Chapter 251 - Day DCCCXCVIII, Part I

Knocking on the door woke me up, and still sleepy, I rolled out of the bed. My room was dark, as I kept the shutter closed.

- Who's there?

- Hatta. May I come in?

- Yeah, sure...

I picked myself up, as he entered the room. His eyebrows shot up as he saw me getting back on my feet.

- You got so used to sleeping on the ground, that you now sleep on the floor? - he asked with a slight smirk.

- No. I just...

- I know you fell. I heard the noise. Anyway... I'm sorry that I woke you up, but Blue departed today to the canyon, which means the wolf's spot is free to be taken. I already assigned Amit there, but he mentioned you offered help with clearing it in exchange for the right to kill the boss.

- Yeah... We talked briefly in the morning.

- That was yesterday. He is departing soon, so I came to inform you. I came yesterday in the evening, but you wouldn't answer, so I realized that you must be passed out. No wonder after such a long hunt.

- Really? Damn... Yeah, I'll join them - I said while wiping my face with my hands to wake myself up properly.

- Go eat first. I'll tell them to wait for you a bit - he said, and immediately left.

- Thank you - I shouted after him, and followed, heading to the cafeteria.

It was pretty empty, as most of the hunters, and other soldiers probably already went to work, so I had most of the place to myself. They served some eggs and bacon on that day. Something I had already forgotten the taste off. I ate and went to pick my pudao from the carts, then I joined Amit's group.

There were at least twenty people out there. Bård, Urho, Ylva, Hitomi,  Eshe, and Veronika among them. So the initial meeting was kinda awkward.

They all were wearing standard leather armors and had weapons at the ready. I also noticed that every single person had a backpack. 

- He Peter - said Amit. - Everybody, this is Peter. Peter, this is everybody. He is going to join us from now on, so it should be an easy job! No, let's move!

- Hi everybody - I replied, as they were already on the move.

Most of the people even responded. I had to accelerate a bit, to catch up to Amit.

- I want those people to get accustomed to the new type of enemies. Although some of them already hundred few wolves, not all did, so please don't just murder everything on our way.

- I'll hang at the back.

- Come on boss - said Eshe. - We all want to see the legendary Peter in action.

I peaked at her, she had a cocky smile on her face.

- You will have plenty of time watching him kill the boss - was his response. - But we train first. With your amount of upgrades, tactics and experience are both the keys to reach more difficult hunting grounds.

- We know that, but still... - she said. - I bet others can agree on this with me. It's not like every day we have a chance to watch the strongest hunter in action.

There were few laughs, nods, and some words of confirmation. It felt so damn awkward to me.

- He is going to fight the boss since we can't kill that beast anyway, so you will have what you want, but work first.

- Fight with the boss is going to be more exciting anyway - Bård pointed out with his eyes focused on my person.

- You might be disappointed - I said.

Amit looked at me curiously.

- It might be a short fight - I explained.

- That's how strong you got, huh? Well, you had to since you've killed the orc boss.

- Yeah...

We talked some more about hunting in the canyon. I did my best to avoid any talks about the orcs, to not let my tongue slip, and admit I managed to kill that thing several times. Somebody could catch on to that, and start asking questions about how I managed to respawn it.

I was sure that Amit was his suspicions towards me, but that didn't have to mean I should let those suspicions spread around for no reason.

After few hours of walking and talking, with a couple of short breaks, we reached the hunting ground. The day seemed to be a very nice one. It was hot, like usual, with a nice cold breeze, gently caressing the tree crowns, a bit stronger than usual, so I actually felt more refreshed. Probably also because of the long sleep I had.

Amit quickly displayed his leadership skills as the hunt began. With few orders, everybody assumed their position, and slowly fended off incoming wolves. Nobody was left alone. All of them had a pair, that was supposed to cover their back, as those nasty dogs liked to flank.

The beginnings were a bit rough, I even had to heal few scratches, but with time they all got a good grip of what was going on here, and they managed rather well.

Then we reached the den, and Amit had to help a lot. Me too, when the stronger types of animals showed up. I wasn't doing anything flashy though, because there was no reason for that. Like that we managed to reach the doors leading to the boss.

We took a break there, as many of the newcomers were just simply tired. Few of them approached the last barrier between us and the werewolf and admired the symbol of the tree. For the Followers, it had a special meaning. I could see it on their faces.

- Ok. It's time guys. Move out of the way, let Peter gat in, then we will follow. Keep your distance, and stick to me - commanded Amit.

I slowly approached the door and pushed them open to let everybody see the chamber bathed in the moonlight with a wolf seemingly sleeping on the throne.. I went inside, and the creature opened its eyes, jumped down, then started to transform.