On the hunt!

After an hour of travelling by bus and fighting back sickness, we arrived at the Chelmsford P.O.O branch.

Most historians are unsure as to what Chelmsford was truly like before the Monster Rush 200 years ago. And like many towns and cities across the globe, it was left in ruin. In England, it was mostly London and the surrounding areas that had survived with most of their buildings and populations intact. Over the 200 years, many building campaigns have taken place, turning what was the ruins of Chelmsford into a decently sized village (Also called Chelmsford). With the introduction of monster plants, and the need for food, farming made a huge comeback. Many villages like Chelmsford became known for it's many farmers and merchants selling to them and buying produce. It is reminiscent of the villages you would find in fantasy games and novels, filled with small cottages and a few huts, with the exception of cars, street lights and power lines.

Just shy of the town, was a large stone building around 3 stories tall, that was etched with various various patterns and symbols that radiated a magical brilliance. It had incredibly thick windows and a large stone door, with 'Protection from Otherworldly Organisms hunting lodge' carved into a metal plaque that was bolted to the door.

"Well folks, here it is, in all of it's glory!" Mark said, turning around to face the party.

"Remember that before we are officially recognised as officers, or hunters as it is also known, we must complete a successful hunt! So let's try our best and whatnot." He added, pushing open the large stone door.

"Wow!" Christopher cries out, getting an eyeful of the interior. The walls and ceilings were lined with self-sustaining lamps that ran on the boundless mana that enriched the entire world. There were 3 receptionists behind stone counters chatting casually and a few other hunters that were going in and out. Their faces were filled with looks of disdain and pity as the glance at our team as the pass by. There were various other workers and a large medical bay to the left, tending to many wounded hunters. To the right was a bar type area where hunters and workers could get food and drink, non alcoholic, of course.

Arriving at the counter, the receptionist looks up at Mark with a look of disgust. "Yer all in room six." He threw out a key at Mark before shooing him away with a flick of his wrist.

"Some service..." I grumbled under my breath before following the others to room six. It was a decently sized room with a connected bathroom and three bunk beds. As soon as we entered, Lewis immediately climbed to the top of the nearest bunk and fell asleep without a word.

"What's his problem?" I asked out of curiosity.

"H-he's a, uh, sorcerer." Sharron piped in, "T-they often have to study late into the night, I suppose... Lewis especially if he, err, wanted to catch up..."

"What about their skills though? They don't have to study skills!" Christopher remarked, staring at Sharron in curiosity.

"T-they have skills that a-allow them to cast magic, but they have to memorise skills... it's the s-same with priests..." she said nervously, shrinking back and looking down as if trying to hide under tho hood of her robes.

"I really dodged a bullet with that one." I remarked , claiming the second top bunk.

Mark took hold of the third top bunk, leaving Christopher beneath mine and Sharron beneath Mark.

The sun had long since set, and on the cusp of our three year long journey, we couldn't help but fantasies over what was to come.

"Maybe we will get to fight a dragon one day! I heard there is still a few laired around the world!" Christopher said in his usual excited tone.

"And if we meet one, at least I'll die becoming its barbecue, and not to some dumb goblin." I retorted, laughing at the idea of a dragon having a barbecue. "I say we should focus on surviving up until that point, rather than which for it now."

"You're too pessimistic, man...." Christopher remarked. "You've gotta have some ambition, otherwise you'll go dull!"

"Well, if we all were like you, I'd say we wouldn't make it far because we'd be constantly trying to punch above our weight. I'll just make sure we know where we truly are." I said jokingly, looking over to Sharron.

"What was priest training like?"

"I-it was mostly... studying and basic magic formations... we cast magic t-through prayer, so it was more learning to identify them..." she said with a nervous stutter. "We, uh, t-trained with the sorcerers, since, you know, our systems are similar..."

We chatted for a while after, before eventually giving in to lassitude and falling asleep.

Soon, the sun rose once more and we were up and ready for the day at around 7:00 am. Lewis, of course, being the exception, still looking and acting as though he had never slept at all.

Sitting in the restaurant are, we had a light breakfast before waiting around to receive our first hunt.

