My Last Hunt

Quests: Making A Team (part 4)

War between teams: 

If you wanted to survive in the Guild, fight for a slot; 

Unaware of what were the rules and happenings in the Guild; this small team entered the forest. 

Qiao was not aiming for a big hunt just because they have better weapons. His aim was to gain experience not to lose it. Also the other team members were now his responsibility so he would make sure that they had a right pace for leveling up and for hunting. 

"Finally, we are free of any trouble and can hunt without worry," Linwin waved his sword in the air, he seemed happy. 

Quipu shook his head, "Don't drop your guard due to the surface silence," he had some experience and knew what it meant when it was peaceful in surrounding.

Qiao nodded as he agreed to this observation, 

'Even at times your own shadow can create a grudge against you' so they cannot take it as if they were free of concerns. 

"Alright, I understand," Linwin spoke with fallen spirits. 

And this made both Qiao and Quipu chuckle. 

They were moving toward the lower part of the forest. 

"What kind of monster are we going to hunt?" Linwin asked out of curiosity. 

"According to the instructions written on the paper, I am not assigned any specific monster for hunt but there is a warning that if the team loses experience or fails to hunt, they might face the strict rules of the Guild," Qiao had not read the paper when the reception man handed it to him. Now after coming to the forest he finally read it and found it a little off. 

What kind of instruction was this?

"Ah, does that mean we have to search for our own hunt?" Quipu had heard about such a Guild and he could not believe that he joined the same Guild. 

The chasers in the previous Guild used to talk about a specific Guild whose weird rules were unacceptable for many chasers and they left the Guild or the Guild kicked them out. 

It was going to be horrible. But he shook his head, what else he could do now. 

"It is good that we are not assigned a monster, this means we have a choice to make now," Qiao was thinking differently. 

If he has given a choice to choose his hunt then there was nothing better beyond it. As for finding a suitable hunt, that was not bigger problem. 

The lower part of the forest was occupied with many level one or two monsters and their habitats were not difficult to spot. Since it was still day, they could find some lurking in the open areas.

They only needed to be careful and stay focused. 

The three chasers advanced in the forest while they kept their back facing each other. Right then they heard a sharp groan, which they immediately identified to be coming from a monster.

Without any apparent reason, they thought to themselves that this groan belonged to a level one or two monster, so it was better to not to directly appear in front of the monster. 

"Quipu, you carefully scout around and see what is the level of the monster," Qiao ordered, this chaser had vast knowledge about the levels of the monster and this could help them today and in future. 

Quipu immediately followed the order and started to look around. He also made sure to keep himself hidden as well. 

After some time, he reached where the monster was and immediately identified it as a level three. 

Quipu returned sneakily and reported his findings. 

"With the current team member's count and strength, we cannot hunt a level three. Let's retreat for now and find another one," they retreated from this habitat slowly. 

But…

It was pity that the monster sensed the presence of the chasers, or it was maybe because Quipu who failed to take caution when returning back, the monster happened to follow the chaser. 

Even when they were in the bigger team, they had never hunted a level three monster, so Qiao asked them to retreat in hurry. 

This was more than a crisis. 

Even as he observed the giant body of the monster, Qiao realized it was nearly impossible to surround it. They have no one to distract the monster in the team.

The fear of losing their experience now proved true. 

When a normal Guild assigned a mission, it gives all possible hints and the right target for hunt but when it comes to quests in this Guild, it was entirely up to the teams. 

Qiao wanted to shout vulgarities for this damn new Guild and its rules, moreover the reception man did not explain anything to them. 

They were now accidently caught by a stronger monster and even complete retreat was not a chance either. 

"Keep yourself away from the direct attacks of the monster. Linwin you should run toward the left side, run as if it is a matter of life and death. Quipu you make sure your spear remains pointed toward the monster and don't let your eyes blink for a single moment," Qiao instructed them immediately and jumped toward the biggest tree. 

The monster stood around seven feet with its giant body.

Qiao shouted in a weird cooing which attracted the monster, then he brought up his weapon and jumped toward the monster shouting, 

"Linwin, use your sword to distract the monster, hurry," he could not attack when the monster was warily eyeing him. It was getting ready to pull out the tree where Qiao was taking his aim for the attack. 

Linwin heard Qiao and followed the order. Swinging his sword with all his strength, it hit against the back of the monster. The monster which was ready to pull out the trunk of the tree suddenly felt a prickling at the back which was actually an attack. 

The monster turned around to face Linwin who was attacking him from behind. 

Linwin was following on the order and he did not stop with just one attack, he was very confident about the level two sword and his level one experience. 'Sometimes ignorance is better than knowing' keeping this in mind and coupled with level two weapon and level one experience he believed he could do a lot damage. So he attacked again and again leaving no option for the monster other than to divert all its attention towards the small fry.

Quipu was still in front of the monster and pointing his spear toward the monster. For a moment he thought that perhaps Qiao wanted to settle past grudge that's why he asked him to remain in front of the monster but when the monster turned back towards Linwin, he wiped the sweat from his forehead. 

In the end it was all dependent on the team leader as how he would handle a sudden situation and led others without getting damage in return. 

He was not yet aware that it was among the rules of the Guild to not lose experience during quests. Qiao only mentioned about choosing their own hunt. So, it was his own concern to not lose the experience no matter what because points were gained with much effort.