Old Jack¡¯s resting spots. It was located in a cliff edge and had a shape like giant bird nest. While Ariel inspected it, I provided her a perimeter security, watching the area while holding my MPX in high-ready position.


    Then, I heard several low growls, footsteps, and broken twigs from the trail below our position. I still couldn¡¯t see them, but this was the sixth time I heard such growl after entering Kubran Valley.


    With ease I recognized them. They were orc in a hunt for mid-size game. Without making a sound I approached Ariel and gave her a hand signal for incoming orc. We then lay down on the ground, behind a thick shrub.


    Orc¡¯s eyes were ten times more sensitive than human eyes. It would help them a lot when they carried out a night activities. However, their vision under the darkness wouldn¡¯t surpass a good NVG like PVS-31. And so, they didn¡¯t realize our presence. They casually threaded the trail just a dozen meter before our position, five orc in total.


    The first time I encountered contact like this one, my heart couldn¡¯t help but skipped a few beats. But now, I could with ease watch the orc as they faded away into distance. Ariel then checked the area using her hearing before turning her gaze to me.


    ¡°Old Jack used the nest about two days ago,¡± Ariel said in low voice.


    I immediately took out a piece of hard-copy map and marked Old Jack¡¯s resting spot. Then, I pointed my finger on other mark on the map, where Old Jack killed a whole D-rank team yesterday at noon.


    ¡°It¡¯s only three clicks from this nest,¡± I said in low voice.


    ¡°It seems Old Jack left it right after the killing.¡±


    I lightly nodded my head. ¡°Any idea where is his next stop?¡±


    ¡°After killing a hunter team, Old Jack will go to the deeper part of Kubran Valley. From here, we have three locations that become his favorite resting spot.¡± Ariel pointed in three different locations in the map as she added, ¡°Here, here, and here.¡±


    ¡°How long the time we need to reach these area?¡±


    ¡°7-9 nights, but it will be faster if rain pours down to covers our track.¡±


    I instantly made a calculation. Old Jack always stayed in one hunting ground for no more than three weeks. With the remaining time we have, we could only pick one out of three possible resting spot.


    After taking a deep breath I turned my gaze to Ariel. ¡°Pick one of the resting spot.¡±


    ¡°What if Ariel pick the wrong resting spot?¡±


    ¡°In that case we miss our chance, but I won¡¯t blame you.¡±


    After a moment of ponder Ariel pointed her finger on one of the resting spots. ¡°Let¡¯s choose this one.¡±


    ¡°Why do you choose it?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Ariel has resting place like Sierra Lodge to watch over this spot. It will minimize the possibility orc or goblin discovers us while we are waiting for Old Jack.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Other than for safety factor, Hole up in a place like Sierra Lodge was not bad choice. I firmly agreed to Ariel suggestion. Wasting no time, we continued our walk, straight to the deeper part of Kubran Valley.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    ---


    It took eight nights of arduous walk before we arrived in a cliff edge. It was about 30 meters high and stood before a flat rocky opening as big as four soccer fields. Honestly, I had a hard time believing we arrived at deeper part of Kubran Valley without leaving a single body trail. We entered this area fully unnoticed.


    Of course, it was not easy. All the way, we couldn¡¯t eat something with strong aroma, couldn¡¯t have dry bath peacefully, and were plagued with lack of sleep as orc and goblin also had daytime security patrol. However, other than that we were alive and kicking. Most of all, we were eager to take our shot on Old Jack¡¯s head.


    After scanning the rocky opening I turned my gaze to Ariel and said in low voice, ¡°So, this opening is Old Jack¡¯s resting spot.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Ariel then pointed her finger at a small pond about 100 meters from our position and added, ¡°His trail show Old Jack has a habit of sleeping near the water hole.¡±


    I lightly nodded and then asked another question, ¡°Where is our lodge?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about 14 meters below us,¡± Ariel calmly replied. ¡°Big Sis named it Oscar Lodge.¡±


    ¡°I see. It will give us a firing position about 16 meters high at 100 meters distance.¡± I lightly smiled before continuing, ¡°It¡¯s a decent firing position. The wind around here is also pretty calm.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± After a moment a pause Ariel added, ¡°Sun will come up in the east soon. We have to enter the lodge before the first light and get some sleep.¡±


    ¡°Good idea,¡± I expressed my agreement.