"Alright team! I think it's time that we go over the equipment we have. Hunts can last several days at times, so being prepared is vital." Mark said gazing over at us.

When we joined the ranks of the Hunters, officially known as the P.O.O officers, we were given some basic necessities, such as our basic armour, weapons, rucksacks, camping equipment and rations. We rummaged through it all, separating it into sections and placing them neatly in each backpack, with the heaviest given to Mark and the lightest to me, as I, much to my dismay, had the least strength.

'Seriously!? Even Sharron is stronger than me!? Goddamn it, why did I get given these weak arms?!' I cried out inwardly, looking at the giggling expressions plastered on everyone's faces. Afterwards we continued to chat for a while, before getting called up to the receptionist's desk.

"We've got a job for ye." He said, looking over all of us. "There's been a wee bit of trouble in the woods. A bogeysnatch, as they call 'em 'round here."

"Bogeysnatch? Where was it last seen?" Mark asked.

"Aye, it was last seen in Shally woods, south of here."

With our first mission assigned, we wasted no time before setting off on an hour long hike towards Shally woods. It is believed that Shally woods is the combination of many parks and forests that are long since overgrown, resulting in the place being rather dark and heavily obscured.

The bogeysnatches were small and annoying creatures with very low intelligence. They couldn't survive on their own, so they will hide in carcasses and wait to be eaten by larger animals. They would then take control of the creature becoming a fully fledged bogeysnatch. They could not be eaten by other monsters as their digestive systems would usually be too strong. Bogeysnatches are capable of transforming the body of the animal, giving it huge appendages and toothy maws. However, they maintained the animal's usual appearance outside of combat. If they were not properly dealt with after the death of the host, they could crawl out and escape. Their true bodies looked like white, translucent worms around 10cm long.

After a while of hiking, we arrived in the dark and dense Shally woods. The trees were high and their tops wide, which resulted in the large canopy and dark atmosphere with a few beams of light shining through the leaves.

"Ok, team," Mark said quietly, bordering a whisper, "Chris and Henry can go ahead and scout out the front, Sharron can generate some dim light. Be careful, and return if you see any danger."

Me and Christopher gave an affirmative nod, before climbing into the trees and moving forward slowly.

"Quite exciting, huh?" Christopher whispered, his eyes shining with excitement.

"Yeah, I suppose. What are we looking for exactly? Just any animal?"

"Well yeah. If we see one, Chuck something at it. If it transforms and grows some extra appendages, it's probably not an animal." He said with a chuckle. "Here. Look at this." He said, pulling out a bow and arrow.

He drew the bow, before letting an arrow fly into a bush. Shortly after, a small rabbit dashed out from it and frantically ran in another direction.

"Now we know that it was not a bogeysnatch." He said with a smile.

Our reconnaissance lasted for a while, before we returned to the group and moved forward with them. We spent the entire day moving as such, with a small lunch break at what felt like midday. As it got too dark to continue, we set up camp in the dense forest, setting up our tents and a campfire after we had made sure to clear the area of bushes and leaves to prevent a forest fire.

We sat around the fire, roasting rabbits that Christopher had caught along the way. We enjoyed the serene surroundings, the tasty, yet unseasoned, rabbit meat, and chatted amongst ourselves to pass the time. The tents had to be shared, as there we could only take 3 tents. I shared one with Christopher, Lewis and Sharon shared one as they were friends from training and Mark had one to himself. We soon retired to our tents in order to get some sleep, while putting in place a watch rotation between tents. Christopher and I would take first watch, then Lewis and Sharon, and then Mark.

We sat together by the campfire, as the faint snores of Mark echoed through the woods.

"Mark sure does snore. If I shared the tent with him, I think I'd go mad." He said with a chuckle.

"I wouldn't be surprised if he lead the Bogeysnatch right to us." I retorted, looking out over the dense forest.

"You know, I had never imagined military service would be like this, you know? Thought it'd be more about war. Glad it wasn't, I suppose." He said, looking over at the fire.

"My folks were both chefs, you see. They were real paranoid when I went into service." He said with a smile.

