Chapter 624 - New Hunting Team
Chapter 624 of "High School of Demon Hunting" opens introducing characters: Chapter 624: Chapter 293 New Hunting TeamA mountain sparrow sat quietly on a buckthorn branch,... Find out more!
Chapter 624: Chapter 293 New Hunting TeamA mountain sparrow sat quietly on a buckthorn branch, eyeing the thicket of hazel trees a few meters away.
It wasnât interested in the thorny nuts of the hazel â although the flesh of these nuts was indeed decent food, at present, the sparrow had a more appealing choice.
Its target was an Elephant Nose Beetle resting on the circular-shaped green leaf of the hazel.
This beetle, with a hard shell and a long-snouted head resembling an elephantâs trunk, was a sworn enemy of many plants, but at the same time, was considered premium feed for many birds. Its calcium-rich shell and juicy, fleshy bodied provided the sparrow with nutrition exceeding that of a hundred grain seeds.
With this in mind, the sparrowâs throat involuntarily throbbed, inching one of its claws forward.
It just needed to wait a little longer, for the âBipedal Beastâ standing nearby the beetle to leave, and then it could pounce over and feast.
Speaking of these âBipedal Beastsâ that suddenly appeared in the thicket, the sparrow had a hundred complaints â they stood there noisily, walked about in an imposing manner, scaring many foraging insects back into the crevices of rocks and making it impossible for the sparrows to find their food.
Furthermore, these âBipedal Beastsâ even occupied the only water source on this hill and broke the branches of the most beautiful Fluffy Willow on the hilltop â Heavens have mercy, the sparrow originally planned to gather some fluffy fruit from that willow to line its nest and keep it warm.
Just as the sparrow silently complained about the misdeeds of the âBipedal beastsâ, the shorter âBipedal Beastsâ standing not far from it turned around, reached out its front paw, and made a grabbing motion towards the sparrow.
And then, to its horror, the sparrow found itself being involuntarily drawn towards the âBipedal Beastsâ.
"Let me go! Help! A sparrow is being murdered by the Bipedal Beasts!!"
Unable to suppress the horror in its heart, the sparrow, regardless of the risk of startling the Elephant Nose Beetle, fluttered its wings in panic and cried out shrilly.
However, its avian language was heard by few. The creeping hazel on the ground didnât understand, neither did the Elephant Nose Beetle on the green leaf, nor did the Bipedal Beasts â perhaps other sparrows heard its cry, but upon hearing it, those despicable creatures fled faster than anything else.
"How about this sparrow? Order Passeriformes, Family Sturnidae ... Although itâs distantly related to the Vermilion Bird, at least itâs red." Omega held up the sparrow in his hand, showing off its reddish-brown back feathers, and looked to Amber, "Of course, its abdomen is white... but I donât think thatâs much of a problem."
"Itâs not just distantly related, Iâd say itâs not related at all...If this sparrow and the Vermilion Bird were to trace their ancestry, Iâm afraid weâd have to go back to when they were still crawling on the ground!" Xin Fat Man couldnât help but retort, "And, can you find something to gag it? My rabbit-monkey is frightened."
With that, the fat man lifted an osier cage in his hand and brought it to Omegaâs face.
In the cage, a white-bearded rabbit-monkey huddled in a corner, its light-green eyes wide open and its rough striped fur standing on end.
"At least my sparrow is from Order Passeriformes, Family Sturnidae, which roughly fits Amberâs requirements... What about your rabbit-monkey?" Omega glanced at the fat man, his lips curling up in a smirk, without finishing his statement.
However, his intent was clear â the animal the fat man found didnât qualify.
"The rabbit-monkey is also from the feline family!" Xin Fat Man puffed out his cheeks, grumbling softly, "Do you think itâs easy to find a feline animal in this Hunting Ground?"
"Stop arguing, keep it down...The team leader is resting." Zhang Ji Xin, holding a red-crowned turtle, came over to calm the ruckus between the two, "Letâs quickly set up the defensive array and get some rest."
Everyoneâs gaze naturally fell on Zheng Qing, who was leaning against a rock, meditating.
Not long ago, after the two Hunting Teams exchanged information about the types and strength of the demons they encountered, as well as the geographic and hydrometric information they collected about the Hunting Grounds, they temporarily formed a new Hunting Team under Zheng Qingâs suggestion.
The lead hunter of the new team was still Zhang Ji Xin, with Xin Fat Man retaining the role of the Left Auxiliary. The position of Right Aide was taken by Amber from the tail-eating snake team â based on the current selection, there was no better diviner among all the Hunters present.
The position of Wandering Hunter was given to Omega from the Starry Sky academy.
This short-statured male Wizard was agile and capable, and had been serving as a Wandering Hunter when he was in the tail-eating snake team, making him best suited to adapt quickly to the requirements of the new team.
As for Zheng Qing, he shed his Wandering Hunter status and handed it over to Iseni, a Fishman from Lin Zhong Lake.
While Zheng Qing was curious as to how the tail-eating snake team had managed to recruit a Fishman to their team, and despite having had a small clash with this Fishman, that didnât stop him from making the right choice for the team. Iseni had keen intuition and powerful combat abilities. More so, he had a small green frog as his Hunting Beast, allowing him to scope a larger area for demons and other enemies.
Most importantly, Zheng Qing needed to find an appropriate role for Iseni in the team, something that would ease his discomfort. A lot had happened today, and he was surrounded by foreign Wizards. Mental fatigue, physical exhaustion, and the faint sense of isolation made him the most unstable factor in the team.
And a bit of appropriate work could effectively eliminate this instability.
Personnel arrangement for the new Hunting team was almost perfect, except for one thing: a Hunting Team consisted of five Hunters, but there were six people present. No matter how one arranged it, there would be one person left out.
In this case, Zheng Qing cheerfully declared that as the leader of the Absolution Hunting Team, he needed to take responsibility for the teamâs previous losses, thus he resigned and assumed the duties of substitute and logistics officer for the new Hunting Team. Whatever portion of Zheng Qingâs proclamation was humorous and what proportion seriousness, perhaps only he knew.
But his actions perfectly balanced the differences between the two teams, allowing them to form a combat-effective team in the shortest amount of time.
The first task for the new team was to create a safe camp â the recent battles and struggles had exhausted everyone and they all needed a safe camp to rest and recuperate.
Fortunately, besides his special skill in divination, Amber also had a certain degree of study in formation methods.
So, he arranged for the Hunters to quickly gather âAzure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoiseâ - the four major elements, so as to build a âFour Image Arrayâ that could hide their tracks, conceal their scents, and mislead the tracking of demons.