“What is your name?”

“Azalea Blakewood.”

He gestures at the secretary to cross check if this teenage girl is telling the truth.

“Excuse me,” the old hunter joins. “Where are you from?”

“I am from Laamhi.”

The old hunter is in daze for a while. “I see.”

“Whoa-!!” Bradon Shilan opens his mouth with clear amazement. “It’s true! You just finished a hunt.” His expression changes while looking at the data, from an amazed smile to almost a frown, then he smiles again. “Hm… I see. I see.” That smile, there is something sinister behind it. “You want to join another hunt without so much interval, huh?.. Are you, perhaps, in need of money?”

“No.” She answers frankly.

“Hm?,, Really?”

“Yes. All I want is the credit for participation in this hunt. I won’t need any of the monetary reward or loot. The rest of the hunters can divide it among themselves.”

Everyone’s attention is focused at her. Hearing her words have peaked their curiosity. For some, her statement sounded arrogant. They have no idea who she is but she carries an imposing aura and an enthralling personality.

“Interesting.” Brandon says. His eyes are sparkling like he found a new source of entertainment that he wants to know more about. “Okay… Let’s continue with the discussion.”

“We will be imparting the information that we have gathered about this demon.” The secretary moves closer to the monitor to present. “Ur’Yarha is an A-rank demon. According to the guide that the Bureau of International Defense and Order, the preferable number of hunters for this mission is thirty, with at least ten licensed demon hunters.”

“As you all already knows,” Brandon adds in a casual tone. “We don’t have, or like, gathered the preferred number. However, the hunt cannot be delayed any further, so you’ll have to make do with it. I have faith in your ability, you can do it.”

Matt scoffs. “Sure, as long as we get the right payment.”

“All the information has been organized in those folders.” The secretary continues while the screen fades into an image of a map. “Tomorrow, the hunting party must gather outside the city at the edge of Zone-0.” She points at a place in the displayed map. “We have prepared a room for you in the designated hotel where you can rest tonight. Some of your supplies for the hunt should already been placed in your rooms. The key card is also inside those folders. As for the plan… the hunt should last for three days at most.”

“Excuse me, demon hunts would usually need two weeks of preparation.” Carlos, the man wearing a light armor and gauntlets, interrupts.

“Why? That would only waste resources.” Brandon frowns. “Just kill the demon and then go home.”

“The fucking idiot doesn’t understand demon hunting.” Matt grumbles again.

“We need to survey the area for presence of other aggressive monsters, find a safe path into the demon lair, also ensure an escape route in case thi--” Gustaf gets interrupted midway.

“Why would you need an escape route?” He clicks his tongue clearly showing his displeasure. “Just kill the demon. You’ll be paid a lot, just do your job.”

Matt stands. “Hey, we’re the experts here, not you!”

“Sit down.” Fred glares at Matt. “Getting agitated will not help in any form of negotiation. Instead… Sir Shilan, I will request another condition.”

“Okay, sure.”

“If anyone of us gets gravely injured or worse lose their life, you will give more compensation to that person or their family.”

“What?!! That’s ridiculous!”

“Excuse me, we’re the ones risking our lives here.” Cassandra raises her hand while her tone drops deep and cold. “No amount of that money of yours can pay for the lives of my people.”

“Fine, fine! Secretary, make sure everything is recorded and prepare for those requirement for those conditions, just in case.”

“Ah, also add more water to our resources.” Gustaf requests.

“Fine, talk to the secretary about the supplies.” He clicks his tongue again.

“Yes sir.” The secretary politely nods then plays a video in the screen. “Here is some of the few recorded movements of Ur’Yarha…”

The secretary presented and explained more about the gathered information while Brandon simply fiddled with his phone. After a couple of hours the meeting ended and the hunters are guided to their respective rooms.

∞×∞

Hunting is a regulated job. One cannot just hunt animals as much as they want; the same rule applies to both monsters and demons. Monsters are part of the ecosystem, and demons are like natural disasters that everyone has no choice but to deal with once it is on its way.

Monsters may resemble animals and plants’ appearance but their main difference is that they could use their mana to support their survival. On the other hand, demons -- like monsters, may resemble other living organisms—but possesses great amount of mana and they replenish it via killing and absorbing the mana of other living organisms putting entire biota in immense danger. There is a large gap in the difference in power of a demon and a monster. Demons usually avoid leaving their territory and only hunt sources of mana around it, but there are also times when they suddenly become aggressive and leave to quench their mana requirement from nearby villages and in worse cases, they target the nearest cities.