"Yeah, I could imagine. My mother was a unique enchanter, mana weaver. She made so many clothes that it would last me and my children into old age." I said with a chuckle.

We chatted for a little longer, before waiting in silence and basking in the warm glow of the fire. Eventually, our shift was up, so we awoke Lewis and Sharon before retiring to our tent. It wasn't large, and with our bags we were somewhat squashed together, we were still capable of having a decent sleep.

'God, if I don't wake up with a rash after sleeping in armour, I will truly and wholly believe in god.' I lampooned inwardly, laying atop my bedroll, and slowly falling asleep.

"AAAARGH! HEEEEEEELP!" The cries of Mark pierced the walls of the tent. Christopher and I jumped out of bed, equipping our weapons and dashing out of the tent. Mark stood, wielding his great hammer, before a hulking deer that stood on two abnormally muscular legs, around four meters tall. The deer had two arms that had been expanded and twisted into arms and the mouth was gaping open and filled with razor sharp teeth. It's eyes darted around rapidly, looking for an opportunity to escape.

Behind Mark stood Sharon, and the strangely calm Lewis, who was apathetically chanting and performing hand signs for a spell. Quickly, a dense bolt of lightning erupted from his hands, striking the Bogeysnatch before it could react, seemingly having twisted around Mark. The Bogeysnatch shrugged off the bolt, raised its arms and smashed down on Mark, who used the side of his hammer to block the blow.

I jumped behind some trees and ran to the creature's flank, hoping to catch it by surprise. Suddenly, the creatures flesh rippled as a long rod of flesh erupted from the side to intercept me. Thankfully, I had foreseen this with my skill and dodged it by a hairs width. Using the appendage as a springboard, I nimbly leaped onto the creature's back, and stabbed it in the neck with my dagger. I began to tear at the creatures neck when suddenly that same appendage flew towards me with surprising speed. Unfortunately, I reacted slightly too late and was struck in the rib cage, caving it in and sending me flying onto the floor.

The pain was unbearable.

So much so that I tried to opens my mouth to cry for help, but no words could be formed. I tried to staunch the flow of blood but to no avail. I quickly began to lose consciousness, cursing by bad luck.

'Welp..... I suppose this.... is where I die.... in some forest... covered in armour chaffing....' I thought with resignation as I closed by eyes to rest. Shortly after however, a blinding light pierced my eyelids and Sharons nervous voice broke the sounds of combat.

"Heal!"

Quickly, my wound began to close and my ribs fix. The healing process only made the pain worse, however, and it took every ounce of willpower to stay conscious. I opened my eyes and saw Mark battering the creature with his hammer, that had many arrows stuck in the gash that I had made. This struggle lasted for around 15 seconds before a flash of lightning exploded the creatures head sending a small worm flying outwards. Another arrow pierced the worm in mid air, sticking it to a tree.

"Are you okay?!" Mark asked, running I've to me caked in the creature's blood.

"Well, considering I was dragged away from the pearly gates and blissful sleep, I've certainly felt better." I retorted, wincing in pain as I tried to sit up.

"Y-your wounds are still fresh. You should rest before you move around too much."

"Holy crap!!" An overly excited voice called out from behind Mark. Not long afterwards, Christopher emerged from behind him, crouching down beside me. "Really thought you'd be dead for a moment there! Glad you're all good though."

"Thanks for the confidence." I remarked. "Mind helping me to the tent? My ribs hurt something fierce."

"No problem." He answered with a smile, propping me up over his shoulder.

"Oh... I'm glad your alright, I suppose...." the visibly tired voice of Lewis called out. "I'll be heading back to bed as well..."

"Good job team!" Mark called out, with a look of pride on his face. "Aside from a few injuries, we did well on our first hunt." He also received some healing on his arms and legs from Sharon, which he received from blocking the Bogeysnatch, before continuing his watch.

After being placed onto my bedroll by Christopher, he helped me take off my leather armour as it irritated the leftover soreness and bruising from my wound, before trying to get some sleep.

And so, concluded my first semi-successful hunt. If you consider successful to be almost dying, that is.