It had been almost ten days since their village tour.
The team had gained experience—and a few new abilities—though they were still getting used to them. It was their third hunt of the day.
If they completed this one, the group would finally have enough cores to strengthen themselves. Everyone knew it. Everyone was pushing themselves even though they were exhausted.
In the outer area of Houndswell Forest.
Boom! A shot was fired. Some shadow figures leapt at the sound as they began to chase. Drayen ran fast, but he wasn't any faster than the hounds—they were catching up to him, quietly. His heart beat faster as his breathing turned ragged. His legs were already very tired from previous two hunts which decreased his speed further.
"Huff… huff…"
He covered a decent distance, but the Shadow Hounds had already reduced the space between them.
Drayen skidded to a stop between two trees, one on his left and one on his right. He steadied his breathing, then fired his gun again. More fire pellets rained down from the trees. Some of the Shadow Hounds fell, groaning, while others climbed up and took cover behind the trunks.
Lina smirked, "Your skill with fire pellets sucks, even though you got the ability first."
Lia snorted, "Those were just lucky shots. Hmph."
The sisters had awakened the same fire pellet ability shortly after. Lia was the first to awaken after Leo and Drayen, then Fedric and Lina followed.
"Formation!" Drayen shouted, snapping them back to focus.
Lia and Lina jumped down and stood beside Drayen, closely watching the Shadow Hounds' movements, ready for the attack. Fedric and Leo, who were in charge of melee, stood at the front and back, guarding them.
The forest grew quiet. Although they had taken down half of the group, the remaining hounds were cautious. They didn't come out for a while. It was a deadlock. Shadow Hounds didn't make sounds when they hunted. This was the behavior that fueled fear. The silence thickened as the exhausted group grew nervous.
Drayen hesitated before throwing a small explosive toward the area where he suspected a Shadow Hound was hiding. There was nothing there, but the blast caused panic among the beasts. One suddenly hopped out to attack—appearing far too close to them.
Leo let out his fire breath, the flames making the beast flinch, and at the same moment Drayen shot it dead.
Sweat dripped down his face. There were still two hounds left.
Drayen hesitated to throw another explosive—it would cost them. After their first hunt, they had to pay for everything: bullets, explosives, all their gear. Using another would only cut into their profits on loot.
"Fedric, get ready. Run!" Drayen shouted.
The group started moving again, hoping to lure out the remaining Shadow Hounds and break this fake loose formation. After a while, a Shadow Hound spotted Fedric as the most open target and leapt from behind toward him—only a foot away from its sharp claws tearing into his back.
Fedric turned around quickly. He had awakened an ability—Strength Paw.
He slammed his hands into the beast, sending it crashing into a tree with a painful grunt. Lia finished it off with a few well-aimed pellets.
There was still one beast left. In its panic, after seeing its group wiped out, it made a mistake. Drayen noticed it—and shot it dead.
Drayen spoke in his tired voice, "Finally… all dead."
Hearing their leader—and the scout of the group—say that, everyone relaxed a little. They were still breathing roughly from the fight.
"No time to relax. Let's go collect the loot," Drayen commanded.
The group started taking cores from the corpses. Kira appeared behind Drayen, who was crouched down collecting core.
"Good job on this hunt. But if you want maximum profit, avoid the explosives."
Drayen wasn't surprised by her sudden appearance anymore. After so many times, it had become natural. He nodded.
"I know," he said. "I have 'Few Butterfly Dust' and can patch up slight wounds, but the group will panic too much if injuries get bad."
Kira nodded. It had only been ten days since they started hunting, and the group still feared injuries. Drayen was careful with explosives. Each one cost more than a Rank One core, sometimes much more depending on the market. Using them meant less profit, less growth — and at their level, every core mattered.
After adding this batch of corpses to the cart, the group departed for the school.
The exhausted group came through the portal. There was a short-haired and short-bearded person who wore spectacles waiting for them with a tab, which kept account.
The group's faces had distorted expressions. Leo muffled out under his breath, "This fucker is more hungry than hounds."
The man smiled shamelessly as though he heard it, "How was the hunt? All good? Hehehe."
Drayen smiled replying "Yes, it was a good hunt." Inwardly he was cursing him - fucker is asking to get the loot out in an indirect way.
