They sped away from that shitshow. Hisoka was still a little panicked due to his brush with death. He steadied his bloodied hands on the wheel and drove off in the direction of the next town.

"Thank you, you girls saved me back there," Hisoka said.

Misumi softly shook her head and silently gestured to Aki. Aki merely avoided his gaze as to not draw attention.

"Aki, thank you."

"It's only fair, you saved me from those men after all," she smiled finally looking at him.

Hisoka gave a firm nod and returned his eyes to the road. As he drove down the road he silently pondered the circumstances that lead to the destruction of the village. Hisoka along with every other adventurer played their parts individually, but that was the problem. Everyone acting independently from each other limited the capability of the group. Hisoka could plain as day see this, but what was he supposed to do? He certainly was unfit for leadership, especially such a large group.

He knew that his group alone weren't enough to stop the waves of rotting bodies with just 3 shooters, however, it's not like he could raise a militia or arm the adventurers. He didn't know any of them, and they could even become adversaries someday. No doubt already his weapons and possibly even exploits were known around the area, but if he spread his arms to adventurers, they would bring the weapons, and info on the maker, to their home towns. The last thing Hisoka wanted was to be forced to mass-produce guns for some organization that kidnapped him or his companions. Truly, with enough battles the undead would be killed, but at the cost of how many more lives?

Hisoka realized he was no hero, not some humanitarian that was brought to this world to help people, yet the creeping feeling of wanting to help kept growing more prevalent within him.

He sighed and continued to mind the road. He saw various groups of villagers evacuating along this path towards the next village, carrying along what they could. They all had somber expressions as they marched along without too much hope for the future. Adventurers that passed by had spread the news of their town's fate after all.

The situation really did seem hopeless. If he had access to crew-served static weapons, he could likely have a larger impact on the battlefield. Looking back on history Heinrich Severloh for example, was proof of this. Not only did he cut down around 2000 men, but he also did it with a weapon from the 40's. With Hisoka's ability, if only he could gain the advantage of heavy weapons; an M240, or a modern variant of the M2 browning, for example. His skill would likely make him proficient with mortars as well. Unfortunately, he lacked such means.

Soon they arrived at the town of Nettor, and were greeted by an anxious crowd. They were the first to make it back due to the speed of their vehicle, easily surpassing the distance traveled by the adventurers that retreated early. The townspeople were understandably worried about the state of Zulich, and mostly the undead wave.

"The town of Zulich is no more," Hisoka said as the people gasped, "About a quarter of the gathered adventurers were slain or wounded badly. We performed a tactical retreat as the creatures overran the defenses," the usually deadpan Hisoka said solemnly.

The townspeople began to mutter amongst themselves about the fate of Zulich and what that meant for Nettor. The town of Nettor had about 20 guards that while untrained, would give their lives to defend the town. Unfortunately, not even a force of 2000 adventurers could stop the beasts, meaning that unless the adventurers reconsolidated their forces the town would be wiped off the map completely.

"I'm sorry, I imagine this is a rough time but is there an inn here by chance?"

He was pointed to a modest one-story building comparable to a decent motel in the previous world. The owner of the inn insisted that they pay no charge due to their service, even though Hisoka would gladly pay his own dues. They each got their own little rooms, albeit a little smaller than the inn in Feyreightor yet they were cozy.

Hisoka said words of parting to his companions as he parted with them to enter his room. He was physically and mentally drained, using the full capacity of his skill had adverse effects on his body it seemed. His short yet brutal melee with the skeleton and zombie was a painful and honestly terrifying experience. It was one thing to pull a trigger from afar, and a completely different beast to twist your blade into the chest of an undead entity. Being strangled almost to the point of losing consciousness was NOT a good experience either.

He checked the number on the counter bracelet, and it read [734]. Hisoka was surprised at the large number of enemies they had been able to subdue between themselves. In the state of using the skill he could remember firing many, many times, yet not his exact kill count. He guessed that he likely had from 1/4th to 1/3rd of the kills himself. He needed to see the results to his status.

