Chapter 6 - Level Seven

Sledge Reaper, a level 7 hero from Camp Iota. In the face of danger, he seemed exceptionally calm. He had found himself caught in the tongue of a mother Tiger Frog, and was now faced with possible digestion.

"Your grasp is quite tight! I'm going to have to do something about this tongue, aren't I? Hang on a second now."

Sledge Reaper then lifted his war hammer into the sky and brought it down with insane speed. He landed a direct hit onto the tongue of the Tiger Frog, severing it, and freeing himself. The Tiger Frog roared in pain and stepped back. Sledge Reaper landed back on the wall.

"Ah, that's better. I thought you would have realized how my hammer works, based on what it did to the Malice Fox, but I guess you needed a demonstration of your own. Here, let me give you another!"

But before Sledge Reaper could move, the Tiger Frog lifted its arm and swiped at the hero, knocking him off of the wall.

"OUGH! AH! Dang, it's fast! Shit, I hope I land in a bush!"

*Boom*

Sledge Reaper had been knocked off of the wall, but luckily, a wagon full of hay at the bottom of the wall broke his fall. He emerged from the wagon and came to his feet. He brushed himself off.

"Damn, I gotta get back up there! Ugh, I gotta be more strategic with this one, it's a lot larger and quicker than I anticipated. Here we go!"

The hero then grappled back up the wall and made his way to the top. Before he climbed all the way up though, he peeked over to the top to make sure it was safe. Then, he hopped up and continued his speech.

"Ah, hah, you're a little devil aren't you? Not to worry though, I've got just the solution for that. Get ready for some HAMMER!"

Sledge Reaper then planted his feet, and lunged with great force from the wall, flying toward the Tiger Frog. His cape allowed for him to glide through the air, but he was not flying. As he passed by the head of the monster, he swung his hammer once more, landing a hit against its cheek.

*B A N G*

It made an incredibly loud noise. The monster's head was knocked in the other direction, and a hole was blown in the side of its cheek, but it wasn't enough to kill it. It began to bleed tremendously. Then, Sledge Reaper landed gracefully on the grass.

"Tch- yikes, I might have not hit it hard enough. Unlike the Malice Fox, this monster seemed to take one of my hits. I'm going to have to try again!"

The monster then turned around and roared once more. It lifted its paw and swiped at Sledge Reaper in an attempt to kill him. The paw of the monster was as tall as the hero!

"Uh oh!"

The hero jumped as high as he could, barely dodging the massive paw. This monster's threat level was rated at "Extreme [6]", so even a level 7 hero like Sledge Reaper would have some trouble taking it down. One of the monster's claws ripped a hole into Sledge Reaper's cape.

"Ah! Its claw seemed to have caught my cape a little bit. Damn, that's gonna be a few bucks to fix. I guess I HAVE to kill you now!"

Sledge Reaper grabbed his hammer and ran toward the monster. It lifted its other paw and swiped once more toward the hero, but this time, he was ready for it.

"Yes! Try again, this is exactly what I want you to do! Come on, hit me!"

When the monster's paw was close enough, Sledge Reaper swung his hammer once more, and landed a counter-hit on the paw, sending it flying back. The Tiger Frog then yelped, and gingerly put its paw on the grass once more.

"Now that it's weak, I'll take it out. Three is less than four after all! Here I go!"

Sledge Reaper made his way toward the paw and leapt into the air. He spun his war hammer in the air a few times, before landing a direct hit down onto the paw of the Tiger Frog. It was as if he was playing that 'Test your strength' game at a carnival.

The paw exploded, and the Tiger Frog roared. It looked down to Sledge Reaper, and its expression began to change from that of anger to that of fear. It turned around and attempted to retreat.

"Oh no, you don't! If I don't kill you, I won't be able to rank up! Get back here!"

The monster turned around quickly and kicked Sledge Reaper away with its back leg. The hero went flying and hit a tree at a high speed, damaging him.

"OOF~ ouch... damn, it actually got a pretty good hit on me. Argh, I gotta get back up before it gets away. Come on now Kento, up we go!"

Kento Fujiwara, alias "Sledge Reaper". Hero Level 7, Rank 17. He specializes in the usage of hammers and tomahawks. His speciality is his 6-foot long titanium War Hammer, which he uses to inflict incredible damage on monsters.

