It had been two weeks ever since I first joined the Wanderers Guild. We planned to immediately start hunting monsters when all of us finished our training. I finished mine yesterday while the others finished theirs two days ago, so they had to wait for me which was kind of embarrassing.

This morning, we arranged to meet in the northeast of the town where a wall, specifically faced against the mountains, stood. It wasn’t tall but it was enough to be called big. There were also a lot of soldiers guarding the wall and while not as many as the soldiers, there were many wanderers this morning with their equipment and party members.

I was with Merry waiting in one of the food stall near the wall. She was wearing her traditional clothing which was the maid attire. I asked her why that and she said that the maid clothes gave her maximum mobility as she retrofitted it. As for her life for the past two weeks, nothing significant happened except for the fact that the two girls pretty much disturbed her everyday, though she’s still being hesitant and distant.

As for me, I had my weapon which was a dagger and a light leather torso armor. The torso armor wasn’t cheap but it did cost money. On the other hand, the dagger was expensive. If I didn’t tried to bargain with the seller, I wouldn’t have had the extra money to buy the armor. The equipment were costly, so we had to rely on Merry’s money just to had food.

Thanks to the cruel and sadistic training of Marsha, I was able to obtain the necessary abilities needed to be an assassin though I was far from being competent. I was used to a life where a cellphone was always in my hand, not a dagger. Additionally, Marsha explained that when an assassin trainee completed their least amount of training, which was two weeks, they are provided an alias.

“Heeeey!” loudly shouted by a girl who was carrying a staff. “Terrin, Merry!” She was happily waving her hand. She was wearing a mage’s robe that stretches all the way to her feet.

They were my party. They quickly run just to catch up with Fuyuki.

“Fuyuki! My equipment are very heavy! Stop running!” angrily shouted by Takana. He was wearing a chest plate and armor on his arms and legs while his gigantic sword and shield rode on his back.

“W-Wait, Fuyuki…” Kihana was using her staff to run. She was wearing a white dress.

When they reached us, Hashi said “Is everyone ready?” same as Takana, he was wearing chest plate though it looked lighter and he was wearing a brace while his sword was on the left side of his waist.

We all nodded and made our way over to the gate.

“Is everyone wearing the badge?” Hashi asked. We all agreed.

The badge that Hashi mentioned was the badge for the wanderers guild. You are not allowed to go hunt monsters when you don’t have authorization and these badges allowed us to do that. Incidentally, there were two types of them; one for trainees and one for wanderers.

As we get closer to the gate, we heard someone shout distressingly.

“Help! Please help us!” looking over the gate, someone was carrying someone.

The person that was being carried had blood all over his body. His armor was wrecked and one of his arms was grotesquely twisted. As for the one who was carrying him, he had cuts here and there but compared to the other person, he was overall better.

“Stretcher!” shouted by one of the guards. “What happened!?” the guard asked as he helped the man lower the other person.

“We were ambush in Zone Two by a group of Kasaks. Four people in my party got killed while the two of us barely escaped.” The man slowly sat down while tears fell down on his cheek.

“Those Kasaks are getting smarter.” Remarked by another soldier.

“Get out of the way!” shouted by a soldier behind me. He bumped into me as he was in a rushed and picked up the wounded man. Other soldiers helped the other person get on his feet and walked away with him.

Naturally, we were all horrified though Merry didn’t look that bothered. It was sickening to see, it almost made me threw up the breakfast I had. Fuyuki became quiet as she hugged Fuyuki who was visibly scared. Even Takana wasn’t saying something.

It reminded me of the time when we saw those two slaves near the market. We were able to act courageously because our lives weren’t on the line, it was the slave’s life that was. This time, we are heading into battle and only God knows whether we would come back alive or not. We were all consumed by fear as we stood, five meters away from the gate.

“Don’t worry, everyone. As long as we support each other, we will be fine. I promised with all my being that I’ll protect each and one of you.” Hashi said with a serious looked, it actually gave me courage. “Besides, we are going to the Zone One, not where they went. If we won’t do this now, then when?”

I looked at Hashi and nodded. “He’s right. It’s now or never. If we ever do get in trouble, we can just throw Takana and ran, right?”

“Hey!” rebutted by Takana.

The two girls laughed and the tense atmosphere vanished.

“He’s right, Kihana. Let’s do our best and go home together, okay?”

“O-Okay…”

“Then let’s go.” Hashi lead the party.

We each showed our badge and they allowed us to go.

“You okay?” I asked Merry.

“I’m okay, it’s just been a while since I’ve seen things like that.” Her cold looked over to the distance. She had been living like a normal person in the past two weeks, guess some memories resurfaced.

We all passed the gate and took our first towards our destination, Zone One.