Level 12 (1950/3000)

HP: 65/65

MP: 110/110

STR: 7

AGI: 6

STA: 6

INT: 8

Abilities:

[Modern Weapon Summons] Lv 5 (155/500)

[Modern Vehicle Summons] Lv 1

[Modern Equipment Summons] lv 2

Skills:

[Modern Weapon Master] Lv 2 (387/600)

[Resilience] Lv 1 (80/300)

[Firearm Instructer] Lv 1 (9/200)

He raised his eyebrow. He had advanced 3 levels, and along with it the amount of killing he did raise his weapon ability 2 levels. Not being a man of patience he immediately checked the effect.

Modern Weapon Summons Lv. 5

[The ability to summon the necessary ammunition and weapons of a from the user's previous world to the current world.]

Lv. 1: Summon basic equipment and 1 firearm and it's ammunition up to a 5.56 semi-automatic rifle per day

Lv. 2: The ability to summon new magazines or a box of cartridges using MP (Current Magazines: 5 MP .44 speedloader, 10 MP box of 20 .44 cartridges, 7 MP 20 round 9mm magazine, 9 MP box of 30 9mm cartridges, 10 MP 30 round STANAG magazine, 12 MP 30 round PMAG, 15 MP box of 50 5.56 NATO cartridges, 5 MP for 9 round VR 60 magazine (buckshot), 10 MP for 20 rounds of 12 gauge (buckshot), 6 MP for 12 round MK 23 Magazine, 13 MP for 30 rounds of .45, 7 MP for 20 round 6.5 M110 magazine, 15 MP box of 50 6.5 cartridges, 10 MP for 30 round 6.8 SPC 30 round magazine, 15 MP for 50 rounds of 6.8

round MK 23 Magazine, 13 MP for 30 rounds of .45,

Lv. 3: Extention of caliber up to 6.8 SPC. Raise weapon cap to 2 per day.

Lv. 4: Extension of caliber up to 7.62x51 NATO.

Lv. 5: Automatic small arms unlocked

Hisoka couldn't be a happier man as he read automatic small arms. It may not be crew-served weapons, however, there was an emerging weapon that would do the job right. What did he have in mind? The SIG bid for the NGSW, specifically the AR.

Dubbed the NGSW-R MCX Spear, it was a 6.8 rifle that fired a hybrid cartridge using a standard brass casing with a steel base allowing for a more powerful cartridge fed from 20 round plastic magazines. It uses a specialty suppressor in order to alleviate the high bore pressure-induced recoil. Instead of using the 6.8x43mm (aka the 6.8 SPC) it uses a government designed bullet, the 6.8x51mm. Even though the rifle is a heavier caliber than the 5.56 M4/M16 platforms, it only has slightly more recoil.

For Hisoka, the rifle was the proper choice without a second thought; it was basically the next level of the current rifle platform they used. He had been hoping to be able to use the weapon for some time, and now that he had access to fully automatic weapons, it was a no brainer. He hastily summoned two of the weapons. He intended to give Misumi an upgrade after teaching her and Aki full-automatic firing. In the meantime, he now had 2 MCX Spear rifles and 6 20 round mags in front of him. He checked the ammo cost and found the familiar price of 7 MP for 20 rounds mags and 15 for 50 rounds. With his new budget of 110 MP he summoned 7 more NGSW mags, a sling, and 200 rounds of the new 6.8 ammunition. He planned to hopefully train Misumi on the new fire mode tomorrow, and if not give her his share of SPC, as well as getting Aki more ammo in the morning.

The girls knew to maintain their weapons by reloading their magazines, and with the extra cartridges each carried they would be fine for today. With confidence in the firepower upgrade, he decided to let the exhaustion take him to the realm of sleep.

