The First Hunt (1)

Walking along a corridor rather quickly, 5 figures were moving side by side as they travelled towards their intended destination.

They wore masks that concealed their identity, with the only exception being the bulky male wielding a silver hammer who appeared to be the leader of the group.

Who else could they be apart from the Fanged Wolves?

A few minutes later, the group arrived at a heavily guarded area as 2 soldiers, who stood with stern expressions on their faces, stopped them in their tracks.

"Halt. State your purpose for entering the commander's lodgings."

Stepping forward, Otto tapped his watch a few times as a hologram silently appeared in front of him.

Gazing at the hologram for a few minutes, the soldiers tersely nodded as they moved out the way and opened the door.

"Your group is in luck. The commander just returned from an important briefing. He will be with you in a few minutes."

After saying that, the soldiers pointed them towards the commander's office as Otto nodded in acceptance.

Trailing behind slightly, the rest of the squad quickly caught up as they headed in the direction of the commander's office.

After turning right and left a few times through a series of corridors, the group finally stopped before an imposing, pristine oak door made of high quality.

Knock! Knock!

Rapping on the door with his knuckles, Otto had his hand hovering over the doorknob as he heard a deep, authoritative voice resound from behind the door.

"Come in."

Twisting the doorknob, Otto led the members of the Fanged Wolves into the office as the opulent room entered their vision.

Carpets made of monster hides arranged themselves out neatly on the floor, with the walls adorned with various regalia of the military as the party stepped on the soft material that cushioned their footsteps.

Seated behind a mahogany desk was a thin male who had a buzz cut symbolic of the military and a long gruesome scar which trailed from his left ear to his chin.

The scar caused his facial features to always have a twisted and malevolent look to them, inevitably causing fear and disgust to blossom inside a person once they gazed at his face.

Adjusting his mask slightly to better hide his features, Evan discreetly took a few steps back, shortening the distance between him and the door.

When he made eye contact with the commander, Evan got the feeling he was gazing at a terrifying snake that will suddenly eat him whole, with the scar on the commander's face further accentuating this feeling.

Hence why he covertly inched backwards a few steps.

Taking a breath, a mild floral scent entered his nose as he searched for its source.

Placed on the mahogany desk was a vase of gardenia flowers emitting a fragrance which tickled Evan's nose as its white petals basked in the illumination from the light strips on the ceiling.

Moving his gaze back towards the commander, he waited for Otto to speak.

"Vanderson."

However, contrary to Evan's expectations of politeness, Otto only uttered one word that was filled with loathing.

"Otto. What a surprise it is to see you here. Have you become tired of licking the asses of those people who believe they are holier than thou?"

Scowling as he took a deep breath, Otto reined in his emotions, much to the amusement of Vanderson.

"Enough! I am not here to waste my precious time arguing with you when humanity needs us. Are you going to brief us or not?"

"Sigh, serious as always. Humanity this, humanity that. You are a real hypocrite, blinded by what the supreme families show you. Whatever, here's the briefing document. The only thing they have instructed me to say is clear out as many monsters as you can, but killing zombies trumps the others, so if you see a zombie horde or a pack of monsters, you must prioritize the zombies."

Throwing the document in Otto's face, Commander Vanderson simply closed his eyes and lazily reclined back on his chair.

Arching an eyebrow at the duo's behaviour, Evan ruminated over the information he gleaned from their conversation.

'So, captain and this commander go way back. This is clear from the way the captain spoke to him when he first saw him. Another point of importance was how the commander mentioned nobles and ass licking. Piecing it together, it isn't hard to glean that both of them come from common backgrounds. The only thing to note is the deep hate I felt when commander Vanderson spoke of them.'

After the 'collision' occurred, society regressed backwards after the supreme families rose in power and introduced the nobility system.

Now, the five supreme families and those families who made big enough contributions toward the survival of humanity received noble titles.

The opposite was true as well, as those whose families haven't amassed enough contributions in the war effort against the monsters remained common people.

Contemplating for a few more seconds, Evan threw these thoughts to the back of his mind for studying at a later date as he watched Otto briefly flick through the document.

Nodding his head from time to time, Otto finished inspecting the document in a few minutes as he threw the document back on Vanderson's desk.

He turned to leave without a word as his indifferent demeanour which was displayed from the moment he set his eyes on the commander dissipated.

Following their captain, the rest of the Fanged Wolves silently left the room as Evan exited the room last.

As he made that last step to exit the room, he felt a baffling sense of unease come across him suddenly, feeling as if the events which just occurred in that room set in motion a particular series of events in the future which are detrimental to them.

Shaking his head to get rid of the weird feeling assaulting him, Evan followed the squad members back to the entrance where they came from.

They travelled for a few minutes before entering a bare room with a table and a few seats.

Sitting down, Otto tapped his watch a few times until a hologram of a map appeared with a big blinking dot highlighting their current position.

Zooming in, he searched for Zone C for a few moments until he found it and displayed it in the centre of the table.

"Ok, so the details of the mission are as follows. In the time limit of two weeks, we have to hunt 2 packs of wolf-type monsters, 3 packs of boar-type monsters and 2 packs of snake-type monsters as well as eliminate any zombies we find along the way. The plan is to go out during the day to hunt and eradicate these monsters and zombies and then be back in the outpost when it becomes nighttime. The sun is about to set, so we will rest tonight and begin the hunt tomorrow."

Agreeing with the plan, the members of the squad left to go to their accommodations, which were highlighted in the briefing document.

Entering the small room provided to him, Evan took his sword out of his space ring and began swinging it, hoping to increase his mastery by however much he could, as that might prove to be the difference between his life and death.

'I need to use all the time I have to increase my strength, as there is a possibility of me dying at the hands of these monsters and zombies.'

This thought revolved in Evan's mind and spurred him on to continue swinging even after his arms ached.