    Without further ado, I set up rappelling rope. Ariel would guard the rope and packed it later, so I took the turn to check the lodge. Fortunately, the cliff wall was made of a solid and normal rock. I got sure footing with ease.


    Then, I made a silence and gentle vertical walk, facing down, left hand control the rope while right hand held silenced P320 Flux Raider. It took me a few seconds to reach the entrance. In full alert, I then crawled through it. It was small, five meter longs, and had curve shaped like the entrance at Sierra Lodge.


    As for the interior, it was a bit bigger than Sierra Lodge. It was also clean and had nice air, with a big pile of dimly glowing purple moon stone in a corner. Once I was sure everything was safe, I signaled Ariel to pack the rope and came down to the lodge. Then, we slept in turn.


    ---


    It felt so good to give our body and mind three hours of sleeping and three hours of sitting, without the need to be wary of passing orc or goblin. After that, we took a bath and had a light lunch before setting up the final firing position at the lodge entrance.


    It was already past noon, but we were not in hurry. We would headshot Old Jack at night, when he slept like a log. So, we worked in a calm manner. First, I and Ariel made two piles of sandbags. The first pile was bedding for the suppressed TRG M10, while the second one was for me and Ariel to sit.


    After that, it was range estimation. I didn¡¯t use laser range finder. I worried we had monster with ability to see laser beam present in the area and they would discover our position. Fortunately, I was very good in analog range estimation and the rocky opening was practically flat.


    First, I used climbing rope to confirm the exact height of my eyes level from the opening¡¯s surface. Then, I used clinometer to get the angle of depression to the spot I wanted to measure. After that, I put the number I got to basic trigonometry to get the distance. Last but not least, I made the opening¡¯s sketch and divided it into small areas based on the shooting distance.


    Once I finished the sketch I showed it to Ariel. ¡°The closest shooting distance is 40 meters. The farthest is 380 meters, just before the tree line in the opening¡¯s edge.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± Ariel calmly gave me a light nod.


    ¡°If Old Jack show up and sleep next to the pond, we will kill him for sure,¡± I firmly said.


    ¡°Then, we will climb back to the top of the cliff and retreat.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I lightly nodded and took a deep breath saying, ¡°However, we still have to prepare ourselves for the worst scenario.¡±


    ¡°Berg,¡± Ariel said in low voice. ¡°If you miss your first shoot, Old Jack will definitely discover our position. After that, he will escape while signaling low-rank monster in the area to attack us.


    In such scenario, our only option is to fight to the death.¡±


    ¡°No, we have another scenario,¡± I calmly said. ¡°If I distract and hold our attacker¡¯s attention, I believe you will manage to escape.¡±


    ¡°Ariel won¡¯t leave you to fight to the death alone,¡± Ariel firmly said while returning the sketch.


    ¡°But you have to do it. It¡¯s my order as older member of our family.¡± After a short pause I added, ¡°You have to survive and carry on the family name.¡±


    ¡°Without you, bad folks will hurt Ariel again,¡± Ariel said before pressing her lips together. ¡°It¡¯s a life worse than death.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to return to Karmen,¡± I casually said. ¡°You are good enough to live in the wild. The tablet will help you to sustain yourself using monster kill. I have also made my last wish using my tablet. If I die, everything I have in my inventory will be transferred to yours.¡±


    ¡°What about Ariel¡¯s firearm training?¡±


    ¡°For the last few days, I use my lookout turn to make video and manual on how to use firearms for you. You can study it on your own.¡±


    ¡°But it will be very lonely to live alone,¡± Ariel said before starting to lightly sob.


