13 Hunting (3)

Before Nathan could even take a step, he felt someone grab him by the back of his collar and pick him up. If not for the lack of killing intent or intent to harm, Nathan would have already pulled out his dagger and stabbed the person.

When Nathan looked to see who it was, it turned out to be Alex. The man was over twice Nathan's height and muscular as well so he had no problem carrying him. It was like he was carrying a sack of potatoes.

The group did not rush into the forest at the same speed everyone else did but instead snuck around further down the edges of the forest to not get caught in the crowd along with their wagon. When Nathan asked why, Rae replied with,

"We do not want to have to fight as much for the prey and make enemies with our future comrades over some animals."

Nathan nodded and was enlightened thinking that the group cared more about their relationships with others when Marco cut in from the side with,

"That and the fact that the entrance to the first that most people use has the least amount of animals since djinn and other humanoids are constantly traveling through it. It is better to enter through a way that is a bit more difficult and has fewer paths since fewer people means more animals. If we are fast, we can get this mission done a little after lunch."

Nathan thought this was a good point as well. He did not really want to come to the forest all that much but simply wanted to leave town. He had been there for over 4 years and wanted a break.

If he was going to see some magical creatures, that would be different. But the group was only planning to hunt normal creatures since it was safer.

"What are magical creatures by the way?" he decided to ask since he had heard of them a few times before but never able to learn more about them.

It was Kate who explained magical creatures and the other types of creatures as well.

Creatures were divided into 3 types. From the most complex to least were sapient, magical creatures, and beasts.

Sapients were mainly humanoid but also a rare few others who were able to form their own societies and countries.

Magical creatures were creatures who had innate spells. Magical creatures were ranked 1-10 with 10 being the highest. Many magical creatures were just as intelligent as sapients, if not more so.

Rank 3 and below were pack leaders and led groups that averaged 20 in number.

Rank 4-7 were tribe leaders that led groups that averaged a few thousand in number.

Rank 8 and higher magical creatures usually led armies or countries of their own.

A magical creature's rank was determined by the number of innate spells they knew. Although some of the more intelligent creatures could learn spells the same way sapient creatures could. These magical creatures were called divine beasts since they were basically a perfect mix of sapient creatures and magical creatures.

Beasts were the lowest of the low. They consisted of both normal animals and what many would call cryptids in Nathan's old world. They could have a wide variety of sizes but at the end of the day, they were usually nothing more than animals who followed their instincts.

The group was only going to try to hunt down beasts since magical creatures usually formed groups or packs and did not take kindly to people killing off their pack members. But most importantly, magical creatures were too dangerous for them. The group did not have a single magic-user, so taking on a magical beast was pretty much suicide since it had to be a rank 2 one.

Nathan was left to think this over as the group made their way along the edge of the forest and finally entered it an hour later. And like they had predicted, they were able to find their prey easily. They would take out 4-5 creatures at a time before all of them retreated together in order to bring the dead bodies back to the wagon. They did this 5 times in a row and were only 6 creatures off from their goal after hunting for 4 hours.

Just like Marco said, they would be done about an hour after lunchtime. All of the other squads were not having such good luck.

Like Marco had also predicted, there were too few beasts and too many competitors in that area. There were many fights breaking out or stealing loot. But with all of their hunting, they did not notice that they were being stalked by a pack of beasts.

3RS (3rd recon squad) however noticed something was wrong in the air. They were each great hunters and knew when they were being stalked.

"Battle stations! Back up against this tree! Alex to the front! Twins to my sides! Nathan on me! Do not break this formation!"

Rae gave out quick orders and Nathan almost applauded her for her quick thinking. She had the biggest person take on the toughest role but also be in a position where he could support either of the twins if they were attacked while the twins could do the same for him.

By backing them up against a tree, it cut off a path of attack for whatever creature was hunting them. And she did not even forget the new member of the group but assigned him to a position that suited him best.

'Rae is pretty good at this. I wonder what is hunting us though.'

The others immediately followed her orders. Alex stood at the front with his spear in one hand and shield in the other while the twins stood on both of Rae's sides with their short swords and shields ready with Rae having her bow ready to be fired. Even Nathan unsheathed his dagger and was ready to battle whatever came for them.

For now, all they could do was wait.