HUNT.

SNIFF!! SNIFF!!

A monster slowly moved in the school hallway, trying to find the scent of its prey.It had been awoken from its slumber by a teenage boy.

Feeling agitated, it followed the scent outside of its abode, one of the many classrooms on the ground floor.

After catching a whiff of its prey, it slammed its body against the door, detecting its prey from behind.The monster broke through the door as it entered the room, with its prey in front of it. With crazed eyes, it rushed towards the boy, jaws open and claws ready.

"MARK! NOW!" Leo shouted as he dashed back from the hideous monster standing before him, a terror rat.

This monster rat looked far more terrifying than the pack rat they had encountered. The beast had a long, hairless tail, jagged yellowish incisors that were too large for its mouth, and red eyes that oozed madness. Its black fur covered it like a poorly shaved head.

Mark, heeding Leo's call, leaped up and thrust his spear into the monster's head, piercing its brain in the process. The monster convulsed, trying to shake Mark off its head.

Anne, taking advantage of the monster's distraction, shot a hole through its chest, obliterating its heart.

A notification sounded in Anne's head as 10 points were added to her soul energy.

"Anne, did you evolve?" Leo inquired. Anne shook her head as the only thing that changed was her soul energy.

"Mark, do you not remember what you did to evolve?" Leo asked Mark, who was dragging the monster carcass by the tail.

"Nope, I don't remember. There was too much going on to focus on anything specific," Mark replied as he continued to pull the carcass by the tail.

"Are we going to eat that? It looks like a mutated sewer rat," Anne questioned, a disgusted look on her face as she watched the monster being hurled into their hideout.

" Yep, you don't have to be picky," Leo said.

Anne winced in disgust as she followed Mark.

They walked confidently through the hallway as no monster was sight, seemingly afraid, asleep, or simply not there.

After the night of the spider monster attack, they resolved to stop hiding in fear and started hunting down monsters. They had been working together for days, and their teamwork improved with each encounter.

If they believed one could handle a beast alone, they would be allowed to take it on. If it was too much, like the terror rat they just faced, they would handle it together.

Surprisingly, the only monsters they had come across were monster rats, with the occasional harmless hamsters who seemed surprisingly unchanged and hiding with them.

They had cleared their immediate vicinity of any prowling monsters but were still far from escaping their entrapment, their school now resembling more of a dungeon, a trove of monsters.

They arrived at their hideout, the room they had been in before the spider monster captured Leo.

Mark opened the door and pushed the monster in, adding it to a pile of fur, pelts, and bones.

"If I don't cook this thing properly, I don't think I can eat it," Anne said, poking the dead monster with a dagger.

"Alright, we will skin it, and you take care of the rest," Mark stated.

Mark took the dagger from her and called Leo to help him with it.

Crudely, they skinned the beast and removed its guts and with a longsword, they cut the beast into manageable chunks.

"I wish we had clean water," Anne said as she washed the chunks of meat in a pond that had formed in the room.

"Thank goodness this gas stove still works," Anne exclaimed as she finished washing the meat and roasted it on a gas stove they had found.

It looked beat up and rough, but unsurprisingly, it was still functioning despite being submerged in water for so long.

"Mark, Anne, can you show me your status screens?" Leo requested."Sure," the two of them simultaneously replied, agreeing to his request.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 10mnths 1wks 2days 12hrs 5mins

NAME: Leo Allen

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/85

Soul energy: 0/50

Vitality: 120/150

Strength:36

Agility:36

Endurance:73

Intelligence:60

Mana: 0

Skills:

Poison resistance: 20%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 10mnths 1wks 2days 12hrs 5mins

NAME: Mark Evans

RACE: Human

Evolution: Feotus

AGE: 17/80

Soul energy: 20/50

Vitality: 149/150

Strength: 60

Agility: 44

Endurance: 75

Intelligence:33

Mana: 0

Skills:

Iron Body 30%

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

24yrs 10mnths 1wks 2days 12hrs 5mins

NAME: Anne Walton

RACE: Human

Evolution: ???

AGE: 17/90

Soul energy: 36.2/50

Vitality: 145/150

Strength: 25

Agility: 34

Endurance: 52.1

Intelligence: 40

Mana: 0

Skills: None

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What's this evolution?"

"What effect does it give?"

"How do we get it?"

"..."

Leo mused as he compared their stats.

" It's ready, guys," Anne said, snapping Leo out of his thoughts.

Anne bit into the monster's meat and savored the taste, surprisingly finding it good.

"How do you like that?" She said with a smug grin. "Isn't it better than the raw meat you've been letting us eat? If not for our newfound abilities and metabolism, we could have died eating all that raw food."

Leo averted his gaze from hers, fully aware that she was directing her comments toward him.

" Yeah, it's good to change it up once in a while... Ah, before I forget, we should set our goals to hit three digits," Leo said but was quickly interrupted by Mark.

"Man, relax. This is one of the few moments of peace we've got. Enjoy it."

"We've been hunting for about ten days now, nonstop. Let's rest up tomorrow and hunt the day after," Anne said, feeling rather tired of their continuous hunting.Her dreams were filled with these ugly rat monsters whenever she slept. She wanted a day without seeing their faces.

"Okay, you rest up, but I will go upstairs tomorrow. Maybe we'll find something useful there," Leo said.

"You do you," Anne snickered, noticing that Leo was quite adamant and would stand by his word, no matter what was said.

"Mark, will you join me?" Leo asked."Ye... No, not this time. I cannot leave her alone," Mark replied. In a hushed tone, he added, "Man, we've been together with her for a month or two. Why are you not trying to gain points with her, or have you lost interest? How could you even think of leaving her all alone here?"

"I haven't, but she does not seem interested in me. I feel like she likes you more than she likes me," Leo responded, his voice a whisper.

"That's because I treat her better..."

"What are you guys whispering about?" Anne interrupted.

"Nothing. I will get going now." Leo said as he picked up a gun, and a long sword.

" We just got back " Anne said feeling dejected.

" With my strength, I can handle most of the beast here" Leo said as he gave as he walked toward the door, leaving for his personal hunt.

They did not stop him as they believed he could handle himself out there, at least with the monsters that had come across.

*******

"There should not be only one spider monster here," Leo thought to himself as he walked through the hallway, rays of sunlight peering through the cracks in the hallway windows.

One could not see outside as debris, vines, and spyrogira had blocked the windows, allowing only strands of light into the hallway.

Leo stopped in front of a door, one where the school kept their insects.

SLAM!!

He kicked the door open, a smile blooming on his face.

Large spider monsters stared at him, their black eyes filled with confusion, a wicked grin on his face.

"Thank goodness, the school kept African Velvet Social spiders... I can improve my skills," Leo thought to himself as he continued to stare at the monsters.

He jumped back and threw a rock into their nest, causing them to scatter as some came out. Leo jumped back, shooting those who were foolish enough to leave their nest. They were strong but not as strong as the current Leo or the guns he held. With a single shot to their abdomens, he killed them.

"No bullets," Leo thought to himself as his magazine emptied.

" Let's change things up "

###########

Red 1 continues to show their support. Any thoughts of hopelessness disappears. Thanks for your support. And those who have added the story to your libraries. Thanks a bunch