    ¡°You can go to other kingdom that treated demi-human nicely.¡± After a pause I added, ¡°Over there, I¡¯m sure you will be fine and find your own path.¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    Ariel said nothing and just walked back to the lodge interior and sat in a corner, and I chose to not push the matter further. Ariel would need some space and time to digest my intention. And so, we just sat separately and quietly.


    *****

 SC1 7.3 - Unsuppressed Precision Shooting

    SC1 7.3 - Unsuppressed Precision Shooting


    Waiting took a big part of shooter job. My effort to kill Old Jack using precision shooting was not an exception for that nature. While waiting for Old Jack to show up, I spent my time eating melon seed while observing the rocky opening.


    A moment ago, a pack of six white rumps took their time to drink from the small pond in the opening. Now, they were leisurely grazing the scattered grass patches near the pond. The buck and its harem were really nice mid-size game. By using subsonic round, I would definitely knock down two of them before the rest realized the danger and escaped to the woods.


    Unfortunately, only hunter above C-rank could digest meat, fish, and fruit from the wild. Other than that, House of Hunter also forbade hunter below B-rank to harvest wild game and wild fruit. Well, it¡¯s not like I and Ariel would suffer from lack of money and food, so the prohibition didn¡¯t bother me.


    Then, I was checking the clock in my tablet and found it was already 4:20 pm, when the white rumps suddenly ran in hurry to the woods. My heart instantly skipped a beat as I put down my tablet, and a moment later a big wyvern gently landed on the opening.


    It had big head like a catfish but with two small horns, long neck like snake, wide batwing, giant eagle legs and claws, and long tail like stingray. It stood in its legs and had about 3 meter tall shoulder height. With ease, I recognized him.


    ¡®Welcome home, Old Jack,¡¯ I muttered before turning my gaze to Ariel and signaled her to silently crawl over to me.


    A moment later, Ariel already kneeled behind my shoulder and checked on Old Jack using a binocular.


    ¡°He has a little girl with him,¡± Ariel said in whisper.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± I said as I used the rifle scope on top of TRG M10 to check the kid.


    She was about five-year-old and she was still alive. Old Jack put her on the ground before him. He looked straight to the little girl, and I could see a small grin in his wide lips. Well, in a moment Old Jack would gulp down the little girl, unless I did something to stop it.


    The problem was, Old Jack landed on a spot near the trees line in the opening edge. It was about 350 meter from my position.


    ¡°Berg,¡± Ariel said in low voice. ¡°Can you headshot Old Jack from this distance?¡±


    ¡°I can try, but it will be like announcing our position with a loud scream.¡±


    Resolve instantly flashed in Ariel¡¯s eyes. ¡°Let¡¯s try it and save the little girl.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± I said as I detached the suppressor and replaced the subsonic AP round with regular AP round. ¡°Once I give you the signal, go get the little girl.¡±


    ¡°Ariel will definitely get the little girl,¡± Ariel firmly said. ¡°But, can you climb the cliff without a rope?¡±


    ¡°I can.¡± I made final dial for the scope as I added, ¡°And once I reach the cliff top, I will set up the rope to lift the little girl.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Wasting no time, I took aim. By using combo sub-moa rifle and sub-moa round, I could headshot a human from 400 meters. Now, I had the combo. The wind was also dead, and the target had head several times bigger than human head.


    With ease, I calculated aiming point that would get me impact point at slightly above Old Jack¡¯s left ear. From my angle, the line of fire would give me a penetration to Old Jack¡¯s brain, and the 6.5 mm CBJ AP would do the rest.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    When you fired it from 12¡± barrel, the 6.5 mm CBJ AP could penetrate 9 mm thick armor plate from 400 meters, and created 6 mm entry hole. Even 7.62 mm NATO wouldn¡¯t be able to produce that kind of penetration level.


    As for my Sako TRG M10, it had 16" barrel as I wanted to give the projectile additional stability. In summary, I wouldn''t have a problem to defeat Old Jack¡¯s skull, and create a nice tunnel in his brain. In case one tunnel was not enough to put him down, I would make another one and so on, until his brain became Swiss cheese if I have to.


