The Sound Of Despair

Compared to Creedo, the mayor's son, Sebastian was a manifestation of righteousness. In an attempt to reign in his son's behavior, the mayor employed Markus as his personal guard and advisor. Creedo would soon leave Dagger's Rock Island and join Barbascura's faction in Kalavras.

Kalavras was the capital city of Barbascura's territory. As the local Pirate Lord and one of only twelve, his influence spread far. There were plenty of influential and powerful people on Kalavras, and the son of an insignificant mayor of an insignificant town would have to tread very carefully.

Plenty of spoiled brats met their demise in the first few weeks in the capital. Just because you were used to being the biggest fish in a small pond did not mean you could provoke sharks in the vast ocean. Barbascura hoped Markus would learn some humility and respect from the old guard before he ended up being the next pretentious brat to be fed to the sharks.

As fellow silkpants, Sebastian and Creedo obviously knew each other. That was how Markus found out about the merchant's next adventure, and when he heard the Thunder Merchants were inquiring about that, he promptly informed them.

Surprisingly, Sebastian did not seek out Reinhardt and Sturm. As his saviors, one would think they would be the first he would turn to.

<<Did he find out about One Ear? He seemed so thankful, and his brother also acted as if they owe us a lot.>>

Over the following week, Edgar slowly calmed down. Sturm's and Reinhardt's constant apologies slowly broke down his resistance. Reluctantly, he allowed them to hunt again, but when they tried to convince him to ambush Sebastian, the merchant instantly shut that idea down.

There were various reasons he would not allow that under any circumstances. Firstly, Geronimo, the three-star appraiser from the Mercenary Association, was still paying extra attention to him. Secondly, the mercenaries accompanying the silkpants this time were not to be trifled with, especially as one of them was Daga.

Both Sturm and Reinhardt knew how good the assassin was. Although they had a good relationship, Daga's professionalism would even compel him to eliminate his own family, provided the client paid enough. Not that anyone knew if he actually had a family.

Just like that, the ambush plans had to be delayed until the heartless merchant found his courage and stupidity to confront greater risks and alleged adventures once again. On top of that, with the magic beast's territories slowly pushing towards the city, it was unknown how long the established beast zones would hold up.

The ironmaw bear, maclawco, and fang wolf territories were the furthest the mercenaries still dared to tread. If Sebastian were suicidal enough to step further east into the forest, then they would not have to worry about getting revenge anymore. Mother nature would do their deed for them.

On the final day of Sturm's recovery, Reinhardt sat down with the boy and earnestly said:

"Alright, you already know we cannot touch Sebastian for now, but your arms are healed, and Edgar will let us hunt maclawcos. Now, this is our final chance. If we f*ck this up, then we can forget about hunting, and you will only train with me and occasionally some mercenaries. Your accident last time was my fault, so we will take proper breaks throughout the day. I want you to be honest with me and tell me when you feel like you are no longer in your best state."

It was too late to rectify Reinhardt's misconception. If Sturm explained to him that his own recklessness and overestimation had led to the accident, Reinhardt would simply think that Sturm wanted to cheer him up and make him feel less bad about himself. It would not help at all. The best thing Sturm could do was avoiding any more risks and let his teacher feel like he redeemed himself.

When the guard captain saw that his student was not holding anything against him, he swore not to let anything happen to him again. Maclawcos were much faster and dangerous than ironmaw bears, despite both magic beasts being Tier 3 Bronze Beasts. Overspecialization always led to traits that could be easily exploited.

That was the case with grassfoxes, who really did not have a lot to show outside of their speed and camouflage. It was also the same with ironmaw bears, whose lack of agility and maneuverability made them easier targets to kite and bait into traps.

None of that applied to maclawcos. These monkeys were very balanced in their strengths and weaknesses. Some would argue that was a weakness in itself, but it would prove the most challenging for Sturm. They were nimble and quick, hitting weak points like their eyes would be a lot harder. Their hide was thicker and more resistant than the grassfoxes', and even those he could barely hurt. Last but not least, maclawcos were a lot heavier, so kicking them away was basically impossible for a slave like Sturm.

Reinhardt thought long and hard about hunting the monkeys in their territory, but the fang wolves were the only other option apart from them. The alpha wolf they had met was as strong and intelligent as a Tier 6 Bronze Beast. Combined with a pack he could lead, even he himself would be ripped to shreds.

Keep hunting grassfoxes, and ironmaw bears was also not an option anymore. After seeing their successful hunt, many mercenaries started hunting grassfoxes as well, hoping for a quick buck before the monster situation got worse. At first, they suffered heavy casualties, but soon they got used to the foxes' tricks and started slowly decimating their population. No explanation was needed to understand why they could not hunt bears anymore.

That only left the maclawcos, whose territory was just in front of them right now. Tall trees intertwined with thick vines made it difficult to see far into the forest. Human and beast skulls were impaled onto branches to warn intruders of their territory. Unlike the other magic beasts who required special preparation to hunt, the local monkeys were the easiest targets for experienced mercenaries. All their advantages against Sturm were disadvantages against stronger and better-armored warriors. Most mercenaries could only laugh at the human skulls displayed on the border of their territory, not even bothering to take them down and bury them.

In their eyes, someone weak enough to get done in by a few monkeys with overly large nails did not even deserve a proper burial. Sturm thought otherwise and wanted to take them down, but Reinhardt held him back.

"There are too many of them, Sturm. It would take us hours, and we do not have that time, nor do you have the energy. Leave them be; it serves as a warning to inexperienced and conceited mercenaries."

Sturm wanted to argue, but just by taking a look around, he knew the guard captain was right. There were dozens of skulls around, and most of them so high up the trees, climbing up would already be tiring enough.

<<Still, this is not right. They are humans, too.>> Sturm felt conflicted.

"Uh ah ah ah!"

"Uh ah ah...!"

"Uh ah…."

Monkey cries echoed deep into the forest. It was difficult to judge where exactly they came from, but the duo stepped past the skulls and walked towards the sound to the best of their abilities. Sturm had an easier time with that, but even his senses got confused by the echoes. The distance was just too far. Maclawcos occupied the whole mid-western territory of the forest. In contrast to ironmaw bears with a population density of maybe one or two every few square kilometers, the monkeys had a few hundred.

On their way to the monkey screams, bushes, and leaves regularly rustled, but none of the magic beasts showed themselves. Sturms [Black Room] was already running on full power, but the movements were just outside its range. It did not matter; the only thing they could do was move on and wait for the monkeys to attack first.

Every few hundred meters, the monkey cries got more distinctive and the direction clearer. After walking for a while more, they had still not been attacked, but apart from the monkey cries, a new sound alerted Sturm.

He turned towards Reinhardt, whose tall stature caused him to struggle with a particularly thick bush.

"Reinhardt, I hear humans yelling and weapons clashing."

The mercenary stopped cutting the thicket in front of him and stopped his breathing for a moment.

*clang…* *slash…*

He could only faintly hear it as well; Sturm's senses never stopped astonishing him. Now the question was, should they approach or turn away? Meeting other mercenaries was always a risk in itself. You never knew if they would turn on you.

"There is no reason for us to approach them, we are here for training, and they are here for money. If they are this far into the maclawco territory, then they can certainly take of themselves. We may just be more prey for them." Reinhardt decided to turn around.

Sturm did not respond and spaced out for a moment. "Reinhardt.... didn't Marcus say Sebastian and his escort would be hunting maclawcos today?"