I look around. There are huge cuts in the ground and some buildings in ruins. There are also craters left by impacts and signs of different types of spells.
"The Smilers are fearsome because there are two types. One is the fighter or assassin type. The other is the wizard or sorcerer type. Yes, they are sinister and versatile beings. Unless you are rank C, it would be best not to confront them," I think as I continue to observe my surroundings, hoping to find weapons, artifacts, or supplies that the dead candidates may have left behind.
As I look around, I see a backpack with broken straps and some blood on it. When I open it, I see 12 two-skull cores and 3 three-skull cores. My heart pounds with happiness, as I've found some money. I grab the backpack by the broken strap and continue searching to see if I can get a little more luck.
A few meters away, I see a scarlet sword. Although the blade is quite damaged, I pick it up because, by instilling fear, it can be used three or four times before it breaks completely.
Feeling that I have delayed long enough, I sharpen my senses again to make sure there are no threats nearby. After that, I prepare to leave.
-Wait!
I hear an unfamiliar female voice, put my hand on my revolver, and turn around. A woman wearing the clothes of the Black Star guild emerges from a rusty container among some rubble. The woman has shoulder-length reddish hair, is quite pretty, and has medium-sized but firm and round breasts and buttocks.
She seems to be scared, and it is clear from her expression that she has not slept all night.
I look at the woman's right thigh; she has a sheathed dagger, which must be in better condition than the sword I found.
-Are you alone? -the woman asks me as she looks around.
I try to figure out what rank she is. Judging by her unstable fear at the moment, I would say she is in the D rank.
I turn around so she thinks I'm leaving.
-Wait...
I jump, instilling fear in my whole body and in the sword I had found.
Cut!
Blood!
[You have killed a D-rank human: +0.71]
The head with reddish hair rolled across the ground.
"Although I was quick, she managed to touch the hilt of her blade. If she had been alert, it would have been difficult to kill her." After thinking quickly, I take the dagger from the aspiring hunter who has just died. And I leave.
There's no reason to be considerate, especially after what my partner from Squad Z told me. I don't want problematic people causing me trouble now or in the future.
Although I didn't find any more weapons in good condition, I can still consider the trip a complete success.
I sharpen my senses again, perceive no danger in the surroundings, and start running towards the building where Watson is.
When I arrive, the surroundings are still the same, there are no threats nearby, I climb up to the top floor of the building, where Watson is sitting with his back against the wall.
I throw Watson the backpack I found and say:
-Put everything in that backpack in your backpack.
Watson nods. I climb up to the terrace. I don't see anything approaching in the vicinity, but I should at least try to hunt a few monsters or supernatural beings with three skulls.
So, I go downstairs, carrying the somewhat damaged sword in one hand and a beautiful sky-blue dagger in the other.
-Watson, carry my backpack and follow me. We're going hunting.
••••
It's around 4 p.m., there are several foul-smelling zombie bodies around me. I was careful not to get too dirty when I first arrived, but when attacked by nearly 100 zombies, it's inevitable to get dirty.
The remains of the damaged sword lie on the ground, the light blue dagger begins to deteriorate. I had to fight head-on so that Watson could get far enough away.
I look around. That sudden ambush was caused by an evolved zombie or a monster with three or four skulls.
I raise the dagger, instilling fear, and cover my face. Fast, black claws try to gouge out my eyes.
I backed away and barely saw the zombie wearing a white blouse and tight black pants walking away.
I used my hunter's senses to check its location, and although I can't follow it indefinitely, I was able to confirm that it walked away until it was out of range of my current senses.
-That zombie must be about to reach stage 2. -says Watson.
I look at him and ask:
-How do you know?
-I think he was watching us from a distance and guiding those zombies towards us. When zombies reach stage two, a regenerative process occurs that allows them to recover some of the qualities they had before becoming zombies."
-Damn. I hope it doesn't cause us any more trouble. -I exclaim as I watch Watson remove the cores from the long-armed zombies. After he finishes extracting the cores, I point out where the cores of those 1-skull zombies that had cores were located, as I remained alert to my surroundings to avoid any surprise attacks from monsters.
After hearing what Watson said, I realized that the zombie was probably attacking us because it wanted the monster cores we were carrying. When zombies evolve, their hunger can only be satisfied by devouring cores from two skulls or more, as they acquire the desire to evolve.
Although it ruined my hunting plans, that horde of zombies gave me enough fear points, so I'm not dissatisfied.
We walk back to the areas I've been to before, and as the sun is about to set, we reach the building with a basement where I've already hidden twice.
We enter the basement and wait for night to fall.