    And finally, I put the safety lever off before gently squeezing the trigger, just as Old Jack pulled his head back while opening his wide mouth.


    Bang!


    The 6.5 mm CBJ had very gentle recoil, so with ease I maintain my sight to Old Jack¡¯s head, and saw he slightly jerked as the round hit his head. However, he was still standing in his two legs. I immediately sent second shot.


    Cla-clack!


    Bang!


    A moment after the second round hit his head, Old Jack tumbled to the side. His upper body lay still on the ground, while his legs continuously made a weak kick to the air. I¡¯m afraid it was a sign that Old Jack¡¯s regeneration was working in full rotation to repair his brain. Without delay I tried to prevent it.


    Cla-clack!


    Bang!


    Cla-clack!


    Bang!


    Cla-clack!


    Bang!


    Another three rounds consecutively and perfectly hit Old Jack¡¯s head, made it shrunk like a deflated tire while puddle of blood around it became wider with each shoot. Then, I was about to replace the magazine when I felt a light shook in my shoulder.


    ¡°Berg, you already killed Old Jack.¡±


    I was a bit taken back as I took my eyes from the scope. Then, I turned my gaze to Ariel and found she held my tablet.


    ¡°Your third shot had killed Old Jack,¡± Ariel informed me on more time.


    ¡°Got it,¡± I replied as put the safety lever on.


    Honestly, I really didn¡¯t hear the buzz from my tablet when it received notification for Old Jack kill. If Ariel didn¡¯t wake me up from my zone, I was sure I would keep hitting Old Jack until his head became porridge.


    At the same time, without waiting for my signal Ariel exited the lodge, climbed down to the rocky opening, and reached its surface in no time. Then, with everything she got she ran over to the little girl who still silently sat in front of Old Jack¡¯s dead body.


    Without delay, I put my TRG M10 to my inventory and replaced it with suppressed P320 Flux Raider. Then, I climbed my way to the cliff top while in the distance orc roars filled the air to the brim.


    When Old Jack showed up in an area, low-rank monster would stay away from his resting spot up to 2 km. In a glance it was far enough to give us escape time, but orc would close that distance in a few minutes.


    So, with everything I got I pushed myself to reach the cliff top as fast as I can. Fortunately, the cliff wall had lots of spot where I could get good grip and foothold. Even beginner climber would scale this cliff wall with ease.


    It took only a few minutes before I reached the cliff top. Then, I was about to set up climbing rope when a head of little girl popped up in the cliff edge.


    I immediately offered my hand to help her made the final lift. Then, as the little girl sat in the cliff top while wiping away her sweats, I checked the cliff wall. I found Ariel was only a few meters behind the little girl. It seemed she took the climbing route next to the little girl and deliberately stayed a few meters behind her, because she wanted to guard the little girl in case she had a slip of foothold.


    ¡°Good job,¡± I said to Ariel as I helped her making final lift to the cliff top.


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ariel happily replied.


    I then turned my gaze to the little girl. ¡°Is she a demi-human?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Ariel replied. ¡°Kara is a D-rank from Silva Family.¡±


    Big question mark instantly popped up in my forehead as I looked at the adorable little girl. ¡°She is a D-rank from Silva Family?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°How did Old jack manage to snatch a D-rank junior from Silva Family?¡±


    ¡°Berg, we can ask her later,¡± Ariel firmly said. ¡°For now, we have to erase our trail.¡±


    ¡°How do we do that?¡±


    ¡°Cover the whole rocky opening using tear gas. It will hinder low-rank monster ability to track our trail for 20-25 minutes.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡±


    Wasting no time I bought three crates of 8-pcs tear gas grenade. We then deployed it to every corner of rocky opening. Kara also helped us throwing the tear gas, and she could throw it as far as the trees line in the opening¡¯s edge.


    A moment later, thick tear gas had blanketed every inch of opening¡¯s surface. We then started our attempt to leave the area. It would be nice if we have chopper to pick us up. We only had to go to RV and then kiss our goodbye to our pursuer.


