Chapter 28. The strange mission.

The presence of fresh tire tracks suggested that someone had been there before Ethan, the marks so recent it was as though they had departed mere moments before his arrival.

"Could it be that another team had arrived earlier to deal with the iron tooth rat nest?" Ethan couldn't help but wonder as his mind raced with possibilities, considering this as a possibility.

However, he quickly dismissed the thought. The Hunters Guild was methodical in its operations, never assigning the same task to multiple parties to avoid unnecessary conflict.

Studying the tire impressions, Ethan deduced that they belonged to an armored vehicle. This implied that the previous visitors were not only well-equipped but also wealthy. For such hunters, the lucrative reward for clearing out the iron tooth rat nest wouldn't be enticing—it was a job beneath their caliber. Therefore, their presence at the site must have been motivated by a different objective altogether.

Despite his best efforts to unravel the mystery, Ethan's mind came up empty, unable to ascertain why someone of such stature would venture near the iron tooth rat nest.

Frustrated, he let out a resigned sigh and shifted his attention to a second, more palpable concern.

Through his binoculars, Ethan had noticed something peculiar about the nest's entrance—it was unusually large.

Typically, the entrance to an iron tooth rat nest of this strength ranged between 10 to 12 inches, perhaps 15 at the utmost, but this aperture was a staggering 100 inches wide. Large enough to accommodate three people simultaneously, the size was not the only odd feature; there was also a scattering of sand around the perimeter, indicating it had been recently and deliberately widened.

'Could the person who came earlier have been the one to dig the cave entrance wider... But why?' Ethan mused, he couldn't help but ponder why someone would enlarge the cave entrance.

'If they had entered the nest, did that mean they had indeed come to complete the mission?' Again, Ethan found himself questioning himself.

No seasoned hunter would bother with the laborious task of entering a nest. The standard procedure was to lure out the iron tooth rats, dispatch them, and then obliterate the nest with explosives. Delving into the nest would be an unnecessary and foolish expenditure of time and energy.

The implication was clear: whoever had come before him was driven by an entirely different agenda, an enigma that remained unsolved in Ethan's mind.

With a heavy exhale, he acknowledged the perplexing nature of his mission.

"This is indeed a very strange mission," Ethan muttered to himself in a self-deprecating tone, setting down his pack and beginning to sort through its contents.

After some time, he had selected his tools. Fastened to his waist was a sword, its sheath secured to the belt that previously held a dagger.

While the dagger was a decent weapon, it was not the optimal choice for confronting the formidable iron-tooth rats.

A short weapon is far from ideal when confronting an iron-tooth rat. Engaging such a beast at close quarters is a perilous affair due to their formidable bite force, capable of crushing bone with their iron-like teeth. Contact with any part of the body could result in severe injury.

With his sword and gear at the ready, Ethan cautiously advanced toward the nest of the iron tooth rats. Silence was his ally; he trod lightly to conceal his presence from any remaining rats, uncertain if the previous visitors had already dealt with the nest.

As he drew near, his steps were deliberate and soundless.

Suddenly, a piercing squeak erupted from the nest's depths, halting Ethan in his tracks. The noise wasn't from a solitary iron tooth rat—Ethan's quick estimation suggested a group of at least thirty, and their rapid, thundering movements indicated they were charging directly toward him.

'How did they detect me?' Ethan wondered, startled by the swift realization of his compromised position.

Before he could ponder further, a horde of iron tooth rats burst into view.

Their ash-grey fur with traces of silver shimmered in the sunlight. The rats' defining features – two large front teeth and a pair of horns protruding from their heads, steel-colored and gleaming – were unmistakable.

Lacking eyes did not hinder these creatures; their heightened senses allowed them to detect even the slightest movement and the scent of nearby humans.

These iron tooth rats varied in size, ranging between 10 to 15 inches in length. As they surged toward Ethan, their collective squeaks filled the air.

The first to reach him launched itself at Ethan, horns aimed to impale Ethan's belly.

"Damn rats," Ethan uttered, swiftly drawing his sword. The metallic sound of the blade leaving its sheath resonated, revealing the sword's silver gleam. Crafted from sturdy steel and expertly forged by a skilled blacksmith, the double-edged sword's razor-sharp edge caught the sunlight menacingly.

Ethan didn't waste a moment as the rat flew past him, missing its target. Seizing the opportunity, he executed a skillful swing, decapitating the rat with precision.

_._._._._._

[DING! DING!!]

_You have slain a servant-level iron tooth rat._

_._._._._._

"Nice sword," Ethan acknowledged with a nod of satisfaction.

He swung the sword, his movements synchronized with the blade, as he readied himself for the oncoming assault from the pack of iron tooth rats.

'Why hadn't the killer granted him a reward?' Ethan pondered the question.

He had expected the system to reward him for killing the iron tooth rat, as he had received rewards for his previous kills.

"Maybe killing one isn't enough to grant me a reward, but how many do I need to kill?" he couldn't help but wonder.

Of course, Ethan was sure that he would surely get a reward for his kills, but the question now is how many servant-level iron tooth rats he has to kill to get the reward.

"I guess there is only one way to find out," Ethan muttered to himself as he gazed intently at the group of iron-tooth rats coming in his direction.

With his sword in hand and his stance set, Ethan steeled himself for the battle ahead.