"Alright, I'm up. I'll admit, I wasn't ready for that kick attack. This monster's got some incredible power behind it. I need to catch up though!"

The Tiger Frog made its way away from the camp walls, attempting to escape from Kento. But it was fruitless. Kento had a special trick up his sleeve. Not only was he skilled in melee combat, but he also had a ranged attack.

"Damn, he's getting away! I need to do the thing, don't I? Ugh, I guess I have to. Okay, arms, don't let me down now!"

Kento then grabbed his war hammer and stopped in his tracks. He grabbed it with both hands and began to spin in a circle. He was going to throw his hammer at the Tiger Frog, in an attempt to knock it out.

If he aimed this perfectly, he would land a direct hit on its head. But, if he was even slightly off his mark, he would both lose his hammer, and the monster would get away, but it was his only choice, the Tiger Frog was simply too quick for him to catch up to.

"Ah! Okaaay, I'm spinning quick enouuuggghhh! Let's do this! HOOYAH!"

*FWOOOM*

With pinpoint accuracy, and a sharp angle, Kento released his war hammer, and it took to the skies. It flew brilliantly through the air, like an eagle soaring high above the clouds. As it made its descent, the hero tracked its movement, hoping it would land a hit.

. . . . . . .

*BOOM*

"Yes! I did it! Holy shit, I did it! Okay, I need to get over there before it gets away again!"

The hammer landed a direct hit to the top of the Tiger Frog's head, knocking it out. The monster collapsed to the ground and blacked out, but it was not dead. Kento would have to run quickly over to it and deliver the final blow.

"I'd say the monster's a good 300 feet away. Damn, I never expected to be able to throw my hammer that far. Guess that's the perks of being a hero!"

Kento ran as fast as he could and eventually caught back up with the Tiger Frog. The monster laid on the ground, dazed. The War Hammer had put a dent in the frog's head, and the hammer was laying on the grass next to it. Kento picked his hammer back up.

"Mmmm, smell that? That's the sweet smell of LEVELING UP! RANK 16 HERE I COME!"

Then, with incredible power, Kento swung his hammer at the head of the Tiger Frog. The first hit wasn't enough to kill it, so he hit it, again and again, until finally, the Tiger Frog seemed to have perished. When it was finished, Kento retreated from its corpse and checked himself for injuries.

"Ah, hah, hah, dang, I'm exhausted. I don't think I'm too hurt though... ah, screw it, I'll just have Yui check me out and call it a day. I gotta get back to Theta to let them know I killed the monster."

Kento turned around and started his walk back to the camp. He put away his War Hammer and walked toward a nearby river to wash his face off. When he arrived at the river, he scooped up some water in his hands and washed his face and neck.

"Man, fighting a level 6 on your own is a lot harder than I expected it to be. I can only imagine how the top 10 feel, fighting level 7's all the time... I'll get there soon enough. Man, this water feels nice."

Kento continued to wash his face, and observe his reflection in the water. He had sustained a few injuries in his battle, primarily to his back and legs. It was probably due to the fall from the wall, as well as being kicked into a tree, but it was nothing Yui couldn't take care of.

After a few minutes of washing himself off, Kento came to his feet and continued to walk toward the northern gate of Camp Theta. But then, he began to hear a noise...

"Eh? What's that? Don't tell me it's another monster..."

Kento turned around, and to his surprise, he saw the Tiger Frog emerging from the ground. It wasn't dead! The Tiger Frog got up and started to run away. Kento's heart then sank.

"SHIT, HOW IS IT STILL ALIVE!? Crap, I'm going to have to run after it again before it starts to regenerate! Damnit!"

If a monster sustains physical damage, it will immediately begin to regenerate itself. Monsters have been known to regrow severed limbs, and even repair damaged organs in exceptionally quick amounts of time. If the Tiger Frog was able to regenerate its cheek and paw, it would essentially be back to normal again.

"It's really fast, I don't think I'll be able to catch it. The camp is safe for sure, but we can't have a level 6 monster running free like that! I'm going to have to radio in for someone else!"

