Something was loudly stomping from behind us, I didn't hesitate to turn to see what it is. It wasn't a monster, it was definitely a potential enemy though.

A tall, bulky man, wearing heavy gear with a gas mask covering his face. He seems to be holding some sort of giant hammer in his hands for a weapon.

It caught me off guard that it wasn't a monster making those loud ass stomps but it doesn't change much.

A human making that much noise is quite surprising, maybe there's something special about him as well. Not that it really matters since he doesn't really look friendly.

This is definitely quite the unexpected situation for us to be in but I don't think he'll be a big threat to us. We've got enough strong people to handle someone like him anyway.

"Friend or enemy?" He asks bluntly.

I could feel the others eyes on me after he asked that question so I guess it's up to me to answer this. It wouldn't be terrible to avoid a fight right now but we don't know if he's with that group or not.

Taking a better look I could see some strange ornaments across his gear, some seem to be similar to human bones.

There's a good chance that he's one of the enemies that we are looking for so it might be better to handle this cautiously. Following him to them could be a pretty good play.

"Friend." I answer while keeping calm.

"I'll be passing by then." He said before walking past us.

Each step felt heavier than the last until he got a bit further away from us.

"Follow him quietly. I think he might be part of the group we are looking for." I speak with a serious, yet quiet tone.

They all agreed before following behind me. It was key to keep quiet since we don't want him to know that we are following behind him.

Have you thought much about this or are you just winging it again?

I'd say that I thought about it a little bit since it was kind of important. Finding out where these guys are hiding is a crucial part of our quest.

Then wiping them out will come along with it so I'd say it is part of the plan.

You should be careful since you don't know how strong they are.

I'm always careful, at least I believe I'm always careful. You have nothing to worry about Rika.

The girls are all pretty powerful too so I have faith in them. If I fall behind at all... They are here to pickup the slack. I'm confident in us all regardless of who we are up against.

I trust you plenty Rokuro. I'm just looking out for you.

I appreciate that, always.

With that we continued following behind the absurdly large man while keeping an eye out for any other enemies. We're neck deep in potential enemy territory so it is quite dangerous.n

Or would it be better to say that it's more dangerous for others? Either way, we were starting to approach an old outpost where I can see a distant campfire going.

This must be the base of his group, it definitely resembles his vibe quite a bit. There were skulls plastered across the buildings with a strange banner hanging down from the walls.

Some sort of eye with blood dripping from it, can't really understand the meaning behind the banner.

"That looks real inviting." Akina whispers sarcastically.

"Seems this could be the group we are looking for." I respond quietly.

There's no guarantee it is them yet but they definitely give off bad vibes from the appearance alone. It'll be quite the awkward situation if they end up noticing us first.

I gesture towards the others to follow me. It took a moment but we got off of the main road and we're now hidden on the sides of the outpost.

As the man entered the camp I could see multiple people coming out from one of the center buildings. They all seem to be wearing similar attire but the builds for each of them are quite different.

Some were skinny and didn't look like they had much to them while others were pretty built or bulky like the man from before.

One stood out amongst them though, one who stood in the center of them. His clothes have more of a clean look with no skull ornaments around his attire.

I watched closely for a moment before he suddenly took off his gas mask, revealing that I was right. It was definitely a guy.

Long wavy blonde hair poured out from the mask as his bright green eyes made themselves known. His gaze was towards my direction but he didn't seem to actually know I was here.

It looks like they started talking, maybe I can try to listen. My hearing is pretty damn good since the awakening.

"Seems everyone is here. We have a lot to discuss today. Our targets are pretty heavily guarded right now so it is going to be quite difficult to deal with them." He speaks with a loud and clear tone.

I can at least understand what he's saying from this distance, thank you enhanced hearing.

"I saw people on my way here." The Large man spoke up with a serious tone.

"No worries. Just makes it easier for us to get some more practice in today." He responds with a smirk growing on his face.

Is everyone in my world insane? Why is everyone always smiling after saying some crazy shit like that. I hope I don't smile after speaking about killing or else I'd be no better than these guys.

"Leo, shouldn't we be on guard a bit?" Someone speaks up from the crowd.

So the man with the crazy smile is Leo, I'll remember that. He is probably the main leader behind this whole group that we're seeing right now.

"Are you afraid of some mosquitoes buzzing around?" Leo asks, the smile quickly fading away from his face.

"No boss. There's just been a lot of strong hunters passing through." The voice starts to sound like a woman speaking.

"I can't believe Luna is scared of some hunters." The Bulky man chimed in with a bit of shock.

"Thomas, not the time. We'll handle anyone that comes, we have our methods for a reason." Leo assures her with a calm expression on his face.

I didn't necessarily expect people to fear hunters in the slightest but this guy is definitely a lot different than most out there. He must have some sort of crazy power or talent to him to be this confident in his methods.

That'd be my only guess to his confidence since most normal people wouldn't even consider fighting against a hunter.

The only ones who tend to fight hunters are... Others who were capable of being one or who have managed to get enough tech together to catch one off guard.

We are all human at the end of the day so we can still die to some of the tech if it is used properly. Some guns or even a custom cannon can probably kill someone easily.

I'm really curious to see more of this tech that you're thinking about. It sounds pretty neat, I've never had anything like that in my world.

It is a blessing and a curse in a lot of different ways. It gave us Ghost but it also can give us terror if someone smart gets their hands on it.

Even I can probably make some pretty crazy stuff with a bunch of junk if given enough time and materials to do so. I've made a lot of the defenses at the junkyard from old tech I found.

It doesn't matter now since Akina can manipulate how it looks in there but I did do a lot.

You are quite a unique person to get this kind of power Rokuro. I definitely am glad to be here for your journey, even if I'm confused by the complications with the power.

Seeing how strong you become will be interesting.

I hope I won't disappoint you. I'm definitely quite curious to see how much more I can unlock with this power so it will be a fun journey.

It'll just be a problem figuring out why this bloodlust goes crazy sometimes without any killing.

"I think people are here." Luna says nervously.

"Perhaps it is the people that Thomas mentioned earlier. It'll save us the trouble of having to find them." Leo replies with a bit of excitement in his voice.

All of them started looking towards our direction now, it seems that the girl must be capable of some sort of detection. I was pretty positive that we came over here in the most silent way possible.

Seems we'll be fighting a lot of people...

"Everyone get ready for a fight." I whisper to the group.

Hopefully they aren't all SS ranks or this will definitely be a big pain in the ass.

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