“You’re late!”

When Cain came back, Lena, Paul, and Oliver were waiting for him. Oliver was the one who rebuked him.

“Sorry, I should’ve eaten more green food,” Cain apologized.

“Well… that’s enough. Time to change shifts. Paul, Cain, good work. Get some sleep. We’ll take over from here,” Lena said, nothing unordinary in her voice and appearance.

“Kay, good night.”

“Stay safe,” Paul said. There’s a bit of fatigue in his voice.

The two went inside the tent and slept their allocated rest time. The night was peaceful and nothing unexpected happened, Cain slept soundly until the time to depart.

Donning their full combat equipment, Cain and the others ventured into the woods in the deep of night.

***

“So what’s your story?” Cain asked the only person next to him, Oliver.

“I didn't take you for the chatty type,” the boy showed a little annoyance.

“Now, now,” Cain assured him. “We’re in the same team and most likely will be together for a few more quests. Knowing each other better will increase our teamwork and success rate.”

Besides, I already got the other three backstories. Might as well complete the collection with yours. Cain left that part unsaid.

Both of them were deep in the woods, inside the ice owls’ territory. Hiding and covering their body with a coat, waiting for the go signal.

“There’s nothing special, I’m just a newbie adventurer from the boonies. Big sis Len seems to think you’re better than me so I’m gonna prove her wrong!”

Mhm, I’m sensing some hostility here. A young boy wanting to prove himself?

“Easy there, we’re not enemies. I heard you and Lena are from the same village?”

“She told you that, didn't she? Tch, gossipers.”

“Lena seems an okay person,” Cain replied with a smile, keeping his calm and serene demeanor. “She expects great things from you.”

“Sis Len wants me to be the village’s guardian dog,” Oliver complained.

“Ah… You think the village is too small for you, hmn?” Cain gave a sideway glance.

“Exactly! I’ll do great feats worthy of songs and legends, no one shall underestimate me again! I’ll show them bastards who looked down on me!”

Oliver's childish boast was not taken seriously by Cain. Having grand aspiration was good and all, Cain had nothing against him. It's entirely up to him whether he could make such imagination a reality or not.

It seems he doesn't have a good impression about his village. Cain thought.

“Good spirit, certainly better than those motivationless people. By the way, are you a true brother and sister with Lena?”

“Nah. It's a small village, we often played together when we were kids. The calling stuck… You ain't gonna mock me?” Oliver was guarding against insults that never came.

“Why should I? It's your dream. I wish you well but the way I see it, you take care of your dream and I’ll take care of mine.”

“Hmmnn, quite an arrogant line you got there.” Oliver was displeased.

“Hehehe, Irene said the same thing. Out of pure curiosity, imagine it for a moment. You left the village behind and one day heard news it had been destroyed, the villagers were all killed, no survivors. Your family, friends, neighbors, the guys that used to irritate you, all gone. What do you think you would feel?”

“That’s…”

Oliver didn't answer, showing a complicated expression.

Huh, so he still has a sense of belonging to his village after all. Not a heartless type that would pursue his objective despite all else. That’s normal I suppose. Not a degenerate then.

“Food for thought, but if you would pardon me one more arrogant line?” Cain condescendingly said.

“Fine. Tell me, junior.” Oliver matched Cain’s challenge in teenager’s standard.

“You don't need great deeds to have people stop looking down on you. You just need to be stronger than your enemies, and then…” Cain’s eyes glinted with ruthless savagery then his lips curled upwards. “Let’s just say it's hard for someone to look down on others when that someone is lying six feet under.”

Oliver saw Cain’s eyes and what he found brought a shiver down his spine.

This guy… he has killed people before.

He had speculations from the start but Oliver had no doubt about it now, and not just because of his words; his tone was bone-chilling and there was no untruth in his eyes.

“You-”

Oliver stopped short because they both saw a fire lit in the distance.

“Come on Oliver, eyes and ears sharp. It's showtime,” Cain put his game face on.