    Unfortunately, our circumstance was not that good. We could only rely on our feet and fate to carry out the exfil.


    *****

 SS1 8.1 - Planning the Exfil

    SS1 8.1 - Planning the Exfil


    As Ariel said, the tear gas gave us a few minutes of early start. However, we only managed to gain about 2 km before low-rank monster filled the area to the brim. Their number was too many, and even without radio and only by relying on shout out relay, they could coordinate very well. It would be too risky to continue the exfil.


    Ariel then took us to hole up in a small cave, located on middle of cliff wall, and about 8 meters above a surface of huge pond. We had to clean it first, and then piled up purple moon stones on its corner before we could use it. It was also only about a half of Sierra Lodge¡¯s size.


    However, we managed to get into this cave without anyone tailing us. Having a hidden resting spot when thousands of low-monsters wanted to turn you into human chops was a priceless luxury. And so, I enjoyed our situation.


    After setting up an improvised bathroom in a corner, I said to Ariel and Kara, ¡°Let¡¯s have something for dinner before we sleep in turn.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Ariel lightly nodded while Kara said nothing.


    Wasting no time, I set up stools and table using beer crate layered by rubber mat in the middle of the cave. Then, I arranged crackers, peanut, raisin, boiled edamame, and mineral water.


    We couldn¡¯t eat something with strong smell so we didn¡¯t have many options in our menu, but it was not too bad compared to when we had to eat in the open, and could only have plain bread, raisin, and mineral water.


    After offering the gratitude for the food I said, ¡°Let¡¯s eat.¡±


    Ariel and Kara immediately took cracker and munched it heartily, while I took a handful of edamame. After putting two pieces of edamame in my mouth I turned my gaze to Kara.


    ¡°Are you really from Silva Family?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Kara replied casually. ¡°My full name is Kara de Silva, member of 5th branch, the smallest branch in Kara Family.¡±


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°In two months I will celebrate my fifth birthday.¡±


    ¡®Five-year-old huh¡­¡¯ I muttered before asking another question, ¡°Can you tell us how Old Jack managed to snatch you?¡±


    ¡°Old Jack didn¡¯t manage to snatch me,¡± Kara gave me another calm reply. ¡°I let him to snatch me.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± Big question mark popped up in my forehead as I looked at Kara straight at her eyes. ¡°Why did you do that?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s order from Matriarch Marta, the current leader of Silva Family.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second.¡± I tilted my head to the side as the big question mark in my forehead thickened. ¡°Are you saying your matriarch ordering you to become Old Jack¡¯s meal?¡±


    ¡°Sort of, in case I fail to kill Old Jack.¡±


    After taking another piece of cracker, Kara then calmly explained the detail of her mission. Basically, she would go to open plain around Karmen alone, and let herself being caught by Old Jack. After that, just before Old Jack gulped her down she would make a swing on his neck and decapitate him.


    This mission was being ordered by Matriarch Marta to remedy Edwark¡¯s mistake, which had tarnished Silva Family¡¯s name to some extent. Kara was being chosen to execute it because she came from the weakest branch in the family.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°What if Old Jack killed you on the way to his resting spot?¡± I curiously asked.


    ¡°Berg, that¡¯s possibility is very low,¡± Ariel explained. ¡°Wyvern has a habit to eat the children they manage to snatch alive.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± I weakly replied and I couldn¡¯t help recalled the pair of sibling who got snatch by Old Jack right before my eyes.


    The terror they experienced must be unbearable, especially for the one who had to witness their sibling gotten eaten alive. After letting out a deep sigh I then turned my gaze back to Kara.


