Chapter 4: First Revenge (1/2)

Nikolai heard a screech before something jumped on him from behind the fog. It was a crazed rabbit, the lowest of the F-rank monsters.

It seems to be wounded and it came hurling at Nikolai with its fangs ready to rip through his skin.

BANG!

The gun's recoil was stronger than he could remember, making his shot only graze the rabbit that kept hurling his way. With his dagger, Nikolai slashed the dagger at the rabbit that suffered a superficial wound before running away.

Nikolai sighed as he watched the rabbit run away into the fog, leaving a trail of blood. He thought about following after, but he heard hurried footsteps and shouting.

It came from the direction the rabbit ran from, so it must have been wounded by another group of students. Nikolai found a big tree and hid behind it with reassuringly in hand. As he waited, the fog parted as three figures came following after the rabbit.

'Julian, Luke, and Erza.' The two people who had tried to team up with him earlier were now with their friend, another person who bullied him in his past life and a little in the present one.

Erza was a beautiful girl who had a crush on Julian. However, Julian didn't think much of her because of her lacking background and talent.

That made Erza do anything to make Julian accept her. Including, but not only, bullying Nikolai and spreading rumors about him during his second year.

”Did you hear that?” Luke asked. ”It was a gunshot. It must be that wimp. He was the only person to choose a gun.”

”So?” Julian asked. ”Are you scared of him? Judging by the blood here, he must have tried to shoot him but missed. I guess he's running after the wounded rabbit now. Let's go.”

The three followed the trail of blood that the rabbit left behind. Nikolai weighed his options for a moment before following after them.

From what he remembered, none of the students got a skill before the end of the first semester of the academy, except for Julian. However, his skill was an offensive one so it didn't' have perception capabilities. This made it safe to follow after them without being found.

The fog parted as he dived into it. He could hear their footsteps getting farther so he wasn't worried about losing them. He could also hear their shouting.

Being a ranger, Nikolai learned a set of techniques to reduce the sound of his footsteps. He was also adept at avoiding stepping on things that would give him away.

This body was still weaker and less dexterous than his past self, but it was enough against these F-rankers. Suddenly, they stopped.

”The trail splits here!” Luke shouted. ”There are two now, did the rabbit meet another one and they had a fight?”

”No, it's that bastard. He must have caught up to the rabbit and the monster injured him, hahaha.” Julian laughed. Nikolai was astonished at how much he hated him, but why? ”Luke, follow this trail. We'll follow the other one. If you find that wimp, you know what to do.”

”Got it.” Luke's reply came and the sounds of their sprinting grew farther away.

Nikolai rushed to the scene and found the blood of two monsters. As he checked the scene, he found a strand of fur lying on the ground.

It didn't belong to the rabbit, but a different monster. As he examined it, he was able to figure out what monster it was. It was a burrowing fox. A monster that lived in colonies underground and liked to build holes to hide in.

It fed on human's and monster's meat alike. With their high number, it was a dangerous F-rank monster to encounter. Since the rabbit seems to have encountered only one, the colony must be close.

'Didn't Mr. Heartwrath say the area was only for pre-adolescence?' Nikolai frowned. 'It means the foxes shouldn't have reproduced yet.'

He stood up and followed after Luke's footsteps, who were a single pair instead of two. As he dived farther into the fog, he started to hear someone shouting.

”You damn monster!”

Nikolai hid behind a tree and saw Luke fighting against a burrowing fox. It was small but agile. After being injured by Luke, the monster turned tails and ran away.

Luke stood there huffing as he bled from his arm. He ripped his clothes and tied them around the wound as he looked around.

”Damn it, it wasn't the wimp. It was a different monster like I said. I need to go back.”

'Now is my chance.' Nikolai grinned as he tightened his hand around the pistol. He looked at the trail of blood the monster left behind and concluded it must have headed toward its home.

With that in mind, Nikolai ran back into the fog and changed his position. He stood on the top of a hill and looked at the approximate location of Luke. He stood on top of the trail of blood that the fox left.

”Hey, Luke!” Nikolai shouted into the fog. He raised his gun and aimed at the general direction of Luke.