***

To get the Giant Chicken eggs, Lena planned to lure it away then the others steal the eggs. The problem was the Tukukus in the area, ice owls that would attack trespassers of their territory. When Lena was luring away the chicken she might also get attacked by the owls. That was too risky for her to handle so she devised a plan.

After determining the positions of the chicken and owl nest, the group would neutralize the Tukukus first. By using a hot bait.

“So you want to burn the forest, audacious.” Cain was amused, imagining the sight of a blazing forest.

“No! Just make some medium size bonfires near their territory.” Lena was shocked at how much of a leap Cain’s logic took when she suggested using fire.

“Tukukus are ice monsters that don't like heat. In fact, they react aggressively to it. That’s why we’ll make fires in three places, like the points of a triangle. The five of us will split into two-two-one, each responsible for one fire. After the first fire is lit up, the person starting it will run away. The owls will come to snuff the fires out, then they’ll be seeking the perpetrators in the area. Before they could find our comrades, we lit up the second fire, then replicated the earlier process with the third fire.”

A kiting strategy! And they said games are bad for your brain, phhhssh. Cain dissed the non-gamers in his brain.

“Then back to light up the first fire point. Repeat the cycle as many times as necessary until the Tukukus are tired. My guess is two cycles before they become too tired to threaten us when we made a move for the eggs.”

Cain agreed to the plan and joined the group. When it was time to divide the group. Cain was assigned with Oliver and Lena with Irene, Paul shall handle his duty alone.

This must be why Lena recruited me in the first place. To have someone with field experience handle the third fire spot. Well, igniting a fire shouldn’t be too hard, even for a non-Pathseeker. Must be just in case something happened.

Since Cain was named the leader between the two, Oliver had a bitter feeling. He was older but Cain was more experienced. He got the logic but it didn't mean he liked it.

In the darkness of night, the light of the fire was very eye-catching despite Cain having quite a distance between Lena and Irene’s spot. Lena had begun the kiting operation. The bonfire was quite large and seemingly came out of nowhere instead of gradually growing bigger from little flame.

Well, she IS a fire Pathseeker. Must be easy for her to get things burning.

The pair waited, not moving nor saying a peep. Before long, there was a shriek, joined with another dozen more shrieks.

Holy cow! Sounds like the owls version of wolf’s howl, but angrier.

Tens of furious owls zoned in from the deeper part of the woods. Cain saw them leaving trails of snowflakes in their wake.

“Like starving vultures to carrion,” Cain commented.

“What’s a vulture?” Oliver asked, never having seen a vulture before.

“Oh? Well, it’s a bird that’s famous for eating other animal’s carcasses. They rarely hunt live prey for food, they mainly eat the leftovers of what other animals hunted. They often wait in flocks, watching while a lion or something else dined then swooped in after the lion was full.”

Cain watched as the ice birds were battling the fire, fully intent on snuffing it out. They flapped their wings in unison, creating ice and frost hurling towards the fire.

“Hou,” Cain exclaimed. Not to the point of freezing the fire but should be around the level of a fire extinguisher. And that’s the power of only one of them, getting focused attacks from a dozen of them must be very cold indeed.

From another direction, Cain saw that another fire was just created. This one was still small and needed a little time to grow big.

“That’s Paul's spot,” Oliver said.

“Hmm,” he nodded. “We should get ready as well.”

Lena’s fire did not hold for long but before the Tukukus could rejoice, they shrieked in anger once again. They flew straight to Paul’s position. Cain couldn't be sure but he thought he saw one of the owls shot down by an arrow. It was the last one of the pack.

Irene? Nice shot.

The owls repeated what they did to Lena’s fire, sending gusts of cold energy to smother Paul’s fire. Only this time their power went down a bit.

Lena appears to be right. Cain became more optimistic.

“Looking good, let's do our job as well.”

“Right!” Oliver answered.

In front of Cain and Oliver were three stacks of dried wood and foliage placed somewhat apart from each other. The pair gathered on the leftmost stack.

“Pour the oil,” Cain said.

