Chapter 3

Damian walked out of the inn they were staying in and looked around. It was still very early in the morning and the air wasn't as cool as it was during the night, nor was it as hot during the day. The perfect time for an early morning jog. He was determined to make up for his failure from a few days ago and even though Iris didn't seem to say anything about it, he had a feeling she was disappointed in him. At the very least, she had not sprung onto him another surprise test, so they had been sticking to simple small monster-slaying quests to build Damian's experience. Still, the memory of his failure haunted him and so he sought to improve. To accomplish that, Damian knew he needed to improve his physical fitness even further and so he had been training on his own for the past few days.

As he jogged around the village, he greeted the villagers he passed by. He even made sure to say good morning to the always grumpy Ximena, who briefly acknowledged him before going back to setting up the Guild post for the day. The receptionist was still very cold and rather rude to them, so Damian hoped their time here would hopefully make her less prickly.

When he passed by Anna's house, he felt a sense of guilt creep up on him again. After all, it had been some time since she was hit with the news that her father had died. She had locked herself away in her house and refused contact with anyone that day. He hated how there was nothing he could have done to prevent it.

"Good morning."

Damian nearly jumped at the sound of the voice from behind him. He turned around and was face-to-face with Anna herself. She was carrying a basket of greens under one hand and gave him a curious look. "Good morning," he replied.

"May I ask what you're doing in front of my house?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just passing by while doing my early morning jogging…"

"Hmm?"

"…I'll get going now. Apologies for disturbing you," Damian said with a brief wave before turning to leave. But before he could, Anna grabbed his wrist.

"Hold it."

Damian raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"I…I just want to thank you for you know…bringing it back to me."

It took Damian a few seconds to register what she meant. "Oh…Well, it's just part of the job."

She shook her head. "Most hunters who come here are only in it for the money. They don't care about us lowly villagers and are only concerned with themselves. But you...you're a hunter who gives a damn. And for that, I am grateful."

"Yes, well you see, I'm not exactly a hunter yet…"

"Huh? You're not?"

He nodded. "I guess the better term would be hunter-in-training. I have yet to earn my license so I'm currently still training under actual hunters."

"Oh. Still, I'm grateful that you actually tried to help."

"No problem, but if anything, you should be thanking my mentor instead for this. She and her comrades were the ones who did most of the work."

Anna shrugged. "Sure, I could. But frankly, your mentor scares me. I don't know why but that woman gives off a bad feeling as if she is a dam ready to burst. The two men with her aren't as bad, but I still don't trust them. You, however, are different from those three. In contrast, you don't look like a hunter, and you carry yourself differently compared to them."

"Huh?"

"Additionally, they aren't the ones who bothered to hand me my father's locket, nor did they bother to comfort me."

"Oh uhh…Apologies for touching you without your consent."

She, however, didn't seem to mind. "No, I'm glad that you were kind enough to lend your shoulder for support, as well as for bringing back my father's locket. Now that he is no longer here, I at least have something to treasure him with. It really means a lot to me you know?"

"You're welcome I guess…"

Anna flashed him a pretty smile. "By the way, I heard you guys are staying here, right?"

Damian nodded at that. It was true that they had decided to stay here for the meantime instead of moving on to another village and he was glad they did. Iris was against it, so it had mostly been Shaw and surprisingly Sven's idea that they use this village as a base of operations. They reasoned that most desert monsters are strong, and the locale is unforgiving, making it suitable for training Damian.

"Yes, we're not going anywhere for the time being."

"I'm happy that you are." Anna's expression then turned wistful. "Ever since we moved here after Loc Lac's destruction, things have been difficult for us. It's a dangerous world out there and every day, we risk our lives every time we head out to conduct our business. We're lucky miss Ximena is here to act as the communicator between us and the Guild but even then, not many hunters are willing to help our remote little village, let alone come here. Your presence should bring life back to this village."

"Well, we're here, aren't we? I can assure you, I'll do my best to help, and so will my mentor and her group."

She smiled brightly at that. "Thank you."

…

"Ah there he is, the man of the hour," Shaw said, smirking as Damian made his way to them, dressed in his new Cephadrome armor. On his back was an upgraded Bow that he hoped would prove more effective than his previous one.

"Ready to go?" Sven asked him.

"That depends. What quest are we doing?"

"An easy one," Iris answered immediately. "Normally, hunters of our rank wouldn't give a shit about these types of quests but seeing as yer a rookie, we might as well just go with it. So out of the kindness of my heart, I've signed us up for a gathering quest."

"…A gathering quest?"

"Yep. It's a simple one really. The village chief needs some special herbs only found in the desert. Unfortunately, the people have been hesitant to venture out of the village. Thus, it befalls upon us to get it for him."

