Code Collector

"We're ready," Allen said to his group as they prepared to head out for their first hunt in Paradise. He has to realize that he has less combat experience than his friends, so he should learn from them.

Even when he could say that he's stronger than them, experience was still a powerful tool when it comes to combat. That was common sense.

"Alright," Jeremy said as he held out his phone to view the map. "Currently, we are in the camp. Our destination is four kilometers east, right by Crane's Beak."

They assigned their roles in the hunt. Allen was the leader, Jeremy was the navigator, Gary was the beast detector, while Gwen was the medic. Although these roles were similar to the roles they have in combat, the role in their hunt was different.

They did this to avoid getting cornered by beasts in case a beast did try to attack them. It was better to play it safe considering they were still new to this world.

"They gave us D ranks too," Gwen said. She had been complaining about the rank she got from the tests. "If Sebastian didn't help us, we would be living in that old collapsing building."

"It already collapsed though," Gary said with a chuckle. "Remember when Allen was attacked? Bryant did the building dirty and destroyed it basically. Then they tried to frame Allen for it. Thank God Sebastian was there to help."

"We owe Sebastian a lot," Gwen said. Gary and her continued to talk until they got out of camp and started their journey.

Paradise and Eternity had no curfew hours and days like Haven. The higher ups though that it wouldn't be a hassle to control the Hunters in the higher worlds considering they were only so little of them.

The number of Hunters in Paradise was equal to the number of Hunters in a single camp in Haven. That was why they implemented the curfew on the lowest world instead, more people basically meant more place to hide.

At least that's what the higher ups are saying, but Allen knew better. They only implemented the curfew hours because they want it to look like they're doing some progress in their hunt for Roger Huntsman.

In fact, they were already failing the moment they got strict with the gates. Roger Huntsman could hide anywhere, even in Earth. This was something that the higher ups knew but don't want to public to realize or it will cause a mass hysteria among them.

Just the thought of the organization being so obsessed with the Snake was enough for Allen or even anyone if they got the rind thinking process to confirm this. They want to have a scapegoat, and the Snake is the only one they got right now.

As this case progresses, Allen had no idea what to do next. The secret to Drake Nelson's assassination should be through the people that surrounded him. When Allen saw the footage, he felt something was off.

"We're here," Jeremy said, walking Allen up from his thoughts. "Crane's Beak."

"That was quicker than I expected," Allen said. "Look for a large bird that looks like a crane. I need it's Code."

They walked deeper into Crane's Beak which basically was a hill that loosely resmebled a crane. There was a large pointed rock that hung horizontally on the side of the hill, that's why it looked like a crane.

Another reason for its name was the abundance of birds in the area. Around the hill were marsh, forests, and savannah that had diverse kinds of beasts, but the different species of birds were more than the others.

Caw. Caw. Caw.

A crow hovered above the four. It flapped its wings while looking at them, making Allen look at it. "What's wrong with that crow?"

Caw. Caw. Caw.

The crow's eyes became red and it screeched again. This time, different parts of the leaves from the trees around them turned black. The number of black chunks of leaves alarmed Allen, making him draw his Fervent Glaive out of his Inventory.

"What's happening here?" Jeremy asked. "Did the crow burned the trees without fire?"

"Those aren't burnt leaves," Allen said, just in time for the black leaves to move and shake. This time, everyone else had conjured their weapons.

Gary took out his sniper so he could use the scope to see what the black leaves really are. His eyes widened when he saw a pair of eyes from one of the black leaves. "Those aren't leaves! Those are–"

Caw. Caw.

Crows emerged from the black areas of the trees. Turns out, the black chunks of leaves were the crows, hiding in blind spot. They flew closer to the bigger crow which was the one who hovered overnight Allen's group.

They formed a giant sphere made of crows, looking at the group while flapping their wings to suspend themselves in the air. Allen gripped the handle of his glaive, thinking how they could survive this of attack.

A crow alone wouldn't be too much of a hassle. There were four of them, so even when the beast was a Grand grade, they could easily handle it. But the fact that there were hundreds of these crows, that was the alarming part.

The crows could easily rain down upon them and it would be the end. Or they could shoot air beams at them, all collected into one shot. This would also be the end for them.

"We're going to fight," Allen said confidently. "Whatever happens, happens. The imporant thing is that we fight to survive. Fight as hard as you can, okay?"

"Let's go!" Jeremy raised his emerald spear. "We're going to survive this. I just know it."

Allen just smiled and nodded. "After this, I'll go take a bath at the river. The map says there's a river near here."

"Let's all go, then," Gwen said. "Bring it on, crows. We're not afraid!"

Caw. Caw... Caw!

The crows had fired themselves towards the group. Allen was in fight along with Jeremy, Vince, and Stacey while Gary and Gwen were behind them.

Allen summones his two combatant puppets because he needed all the help he can get. The beasts weren't much of a threat because they were weak, but the mere fact that there were hundreds of them, Allen had no choice.

He wasn't too afraid of failing to control his puppets too. After all, he already mastered to control their basic movements. Things like this wouldn't be too hard.

"Ouch!" Allen growled after Vince had been hurt for the fourh time. He was a tank and he needed to aggro or attract the attention of the beast. He was the one who often gets hurt and Allen was linked to Vince, that was why he gets hurt too.

"I'm sorry," Gwen said. "I'll heal faster. I'm so sorry."

"There's just too many of them," Gary said helplessly. He wanted to hit the crow leader, but he keeps failing. There were so many of the grows that it hinders his vision. "Can't you guys at least decrease their numbers? I can't do this if I can aim properly."

Allen nodded and used several skill Codes to try and lessen the number of crows. The notification was already blowing up but he was still stacking with enemies.

"Stop and Freeze."

A familiar soft male voice spoke. The crows suddenly stopped moving excluding the leader of the murder of crows.

"You guys need to spot summoners," Kenneth said. He leaped up to the level of the crow leader and cut its head in a swift decisive motion. His movements were graceful and swift, making it look like he was an assassin.

"Kenneth!" Allen cheered. "Thank god you're here."

"I have been following you all this time," Kenneth said. "Just to know if you're safe."

Allen smiled, "Thank you so much. We owe you."

"This skill," Jeremy blurted. He looked up to see the frozen in time crows.

"There will come a time where their frozen state wears off." Kenneth looked at him and shrugged. "Don't worry about it too. I killed their leader. They should just fly away when they wake up."

Allen saw the phone that Kenneth had. It played the video of Drake's assassination.

"Maybe those people were blocking his movements or something," Allen whispered, making the others look at him.

"What?" Jeremy asked.

Allen snapped his fingers, as if a lightbulb burst its lights over his head. "Drake Nelson was assassinated by a group of people who can control his movements, like how Kenneth can restrict one's mobility."

"But it was clear that Drake Nelson could move," Gwen said. "He even raised his sword and took a step back, remember? The person who walked in front of him clearly overpowered him."

"Kenneth could slow down or increase the speed of your movement in an instant, right? Just like now, the crows were instantly frozen right before they tried to attack, that must be it," Allen said. "The people around Drake must have the same Code as his. They needed a lot of people to make sure that a powerful man like Drake could be stopped thoroughly."

Kenneth pursed his lips, "You're right."