Epic hunt(1)

"Are you crazy, have you heard the sound of the beast?" Carlos exclaimed. He had come for a rescue mission, not to help some idiots in their suicide mission. Despite grasping the branch that had been offered, the rescuees were offering terms? Unacceptable!

"Calm down. It may be scary, but it can still be killed," Cate said. 

Just as Carlos was about to refute further, Haiser placed a hand on his shoulder. He then stepped forward and asked, "What do you know about this griffin?" 

Seeing this development, Cate took the time to eye Haiser. She had assumed that Carlos, being the one talking, was the leader of the group. However, seeing Haiser's actions, she began to re-evaluate the team.

Just by a casual glance, she could see several experts in their midst. There were quite a number of people in the crowd that stood out as either current or former expert fighters. Because of this, she refused to believe that these were just simple bystanders caught up in an event. In her mind, all kinds of scenarios were playing out. 

While she did know a bit about the settlements, she did not take them seriously. Yes, it was well known that the settlements on the fringes were gatherings of hermits, fugitives, the malcontent of society, and the rejects. Only a certain kind of people would choose to live out their lives in the middle of nowhere. 

Despite knowing all that, she also knew how rare it was to find good fighters. She did not believe that such a fine group could have just gathered all at once. She fell down into thought, wondering how she was going to break them, have them identify themselves. 

"Well?" Haiser asked, raising his eyebrow. The woman seemed to have been lost in thought. 

"Oh right, the griffin. It is supposed to have a body as agile as a lion's, a head like an eagle, and powerful wings." She answered. 

"We've all read the fairy tales," Haiser answered, "what I am asking is, what do you know about the monster out there? Oh, and also, while at it, tell us what's going on here." 

Hearing the man before her, Cate was momentarily shocked. While it was common knowledge that mankind had managed to breed the so-called fantasy animals, they came with glaring weaknesses. 

For one, they did not have the supposed magical powers that they were said to have. For instance, a dragon had been recreated, but it could not breathe out fire. A phoenix could not burn itself and then resurrect itself. A unicorn was little more than a fancy horse with a horn protruding from its face.

Some animals, due to the laws of physics, were extremely weakened, not possessing the fearsome power of their fantastical counterparts. One of the most affected animals were those that had a huge mass and should fly, such as the griffin. 

However, the knowledge about these fantastical animals and how to counter them was not public knowledge, but very privileged information. If the man before her was that informed, then his standing was quite high. This meant that she had a significant edge over her opponents.

Thinking up to this point, Cate was overjoyed. His presence meant that the company had placed such high hopes in her. She must have put a very stunning performance to those watching. However, she "understood" that the company did not want to make this public, so they sent her backup masquerading as local settlement dwellers. In that case she wouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth. 

"The griffin is super fast, but it has a small body, almost the size of an eagle. Its four legs makes it super fast even on land, and as agile as a cat. Despite its small size, it is extremely powerful and can make unexpected attacks, so watch out. Also, it is super stealthy, not easily visible before it makes its move. We have only survived so far because of we accidentally found this cave. It doesn't come near water." 

Taking the time to explain, she turned professional, rattling off her observations of the beast. She had to admit, this variant of a griffin was very well created. They creators not only made up for its weaknesses, they also enhanced aspects about it that it did not initially have.

Thinking about it, even Haiser frowned, deep in thought. If the beast was that advanced, then it was going to be quite a handful. However, such a beast could not have pushed an expert team to such desperate straits. "What else it out there?" 

"There are three such beasts out there. One particularly mean one, is responsible for the death of three of my members. We under-estimated them, and ended up falling for their tricks. I supposed their level of intelligence has also been greatly enhanced," Cate said. 

"What's the plan?" Haiser asked. He could tell that since they had collected that much data about the beasts, they had already laid out a couple of options. 

"We only need to kill one, and come out alive. You've seen them, got any plans?" Cate asked, hoping to gain some guidance from the company's reinforcements. 

"We don't have enough information about the beast to come up with a concrete plan," Haiser answered, "This is your show, just tell us what to do." 

Unfortunately, even this response led to Cate further misunderstanding. To her, the team was not supposed to do the test for her, but to assist. She still was the one calling the shots, and any loss was on her shoulders. 

She was already feeling the pressure since she had been responsible for the death of so many of her teammates, but this was her cross to bear. If she wanted to gain the title, she had to pass this test. 

With her internal speech, she had a determined look. She then turned to the group and said, "based on the animal's attack capabilities, this is what we are going to do..."