Finally in the city

In the penthouse of a high rise building in Lake heart city. A man was fuming. He had bloodshot eyes and his nose was flared up. He had scratched the furniture with his fingernails to the where he was bleeding. 

Everyone in the conference room with him tried their best not to draw any attention to themselves. Seeing the man's crazy eyes, they did not want to be on the receiving end of his insanity and rage. 

Maxiell felt as though he had been pushed to the edge. The last five days felt more like a nightmare. Every single day had held great promise, and the thirst for vengeance. Unfortunately, he had been thwarted every step of the way. 

Worse still, time was up, and looking at his accomplishments, there was little to none. When he saw how much he had lost, he truly felt bewildered. He had to explain himself to the higher ups, and what would he give as his account? 

Thirteen teams deployed. Six hovercrafts destroyed. More than two experts in the mixture, yet, of all that, only two people came back. Everyone and everything else had been butchered. Moreover, Maxiell had seen it all happen. 

Maxiell's command had been simple. Eliminate as many opposing teams as possible. His connection to the family depended on it. He could still remember the grand designs he had, his ambition which had shone so brightly was now thoroughly dowsed. 

After eliminating the first team, he was full of vigor. That was when disaster struck, when his ace, Golden Kirin, had wandered to a team that should not have been provoked. No matter how he looked at them, they were nothing more than sheep, they should have been gutted by lions in his team.

However, every team and every craft he sent to bring them down only served as target practice to them. At some point, he even forgot his primary directive, being all too consumed by vengeance. That was akin to putting the cart before the horse, and that was precisely what he had done. 

Elsewhere, in the same team, Phanas had thrown a party. He was beyond ecstatic. 

Unlike Laventine, who were assured of a place, Iresal was nowhere near as ambitious, or as powerful. As the heir apparent, Phanas had a pretty good idea of what state Iresal was in, so, achieving anything in this year's competition would be a miracle. 

However, not only had they achieved something, he was now in the running. 

The way this competition worked was, there were two parts. The first was the most challenging for small corporations like theirs. It involved a hunt. All participating corporations would gather their hunting parties and send them to the designated hunting grounds. 

This is where things got interesting. There were several genetic scientists who specialized in creation and adoption of new species. They would create new fantastical species, where the various teams would hunt. 

Each animal hunted, especially those that had been modified specifically for the hunt, would earn the team considerable points. Teams would be ranked according to points earned from their hauls. The best sixteen teams would be selected. 

Usually, only the power corporations in the planet would even have information about the modifications made on the species. For instance, Phanas had not managed to garner the fact that the griffins could use sonic attacks. 

With such severe differences, most small corporations did not stand a chance. Even those that did would be hunted by rogue teams employed by the larger corporations, as a way to remove any uncertainties. 

Despite his team being the target of a behemoth like Laventine corporation, they had managed to evade, and where possible, counter-attack the opposing teams. After several days of arduous running and hiding, they had managed to successfully evade their enemies. Now they were on their way back to submit the hunt to the judges. 

Despite the joy that was plastered on Phanas' face, he still couldn't help his worry. He was not stupid, he knew that his team's success had been due to the addition of the experts who had come out of nowhere. He worried that he might not be able to keep them. If he failed, then he could kiss whatever plans he had for ascension goodbye. 

Therefore, even as they traveled, Phanas was busy researching the group, figuring out how to entice them. 

To that end, there were hovercrafts and teams waiting for his order. These people had managed to draw near the settlement where the group had come from. They couldn't just budge in, so they waited.

Once the competition was declared over, then the Laventine teams would go away. Their work was to escort whatever families the new team had. With this, Phanas hoped to earn goodwill from the group.

Perhaps, out of everyone, the greatest beneficiary of all this was Duma. While in his Glenn disguise, he had managed to glean as much information as he could.

To his dismay, one of the healers, despite how at home she looked in the settlement, had only been around for barely a week. She had been fished out of the river, the same river he had spent countless hours scanning. Furthermore, the man was extremely skilled in the use of the bow, and based on the stories he had from the huntsmen, the man was also very good in combat. 

The more that Duma thought about it, the more he came to the conclusion that, this Tim character was not very simple. In fact, he looked brilliant enough to attract the attention of those seated at the very top of the planet.

Meanwhile, the man himself, Haiser, was finally getting off the hovercraft. It had been a long ride, but he was finally in Lake Heart City, with his team tagging along. As Cate hurriedly took off to submit their hunting haul, the team was being welcomed by a very noble looking man. 

Phanas had put on his best and most regal robes, and personality. To impress the team of experts before him, he had to be at his very best.