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The three girls walked out and Mae asked Leona a second time "How do I look?"ย
"For the thirteenth time Mae, you look gorgeous! and please stop admiring yourself, we have a mission to get to." Leona said as she hurried along.
"So what is this mission exactly, Leona?" Mae asked as she inspected the gun that Esther handed to her. "It's strange... I don't see any gunpowder a chamber to load bullets in this gun, how does it work?"
The gun had a smooth, long barrel with sights set on top, and the barrel smoothly transitioned from a round barrel at the start to an almost boxy exit hole.ย
The stock and grip were made out of polished wood, which along with the smooth gunmetal grey barrel, gleamed in the sun.
"Oh, this." Leona grabbed the gun from Mae. "This is called a Kaluar rifle, a Magic gun. It's similar to how you pump magic into that staff you just did earlier."
Mae nodded along "mmhm..."
She continued "But instead of using your innate technique, this gun has an embedded technique, which does this."
Leona held the gun placed her finger on the trigger, and took aim. Like magic, fine purple lines started to appear on the gun.
Mae watched in awe as the gun slowly gleamed brighter and brighter, and...
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At the pull of the trigger, a veritable explosion emerged from the barrel of the gun, putting a hole in one of the nearby trees. The recoil was strong enough to knock Leona off her feet.
"Leona! Are you okay?" Esther screamed and the other two quickly came to Leona's aid through the cloud of smoke that it produced.
"Woah... That is more powerful than I expected..." Leona said, as she picked herself up from the ground, and stood up.
"Well here you go, Mae. You pack quite a deadly punch now, right?" Esther said as she handed the gun over to her.
"Yeah... I guess?" A strained chuckle came out of her.
As they made their way towards the gathering point, which was the south gate of the city, Leona took the opportunity to explain the nature of their mission. "This is a group mission," she began, "and our goal is pest extermination."
She then pulled out her card and pressed the mission part, which displayed:
{QUEST OBJECTIVE: PEST EXTERMINATION}
[Reward: 10,000 Bounty Points Per Elimination.]
"Woah, that's a lot for pest extermination?" Mae asked, her eyes a little bit wide.
Esther couldn't hide her disappointment and muttered, "Pest extermination? What are we, farmers?"
Mae, curious about Esther's reaction, asked, "Why do you say it like that, Esther?"
Esther remained tight-lipped, giving no direct response, but Leona chimed in, "You'll see."
Upon reaching the gathering point, they saw five people on top of a raised platform, issuing commands to various groups of hunters and mages in front of the entrance to the forest.
There was a dark-skinned man with rugged features and rough hair that drooped down to his shoulders, and he was physically massive.
He stood almost a foot taller than the other four people who were standing on it.
He shouted, "Exterminate everything until we reach the silent cliffside! We must eliminate these pests to protect the fields behind the city with no name..."
Mae started to space out as she took in the surroundings, and also looked at the people around them.
Just like her group, there were groups of people, talking, excited, and nervous. She had a bit of comfort in knowing that she wasn't the only one who was nervous.
Her eyes then drifted to the podium and beside the huge man, there was a guy with long white hair and baggy dress.
He just stood there without saying a word.ย
"Who is that?" Mae wondered to herself.
"...Got it!? Allowing these creatures to infest the crops would be a devastating blow to our harvests, so we have to stop them!" He completed his speech, and the group broke into cheers.
The entire group let out a spirited "Hoorah!" in response, and they set off into the forest, ready for action.
"Let's go, Mae. We got this." Esther said as she took a confident step forward toward the forest
As they ventured deeper into the woods, Mae couldn't help but feel a sense of familiarity.ย
"I think I remember this part of the forest..." Mae talked to herself, and Leona butted in "You've been to this forest before?"
"Yeah... Just a couple of days back actually, I was here." She said as she brushed her hands along the bushes on the side.
Leona and Esther froze, and Mae just turned to them in confusion "What about it? I was struggling for a bit so I ran this way one night..."
"N-nothing... I'm just glad that you're alive." Esther placed a hand on Mae's shoulder.
"You're so brave Mae. Brave and reckless." Esther now leaned on Mae's shoulder and grabbed her dress a bit tightly.
"What's the problem, Esther?" Mae asked, a bit confused by their response.
They didn't answer, but Mae felt like there were eyes on them as they ventured deeper into the forest.ย
It was almost as if there was a constant pair of eyes on the group. The banter between them slowly died out.
Mae took a deep breath, trying to lighten the mood, "You know, it's a bit eerie how quiet it is here. The forest is usually so full of life."
Esther offered a faint smile but didn't respond. Leona's forced chuckle was more strained than before.
Mae, feeling a growing discomfort, whispered, "What's wrong, guys? You seem so tense."
"It's... Nothing... but yeah, I'm just more on edge." Esther said, as her expression visually changed.
Before anyone could say more, they began to hear strange sounds in the distance, faint rustlings in the underbrush, and odd clicks that sent shivers down their spines
As they moved forward, the sounds seemed to grow closer, and a cold sweat formed on Mae's forehead. It was then that she realized they were alone in this vast, unsettling forest, with no other groups in sight.
"We're... alone here?" Mae said, her voice quivering.
"Oh, yeah we're not," Esther said as she quickly pulled out her staff, and Leona also pulled out a fire pumpkin.
"Mae watch out!" Esther screamed, as a giant human-sized locust burst out from under the ground, and there was another one hanging in a tree above them, and they isolated Mae.
Soon, the trio were surrounded by a huge swarm of these gross things.
Without thinking, she raised the Kaluar rifle, just as Leona had shown her earlier.ย
Her trembling finger found the trigger, and the purple lines on the gun began to glow as she took aim on the nearest target
"Fire Mae! Fire the gun!" Esther screamed as she knocked one of theย
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"I-I-It's not firing!" Mae screamed, as the locusts closed in on her.