SS1 3.2 - Additional Reward
Morning at the quarter went as usual. Exactly at 5:30 AM, Mike woke up everyone one by one. After that we took morning bath before gathering in the lounge. Then, we had white loaf with our favorite jam and drinks for breakfast.
Actually, I wanted to get 2-3 hours of more sleep. However, when we arrived at our quarter a few hours ago, Torrak said he wanted us to come to his office this morning. So, we had to wake up early as usual.
Then, as I spread peanut butter on my second slice, my mind went back to last night party in House of Healer. After I and Matt done with Laura, we continued our join operation on other girls in the room. We sandwiched them one by one until they all passed out, and we even sandwiched Laura again while she was still unconscious.
Honestly, I had no idea I was capable of such sexual carnage. This was the first time I let loose myself, and now it sent chill down to my spine when I recalled it. In the future, I should be more mindful of my lust.
“How are you?” Mike jolted me out of my pondering, while looking at me straight in the eyes.
“Alive and kicking,” I replied. “The stamina potion helps me a lot to deal with the recoil from last night party.”
“I see.” Mike then gave his coffee a sip. “Honestly, last night you scared the shit out of me. I never saw a new guy who can play toe in toe with a gorilla-in-human-skin like Matt.”
“Even Matt was not as wild when he was a new guy,” Tim added.
“I see.” As I gave my second slice a bite I couldn’t help but muttered, ‘It surprises me too actually.’
“Well, seeing you are alive and kicking, I guess we don’t need to worry about you anymore,” Mike calmly said.
“I’m fine, thank you,” I firmly said.
“In that case, let’s talk about the money distribution.” After everyone gave him a nod Mike continued, “We will have 150.000 mollar each and put the rest in operational fund. Any objection?”
Everyone shook their head and wasting no time Mike transferred the money. Then, after finishing our breakfast we went to Torrak’s office.
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Torrak’s office was located in the front area of House of Hunter, right behind the lobby. Her secretary had a desk in front of it, and as soon as we arrived before her she immediately took us to enter Torrak’s room.
“Venerable Hunters,” Torrak’s secretary said in tone full of respect. “Manager Torrak will meet you in a moment. Please have a seat.”
“I see,” Mike casually replied.
“Any beverage that this servant can fix for you?”
“No, but thanks for the offer.”
After lightly bowed her head, Torrak’s secretary quietly left the room. As for us, we immediately sat on the sofa in the center of the room.
Overall, Torrak’s room was spacious. It had nice furnishing and was super comfy. On one side, it had large and clear glass wall facing vibrant inner garden. On the other side, it had big screen displaying hunting team with ten highest body counts.
I found Pukin’ Dog took the fifth place while Snow Mexican was on first place, and the gap between the two was immense. Big question mark instantly popped up on my forehead as I turned my gaze to Mike.
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“How many hunters the Snow Mexican have?”
“Eight,” Mike casually replied. “Two former Canadian shooters, two former Canadian light infantry, two former US Delta, and two former US Airborne Ranger.”
“Only eight men?” I said in disbelief. “And yet, this month alone they already have 1000+ kills.”
“Those locos are the type who won’t stop at anything to get monster kill,” Matt said.
“Well, their MO is definitely nasty,” Tim added. “But, it’s very effective and bear good statistic.”
I nodded and said, “I see.”
Then, Torrak suddenly entered the room and sat with us right away. “Gentleman, I’m sorry for making you wait after asking you to come in specific time.”
“No problem.” Mike looked deeply at Torrak before asking, “But may we know, why do you have gloomy expression?”
“A B-rank team just returns from a hunt with unpleasant intel. I went to confirm it personally,” Torrak said in dejected tone.
“What kind of unpleasant intel they bring over?” McKay asked.
“Yesterday evening, they spotted Old Jack glided down to Kubran Valley, but they can’t track and kill it,” Torrak said as deep regret flashed in his eyes. “Half of their team suffered heavy injury from a fight to close a scorpion nest, so they have to return to Karmen and let a go the chance to kill Old Jack for good.”
“Who is Old Jack?” I curiously asked.
“He is a sly wyvern,” Mike said. “His favorite prey is children and so far more than three thousand kids had ended up in his belly.”
“Is it very hard to kill this wyvern?” I asked another question.
“Sort of, we call it Old Jack because this wyvern manages to live for more than 15 years even though House of Hunter put a hefty bounty on its head.”
I nodded and asked another question, “How much the bounty?”
“Wyvern kills worth 30.000 mollar, and House of Hunter put additional 30.000 mollar for Old Jack.” After a moment of pause Torrak continued, “But I will ask the higher echelon to increase the additional bounty to 40.000 mollar.”
“60.000 mollar huh,” I casually blurted out. “Even without the bounty increase, it’s more than enough to get a piece of Stinger to nail Old Jack.”
“A single Stinger is not enough to kill a wyvern,” Matt said.
“They are not as strong as dragon, but wyvern’s regeneration and vitality are still the highest among mid-level monster,” Sanchez explained. “We have lots of case where wyvern manages to escape after receiving Stinger hit.”
“So, how do we kill a wyvern?”
“For a shooter, the surest way is by nailing their head using .338 LapMag,” Mike said. “But it’s almost impossible to do it when they are high in the sky. The best option is to headshot them when they are on the ground.”
“The problem is,” Matt added. “Experience has turned Old Jack into a very sly wyvern. When A-rank or B-rank hunter tracks its resting spot, Old Jack always manages to evade them. But when weaker hunters do the track, he never failed to kill them all.”
“I see,” I said.
“Well, you can continue the talk about Old Jack on your quarter later,” Torrak casually said. “As for now, let’s talk about the reason why I call you here.”
Mike immediately gave Torrak a light nod. “We are all ears.”
“Higher echelon wants to give you additional reward for your success in shutting down a nest.” Torrak’s eyes flashed with excitement as he continued, “Other than Berg, they want to give you a body enhancement that will turn you to C-rank hunter.”
“How come I never heard such reward?” Mike asked as he gave Torrak a big wondering gaze.
“Because it’s never exists before. The higher-ups in HQ decided to issue it only last night, after they heard about your success,” Torrak happily said.
“Okay.” Mike slightly nodded his head before continuing, “But why is Berg being excluded from it?”
“With his current level, Berg can’t receive body enhancement. It’s too dangerous,” Torrak calmly explained. “In return, he will receive additional 500.000 mollar.”
“The body enhancement is worth more than 500.000 mollar if it can raise a D-rank to C-rank,” Mike said in a drop dead serious tone. “Can we postpone Berg’s reward until he is ready for it?”
“I’m afraid we can’t do that,” Torrak dejectedly said. “But I can guarantee you, next time Berg shut down a nest without the help from hunter above D-rank, he will receive body enhancement.”
“Do you realize that such possibility is almost impossible unless Berg leave Pukin’ Dogs?” Mike mockingly asked.
“I do, but that’s the decision from higher echelon. I have no say on it.”
“It’s fine,” I casually said to prevent escalation. “I will take the money.”
“Are you sure about that?” Mike asked while looking at me straight in the eyes.
“Absolutely,” I casually replied. “Jew loves money and I’m not an exception.”
“I see,” Mike calmly said.
“So,” Torrak calmly asked. “Will you receive the reward?”
“We will,” Mike firmly replied.
After a smile Torrak said, “In that case, other than Berg, you all will go to Numma City tonight.”
*****