Licensed hunters exist to protect the people from the threat of monsters and demons. There are two kinds of hunting license, one for monster hunting and one for demon hunting. Both hunters can hunt monsters and demons, however, a hunter needs a demon hunting license to claim the reward or bounty for a demon hunt. A monster hunter can help in fighting demons along with demon hunters but the monster hunter will not be able to officially claim their part of the reward. These cases mostly happen among the hunter trainees, they tag along in hunts to gain experience. In some cases a small party of demon hunters may also employ monster hunters if they are low in numbers. It is up to the party how much of the cash reward and usable raw artifacts they want to share with the rest. These raw artifacts, also called “loots,” are parts of the monster or demon that they hunted that can be used as material to build another equipment like armor or weapons. Normally, the ones with demon hunting license will claim the reward and split it with the members of the party. The way the rewards are split will depend on what the involved parties have agreed upon before the beginning of the hunt. Each hunter can also register credit for the successful hunt which can be seen in their profile. These achievements can help the hunters gain trust in case an organized hunt is called.

Organized hunts are the ones that a city mayor or a governor calls under a state of calamity. This happens when a demon shows movements that it is going towards the direction of a city and attack. This is a situation that calls upon code red emergency and immediate action. The demon is then classified as high level threat that needs to be slain as soon as possible.

Many hunters are lured to join these organized hunts because the officials that hold higher office have access to greater funds. The state of calamity funds is used to hire demon hunters and provide them with the basics necessities to hunt the demon. The number of hunters that will qualify to join will depend on the rank of the demon. In the end, the official payment along with the cash reward will be shared among those who participated, and the loot will be divided among those who contributed the most in defeating the demon. In short, when there is an organized hunt, the profit is higher, which makes the competition to be chosen to join stricter.

∞×∞

Sixteenth day of Panca’xahr, 4043 AOT

Elsyon City, Aesbyl Region, Surus

The demon hunting party has assembled at the edge of the city’s Zone-0. They have already read the information about everyone in the hunt. The profiles provided has the basic information about their abilities and hunts they joined and completed. This gives them an idea on planning appropriately, giving each member the right role they could fill in. Of course, just that is not enough to fully gauge one’s capability, unless they have experience fighting together. In this case, the more experienced hunters will have to look out for the younger ones and guide them so they will be less vulnerable in the future.

When everyone has gathered, they chose a leader among the seven licensed demon hunters. After several minutes, Gustaf is voted to lead. The leader assigned tasks and then briefed the whole group about the course of the operation.

After passing through the slightly dilapidated housings at the outer most part of the slums, they continued marching towards the demon’s territory. The landscape as they go farther away from the city becomes dryer and dustier. The air is hotter and there are less shaded areas.

The territory of the demon Ur’Yarha is a large desert. The sandy environment amplifies the demon’s abilities. Ur’Yarha is a serpent-like demon that is estimated to be around fifty-four feet in length and may be more than fifty thousand kilos. It is an A-rank demon with skills that revolves around controlling the surrounding area of its territory which is mostly sand. Its extremely tough skeleton armor will be another obstacle that the hunters need to find a way to break-through in order to slay it.

“Okay, everyone.” Gustaf calls out to the members of the demon hunting party. “It’s past noon. We’ll set-up camp here and rest for a while. After everyone has eaten and rested, we’ll make a scout team and then survey the area around the demon territory. We need to finish before night falls so that we can make appropriate plans for tomorrow’s hunt.”

“I’ll survey around the camp first with Carlo.” Fred says while sending a hand signal to his friend.

“Go ahead.” He responds before turning to Cassandra. “Cass, check everyone’s condition while they set up the camp. Take Matt, and also tell them to keep their tents close enough to each other.”

“Sure.” She thumbs up then grabs Matt. “Let’s go, young man.”

“Hey! This hag- Don’t grab my collar!” Matt screams as he is being dragged away.

The rest of the group has started to set up their camp. Some are preparing meals and are eating together under their shaded tents. The heat at this time is harsh and they feel drained even when they do not move. Those who are unable to adapt to the heat are made to rest, while the capable ones volunteered to scout.