In the morning as he took a stroll to stretch his legs he saw adventurers settling into town. Many were being treated for nasty wounds, receiving potions, or if they were too poor too, having their wounds covered in bandages. Some of the adventurers continued to bleed through layers of bandages. The number of adventurers that made it to the town was far smaller than the amount he had seen in the tent city.

Along with adventurers refugees were mulling about trying to find places to stay, having lost their homes, and in some cases loved ones, they looked hopeless and depressed, an expression they shared with a good portion of adventurers who participated in the meat grinder.

Reports were the monsters were 2 days out, leaving him some time to recuperate as well as instruct Misumi on full-auto fire. After returning to his room to summon another 11 magazines, (leaving each of them with 12,) he found Misumi looking at the scenery with hollow eyes. It must have been that she was remembering her village's destruction. Hisoka patted her on the shoulder to draw her attention.

"Misumi, I'd like to show you something new I've been able to produce. I'd like to give you one however I need to show you how to use a new feature on it."

She nodded and followed Hisoka as he walked into the small forest to the northeast of the town. They didn't travel too far, as the suppressors would help with the noise. Hisoka set about his normal teaching method, first demonstrating the feature. Misumi looked on in amazement at the continuous fire. The semi-automatic fire was already a mind-blowing thing to the people of this world, seeing fully automatic fire was astonishing. What's more, it was just how quiet the weapon was compared to their others. Misumi seemed excited at this new weapon.

Hisoka didn't plan to skimp on ammo, intending to run her through 10 mags to be certain. He just so happened to have summoned the exact amount of replacement cartridges the night prior. Hisoka only ran himself through 1 mag as his skill's passive ability improved his learning speed astronomically. Misumi being the quick learner she was grasped the mechanics Hisoka taught her quickly. She was good at firing controlled bursts for intermediate-range targets or laying suppressive fire at closer distances, which would come in handy against the wave of bodies. Hisoka decided there seeing the effectiveness that he would have Aki use one of the ARs instead as it wasn't too far a leap from the controls of the M110; with the sacrifice of accuracy being meaningless against waves of enemies.

Misumi trained hard and became very proficient using the weapon on full auto or semi. As per usual they practiced the ritual of repacking magazines after training. They finished repacking and found themselves gazing into the eyes of each other.

Misumi chose to try and break the awkward silence, "Thank you for once again gifting me one of these wonderful weapons," she said earnestly.

Hisoka smiled warmly at her, "I'm just glad you like it. I was a little worried you may not be happy seeing as I've been swapping your weapons around recently."

She blushed at his compassion and warm smile and looked away. She looked back at him and saw him gazing at her with that same kind expression he always showed her. The familiar feeling in her chest became stronger as she looked at him.

"Thank you. You've always treated me so kindly, never looked at me with disgust as all the other humans do, and you've always treated me as an equal. Since you saved me from the slavers you've always always been caring for me. I always notice it when you get mad for my sake when they look down on me," she paused for a moment.

"I remember when you came running to my aid, I remember the times you've given me a shoulder to cry on. You're the kindest person I've had in my life since my parents were killed," she worked up he nerve while looking into his eyes and said quietly, "Hisoka, I love you. I think I've loved you for some time now,"

He softly gazed at her and for a moment she misinterpreted it as simple pity, before he moved his face next to hers and gently pressed his lips against hers while wrapping her in a warm embrace. He gently stroked her hair and ears in that comforting way that always put her mind at ease. He tail lightly wagged as he continued to kiss her and stroke her hair. She basked in his warmth as they sat together locked in an embrace.

He slowly and regretfully parted his lips from hers and told her what he needed to say, "I love you too Misumi. You've been here all along for me."

This time it was Misumi who kissed Hisoka. They basked in each other's warmth and just sat like that before releasing the kiss and sitting in an embrace. As the wind blew the leaves, the birds flapped their wings amongst the trees, and the critters scurried around, the fox-girl and the man shared their feelings under the canopy of leaves.

~~~