Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of the wooden sword colliding with a steel sword can be heard at the outskirts of the Wailing Forest…

​​

A tanned young girl with short black hair can be seen fighting against a middle-aged man fully equipped with his battle gear…

"Whoa… Your sword is truly amazing… I thought that it would break after hitting it a couple of times… We can't really judge something with its appearance, huh…"

Marak said after the two got separated after their collision.

"Is that the one made with Beacon Tree's bark?"

"…"

"I guess I'm right… That's probably enchanted… Hmm… Perhaps three enchantments? Is he that good already?"

At the latter part of Marak's words, he was referring to Hemil, whom he suspected to be one who made the enchantments for the wooden sword.

Anyway, during this test, Stella fought against the Hunters without using her master's Take Over…

It was a good experience for all of them… Especially for Stella, who has little experience in fighting against humans.

After more than 10 minutes of sparring, Stella felt a bit tired and decided that it was enough…

"Haa… Haa… Haa… Are you satisfied now, Miss Swordmaster?"

"You guys are better than I expected… You can call me Stella…"

Stella replied while wiping her sweat. In this place, their strength is all that matters. Even if she's younger than them, considering her skills, they wouldn't mind things like seniority.

It is unlike Diether who grew up in a different environment. He's polite to his seniors and he always gives respect to everyone… Perhaps even to his enemies.

Anyway, Reiji only briefly thought about this and didn't mind their difference. After all, he's also benefitting in various ways.

"So, when are you guys planning to start the mission…" Stella asked after a moment…

"If you don't mind, we can do it now… We'll just take a rest and resupply… Hey! Jared! Go back to the village and use this money to buy all the potions we need. Also, get the ropes we've prepared before…"

Marak said as he pulled out a pouch filled with money and gave it to Jared.

"Alright, boss… But I can't bring all of them alone…"

"You're right, take Elran with you... Ahh, add some more provisions then. We might get hungry along the way. Is that alright with you, Stella?"

"I don't mind. It's still early… Anyway, can you tell me where the cave is?"

Stella asked Marak and realized that it would take about three hours to arrive at that location. She also confirmed that the cave that she found was different from where the Crypt Crawlers are living.

'I wonder what kind of creatures are living there…'

Stella thought since there are no traces of Winged Goats footsteps inside that cave…

"Stella… Let me explain some more things to you…"

Marak interrupted her thoughts as he approached her… She's currently in the Red Storm Ranger's camp while they are waiting for Elran and Jared's return.

"Mhmm?"

After Stella gave an inquisitive look, Marak explained how they will split the rewards to her. The reward money was quite huge so they have to make it clear now.

"Since you're not a Hunter, you won't really benefit in completing a big C-Rank mission… The most that we can do for you is to provide monetary rewards… Is that right?"

"Yeah…"

"So it means that we have to capture a Crypt Crawler alive… A hatchling is also good…"

"Mhmm…"

"If that happens, we'll split the 10,000 gold coins in half…"

"I'll take half?"

"That's right… We can still add more depending on the situation. We also don't mind if you'll take whatever beast core we find inside the cave…"

"You're generous…"

"That's fine… Once we complete this mission, all of us we'll have decent Magic Weapons. There's also a chance that all of the Crypt Crawlers has truly died… If that's the case, we can't complete the mission given by the viscount and we'll just pay you accordingly…"

"That's fair enough."

Stella said after considering all possible events after going to the Crypt Crawler's Lair…

After a while, Jared and Elran returned bringing two bags filled with various things. It seems that they have made enough preparations to capture those arachnoid beasts…

"Alright, let's move!"

The group moved towards the direction of their target. Marak is in front, while Polo and Haran were guarding their left and right flank.

Stella is at the center together with Jared and Elran who were bringing their supplies. Lastly, Garehn was guarding their back with his bows and arrows.

"This is heavy… Don't move too fast, boss…" Jared said as he reminded Marak about their baggage.

Anyway, the young girl noticed that their movements and positioning seem natural as expected of a Hunter group lead by a Two-Star ranker.

"Don't worry… You guys will switch with Polo and Haran later… Just don't drop those potions." Marak replied to Jared.

"Yes, Boss!"

"Yes, Leader!"

Their journey was uneventful as they used a relatively safe route in which only weaker wild beasts were present in the area. Forest Wolves, Forest Vipers, Twin Horned Rabbit, and an occasional Armored Bear would barely give them a fight with their current strength.

Marak even scattered some Poison Ivy's Solution that would scatter some weaker beast. The solution only has a temporary effect that would last for five minutes but it was an effective item to use against weaker beasts.

In this way, they wouldn't waste their energy fighting against those low-grade beasts.

After almost two hours of journey. Stella noticed Marak raising his hand to signal their stop…

No one asked about his decision and halted simultaneously.

A few seconds had past but there were no signs of monsters or whatsoever… Only the sounds of insects, birds, and rustling leaves due to the wind can be heard.

"Boss… What's wrong?" Jared couldn't help but ask after being unable to understand what was happening…

"Mhmm… Someone's coming…"

As soon as he said this, they saw a Crimson Eagle perching in a nearby tree followed by a footstep of someone…

"Crimson Eagle… Beast Tamer?"

Marak muttered to himself after noticing the unique connection between the man and the beast.

"Hoho~ Stella… You're with your friends now…"

"Ahh… Sir Orga…"

Marak and the others slightly relaxed after realizing that Stella, the swordmaster, knows the newly arrived person…

'I guess the mission would get easier if we bring him in… But the rewards…' Stella mused after considering whether to invite the old man or not.

"Sir Orga… Are you returning home now?" Stella asked after thinking for a moment.

"Well… Not really… How about you guys? Are you hunting for some Withering Apes?"

Orga said after he noticed that the trees around the area were called Shadeorb Tree. It bore fruits called Shadeorb that taste like rotten apples and it is coincidentally their favorite food.

"Oh... It's not like that… We're here to complete a mission…"

"Mission? I thought you said that you're not a Hunter?"

Orga asked feeling confused.

Stella had to explain what happened or she'll be called a liar.

After a couple of minutes of explaining, Stella introduced the Red Storm Hunters.

"I would like to join… And I don't need the rewards… I just want to have a chance to study the source of their mutations… As you see, I'm a Three-Star Hunter and a branch leader at Farahn Village north from here."

Orga said as he showed his license card! It shows 5 on A-Rank and 18 on B-Rank! Although he hasn't completed any S-Rank Mission yet, this is very impressive!

Marak and the others had never seen anyone complete an A-Rank before!

'Impressive! Miss Swordmaster knows such an incredible person!'

'No wonder why she had that charisma…'

'Boss… Should we split the reward 70/30? It might benefit us more if she became our long-time partner…'

Everyone was feeling impressed while Reiji was trying to remember something…

It happened not long ago when he was trying to complete his Untouchable mission… He saw Orga with two other guys somewhere near the central area of the forest… They seem to be trying to do something but were interrupted by the strong Armored Black Ape that they've offended for some reason.

'Is he perhaps trying to continue his interrupted mission? What is he looking for?'

Reiji could only guess after realizing this old man's bizarre actions.

'Try not to get too close with him, Stella… This guy might bring trouble along the way…' Reiji instructed Stella so they can prepare for the worst.

'Eh? Master? A-alright! I'll be careful.'

Stella had 100% trust in her master. After all, the sword is a sentient Arcana that has probably lived for many years. Based on her observations, her Master was well aware of the Kingdom's status and had been to various places around the world. So she could only trust his experience regarding these kinds of concerns…

Soon, everyone continued their way and arrived at the cave entrance known to be the Crypt Crawler's Lair.