Supreme Monarch

Tyler and Nadine finally returned back to the campsite at the bottom of the steep hill after being gone for about an hour or so. At this point, the group were already done setting up the camp and securing the perimeter as well as creating a campfire where a pot of some kind of brouth was being made.

Most Hunters would usually only pack dried foods for a short trip as it was less time consuming and made it easier to clean up the campsite in the morning. However, the group had opted to make something from scratch because they felt it would better help them recover from the massively draining fight from earlier.

While that may be an arbitrary thought, they still rather take it as face value as their minds needed something to take their minds off the monsters and help them regain their mental fortitude.

As Tyler and Nadine got closer to the camp and crossed through the perimeter. The group of five that sat on logs around the campfire all simultaneously turned their heads towards them as they had probably been informed by the alarm spell cast around the campsite.

Tyler had been curious on how the alarm spell worked so he hadn't tried to hide his presence and had kept his eyes fix on the group to see who would react first but to his surprise they all reacted at the same time. Perhaps the spell had informs them all at the same time using some kind of method he wasn't yet aware of.

As he and Nadine got close enough to the group at the center of the camp, Dohel was the first one to speak to them:

"Welcome back, please do not stray too far from the camp next time, it makes it harder to monitor the movements outside the perimeter."

"I see, do forgive my ignorance."

"Huh, no no no no no... That's not what I meant. Besides you're not a Hunter so it's only natural that you'd not be well versed on things like these, right."

As Dohel panically tried to explain himself, the twins Aine and Anne both welcomed Tyler at the same time.

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"Welcome back Mr. Lix, we're done with dinner so please come and join us."

Larut and Kylyra both nodded at the invite and although Tyler had no interest in eating their brouth, he still accepted their invite as he thought it would be a good opportunity to get to know this group of Hunters better. It would also help him get a clearer picture on the life of an Hunter. 

Tyler then accepted their invitation and proceeded to take a seat in the logs next to the twins with Nadine trailing behind him, who naturally sat by his side.

As they sat around the campfire, Aine stood up and served them both a bowl of the steaming hot brouth and Tyler accepted it. The soup was compromised of bits of meats, potatoes, nuts, mushrooms and several others things Tyler wasn't completely sure on what they were.

It looked rich with nutrients but didn't seem like it could ever be considered a delicacy. Since Tyler didn't need to eat as often as he once did, he didn't feel like putting this thing in his mouth but had no choice in the matter.

Nadine held her bowl silently as stared blankly at it as well, perhaps waiting for Tyler to start eating before she did. Or maybe she also found it unappealing. *Sigh... Since it would be strange if he just sat there and did nothing, and probably rude if he did not eat, Tyler forced himself to take a bite.

He took a spoonful of soup and meat to his mouth and without wasting anymore time, he ate it. The chewy texture of the meat made him wonder what beast it was from but aside from that, he was currently stunned. His eyes went wide at how surprisingly tasty the brouth was.

The simple looking brown soup that looked a bit like mud was packed with so much flavour that they all exploded in his mouth at once, giving him several sensations that he hadn't expected. If this was a certain cooking show he was sure his clothes probably would have exploded in sheer ecstasy or something dumb like that.

"Not bad."

"I know right, Aine and Anne are the best cooks you can find amongst all the Hunter party's in the guild." Dohel proclaimed with a bright smile on his face as he ate. His cheerful and airy attitude seem to have returned probably thanks to the good meal.

"I see... Very well done, I hadn't expected it." 

Tyler complimented the twins sincerely as he saw Nadine finally began to eat from the corner of his eyes and gently chuckled.

Aine and Anne blushed slightly as they lowered their head in embarrassment at Tyler's sincere praise. 

"Oh... You guys can't be shy now. This is one of the best meals you guys have ever prepared for us. It's almost as though you took extra care for some reason... Hehe... You know what I me—" Ack!

Kylyra had immediately elbowed Dohel in the stomach as the idiot didn't know when to shut his mouth even when she had been giving him signs to shut the hell up.

It was a bit of a relief to see the liveliness of the group returned to them after the demoralizing events that had taken place earlier on.

Tyler now felt a little bad that he had inwardly insulted the meal that had been carefully prepared for his sake but there was nothing he could do about that so he kept his mouth shut and watched as Dohel's grumbling got him smacked on the back of his head by Kylyra.

Their banter continued all through out the meal untill they were done eating and cleaning up. Tyler found their chats and bickering entertaining so he did not interrupt them until they were done. 