    ¡°How high your chance to kill Old Jack?¡±


    ¡°Very high,¡± Kara replied. ¡°Wyvern tend to lower their guard when they are about to eat a living kid.¡±


    ¡°After killing Old Jack, what is your plan to leave the area?¡±


    ¡°On foot, at daylight, sneaking between low-rank monster patrols. Kara has lot of ration in my inventory, so food won¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying no one will pick you up?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but letting out a sigh as I looked at Kara¡¯s childish face. ¡°You have it rough, kid.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s the fate of children from weakest branch of patrician family,¡± Kara casually said and I swore she was too calm for a 5-year-old kid. ¡°We have to be ready to be sacrificed for the sake of family glory.¡±


    Honestly, it was too harsh, but I said nothing other than lightly nodded my head a few times. Then, we continued our dinner in silence. After that we took a bath in turn before sleeping in turn. Ariel and Kara would take the first watch, while I would sleep first.


    ---


    Morning in the cave went calmly but swiftly. After done with morning private routine, we had breakfast. Then, we planned our next move. After spreading out map of Kubran Valley with fresh transparent lamination on the table, I turned my gaze to Ariel.


    ¡°Where is our current position?¡±


    ¡°Here.¡±


    Ariel pointed a spot in the map and I immediately put a mark on it. After that I measure the straight line to the edge of Kubran Valley and found out it was 5 km away. Of course, we couldn¡¯t just take exfil route in straight line.


    After a moment of ponder I turned my gaze to Ariel one more time. ¡°Mark the best route to exit Kubran Valley.¡±


    Without a word Ariel put several marks on the map, and after connecting it I found the total distance we had to take was about 14 km.


    Question mark instantly popped up in my forehead. ¡°This is far longer than our infil route?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ariel firmly replied. ¡°It¡¯s because we have to make detour to avoid low-rank monster concentration.¡±


    ¡°We also can only move in daytime,¡± Kara added. ¡°Last night, when we were on the watch, we heard a series of warg¡¯s howl.¡±


    ¡®Warg huh?¡¯ I muttered to myself.


    Based on information I read, warg basically was the sabertooth version of wolf. They were also far bigger than regular wolf. A mature warg had a size as big as adult male bison. They were categorized as mid-rank monster.


    Overall, they were weaker than wyvern, but they hunt in pack of 4-6. Therefore, as a pack, their body count was far than any wyvern, including Old Jack. Most of all, other than remarkably sharp nose and ears, they had good night vision.


    ¡°With the warg enter the field, I agree that we can¡¯t travel at night,¡± I calmly said. ¡°But, after we killed Old Jack, traveling at daytime is not bad, right?¡±


    Kara instantly tilted her head while deeply looked at me. ¡°How long since you become a hunter?¡±


    ¡°I just started this profession this month,¡± I openly admitted.


    ¡°I see,¡± Kara said before letting out a sigh.


    Then, Ariel explained our situation to me, ¡°Berg, when a pack of warg hunt in an area, the entire low-rank monster in this area will hunt only at daylight, when the warg sleep.¡±


    I nodded and said, ¡°It mean daylight travel won¡¯t be as easy as I thought.¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Ariel calmly replied.


    ¡°In case we stay in this cave, how long we have to wait until the commotion die down on its own?¡±


    ¡°It will take a week before Kubran Valley return to its normal routine,¡± Ariel said. ¡°However, it will take 3-5 days at most, for the warg to discover our location.¡±


    ¡°Damn,¡± I softly cursed. ¡°So, we have to continue the exfil as fast as we can, and take the risk.¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Ariel then turned her gaze to the map on the table before weakly adding, ¡°If only we have a way to blanket our exfil route with tear gas. That will enable us to take shorter route. It will also increase our chance to escape significantly.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure covering our exfil route with tear gas will increase our chance to escape?¡± I asked while giving Ariel an expectant gaze.


    ¡°Mhm, but it¡¯s impossible to carry out such plan,¡± Ariel dejectedly said.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s not that impossible,¡± I calmly said. ¡°Mark the shorter route and give me a few hours to plan the details.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Ariel gave me a nod while Kara said nothing. After Ariel finished marking the shorter route, I immediately took out a pocket notebook and pencil before sitting in one corner of the cave and silently drew the exfil plan.


    *****