Despite how boring the quest might be, Damian had no choice but to accept. "Alright…" he said, after which he followed them out of the village gates.

Their search for the desert herbs led them to the rocky areas of the desert, where large canyons enclosed spaces of land. Here, life thrived just as well on the open plains. The relative coolness of the area provided comfort for smaller creatures of the desert and a place of rest for many of the desert dwellers. Several desert plants thrived here as well, free from the harsh heat that would have impeded their growth. These plants were important to the people living in desert villages, who learned to make use of this precious resource. And where there were plants, there were herbivores, and where there were herbivores, carnivores knew not to pass up on an opportunity for a free meal.

This was something that our group was keenly aware of. They had to make sure to avoid any confrontations with any carnivores. As much as Iris detested it, encountering a powerful Wyvern while out gathering would not be good, especially for the rookie.

"If we encounter anything other than a Bird Wyvern, we run, or at the very least avoid a fight. The last thing you want is to get yourself killed rookie."

Sometime later, they arrived at the location where they were told the herbs normally grew. It was a rather spacious area bordered by the canyons. A large body of water could be seen here, providing water for a herd of Apceros currently minding their own business. A small number of Genprey were there as well, but without a leader, they posed little threat to the armored herbivores and hunters. It was a peaceful scene and the perfect time to begin gathering the herbs.

"It's nice isn't it?" Shaw suddenly said to Damian. The young man looked around them and firmly agreed.

"Yeah."

The older man smiled. "You know, as much as us hunters dislike gathering quests, there are aspects of it that we do appreciate. One of them of course is the relative peace and lack of tension. Don't get me wrong, we hunters enjoy good adrenaline-filled hunts, but sometimes just taking a nice peaceful stroll through nature can go a long way."

They continued to make their way toward the herb patch conveniently located next to the body of water. No large monster had been sighted so far, and the hunters hoped it would stay that way. Still, it would be wise to keep watch and so as they approached the herb patch, they kept their eyes peeled for any signs of danger.

However, just when it seemed as if there won't be any problems at all, Iris stopped in her tracks, prompting the rest to stop as well. "Look," she said, pointing at the Apceros herd and Genpreys. They turned in the direction and saw the monsters growling and hissing. They were frantically looking around and Damian could easily tell they were agitated.

"Something is coming," Sven whispered as the group quickly retreated towards the large rock in the middle of the area. The moment they hid behind the rock, they felt the ground rumble furiously before suddenly, a large shape burst out of the ground several meters away from them. Damian peeked over to look and was stunned at what he saw.

A Diablos? No… Some kind of variant? It was his first time seeing this odd creature. It was bulky and similarly built like a Diablos but was covered in a brown shell. Its back plating was spiked and so was its frill and it sported a long mace-like tail. But its most striking feature was its singular, long spiral nasal horn. The creature walked forward towards the herb patch and began to eat as the surrounding animals scattered and gave the creature a wide berth.

"A Monoblos," Shaw said after noticing Damian's confused look.

Damian looked back at him, "A what?"

"Smaller, closely related cousins to the Diablos," Sven finished for him. "They are an endangered species so hunters are forbidden from hunting one unless they receive special permission from the Guild."

Damian took a moment to process that information. "So, if we're not allowed to hunt them which by extension likely means hurting them as well, how are we supposed to get the herbs now?" The hunters looked expectantly at Iris, who appeared to be in deep thought. She caught them looking at her and she glared.

"I'm thinking alright!"

"Well, we can't stay here for too long, otherwise it will eat all the herbs before we could pick them," Damian said, which he immediately regretted when Iris set her glare on her him.

"Oh? I suppose ya have some sort of idea of what we can do? Tell us then."

Damian gulped.

…

As it ate, the Monoblos was suddenly interrupted by a small solid object hitting it on the frill as well as sounds of shouting. It stopped to find the source of the disturbance and saw a hunter standing several meters away, shouting and waving their arms frantically at it.

"HEY UGLY! COME AT ME!"

Instincts kicked in, perceiving the hunter as an intruder to its territory. It let out an ear-piercingly shrill cry and lowered its head, charging immediately towards the hunter.

"YOU BASTARDS OWE ME!" Sven yelled out as the Monoblos chased him away from the herb patch. With the wyvern distracted, they could now grab the herbs, or rather Damian could. While Iris and Shaw stayed behind to watch over Sven, Damian quickly moved towards the herb patch to grab what they needed.

"I hope the rookie does it quickly, we can't stay here for long," Iris said.

