176 The Art of Teamwork Part 2 (1/2)

Braiden, Colin, and Tatyana were unaware of this plan and walked around feeling fairly confident of their chances of succeeding. It took until the end of the first day when they realized they still had only found and killed one Jeger that they began to feel a bit more panicked.

”Aren't Jegers fairly common? How have we not even spotted a second one? It's not like we made a mistake and missed one. There really have just been no Jegers around us. This is not right.” Braiden started feeling suspicious. Was this truly just bad luck?

”Are you guys just getting lazy? Did you drop your vigilance since we killed one so quickly in the beginning?” Tatyana frowned and questioned them.

”Hey, we want to pass just as badly as you do! Who wouldn't want to finish as early as possible? Why would I get lazy and force us to stay in the godforsaken forest for any longer than necessary?” Colin snapped angrily.

”There is no need to get so defensive. I just can't help but suspect whether you are making sincere efforts. I travel and train through the forest all the time. I often spot several Jegers in just an hour once I am in the right area. If you all are at least half competent with directions, then we should be in the correct zone of the forest. So, reason dictates that we would have at least gotten half our quota by tonight.” Tatyana just curled her lip in disdain towards his responses. She clearly did not trust Colin or Braiden. She was thinking that these two were getting arrogant and did not look hard enough.

”I don't know about Colin, but do you really think I am that type of person?” Braiden just shook her head towards the speculation.

”...Then, do you have any idea what's going on right now?” She silently agreed with him.

”Hey, what are you trying to say? Why do you believe in him and not me? And you, Braiden, what are you insinuating? You can see just fine! Did you not see me putting in the effort?” Colin had only just caught on to their words that were clearly looking down on him.

”I did say my uncle was not such a simple person who would let our group pass so easily. He must have put some plan in action to make sure that this was still a challenge. We have to double our efforts or we could really fail.” Ignoring Colin, Braiden only answered Tatyana's question.

”You both!” Colin huffed angrily feeling indignant.

”Alright, alright, we don't have any time for fighting. Just keep looking. Even if you were putting an effort in before, we need to try even harder.” Braiden finally looked towards Colin and dismissed him before telling him to work harder. Colin did not quite catch the undertone and just snorted before continue to look around for a Jeger. He would definitely find the next one and show the two of them then!

Though she could not see, Tatyana could still picture the scene happening next to her. She just rolled her eyes feeling that the idiot Colin would count the money as Braiden sells him off.

...

Eris and Efren were also struggling to work together. The ever confident Eris had an awkward look on her face, feeling apologetic towards her stoic teammate. They had already had the luck to see three Jegers but each time Eris would miss and startle them or her spell was too weak. Even someone with her confidence was feeling humiliated by her constant mess-ups. However, Efren would never say anything about her missing. He would just silently pull her along and continue to look for a new one. Eris had yet to even hear him sigh with some grievance.

”Hey, we can't keep going like this. My long distance spells are too bad and my aim is also bad. Should we practice a little right now on my aim? We could get used to certain signals so I know exactly where to aim.” She finally broke the silence and mentioned her suggestion.

”Do you know how to throw your spear at all?” Efren answered her with a question instead.

”Throw my spear? Are you suggesting I try to hit the Jegers with my spear? Hey, as much as my large presence may have impressed you, I'm not actually so large that I could throw something so heavy such a long distance.” Eris almost couldn't resist laughing at his naivety.

”No, I have a spell that creates ice javelins. I have trained with throwing javelins along with sword-fighting when I was in the military. I was just wondering if you could learn some of the basics right now. Honestly, since you wield your spear so well during a fight. I don't doubt that you have the necessary strength.” Efren continued seemingly unaffected by Eris sarcasm and teasing.

”Javelin? Well, I am know for my talent with weapons. What's learning one more? I believe I can perform decently as long as my teacher knows what he is doing.”

”Alright. Let's give it a try.” He immediately whispered a spell. The temperature seemed to dropped as the ice elemental spirits gathered around. 10 pristine ice javelins soon appeared in front of Efren. Eris shivered at the even colder temperature.

”Hey, no wonder your face always looks stuck in that frown all the time. Maybe your skin is permanently frozen and unresponsive to your emotions after spending so long in temperatures like this. The Snow Country is already cold all the time even without magic and you just have to go and be talented at using ice magic.” Eris complained. Efren just glanced at her before handing her the javelin. He knew after so long that Eris's mouth seemed to complain and never stop, but she would always do everything that she needed to do.

Like he expected, once she felt the cold near her hand, she reached out and grabbed it without any more words.

”So how are we going to do this?” She asked.

”I'm going to give you simple instructions of where to throw in four separate directions. Then, we are going to practice until you can hit where I want with accuracy in those four spots. Once you get the feel for them, we will start hunting again. I will try to position your body so that one of those four directions will be where the Jeger is. You may have to adjust a little, but that will be easier once we have a set baseline.”

”Then let's start! I'm already sick of missing all the time. It's really breaking my image.” Gripping the javelin tighter, Eris began to already get herself into a ready stance.

”Your form's wrong, though...” Efren's voice broke her concentration.

”Hey, come closer for a second. I promise I won't drive this thing through you...” Eris smiled and threatened. This man was truly an atmosphere killer.

”...I will teach you the form first.”

...

Greyson and Cherell finally managed to arrive at the area, as well. Once Greyson picked up the speed, he was able to last until they arrived with tons of energy to spare. Even Cherell was not too heavy so at least she was not dragging him down. She also gave the correct directions once her safety was placed in his hands.

”Alright, you can stop, we are already in the right place.” Cherell almost pleaded.