My Last Hunt

Treasures and Snatchers: Level Three (part 5)

No use waiting for opportunity: Earn it or snatch it no way round. 

At the outer side, Zura and his team were waiting for this team to accept defeat or get killed. They had no reason to believe that this team would be able to successfully hunt this monster. They were not wearing any armours, they had no means to escape back if anyone of them fell in the deep lake, and they knew no way to lure the monster.

"Does it mean we will have to wait in line for a hunt now?" one of the team member mocked. The others understood his meaning but kept quiet. The team leader was already boiling with shame. "I want to see him falling in the pool with humiliation when defeated by the water dragon and shouting for help in the middle of the lake." Zura held his sword angrily and spoke. 

"Let's wait and see when he would shout for help then." The team member shrugged his shoulders and Zura at the side glanced at him. This team member did not belong to an equally rich trader family and only had a few shops in the Middletown. He was not pleased at this mocking behaviour this person showed and definitely he would not let it go. He gestured to the other team member and he nodded. It was easy to teach him lesson but not directly. 

In the underground, the dragon came on surface and pretty sure it chose a different place for jumping in the air as predicted by Qiao. The lake was deep but it's radius was not bigger enough which can be used as advantage if the hunter happened to be smart. 

Qiao was observing all the aspects which could help with this hunt and the most crucial was the lake itself. As their were fewer chance of the dragon to reach on surface, it meant every chance should be considered a golden opportunity. 

The dragon could still see the team there and hurried to dive again. Qiao ran fast and then jumped over from the lake. The others won't take risk because they had no urgent reason to look for death face to face. But Qiao counted every day as precious as some treasure. As each day passed, he felt the need to level up and save his brother. So other kind of fears counted as nothing in front of him nor the grudges of some arrogant or rich hunters. 

Their aims don't value much and their goals were similar to trash in front of him. 

His agility had improved with his level up and with the fact he had practiced it with force, so to jump over from one side of the lake to the other was possible. Although it needed a vigilance and accurate observation and he believed he could do it. The previous whole hour he was not sitting idle like his team. He was leading this team but could not use them for his own aim. If he wanted to fight for his aim, he has to put in extra effort. 

The dragon was about to dive again when Qiao jumped. This once he planned to use the sharp edges of his weapon and the purpose was to injure the monster. If it got injured gravely then it cannot choose to dive in the depths of the lake for long.

The water would be dangerous for bleeding injuries. Linwin and Quipu gasped with horror. They had strong believe in this brother but they never thought that he would risk this way. But this was an opportunity as the dragon was not ready for someone to suddenly attack from a position where it appeared for breathing. 

Qiao almost jumped through the air and his weapon was able to reach the back of the dragon when it was ready to dive again and the weapon was barely able to scratch the skin. As fast as he attacked, Qiao had to let it go. He made it on the other edge with the help of Linwin. The plan was not as successful as it should be which meant he had to think of another way without leaving any room for his own safety. 

The dragon was not much injured and can stay in the depth for another hour. Qiao got wet in struggle to crawl up with the help. He gulped a breath and looked around. He cannot sit still and wait another opportunity to waste like this one. 

There were hanging vines of unknown plants here which he noticed. 

"Quipu, get the help of new member and cut a longer vine, make sure it should not be defected from any part and prepare it to be able to bear the burden of a man." He ordered Quipu and he immediately leap to finish his task. 

"Linwin, get ready with your muscles to pull me out of the water if needed. Just throw the vine toward me when I shout and don't be lazy if you want to see me alive." Qiao patted his shoulders and showed that he was trusting him now for his life. 

Linwin patted his chest, "Brother, I will not spare any ounce of my strength but what is the plan?" he asked out of curiosity. 

"There is not a plan actually, it is based on luck and our collaboration in this hunt." he chuckled. One could see that he was facing the lake and slightly pointing few things randomly but he was sneaking toward the new member whose eyes were wandering like a guilty person. Qiao cannot tell immediately why he was behaving this way because he himself wanted to focus on the hunt.

The new member found a chance when Quipu was busy in choosing the best vine, as he used a small dagger and slightly made many small cuts in a chosen longer vine. He could somehow understood why Qiao ordered to collect them.