Once the cleaning was done, it was bow time for the group to rest after once more securing the perimeter and feeding the Six-eyed bull. The monster had the fiery aura and was able to freely regulate it's body temperature so the cold really had no effects on it whatsoever and leaving to sleep outside was no problem.

However, as Larut went to check the perimeter, he suddenly heard several muffled rustling sounds at the end of the hill moving closer to the perimeter and as if to make matters worse, the alarm spell suddenly went off and everyone could instantly feel the presence of several trespassers.

The air surrounding the group instantly stiffened up as their previous relaxed looks had immediately change to a serious one after being forced into a state of alertness. They quickly armed themselves and stood up as they glared at the direction the sound had originated from.

"Are those... Hoppers?"

Faced by Aine's question the group saw several black rabbit like creatures hop into the perimeter of their campsite with red glowing eyes and long blade like claws and Larut quickly refuted Aine's assumption.

"No, those are mutated ones, they're stronger than the normal Brown Hoppers and common in this area and actually most of the world really. I highly doubt if regular hoppers can survive here."

As the one with the most information on this area and in general, the group didn't doubt Larut's words at all. Hoppers were tier 1 creatures and definitely wouldn't be able to survive in such a dangerous region.

These ones were also larger than regular hoppers and stringer even if it was by a single tier. They would not be a problem to handle if their was only a single one of them but mutated hoppers rarely moved alone.

How many of them are they?"

I count 20, no 30, there's more coming!"

Damn, where the hell did they come from?

What if they're being chased by something. Wouldn't that be bad?

Should we move the camp?

No we don't have the time. If they're really running from something then we need to chase them back, they're not like the salamanders, they'll run away of they see they can't win, survival instinct and all that.

Let's just destroy them instead, I need something to vent on right now.

"We don't have time for jokes Kylyra come-on! Everyone get ready."

Fine...

Mr Lix, please let us handle this for now.

I have no problems with that.

Alright here they come, make sure to keep the. away from our ride understand.

Charge!

As he watched the group engage in a brawl with giant rabbits only a few meters away. Tyler felt a little confused on the creature they were fighting. He had seen this so called Hoppers before, as a matter of fact he had sold a few of them to the merchant guild for quite a lucrative amount of money.

However, those were white in colour and where apparently white Hopper that usually only appear in winter so he had expected the mutated hoppers to be a little white as well. Moreover, he had originally thought the creature was generally rare in the continent but apparently only the white ones where and they were generally Brown Hoppers easily found in most places in the demon continent.

The battle was not difficult at all as these were only Basic Tier 2 creatures and the group completely outmatched them in every conceivable way possible. None of them had even held back at all, it was as though they were taking out their earlier frustrations on this poor dumb creatures that had chosen the wrong time to attack them as they slaughtered them with almost every attack.

As wave after wave of these monsters kept charging blindly at them, the group easily cut and shot them down without hesitation. The monsters only had high attack power and really low defence and with their speed and techniques, the Hunters were able to avoid their attacks and kill them easily.

It didn't take long for the monsters to finally realise that they were completely outmatched and outclassed, and immediately most of them began to retreat in the other direction. Before long the fight had come to an end with countless... well not countless but several dead bodies of the monsters scattered on the ground all around them.

Since these were tier 2 monsters, their cores were a little valuable so this had turned out to be a surprising bonus haul for them.

Tyler watched the group gather the bodies and extract the cores with little interest. They soon cleaned up the brief battlefield and began setting up or securing the perimeter once more.

After everything was done, everyone retired back into the carriage with relieved expressions. The temperature in the carriage could be regulated with magic and the space got wider the more people got in which made it quite comfortable.

With the perimeter secured for a second time and the alarm spell reactivated, there was no need for anyone to keep watch but Tyler had still taken the job anyway. He did not need constant sleep and would find it hard to fall asleep with so many people around so he thought it best to stay outside.

Nadine had also insisted on accompanying him even though she needed sleep just as much as everyone else and had even fallen asleep on his shoulders just five minutes into the job. Her slightly twitching wolf ears and her cute sleeping expression made her look like a proper child which made Tyler feel bad for dragging her along with him, well, it wasn't like he had many options.

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...Sigh! 

He let loose a breath of cold air as he wondered why he was even here to begin with. For some reason he hadn't been able to get a moments rest since he met those two. He probably shouldn't have walked straight into that forest without thinking should he.

Then again, it wasn't like he was completely in his right mind at the time. Well whatever, what's done is done and it's not like he could change it.

Raising his head to stare at the sky, he could see the clouds slowly get thicker as they moved to cover up the sky slowly as the gentle wind blew and snowflakes began falling from the pregnant clouds.

'What a drag...'