Shaw raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"The amount of noise we've caused…it's bound to attract something bigger and far nastier than a Monoblos…"

Not long after, Damian finished picking the herbs and placing them in the pouch he carried. Satisfied, he turned around and showed it to Iris and Shaw, who both nodded in approval. However, by doing so he failed to notice a large shape rapidly approaching him…from the water. Iris saw this and her eyes widened in horror.

"ROOKIE GET OUT OF THERE!"

Damian turned around just in time to see a massive shape barreling towards him from the water. He jumped out of the way just as a set of jaws lunged out of the water to seize him, inches from clamping down on him. He felt as if his heart had just stopped, frozen in his place as he laid there, watching the massive creature hiss and quickly retreat into the water.

"A Plesioth! Shit!" Iris cursed as she and Shaw immediately readied their weapons. "Get the hell out of there rookie! It's too dangerous for-"

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY!"

Just when things couldn't get worse, they saw Sven running in their direction with the Monoblos right behind him. Immediately, the hunters dodged out of the way as the Monoblos crashed into the rock they were hiding behind, causing its longhorn to get stuck.

"Why did ya lead it back to us?" Iris cried out.

"Shut up! You know I can't run forever and if I hadn't gotten it stuck on that rock, I would have gotten gored!"

"We have bigger problems here dammit!" Shaw interrupted as he attempted to get Damian away from the water. The younger man was still laying on the ground, stunned and frozen in fear from the near-death experience he just had. Shaw crouched down to his level and headbutted Damian, snapping him out of his trance.

"Wha-"

"Glad to see you alright kid, but you need to get up now!"

But as Shaw pulled Damian onto his feet, he suddenly shoved him away just as a powerful beam of water was shot directly in between them. Its force was powerful enough to shatter the large rock in the middle of the area, freeing the Monoblos. The horned Wyvern shook its head free from the rock and growled menacingly at both the hunters and Plesioth before turning around and digging into the sand, disappearing. Even the mighty Blos Wyvern was smart enough to know it stood no chance against a Plesioth on its home turf.

"We have to go," Iris said.

"But the herbs!" In the ensuing panic, Damian had dropped the pouch of herbs.

"Leave them. We can come back for them later."

"But-"

"Dammit, rookie listen to me! You are not ready to face that thing yet. Plesioths are incredibly dangerous when near bodies of water and without the proper tools, not even we could defeat one. Now c'mon. We're going back to the village."

Damian remembered the words Anna spoke to him. He had promised her that they would stay and help the village. If they returned home empty-handed…he couldn't stand to see their disappointed looks. He had to get those herbs.

"No!" He pushed them aside and then immediately ran towards the herb patch as the rest yelled for him to stop.

Iris could only watch with a flabbergasted look. "Not again! That idiot!"

In the water, the Plesioth saw Damian running back towards the herb patch. Sensing another opportunity for a meal, the Piscine Wyvern readied itself and patiently waited for the human to get closer. But Damian was prepared. As soon as he got close, the Plesioth rose from the water and opened its mouth to fire a beam of water at him. At the same time, Damian drew his Bow and swiftly shot an arrow aimed at the Plesioth's head. In mere seconds, before the Wyvern could shoot, the arrow lodged itself into the creature's mouth, interrupting its attack and causing it to recoil back harshly. It wasn't a fatal attack by any means, but the brief interruption gave Damian enough time to grab the pouch and make a run for it back towards his group. Once he made it back, he smiled triumphantly.

"I got the herbs," he said confidently. He hoped this was enough to impress them.

Suddenly, he found himself being lifted by the collar of his armor. "Ya bloody idiot!" Iris chided him harshly. "This is the second time ya have disobeyed me!"

"Iris-" She sent a fierce glare his way, causing Shaw to back off.

"Ms T-Thorne I was only trying to-"

She shook him furiously. "I don't want to hear yer damn excuses. What kind of suicidal maniac do ya think ya are huh? Do ya realize what would have happened if ya missed yer shot? Or even mistimed it? Fucking hell that…that was…that was bloody impressive."

Damian, who had fully expected her to punish him severely could only blink twice in confusion. "What?"

Gently, she set him back down onto the ground. "I'll still say this, however. That was an incredibly stupid move ya did, but I must commend ya for having the balls to do such a thing. Not to mention, that was one helluva shot ya made back there." She then flicked him on his forehead. "So, congrats kid, ya impressed me this once. Keep it up."

It took Damian a full ten seconds to process the fact that Iris had complimented him.

Later during the entire walk back to the village, Damian had the biggest smile on his face.

When they arrived back at the village, they were greeted by a panicked Anna. "Did you get the herbs?" she asked them.

Damian responded by showing her the bag. "Here." He saw her visibly sigh in relief before taking the bag from him.