Kento grabbed his RCD, and connected to a private line for level 7 heroes only. The monster appeared to be running north.

"7, this is Sledge Reaper, we have a level 6 Tiger Frog on the loose, running from Camp Theta. Is anyone in Kappa? If so, can you please finish it off? I brought it to the brink of death, but it's alive somehow!"

"Come on Kento, you're a level 7, but you can't manage a level 6? You disappoint me. I'm in Kappa right now, tell me its direction of travel, and I'll evaporate it."

"I'm sorry Ambrosia! But can I count on you just this one time?"

"I already said I'd take care of it, just give me the coordinates dumbass!"

"It's heading about 30 degrees west from the north of the gate of Camp Theta. Estimated travel speed of around 55km/h"

"Alright, I'll intercept it. Just make sure for the future, that you hit monsters 5 times more than what you believe is necessary! That hammer of yours has a purpose you know!?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sorry! Listen, I-"

Kento was then disconnected from the line. He put his RCD away and assumed an expression of annoyance.

"Damnit! Ambrosia disconnected me. Ugh, despite how strong of a hero she is, she can sometimes be a pain in the ass!"

"Regardless, I should chase down the monster, I wanna make sure it dies for good..."

Kento took off toward the monster. Heroes naturally run faster than humans, so Kento was easily able to maintain a ground speed of around 40 km/h. However, Ambrosia could move much quicker...

Back at Camp Theta, there was an eerie silence... the monster attack had left the northern wall heavily damaged, and two corpses of Malice Foxes remained, littering the town and east gate. Ten heroes had perished in the battle...

Mayumi and Cyprus emerged from their buildings, apprehensive, as they were unaware of what other monsters could be lurking about.

"Where's that hero at? He and the Tiger Frog are both gone..."

"I'm not sure. I heard a bunch of noises, loud bangs, and such. But he's nowhere to be seen. I hope he's okay."

"I'm sure he's chasing the monster down somewhere. He's a level 7, he should be okay... let's just focus on cleaning up these corpses, and the rest of the camp. We lost ten heroes today, we need to do better..."

"I hate to admit it, but this was a devastating blow. Here, I'm going to go check on the people in the medical building, they've been hiding under the hatches for a while. You work on cleaning these corpses with the other heroes."

"Yes ma'am."

Mayumi entered the medical building and opened the hatch leading to the bunker. When she did, Yui emerged from the hallway.

"Mayumi? Are the monsters gone? How many casualties are there!? I have rooms open for injuries..."

"Yui, calm down. The monsters are gone. We had a level 7 hero show up to take care of the issue. However, we, unfortunately, lost ten heroes..."

"OH GOD, TEN OF THEM!? I can't believe this. Shit, where are the remains?"

Yui's face was filled with tears. Death was something she never handled well, despite being one of the top-ranked medical heroes in the Hero Camp.

Yukio then emerged from the bunker, walked up the stairs, and turned to Yui. He gazed at her distraught face and walked over to her. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"..!"

"..yukio?"

"Yes, it's me. Yui, if you want, I can clean up the remains for you. I'd hate to see you petrified like that..."

"But Yukio, it's my job, and you're not even a hero!"

"Trust me. I'm joining the Hero Camp after this is all over anyway, so I think I should do this. Let me do this for you, I need to understand what I'm getting myself into..."

Yui gazed into Yukio's eyes, and tears began to stream from her face. She was so innocent. She wanted nothing more than to be a humble nurse, helping heroes recover. She accepted Yukio's offer.

"Okay, Yukio. Just be prepared for what you might see when you exit this building..."

"Understood. Thank you, Yui."

Yui hugged Yukio, and a feeling of warmth overcame him. Despite the two of them just meeting, he felt a connection with Yui, almost as if he's met her somewhere before. It was strange, but he accepted the matter and hugged her back.

"Well then, Yukio, I think you should go with Mayumi. Just be ready for what you may see. If you need me to come with you, I can too."

"That won't be necessary. Just stay here and take care of any injured people that might come in. Mayumi, how many injuries are there?"

"As of right now, there are 4 injured. The rest of them are, well, you know..."

"I understand... let's go Mayumi, I need to learn about the cruel truth of this job before I throw myself into the fire..."