Oliver uncorked a flask and poured the flammable liquid onto the stack. The oil was Lena’s, she bought them at the town and shared it with the group. Immediately afterward, Cain set it on fire using sparks from a flint.

“Good, it's burning nicely… Let’s go!” Cain observed the fire for a few seconds to make sure it wouldn't go out on its own then bolted with Oliver away from the soon incoming airstrike.

Behind a short rock 15 meters away, Cain and Oliver hugged the ground, covering their bodies with a mantle. It masked their body heat from the owls.

The Tukukus were in front of them soon enough. Cain was not an expert in reading human expressions, let alone avian ones but the Tukukus fury was very clear he could taste it in the air. The birds were swooping to the scene like gallant firefighters to stamp out the fiery menace. Full of ire to the ones that kept creating it.

If someone set my lawn on fire multiple times I would be wrathful as well. I feel you, I really do. Cain privately bantered in his head.

With a dozen furious monsters so close in the pair's proximity, Cain saw that Oliver was faintly trembling with the corner of his eye.

Understandable, I suppose...

Before long Lena and Irene’s place lit up once again, beginning the cycle anew. By the end of the second cycle, the Tukukus were too tired to douse Cain’s fire and went away, returning to their nest. They waited for a full minute before putting out their fire. Cain set his palm up and Oliver slapped it with his own, giving a satisfying sound.

They both rendezvoused with the others at a designated place, giving each other praises. Irene shot down a total of four Tukukus and looted their monster cores. This meant more valuables for them, which was good news. Then the five went straight to the place where Lena found the Giant Chicken’s nest.

“There it is. Time for the last step guys,” Lena said, raising morale.

There was a hollow at the base of a cliffside, the monster nest was built inside the hollow. It was not deep so Cain had a clear sight of the chicken monster. It was two meters tall and three meters long. Thick white feathers that made it look very fat and a red comb atop its head like a crown. It was sleeping peacefully.

The strategy was simple, someone lured it away and then the rest took the eggs. It was Lena’s plan so she volunteered to be the bait. Lena was light on her feet and the most suitable so the role fell to her. Paul expressed his worry, he wanted to follow her.

“Thanks Paul, but you are not suited for speed. It has to be me. Look after the young ones. Perhaps another Giant Chicken is around. I’m counting on you,” Lena said gratefully.

Paul, an earth user, had the role of a tank. Speed wasn't his department. Paul and Lena were also the only Level 1 in the group. One of them should stay with the younger group. This was the wilds where anything could happen.

It was false of course, but Cain was masquerading as a Level 0 so there’s that.

After they tacitly consented with each other, they separated to their own positions. When they were ready, Lena gave the signal to start.

The signal was a fireball to the Giant Chicken’s face.

“BWAAAK!”

As natural as the sun rises, the monster was angry. With blazing red eyes, it scanned its surroundings, finding the perpetrator right after. Its head and face was burned but nowhere near something fatal. Monsters were famous for their tough and resilient body, even its feathers had some resistance to fire. With great stride, the chicken charged at the impolite attacker, filled with murderous intent.

“Come get me!” Lena said as she ran away from the minitruck-sized monster.

“...Let’s go!” Paul urged, dashing to the nest. The rest unquestionably followed.

Five eggs were lying in the nest. Like thieves, the younger trio swiftly took one each with Paul keeping watch. Each egg was a bit bigger than an ostrich egg but a lot heavier.

“Urrgh, heavy.” Oliver said.

“Un,” Irene also agreed while running away from the nest.

As they discussed, they only took three eggs and no more. They hoped with eggs remaining in its nest, the mommy chicken would not be too crazy in pursuing them. Cain was skeptical but didn't complain, he followed what the group decided to do.

Shortly, they were already in the cover of the woods.

“Phew, that was easier than I thought!” Oliver was red-faced with excitement and basking in the success of the plan.

Meanwhile, Cain had the face of someone just struck by lightning.

Fuck! He said it! The FLAG!!!

“KYAAAAHHH!”

Lena’s scream reached their ears immediately. Fate does love irony.