The battle formation was not so complex since the main purpose was simple: to let the newbies experience a hunt.
The trio took the vanguard while Arwan in the battle mecha took the rear, leaving Femi in the center. The formation was set in such a way that when a coyote escaped the trio's range, Femi engaged it. If more escaped, Arwan supported Femi with firearms from the rear, a situation that had a very low chance of happening.
Everyone agreed to the formation, especially Arwan. He wasn't really interested in engaging in battle, but he was, in fact, interested in camping in a battle suit. All in all, everyone was satisfied.
Following that, Ruth answered Femi's previous question about the weak points and gave more information about the camo coyotes.
Eva had instructed Femi to get used to his sword before sunset or he was going to be useless in the hunt, and that's what he was going to spend the next few hours doing.
At sunset, at the front gate of the city, that's when and where they were supposed to meet again.
With the planning part over, the duo parted ways with the party.
*****
Rimora's training room was like a white room. There was no training equipment yet. Arwan didn't prioritize training much because of his weak stamina, which was why he didn't bother to get any equipment.
Resonating with the air were Femi's exhales.
On getting to the spaceship, he immediately began training with his new sword. It didn't take him long to get accustomed to the weight and length of the sword, but he got engrossed in it and continued, cutting and thrusting the air for the next few hours.
Now, he was lying on the white floor, replenishing his energy for what was to come. Femi finally stopped because he could feel it, the sun was setting.
*****
Putting the city and the alliance's headquarters in its diameter's center, the green grassland swayed in the direction the breeze blew.
Femi stood still outside the city's walls, eyes open, using the breathing techniques he was taught, recuperating as he surveyed the land.
It was already sunset, Femi and Arwan patiently waited for the party.
Soon after the sun dipped completely into the horizon, they eventually appeared.
Similarly to the Rimora mates, the trio parked their vehicle in the city, somewhere near the gates.
As they approached, Femi scanned the trio, acknowledging them, Femi muttered to himself, "Now they exude the aura of adventurers even better." Maybe it was because they were now armed or the bodysuits they wore, Femi was impressed by them.
"Yo," Gallagher waved. Carrying a shield that had a length of half himself with his right hand and a gauntlet of sorts on the other, the bodysuit fitting his big body, Gallagher stood like the tank he was.
"Hoohh, Mr. Gallagher, you look so cool, like an immovable rock!" Femi said while poking Gallagher's belly.
"Hahah, Femi! You really know the good stuff!" Gallagher praised. Taking a brief look at Arwan, Gallagher smiled, "Arwan, the mecha you'll be using is what Eva is tolling."
Earlier, since the duo would have trouble carrying the mecha around, Arwan was told that they'd bring it along with them.
Arwan failed at containing his joy of entering a battle mecha. A thing to do on his itinerary had been dashed out.
The mecha was a sort of one-seat car that had guns as hands and legs for movement, giving it a humanoid shape. Basically, a robot that's controlled from the inside. It could also be used for moving things if needed, which was why a cart was currently connected to it.
Arwan was also going to be the one carrying the corpses. Evolved Creature parts were important for various things; hence, they sold for a lot.
"Everyone ready? Night lenses on? Batteries inserted?" Gallagher asked.
Dressed in his regular engineer's suit, Arwan hopped into the mecha. It didn't take long to notice that was the only thing Arwan liked to wear.
Donning the outfit he wore earlier in the day—an armless shirt on pants with his bodysuit worn underneath—Femi put on his blue and white mask as he used his hood, which covered his whole head. Being supplied energy by the tether battery inserted in Femi's bodysuit, the mask would help Femi with night vision.
With everyone done with their confirmation, they advanced to the forest that extended from beyond the grassland.
*****
Camo coyotes, they were canines that were agile. After undergoing evolution, they could blend their bodies with environments. Another perk of evolution was that they became aggressive.
Because of these traits, the party advanced through the forest—specifically, the area the coyotes were last spotted—with Ruth checking for life forms with a detector. The forest was filled with evolved creatures, but since this area wasn't so far from the city, it was less filled compared to the center of the forest.
Not long after entering an environment with space between the trees, Ruth whispered to the rest of the party through comms, "We're surrounded, 11 of them."
Moving subconsciously, Femi clenched his sword that was sheathed at his waist, while Arwan, controlling the mecha from its inside, slowly raised the two handguns of the mecha, readying them.