They have to secure their camp first. This means they have to make sure that no monsters in the surroundings would attack them and their items while they rest or while they are away. They also have to look out for thieves that may target their possessions while they are out hunting. After all they will leave most of their stuff in the camp once they set out to kill the demon. And sometimes, their enemy is not only monsters and demons as some desperate humans may as well take advantage if given a chance.

They record what monsters are around the camp area, then check the territorial monsters close to them and gauge whether they have to tendency to attack. By doing this, they confirm the accuracy of the information they have. If there are any difference or change they record for future reference or studies.

As hunters started to prioritize coming back alive after every hunt, the process of ensuring everyone’s safety has become more time consuming. The Hunter’s Council and BIDAO has considered many protocols and implemented different guidelines. Though, these guidelines are not always followed. The final call on what to do during hunts still falls on their chosen party leader.

Scouting the terrain and mapping the area has become a standard of every operation. This process includes determining how many monster territories are close to the demon territory. Know if what kind of monsters there are, allows them to plan a path to avoid encountering them as it is not necessary to fight all of them. This will also give them the idea whether these monsters are already under the control of the demon. In which case, fighting them will be inevitable and will make the hunt far more difficult to settle. This method also allows the leader to determine if they need to abort the operation and call for back up, or prepare to evacuate the people of nearby villages first.

Usually, the hunters would also fight the demon just to test out its power, and check the monsters movements during that trial battle. Some demons can control or command monsters, and once they get flooded, it will surely end in tragedy. These kinds of hunts need further planning, more time, and resources.

Fortunately or unfortunately, they will skip most of those processes this time as they are only given three days to finish the job. According on the information given to them, Ur’Yarha cannot command the monsters. They only have to hope that it have not developed the skill after these data were collected.

Sponsored hunts have its advantages and disadvantages.

“Everything has been accounted for.” Their leader, the full-plate armor man, Gustaf, announced to the rest of the party. “There’s not much difference from the data we have. I want everyone to rest well tonight because we will leave early tomorrow… and finish this hunt.”

“Right. Finish earl and cash-in fast.” Matt smirks as he raises his voice.

“You’re as load as ever.” Gustaf glares at the noisy man.

Everyone else then laughs while joking that Matt made a good point.

Cassandra claps her hands to turn their attention towards her. “Listen now. We’ll explain the plan. I advise you all not to fall out of formation if you don’t want to accidentally die.”

The seven licensed demon hunters gather in front, closer to the place where a board with the area’s map is plastered. Aaron marks a few areas in the map using different colored chalks.

“Familiarize yourself with the terrain… especially the demon territory, and the place where we have chosen to fight.” Aaron announces while pointing at different spots on the map.

The hunting party spends a few hours in the afternoon to discuss the information they have and the details of the plan. They need to rest before nightfall and wake up hours before sunrise to enter the demon territory.

When the designated time comes, they secured their belongings in the camp before setting out. They started marching into the demon territory while the sky is still dark.

The half-moon and little twinkling stars guides them on their way and at the same time provides a beautiful view. The wind is cold and chilly as the surroundings is eerily quiet. They feel it more since they are not using any lights to avoid detection or startling some monsters. They have to heavily rely on their instinct.

Ur’Yarha is an A-rank demon that resembles a giant sand snake. Aside from its massive size and brute strength, its ability revolves around the sand desert characteristic of its territory. It can quickly burrow in sand, hide itself, and attack from beneath. It can make quick sands or engulf humans into the desert burying them alive. They must find a way to counter this annoying ability. Thus, they plan to lure it away from its territory, towards a most stable and harder ground, where it will be forced to use more of its mana to convert the terrain.

While marching on their way, Azalea notices this middle-aged woman approaching her. She is one of the licensed demon hunters. It seems that this woman is observing her for a while now. She normally would not mind it and leave the person alone until they have their fill. However, the stare that has locked on her since they began the march is starting to make her uncomfortable. Especially now that she is walking close to her side.

“Excuse me, how may I help you?” Azalea asks wanting to get rid of the sharp stare directed at her.

“Hm.” She touches her chin, her eyes are focused on Azalea. “Are you really that grumpy hag’s protégé? I thought she’d never take one.”

“Do you know my master?”