Chapter 30: First Encounter

Approaching the hunting sector again we went towards the front desk with our new in hand ticket to go snake hunting. Of course, the crab there tried to tell us that we couldn't because of our rank, but once he saw the signed paper we had from elder Carn he shut up and approved it.

While we could've just gone out hunting immediately, it's better for us to register ourselves so we can get merits from our deeds. That, and it can help the tribe realize that we could be in danger if we don't come back soon enough.

Once we were done with the registration we left the enclave once again but this time, began heading south instead of our usual east towards the direction of the snakes homeland, the Yellow Spires.

As we walk, or rather Shelton walks, we chat about some of the past hunt's and more notably, our plans for both the immediate and far future.

Shelton of course, wants to get stronger so that he and the tribe won't have to live as bottom feeders anymore, while I want to get stronger so that I can do whatever the hell I want.

In all honesty, ever since reincarnating as a boneless creature, I ran into a serious problem.

Aside from the lack of bones and wanting to survive, the only other real goal I have is to get stronger...

I'm not saying these are bad things of course! It's just that I don't have a clear set goal in mind anywhere unlike Shelton.

Makes me feel a little bit lost if I do say so myself. I guess that I could try and find out what happened to me, as in what happened to the human me and why I reincarnated here, but at the same time I'm not so sure I'll really find an answer to that no matter how much I search...

Enough of the existential crisis talk though, we're here to talk about the snake crisis!

Originally when we got the mission I was unsure if we were going to pair up with some other yellow ranked creatures in the tribe, because, well... I thought that they were going to be more careful against the Synok tribe...

Turns out though, that most of the Synok tribe members are around the orange to yellow rank, putting them a quite a bit ahead of the Carak tribe which averages around the high red and low orange ranks.

Of course, the Carak tribe still stands, mainly due to the legendary clan leader of it which is apparently one of the only green ranked creatures around these parts, and coincidentally the leader of the Synok tribe is also supposed to be a green rank.

This WAS apparently enough of a deterrence for the damned snakes to ignore the Carak tribe, thinking that they weren't worth the trouble... but then the flood came, and all different families and tribes are determined to boost their forces with its help.

Ya know? It's crazy how different the flood is for the separate tribes... For example, the Carak tribe views it akin to being both good and bad, good because it'll help them grow faster and stronger, and bad because they become the sustenance for high ranking predators who also grow during the flood.

It's also good because they can (and did) get a tide candidate, but at the same time that tide candidate could be taken away or killed early on if others find out about them...

As I mulled over my thoughts, the background noise of Shelton telling me another useless story which I had kindly been tuning out the entire time, suddenly stopped.

Coming to my senses knowing that Shelton wouldn't turn off his mouth unless for a serious reason, I look up to see a group of 4 snakes a little ways ahead of us, slithering through the corals as they peek their head in cracks and crevices looking for prey.

'Are these guys seriously that confident?' I think to myself incredulously as I look at the snakes not trying to hide their presence at all.

I get that they're in a group and all, but not even trying to be slick about it? This'll just make it easier for prey to run from you!

From the looks of it, all 4 of these snakes are orange ranks, but one of them definitely gives off the aura of a leader both from it's size, and it's attitude.

I feel like I can almost see the sheer cockiness radiating off of this guy, and it really doesn't sit right with me.

'This is also going to be my first time hunting a sentient creature, isn't it?'

I won't deny it and say that I'm not nervous. It's obvious that the smarter a creature is the harder it is to kill it, and plus these guys are not only orange ranks, but there's also four of them.

If I was alone, nope. No way in hell would I try to fight these guys. They clearly have some coordination going on based on how they are positioned.

Eh... I take that back... these guys look like idiots.

If there leader wasn't here then I could probably crush them all by myself, but he is here, and I'm not by myself.

In that case...

Hmm...This guy seems to be a little below Shelton's level...

Wait! Their leader is weaker than Shelton?

I turn down to look at the crab below me who still hasn't moved, no doubtedly trying to come up with some ingenious plan which I probably won't listen to.

I don't think Shelton is weak or anything... It's just that this guy should be late orange rank in terms of power!

Doesn't that mean that Shelton really is super strong for his current rank? Is this the power of being a tide candidate?

This is totally unfair dammit! I want to be a tide candidate as well!

'Ahem' I clear out these thoughts as I recall that while these two creatures are indeed quite powerful, I myself don't lose out to them despite being an entire rank lower.

"Oliver" Shelton whispers towards me as he snaps me out of my thoughts of how easily I take things for granted.

"Do you think we should fight them?" He asks me.

"What do you think we came out here to do?" I say as I roll my eyes at the large crab.

"But there's four of them..." He softly argues back.

"And we have the power of yellow ranks." I shoot right back at him, quickly adding on before he can say anything else, "and more importantly... we have the element of surprise!"

Shelton stays quiet as he listens to me, before nodding his head in agreement.

"So then are we going to follow a similar plan from before?" He asks me as I amusedly look at him.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it." I say smugly, only for him to look at me in confusion.

"If what isn't broke?" He asks me, as I internally face-tentacle, ashamed that my advice is wasted on this guy.

"Never mind. Yes we'll be using the same strategy as before. I go in and plant myself somewhere near them, you lead them to me, and I'll kill their boss before they realize what's going on. After that should just be easy pickings." I explain as Shelton voices his agreement.

"I do think however that their boss is probably going to be the fastest of them. So this means that the ambush will happen at the front, so you should try and be near me when I attack him so you can help me as well." I explain.

Usually, an ambush would be, well, an ambush. In the back of the group, where no one is paying attention, and it takes out the target with practically no one paying attention to them.

However for this fight, I don't give a crap about whatever snake is going to be the slowest of them all. What we really need to focus on, is the danger that the leader presents.

From the looks of it, the rest of his crew is also only lower to middle orange rank, so they also shouldn't be much of a threat.

As we finalize our plans, both Shelton and I swim a little ways away from where the snakes are hunting looking for a good spot for an ambush.

I eventually decide to camouflage myself as a piece of coral hanging near the seafloor which should be both close to Shelton's path, and not stand out too much.

[You have activated Camouflage!]

After I decide on my spot, and actually get into it, I berate Shelton until he promises that he won't forget where I am this time, and he leaves to go grab their attention.

I wonder how snake tastes...