*

So there are two of them…

The Zone One was a village that was abandoned ever since monsters made the mountains their home. The village was now overrun by nature but surprisingly, the houses and shed could still be of some used as a shelter. Although there are countless trees in Zone One, there are enough spaces where an open fight could happen.

I was scouting near a river when I sensed the presence of two Kasaks. The results from my long and arduous training greatly increased my awareness from my surrounding. As they passed on by to get water from the river, I hid among the shadows of the trees.

It was another skill that I'd come to learned. Due to the dark base of the assassin association, I was able to hide my presence whenever I am in a shadow or in a dark spot. I could also see in the dark.

The Kasak’s appearance was similar to the monkey except that they have long claws and big ears. According to the wanderers of the town, they were good at ambushing and they mostly ambush in groups.

I immediately but quietly ran back to a house that my party was staying in. One thing that Marsha noticed was that I am swift, at least for someone of my standards.

That woman’s training was really difficult but it thanks to her that I am here right now.

“There’s two of them by the river.” I reported when I arrived.

“Everyone knows the plan, right?” Hashi looked at each of our eyes.

“If I am right,” Takana pressed his head with his hands. “I should be with the girls, right?”

“Correct. While Terrin lures them to us, I will hide in one of the trees and you confront them. When they know that they’ve been ambushed, they will start to make a run for it but I will block their way.” Hashi explained. “Is everyone ready?”

With the serious nods of everyone, we started our meticulous plan.

Being bait is absolutely scary!

After I got the attention of the two Kasak by making mocking faces, they got furious and started chasing me. I went to the house where we are ambushing them. I looked at behind me and sure enough, they were angry. Not just angry, they were making screeching sounds while trying to scratch me with their claws.

After a while of running, I managed to arrive to my destination. I turned around and faced them; uncertainty took form on my face. I hold my dagger with a backward grip and took my stance. The cocky face of kasak was very palpable but it soon turned into a stern face as they looked around to their surroundings.

Suddenly, a cry came out from the trees. It was Hashi with his sword aimed towards to the kasak. He was quick but the two kasak, who was looking exactly at the trees where Hashi came from, was able to flexibly dodge the thrust by twisting their body to the right which was in the direction where I am.

Nice! We got them boxed in.

Takana and the rest came out of their hiding spot and faced the two kasak. Takana went front while the girls stayed in the back. Kihana would only focus on supporting, so she wouldn’t be fighting while Fuyuki would attack with her long-range ice magic, though I had no idea what Merry would do in this fight.

The faces of the kasak looked angry, no, they were infuriated. They were surprisingly smart as they faced us with their backs on each other as to see any potential threats.

“Damn, you monsters look hideous.” Tanaka was provoking them as he tries to close in inch by inch.

I didn’t know if the kasak got provoked or not but they both suddenly went off to the direction they were facing, in other words, the other went to Hashi while the other to Takana. Takana blocked it with his shield and Hashi dodge it by sidestepping to the left.

I have to get in.

While assassins were sometimes called cowards, we were still crucial as we can hit enemies in the back without them noticing. I circled around trying to be quiet and finding a good spot to attack from. I decided to help Hashi as Takana got a shield to protect himself.

There.

As Hashi keeps the kasak distracted by dodging and blocking its ferocious attacks, I stepped in to try and wound its legs.

But out of nowhere, a sharp ice passed in front of my face, nearly hitting me.

“Fuyuki! Are you trying to kill us!? Hit the enemy, not us!” shouted by Takana while still being overwhelmed by the continuous attack of the kasak.

“I’m trying, okay!?” Fuyuki shouted. While writing those incomprehensible sigils in the air, she shouted ‘Sal mo rak!’ and three sharp ices formed around her. She fired it to the two kasak with great speed but unfortunately, it didn’t hit anyone. She almost hit Takana again though.

What she did surprised me, making me lose my focus thus the kasak noticed me, so it tried to scratch me in the arm.

AGHHHH!

He was successful and not only that, he managed to pin me on the ground.

“Terrin!” worriedly shouted by Kihana.

As the kasak was about to scratch me with its menacing claws, I instinctively closed my eyes.

“GYAAAAA!”

Suddenly, I heard a shriek and something liquid splattered on my face. When I opened my eyes, the kasak was rolling around on the floor with its left side bleeding.

It turned out that Hashi managed to thrust his sword into the kasak while I was pinned down. The liquid that was splattered on my face was the kasak’s blood and it was green. My hand involuntarily quivered as I stared at the blood.

The kasak was still shrieking in pain as he bathed in his own blood. He was using his hand to get away but it was futile. The kasak was trying everything just to live.

“Look!” Hashi pointed at the dying kasak. “This kasak doesn’t want to die! It’s doing everything just to live! The same goes for us because nobody wants to die! It’s kill or be killed here!” his shout echoed throughout the entire village.