Immediately after Ruth alerted them, the group formed a circle with their backs facing each other and the cart in the center of the circle.
"Now!" Gallagher instructed.
Breaking the formation, Ruth ran in a circle, shooting towards all the coyotes' approximated locations with her dual pistols.
Dodging the shots, 11 coyotes of 37 inches average size appeared, leaving the comfort of their camo traits. They would have looked like normal animals, but these coyotes had a triangular crystal on their foreheads signifying that they were evolved. Their claws and canines were also sharper than supposed. Their fur colors varied from the brown colors of a tree trunk to that of a green grass.
Seeing they revealed themselves, Gallagher dashed towards the side with the most amount of coyotes banded together. There were five of them. Activating the effects of the square-shaped shield, the shield released a glow and attracted the coyotes.
Evolved creatures could be aggroed by tether energy; that's what the shield was releasing. As they approached him, Gallagher tightened the grip on his shield, ready to ram into the coyotes. Feeling the shield make contact with the first two, Gallagher hit them backwards. While still moving with the force from the ramming, Gallagher punched another coyote.
With that, three coyotes were temporarily out. He just needed to weaken the other two considerably before he lost the upper hand.
Handling the remaining six in the opposite direction were Eva and Ruth. Eva fought in close range with dual daggers, leaving Ruth to support from mid-range. Although they were being pushed back a bit, their faces weren't so tense.
Aiming wasn't easy for Ruth while also trying not to hit Eva, who was moving around to avoid the ruthless claw and teeth attacks of multiple coyotes. All was good to them though, as they already signaled Femi and Arwan to step back, they'll just set the plan in motion.
Now that they had gathered the attention of the coyotes, Ruth and Eva slowly moved to where Gallagher was keeping the remaining five at bay.
Reuniting with Gallagher, the three formed a triangle with Gallagher at the point and the two at the base. Gallagher took the initiative, rushing towards the coyotes, with Eva following from behind. As Gallagher rammed and punched, Eva swiftly cut his victims. Ruth stood at a distance, supporting by preventing some coyotes from interfering with Gallagher and Eva.
Although it took a bit, the coyotes' vitality gradually showed signs of dropping.
They were fighting camo coyotes, which were classified as beasts - tier two creatures - having gone through two stages of evolution. Camo coyotes' evolution traits were camouflages, but with night vision and sensors, their traits were useless. The coyotes' last line of strength was the fact that coyotes were family packs; hence they had natural teamwork that had been enhanced by their combat intelligence.
Unfortunately for this pack, their opponents had better teamwork.
Under the darkness of the trees, the Rimora mates watched carefully.
"Incredible teamwork," Arwan pointed out from a viewer's perspective. His voice reached Femi through the mecha's speaker.
"Mhm," Femi simply nodded. Hidden under the masks, his attention was focused on the fight.
Arwan found Femi's short response weird, but he assumed Femi was just that interested in the battle. The weirdo being a battle monger isn't shocking.
"You really wanted to fight that bad?" Arwan teased.
Femi said words that left Arwan worried, "I have a bad premonition… And the problem is I don't think it's due to the battle. I also don't think it's related to creatures as a whole."
Arwan traveled with Femi. He knew better than to not trust his premonition. Femi had said something similar back on the ship, on their way to Terramoribus. A few moments after Femi said so, they encountered space junk; the sensors didn't always catch space junks. If not for Arwan being on alert due to Femi pestering him, navigating through those junks wouldn't have been easy.
'Not related to creatures. The fuck do you mean then?!' Arwan yelled inwardly. After thinking a bit, Arwan asked, "What do you mean by that?"
Right when Femi was about to explain, Ruth's soft voice reached them through the comms.
"S-sorry, some evaded towards your direction. They're approaching you. Please hold them down for a bit."
Arwan was caught by surprise. He hadn't expected a coyote to leave the trio's impeccable teamwork's range, let alone three leaving.
While Arwan was caught in the turmoil of things, Femi calmly walked forward, unsheathing his sword. Witnessing Femi's calmness, Arwan also calmed himself.
Shortly after, Arwan had a moment of realization, 'This bastard is confident in going against three beasts.'
Beasts that experienced adventurers couldn't keep in their range; Femi was confident in fighting three of them. Alone.