Though Dell was amazed by his new weapons he was very much suddenly aware that he was supposed to be back at the divisions base awhile ago. He gave up on the idea of finding a new shirt awhile ago and simply said.
"Zephyr I'm going to need you to stay quiet while around other hunters. As much as I'd love to brag about this new found strength, I doubt they'll approve of a monster living in my stomach"
"Understandable. And I'm assuming if you're in combat with hunters around, I should stay hidden unless told otherwise?"
"Good to know you catch on quick"
Dell made his way back to base fairly quickly. The area Axil had arranged them to hunt in wasn't the biggest area and had a peticular road you could follow to lead back to base.
The area surrounding the base was filled with fellow hunters, very weak infected and rat like beasts. They were no bigger then your average dog, had two heads and overall was rather weak and slow. However thier teeth secreted a venom of sorts wich burnt flesh so it was best to stay away from its heads.
"Huh. If I got you to eat a bunch of those would I end up with poisonous claws?"
Dell thought aloud, though Zephyr didn't answer due to hunters being around. Seeing the tall building he would sigh, opening the door as he saw Vie quickly approach him from inside.
"Where have you been?"
"Hunting, obviously"
Dell didn't get along with Vie. He had a peticular view of her. "Why does she get to call the shots and scold us? Axil at least takes the initiative to lead big hunts, train us and lends a hand with smaller tasks on occasion. Mind your damn business." Dell thought.
"You were asked to be here an hour ago. We have that rule in place for a reason. Do you want to be the unlucky hunter to get stuck in a blood moon or an eclipse?"
"No of course not"
What Vie had just mentioned were special events that could occur past a certain time. Blood moons usually brought much more savage and demon like beasts. Very few knew what happend during an eclipse but apparently everyone in the weaker divisions never lived through them.
It was true that Dell did not want to get caught in one, he truly understood he wasn't strong enough to survive either yet. But he still had another hour. Why did he need to come two hours before one may start?
Vie's answer to that would be simple.
"You can't predict every outcome no matter how smart you are. What if a beast stalls you on the way? You get caught in a trap by an infected?" She asked.
"Well then I'd be well and truly fucked"
"Then get here on time if you can help it. And please go grab a shirt from the back"
Dell simply nodded. He wasnt about to argue and prolong the conversation. Walking to the back room past the tables of hunters he would find a barrel full of various clothing. Throwing on a random black top and walking back.
Looking around he saw a few free tables and decided to sit at one. Raising his hand he would say. "Two bottles and whatever food you've managed"
A man in a white and black shirt would nod. And after around five minutes would return with a block of grey mush and two bottles of some alcohol noone here could distinguish.
Dell would eat even though Zephyr eating the monsters kept him full. The only reason he did this was because it's what he did most nights. No reason for him to make others suspicious of him.
Axil eventually returned. It seemed like all but one of the members he sent out had came out of that area alive. From the corner of Dell's eye he watched Vie and Axil talk as he drank.
"She even scolds him. Though I do understand this time. It was his decision to send us out there. Fuck I would've died if I didn't come across this thing" Dell thought.
No longer paying attention Dell would think. "If I give it another two hours, it would confirm if another event was going to happen and most hunters would rest by then, so I could feed the rat corpses to Zephyr before the morning one's eat the bodies"
Nodding to himself Dell decided that was how he would spend the night. Eating replenished his energy so he might as well make use of the benifit.
As time continued to lag on Dell would go upstairs in search of a free room. He ended up on the top floor before finding one but it was to be expected. Spending all day fighting monsters would tire any body out so no wonder so many hunters already were calling it a night.
But Dell just sat on the wooden and stiff bed as he waited. The room was small and dimly lit by a lantern. Not the ideal place to wait for time to pass but it would have to do.
There was a mirror in the room, and seeing his own frosty pale blue eyes stare back him irritated him so he flipped it the other way around.
After two or more hours of waiting he would stand up and stretch. "Alright. No event tonight so I'm going to head out".
Dell opted to climb out the window and jump to another building rather then walk through the hall and risk some nosy hunter following him. The night went fairly straight forward.
Look for a dead beast, look if anyone was around, if noone was around, feed it to Zephyr. The strength bonus given was noticeably less but a boost was a boost. He manged to spend most of the night doing this. Well, night was the best term for it. The city was always stuck at night and the only way to tell if it was 'day' was when the street lights turnt on.
By the time early morning rolled around Dell climbed back into his room, wich luckily was still free. Zephyr definitely approved of this method as well. All together they had eaten four wolves, an alpha wolf and thirty rats.
And Dell definitely felt the difference in strength by now. Sadly Zephyr didn't gain a poison like attribute but the physical bonus satisfied Dell.
Sitting down he would think to himself. "With how I feel right now I think this puts me at around top three in the division. But then again this is a bottom tier division and I won't truly know how strong I've gotten until I test it on a wolf later."
Dell started to lay down. "But for now I'll sleep" and with that, he would close his eyes and sleep.