A week went by. Avryn and Leifren’s squads were called up to scout up north, with Jovie’s squad serving as support. There was some key data that they needed on there. It was a dangerous part of the forest as well. The major was confident they could get it done.

  Avryn was stretching by the entrance. Jovie took notice of that.

  “Getting ready for the mission, rookie?” he asked.

  Avryn nodded, and finished up with a backflip. Harver snickered.

  “Heh, showoff.”

  “Right, we’ll use the Scribe’s new video recording feature to record the data for R&D,” Avryn pointed out. “If there’s no further questions, let’s get to it.”

  They hopped onto their dualcycles and made their way up north, recording videos as they went. It was early in the morning, and the forest was just waking up. They were lucky. Only small fry Corpses were present.

  They were able to map out one third of the entire area by noon time. A break was taken as they reviewed the videos. A campfire was made and rations were cooked. The squads took this time to discuss about many topics.

  “So, Jovie, you still don’t want a fourth man in your squad?” Leifren asked.

  “No, not really. I think we work better as a three man group. We’re still alive, at least,” he munched on his rations.

  Avryn passed the time by gunslinging. He twirled his guns on one finger, stopped, tossed it in the air, and then twirled it the other way around.

  “Where did you learn how to do that?” Jenilah asked.

  “Eh, I was bored a lot. Decided to learn a few tricks as a kid. Not being able to fire a gun doesn’t mean I can’t play with it at least,” Avvryn chuckled. “You wanna try?”

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  He helped Jenilah with the gunslinging and taught her the basics. He had her spin the pistol one way, stop, and then spin it the other way. Then for the final touch, he had her toss it in the air and catch it with one finger. He gave her an applaud for doing it successfully on the first try.

  Avryn dazzled the crew with some advanced techniques he picked up. Tossing his pistol from behind his back to the front. He added a spin on the last catch as he twirled both pistols on his fingers. He took a glance at Rinna and saw her busy reviewing her Scribe. Even on a break, she still stood on business.

  Thirty minutes were up and they continued their mission. Making it further north, they made more notes and recorded more videos. They saw bunches of corpses before them. Many were half eaten. They were scattered across the forest.

  “Looks like a big battle took place here,” Avryn observed.

  He looked down to see overlapped tracks, but one stood out to him. A big one. He called upon Tvira, Leifren, and Jenilah to see if they recognized it.

  “I do not recognize whatever beast that left these,” Tvira commented.

  “Neither do we,” Leifren said.

  Regardless, there was a huge struggle. The air shifted. A feeling of oddity has started settling in. The deeper they went, the more corpses they saw. Wolf, dog, boar, bear, birds, all kinds were found. Some of them were scattered across the ground, and a few unlucky ones were impaled into a tree. There was no sign of any bullets, so soldiers weren’t this far out. That weird feeling started running up Avryn’s spine. He signaled to the rest to be on high alert. They continued forward.

  An unnatural thin fog impeded them. They elected to turn the dualcycles’ headlights to help guide their way through it.

  “Alright, this is where we stay extra alert, folks,” Jovie cautioned them.

  They continued recording videos and taking notes of the area. It was until they stumbled upon a host of Corpses that they stopped. Jovies suggested they take an alternate route for now. Fighting them would attract more of them to where they were. The alternate route took them the long way around the forest. They finished gathering their data and mapped out the area. A low growl greeted them. A pack of bloodied Corpse wolves stood in their way. Avryn took the initiative and drove through them, cutting a path as he went. The rest of the squads followed suit. They drove through the wolves and attacked.

  Avryn jumped off his dualcycle to get to a better position. Some of the others also followed suit. A skirmish breaks out as steel and fang clash once more. It was won just as quickly, their heavy hitters proved to be the difference makers in the fight. Avryn panted as the last Corpse wolf was slain. He could not get this odd feeling out of his head. Something didn’t felt right. He ordered his squad to examine the wolves. Many of them looked half beaten before they even arrived.

  “Our mystery predator, perhaps?” Leifren theorized.

  “What kind of Corpse could even cause this much damage this close to our borders?” Kiria questioned.

  They all took this time to think it out. Jovie’s squad secured the perimeter as they did so. Avryn pulled out his Scribe and looked over the Corpse Bestiary files. All known Corpse data was there. After a few minutes of searching, nothing came up based on the tracks they found.

  “Must be something new, then,” Harver said.

  Avryn clenched his hand into a fist.

  “A dangerous fight if we stumble into it.”

  His mind wandered. It was licking its chops knowing a powerful Corpse was nearby. He wondered if the team at their current strength was enough to stop it. Their teamwork had to be absolutely perfect in order to defeat such a beast. Personal glory was not reason enough to risk their lives, however. Avryn calmed himself down.

  They rode their dualcycles back to the outpost and reported their findings. The major took note of the mystery Corpse and said they’d get their chance soon enough.