The Place Where Everything Begins

Fifteen minutes later, in front of the wooden house beside the camping area...

Currently, a stout tan-skinned man with 170 centimeters in height, wearing thin, light leather clothes, stood before almost three hundred people.

He had alert dark blue eyes and short wavy blonde un-styled hair, having a slight smile on his face while emanating a composed feel about him.

The man was none other than Kahn Lochner, the camp's leader, as he was giving his speech to the crowd consisting solely of scout team members,

"Listen! I won't take much time from you guys..."

After seeing that most people's eyes were on him, Kahn continued,

"I only want to remind you that our main mission is to search for the enemy's camping location. If you cannot find the kenku camp today, you must survive and come back here in one piece. Do keep in mind that your lives are equally as important as the main mission!"

"One more thing, I think you guys have already heard about the so-called wolf monster. This is not advice but an order, do not engage in a battle against that thing because it is too strong, and it will be pointless in fighting against other beings except for the kenkus. I hope you guys heed this order strictly."

"That's all I have to say. Go and bring us glory over that bird-humanoid race!"

Kahn finished his speech by boosting people's morales with the temptation of glory.

Having heard their camp's leader's words, people's blood started boiling quickly as they shouted aloud to heighten the mood,

"Hoorah!"

"Hoorah!"

"Yahhhh!!"

"We must win!"

"Let's go!!"

"Go!!!"

"Kill those birds!"

Shouting and clamoring voices resounded out loudly in front of the wooden house. The noises traveled far and wide to every corner within the camp.

Some people felt so hyped and heated up that they wanted to go and kill their enemies here and now, whereas others also acted along with the fervent tide, causing the atmosphere to become pretty ruffian and rowdy.

"Team 1, let's go!"

"Heed my words, team 4. Go, we kill!"

"My comrades, let's go."

"Team 9, depart!"

"Team 13, to the east gate!"

Command after command came out from the scout team leaders' mouths, signifying the start of today's scouting mission and bloody skirmishes.

After hearing their team leaders' orders, everyone started departing in three different directions: west, north, and east of the camp, respectively.

Regarding the southern direction, it was a dead-end, leading to the high mountain, which had an invincible barrier, preventing everyone from going in and out of the said barrier.

Thus, the southern direction only needed minimal defensive force situated within the forest. There was no need to send a scout team to explore in that direction at all; only two or three surveillance teams to keep the surroundings in check were enough.

At this time, Jeremy was also among one of the thirteen scout teams consisting of more than 260 people.

To be exact, Jeremy was put in team 5, which was responsible for scouting the camp's northern region.

Team 5, consisting of precisely twenty people, was heading for the north gate with the other four teams.

As the northern region was pretty broad, a total of five teams were tasked to explore there. For the remaining eight teams, four would be heading for the western region, whereas another four would be heading for the eastern part.

"Lucky me... It looks like my plan will turn out to be smoother than initially thought. Still..."

Having paused his thought briefly, Jeremy turned to look at a certain woman in her early 20s walking steadfastly towards the north gate, just like him and almost 100 other people.

The woman appeared to be roughly 170 centimeters tall with cream-like skin, looking soft and comfy to the touch. Her beautiful blonde-gold hair was tied into a big bun not to interfere with her movement. She had an oval face, a straight nose, and small lips.

She had well-toned arms, a somewhat muscular torso, and moderately-long legs.

With just a single look, one would realize that she was both cute and beautiful. Yet, the strict atmosphere around her had made her unamicable, for she had a very disciplined feel exuding strongly from her demeanors, behaviors, and facial expressions at all times.

She wore a new, black combat suit looking pretty similar to the one Jeremy had worn yesterday as it appeared that she also bought it from the Crystal's shop in the first stage; she also wore no jewelry on her body.

The only noticeable equipment on her body was a big bow, two small quivers crossing each other, making an X shape behind her back, a pair of fingerless gloves, and a pair of combat boots suitable for traversing within a deep forest.

The woman was Rachel Ravencroft, the Killing Machine, the nickname given by the people who had seen her fought.

'It looks like Rachel is quite in a hurry to earn Kill Points. After all, she had already gone out for a mission yesterday. Instead of resting, she has applied for a special scouting mission. Anyway, is it good luck or bad luck to be teamed up with this woman? Hopefully, she won't interfere with my plan...'

Jeremy thought to himself after finishing scrutinizing the woman.

Simultaneously, as if feeling someone was looking at her, Rachel turned to her right side, only to see a normal-looking middle-aged man looking at her body from head to toe.

'The newcomer who has also requested for a scouting mission? Why is he looking at me?' Rachel thought with a slight frown before turning back towards the front, continuing her march towards the north gate.

*Tap* *Tap*

Someone promptly tapped Jeremy's right shoulder after seeing the latter 'ogling' over Rachel's body.

Having been tapped so suddenly by the guy walking beside him, Jeremy turned to his right with an inquiring expression that said, 'what business do you have with me?'

"You have good eyes, fellow brother of culture. She is super sexy, right? Look at those well-toned muscles and her booby's size... Huhuhu..." whispered the man who tapped Jeremy's shoulder.

The man smirked with widened nostrils and crescent-curving eyes like a true-blue pervert...

'What is this moron's name again?'

With that thought in mind, Jeremy reminisced about the event that happened five minutes ago.