Drayen handed the cores to him. "We'll wait for the exchange."
He collected the black pouch as he played around "Good haul. Good haul. hehehe. I'll exchange them in few minutes."
The Etherion university took half the loot from them. This was the harsh agreement which was holding back the group. They had to worry about giving half the loot to school, not to mention they even had to bear expenses. After the first hunt which was an exception, they had been taking the loot mercilessly.
The portal shimmered again as three people stepped out.
A student walked in front with an arrogant gait. He had messy gray hair and wore casual clothes — too casual for someone returning from a hunt. He didn't look tired. Beside him was another student, neatly armed, he had two guns and many bullets and explosives on his waist, he was a walking weapon store. And trailing behind them was a crooked-faced teacher who looked like a boot-licking servant.
The arrogant student tossed his pouch toward the collector with a scoff. "Huh. This is what you call a good haul?"
Drayen's group glanced at the pouch — it was much bigger than theirs, almost double. Their expressions worsened.
Lina muffled out, "Hmph… bastard."
Hearing this, the arrogant guy's eye twitched as he gritted his teeth. "Who are you calling bastard?"
His palms transformed like a werewolf's, claws sharpening like a Shadow Hound's. He pounced forward—fast. Too fast. Leo wanted to jump in and shield Lina, but he was too late. He closed his eyes in helplessness.
The other guy with them moved to stop him but he couldn't match his speed. He screamed, "Kael, Don't."
Before the guy could lay a hand on her, he was suddenly hanging in the air.
Kira had stopped him. Her hand was wrapped around his neck, claws on the verge of growing. He trembled in fear, his neck burning from the pressure of her sharp, emerging claws.
The crooked-faced instructor immediately moved as if to attack, but the moment he saw Kira's gaze, he froze mid-way.
He forced out a shaky shout, "W-We are teachers! Put..him down!" he stammered.
Kira loosened her grip. The arrogant student dropped to the ground, coughing violently.
He glared with hatred and muttered, "…bitch."
Kira shot him a fierce look. The crooked-faced teacher—no, servant—hurried to intervene. "He is not calling you that! As a Instructor, how can you put your claws on him?"
"So let him go wild?" Kira replied coldly.
The arrogant student stood up, dusting himself off. "Let's go," he said, almost in a commanding tone.
His blood boiled. I'll see this to the end, bitch, he thought.
"Calm down, Kael," the instructor said with a sneer. "What can a bunch of peasants do? They can't match you. Look at their leader — still relying on guns."
Drayen and the gang fully heard the conversation. Their expressions turned ugly after hearing this.
Kira, after their check-up, took them to the canteen. The canteen had all kinds of dishes — they even served food from the Nightmare Realm. Even though the group was tired and hungry, they were more angry because of the incident.
Kira tried to lighten the mood. "The treat is on me since today was the most successful hunt."
This chicken was tainted from the Nightmare Realm. Of course, if you ate Nightmare Realm dishes, you had to pay in Kami.
Fedric and Leo fumed in anger. Lina felt guilty for causing the trouble; her face was pale. Lia gently tried to comfort her sister. The one who was most angry remained silent — he looked expressionless, but his blood was boiling like a volcano.
Kira took small, elegant bites. Unlike when she was alone with Drayen, she quickly noticed their anger and the tense atmosphere.
Trying to divert the mood, she said, "From now on, the higher the contribution, the higher the loot."
She continued, "Every rank as a Nightborne is tough at the start, but once you gather enough abilities, your growth will snowball. Your combat abilities will improve on their own.
But Rank Two… that's a real wall. Tough one."
The group nodded.
Leo grunted, "If the school wasn't so gre—"
Fedric panicked and closed his mouth.
Lia leaned in and whispered sharply, "Shut up, fool."
Kira said casually, "No need to fear. I know the school is greedy. But I am just an instructor. I will help you grow strong under the rules."
Kira's tone held a slight hidden displeasure. She didn't like the harsh conditions of the agreement. The students' mood lightened slightly hearing her support.
Drayen hid his emotions. "Relax, guys. As instructor said, we're gonna grow stronger." He forced a smile, it looked very natural.
Kira met Drayen's eyes. His smile hid anger — but there was confidence there too. She said nothing.