"Thank you so much! The chief is going to be so pleased to see this!" Before he could ask what she needed it for, she had already run away.

"Welcome back hunters." Turning around, they saw Ximena approach them. She raised an eyebrow at them. "I assume you managed to gather the herbs without much fuss?"

"Well not exactly…" Shaw said. "We had an unfortunate run-in with both a Plesioth and a Monoblos."

Ximena's eyes widened for a moment. "A Plesioth and a Monoblos…You didn't kill the Monoblos right?"

Shaw adamantly shook his head. "No, no, no! We made sure to leave it alone, though that was an incredibly difficult thing to do."

"Tell me about it…" Sven grumbled, clearly still unhappy at being the bait.

"That's good…Well, I assume you want your payment? Follow me please."

…

It was several hours later when they heard a commotion happening in the village center. Exiting their rooms, they saw a crowd of villagers gathering around the chief's hut. As Damian wondered what could be happening, he saw Anna appear by the doorway, looking exhausted and covered in…blood? The woman spotted Damian and his group, and her eyes lit up in happiness.

"You're here!"

"What is happening?" he asked her.

"The chief's wife had just given birth! And she wouldn't have made it if not for those herbs you brought me, which I used to make a concoction that helped smoothen the process."

"Oh." Damian had not expected this, yet he couldn't say he wasn't both relieved and happy that they had managed to gather the herbs.

"Would you like to see the baby?" Anna offered. Damian looked back at Iris and the rest, and they nodded, albeit hesitantly. Smiling, Anna gestured for them to follow her deeper into the chief's hut. A moment later, they found themselves standing in a large spacious bedroom. Lying on the bed was a frail-looking woman and she was holding a small bundle to her chest. Sitting next to her on a chair was the Chief himself. When he noticed the hunters enter the room, his expression brightened, and he stood up to greet them.

"Hunters! I cannot thank you enough for your help! I am forever grateful!" In a surprising maneuver, he bowed. "How can I ever repay you?"

"We're just doing our job," Iris told him with a dismissive wave of her hand but was promptly met with an elbow to her side by none other than Shaw. Iris sent him a harsh glare but was ignored.

"What she meant was that it's just our job as hunters to help villages and towns in need. And there's no need for anything else. The payment we receive from the Guild is enough."

"Sap…" Sven muttered under his breath.

Thankfully, it seemed the Chief was satisfied with Shaw's answer and bowed once more. "Once again, thank you for your help." Beside him, the Chief's wife smiled tiredly.

"Would any of you like to take a closer look at him? He's asleep right now so there's no need to worry about him crying."

Shaw gave Damian a friendly shove to the back, "You do it. After all, you were the one who got the herbs for them." The young man sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck and cautiously approached the bedside. The Chief's wife handed their son over to her husband, who held him in his arms as Damian took a closer look. He had never seen a baby up close in his entire life so when he looked down at the Chief's son, he was pleasantly surprised.

The baby was tiny as he had expected and a mop of dark brown hair adorned his head, similar to his father. His face was round and chubby, and he could even see parts of his little fingers peeking from under the blanket he was wrapped in. He was in simple terms, adorable. Perhaps this was why his mother could never stop gushing about his younger years.

"Can I?"

As if knowing what he meant, the Chief smiled and carefully unfurled the blanket to reveal his son's little hands. "You may."

Gently, Damian lifted a hand and brought a finger to the baby's tiny hand. The young man let out a soft gasp when the baby held onto his finger. Damian couldn't help but smile at the gesture. "Woah."

A moment later, Anna appeared by their side and looked over Damian's shoulder. Too occupied with the Chief's son, he didn't realize how close she was nor how she had pressed her body against his. "He looks a lot like you Chief," she remarked.

The older man grinned triumphantly. "I take full responsibility for that thank you."

His wife pouted. "Hey, he has my genes too."

The rest stood by the doorway, admiring the heartwarming scene before them. Shaw stood with a happy expression while Sven leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and content look on his face. In contrast, however, Iris stood there rather impassively. She hadn't visibly reacted to the scene in any form, something that both her companions noticed.

"Iris? Are you alright?" Sven asked her, causing her to flinch.

"I'm fine. I'm just-" She froze upon hearing the cries of a baby. The Chief's son had suddenly woken up and began crying, likely demanding his mother.

All of a sudden, Iris felt sick to her stomach. Her face paled and she covered her mouth to suppress the urge to vomit. Before anyone could say anything, she quickly ran out of the room.

"Iris!" Sven called out, trailing after her.

Later when asked again if she was alright, the woman simply responded that she was just tired and promptly shut herself in the room for the remainder of the day.

...