Hashi looked at the kasak and stabbed it in the stomach without saying anything.

That would have been me lying in the floor if it wasn’t for Hashi. I would have been seriously injured or dead if he didn’t stab it. But I can’t help but feel sorry for the dying kasak. It’s just the same as us, trying to live his life. It may even have a family of its own.

The kasak screamed and its leg and feet move aimlessly. It even tried to pull out the sword with its own hands but to no avail. Hashi stabbed it again but this time, blood came out and exploded in all ways, it even reached me. Hashi thrusted his sword repeatedly until the kasak was no longer moving.

The other kasak, noticing that his friend got killed, backed off from Takana. He was surrounded and desperately trying to find a way out. His eyes darted all over just to find a way out.

What would have happened if I was in his place? Would I’ve reacted the same?

Unexpectedly, I saw Kihana running towards me. She had that worried face ever since our battle started.

“Don’t come this way!”

The kasak was right in front of me and Kihana was heading towards me. She might have been worrying about me because there’s blood coming out from the attack earlier.

The kasak, seeing its opportunity, went and attacked Kihana.

No, we won’t make it in time!

Takana couldn’t reach them, I was lying on the ground and Hashi was even further away.

The kasak’s face turned into an intense grin as it aimed for Kihana. His long and sharp claws were about to sink in Kihana’s passionate face

Then it happened.

A mysterious figure violently grabbed the kasak to the neck and slammed it on the ground, saving Kihana. The kasak immediately stood up and started running from the other direction. I didn’t know if he knew where it was going but it was going to the direction of Takana.

“Got you!” Takana swung his sword diagonally and hit it in shoulder. “That’s hard! Was that a bone!?”

With its green blood gushing out, the kasak fell.

Our first battle is finally over…

“Hell, yeah!” Takana pumped his fist.

“Are you all right, Kihana?” the mysterious figure asked. It had a bluish tail and cat-like ears with its arm and hands covered in blue fur.

Wait, that’s —!

“Merry!?” her shocked voice surprised us. Even I was surprised, that was the first time I'd seen her like that.

“Yes, it’s me.” her body returned to normal which was only the bluish tail. “I can transform to a half-beast as what you have seen earlier.”

“Thank you for saving me.” Kihana politely bowed.

“Good job, Merry.” I said while holding my wound.

“Terrin!” there was it again; that compassionate looked on Kihana’s face. “You should always go to me when you’re wounded. What’s my use if I couldn’t even do my role!?” she started to cry.

“But I couldn’t really stand up that time…”

“No excuse!” a number of tears fell down on her cheeks. “When you’re wounded, come to me, okay?”

“Yes, ma’am…” her caring attitude was what made her like that. It was nice.

She put her both hands in front and prayed “May Shaina's sacred mercies enveloped you…Heal.” Light came from her hand and enveloped my wound. In a matter of seconds, the bleeding wound was no longer visible, not even a scar remained.

“Is anyone else hurt?” Hashi asked.

“I would have been if she was more imprecise with her accuracy.” Takana was blaming Fuyuki.

“I’m sorry, all right?” she turned around. “I practiced my aiming but being in an actual battle was completely different…”

I know that she wasn’t the one who was thinking like that. Our plan was a complete failure and two of us almost got killed and we haven’t realized just what it took to take a life.

“You’re not the only one, Fuyuki. I couldn’t give orders while that kasak attack me. I am partly to blame.” A disappointed look on Hashi’s face.

“S-Same for me…I would have died if it wasn’t for Merry…” Kihana contemplated.

“Me too…”

“The truth is there will be difficult fights in the future but as long as we help each other and learn from our mistake, we should be fine. No matter what, I won’t let anyone die in our party.” Hashi gallantly announced.

He’s really amazing. He’s right, as long as we support each other, we can do anything.

“Hey!” a shout came near the corpse of the kasak. “These guys have a lot of stuff!” Takana was scavenging the kasak’s properties.

“That’s disgusting, you know.” the satchel of the kasaks was drowned with their green blood, so it was disgusting.

“Who cares?” he took the claws and fang of the kasaks. Those were valuable in the market.

We collected the belongings of the kasaks which was their fangs, claws and two dagger that they must have gotten from God knows where.

“Should we go home? I don’t think anyone wants to fight again.” Hashi suggested.

“Yeah, I want to take a bath with Merry and Kihana. Especially Merry.” I don’t know if she’s a hunter or a mage

“But this things won’t be enough, right?” Takana showed the bag containing our loots. “We’re running out of money, too.”

“Stupid Takana, didn’t you hear him? We’re tired. My mana’s run out, too. If you want you can go ahead and get killed by yourself.” Fuyuki said. Now that she mentioned it, she did look a bit tired.

“All right! You didn’t have to call me stupid.” And with that, we made our way back into town.