"The ones running this place are long gone," he said flatly. "Probably inside a monster’s stomach."
The stench coming from the shed confirmed it.
Scabber. Disgusting rat-like monsters the size of dogs, covered in matted brown fur. Their teeth could cut through bone, and worse, they bred fast. Male and female didn’t matter. A pair could multiply into hundreds within a week.
Kaedros hated them. Not just because they were filthy, but because they were useless. Even in death, they were too diseased and rotten to be harvested and even eaten.
"Once we get close, you’ll handle them," he said to Taria.
She stood there in shock and stared at him with wide eyes.
"Handle them? With what? I don’t even have a weapon!" she said, panic rising in her voice. "Are you crazy?"
Kaedros frowned. "You picked this bounty. What exactly were you expecting?"
"I did pick it! But I thought you had a plan, not just throwing us at a bunch of monsters!"
"Relax," he said coolly, forming a light beam technique in his mind. "They’re stage two rank one at most. You just need to keep them busy while I take them down."
"How am I supposed to do that?" she asked, horror spreading across her face as the Scabbers emerged from the shed, screeching and charging forward.
"You’re a warrior, aren’t you? Use your fists!" Kaedros snapped, and fired his technique. A brilliant beam of light burst from his hand, blasting the head off the lead Scabber.
Individually, Scabber weren’t a threat. But in groups, especially tens or more, they became dangerous. And they moved fast.
Another light beam followed, snapping a scabbe’s spine with a loud crack.
Taria stood frozen, eyes wide. This was her first time seeing monsters up close, and her limbs refused to obey. Maybe becoming an Ascendant for her had been a mistake.
Kaedros glanced at her and growled, "Kill something. Keep them off here!"
The Vores were nearly upon them. With a curse, Kaedros did the only thing he could.
Taria stumbled forward, falling directly into the path of the incoming swarm. Her grey eyes filled with panic as the stench of fur and rot overwhelmed her.
The first Scabber lunged at her, and instinct took over.
With a scream, she dropped to the ground, grabbed a fist-sized stone, and rammed it into the monster’s eye. It shrieked as the stone pierced through its brain.
Blood sprayed across her arm. Taria stared at her red-slicked hand and the twitching corpse at her feet.
Then.. she grinned and took a ragged breath.
Kaedros watched her closely. Despite her small frame, she had strength buried deep. He fired another beam, killing one of the two Vores charging her so she could finish the second herself.
Three more broke from the pack, claws scraping the earth as they bolted straight toward her.
They slammed into Taria before she could react, knocking her off her feet. She hit the ground hard with a cry, her grip on the stone lost as it rolled away.
Kaedros unleashed a full technique.
Kaedros expanded the technique, then unleashed it. A brilliant flash of white light tore through the clearing. The Scabbers screamed as the blast engulfed them, their bodies disintegrating into charred husks. The air thickened with the stench of burnt hair and flesh.
Taria blinked up at him, dazed. "Where... where are the monsters?"
"I killed them," Kaedros replied, brushing ash from his cloak. "And you look like you were dragged through a barn of shit."
He dismissed the flow of mana that entered his core and actually stayed. His first in thirty plus years.
Taria groaned, forcing herself to her feet. She shot a look at him. "Dragged through a barn? You dragged me through death! Those monsters nearly killed me!"
"Of course they did. That’s what monsters do. But you didn’t die." Kaedros arched a brow. "And you gained a lot of mana, don’t you?"
"Your wounds will heal soon," he added. "And you can cultivate the mana later."
She checked her core and saw that he was right ... but still! "You shouldn’t have thrown me into that mess!"
"It helped, didn’t it?" Kaedros gestured toward the scorched battlefield. "You would’ve frozen up and gotten eaten otherwise. Now get the tips of their tails, we need proof to claim the bounty."
Taria looked around. "Where’s the knife?"
Kaedros pointed toward the log house nearby.
She sighed. "Isn’t that stealing?"
At the Hunter’s Association counter, the attendant counted the bounty rewards.
"One silver each for the six tails and two extra for completing the bounty," the man said, pushing the coins across to Kaedros.
"Fine," Kaedros said, turning to leave.
But the man continued, adjusting his glasses. "The Association recommends all rank one hunters reach at least stage five before taking on more bounties. We have instructors you can pay for combat training and class management. Or stay in the town ambient mana will help you cultivate and advance safely."
Kaedros waved a hand dismissively. "Alright, alright."
"We should listen to him," Taria said. "We almost died out there. Let’s advance even more first."
Kaedros turned, fixing her with his cold blue eyes. "No, Taria. YOU almost died. Do you know how expensive instructors are? And don’t need to wait around, when we can advance faster by hunting monsters."
"But I heard advancing through combat has a high death rate!" she lowered her voice as heads turned. "Why don’t we just use the mana in the air?"
"That works for low rank one," Kaedros said, already heading outside. "Not for anything higher."
"What do you mean by that?" she asked.
"It’s how power levels are categorized. There ten Ranks that an Ascendant can climb. Each divided into ten stages. Some also like to call the stages, low, middle, late and peak.
"To advance in a rank, especially in rank one is still easy. That’s why you find most of Ascendants in that rank." Kaedros said.
She hesitated. "Then. How about rank two? Is it easy?"
Kaedros shrugged. "Advancement is hard."
It’s like a pyramid. The more it climbs, the narrow the top and that means the more the benefits.
"That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t get an instructor!" she pointed out.
"Just trust me," Kaedros said, his tone even. Then he added, more casually, "Or find another partner if you’d prefer."
The words struck her like a slap.
No one had ever looked at her twice at the bounty hunter’s Association. And now she might lose the only person who had helped her.
"O-of course I’ll do it your way! Advancing through combat is fine!"
Kaedros smiled bluntly.
He counted out four silver coins and handed them to her.