The small platoon was making good progress through the badlands, Jerik saw. He kept checking their progress on the digital map he’d purchased that morning. They were probably ten miles outside of Zenken. They’d stayed far from the Raltan Mountains, as that was known to be a rather high-level monster area. This trip wasn’t about the challenge. It was simply to train his men a little more and acquire supplies. They’d find rare monsters at best. Jerik was there for ranged support, and Morgan had tagged along, to heal anyone who went down.

“Let’s set up here,” Jerik said. Katrina shouted his order so that everyone else could hear it, and the column came to a halt at once. They looked back at him in some confusion, wondering if he was calling a break. They’d had lunch only an hour ago, so it didn’t make sense to stop.

“Why are we stopping here?” Morgan asked, thinking along the same lines as the others. “We’re still three or four miles away from the bugbear dens.”

“We’re right above the warrens, though,” Jerik pointed out. Morgan nodded understanding, but still looked doubtful. “Well, right around mid-day, the burrowing monsters come out of the ground for food.”

Understanding finally dawned in her eyes, and she nodded again. “I see. Good plan.”

“I like to think I have them from time to time,” he said with a smirk. Then, raising his voice, he addressed the others. “Deploy a defensive ring, everyone. Just like we practiced!”

They still looked confused, but they did as he said, spreading out and placing temporary fortifications. These were items that he’d made them all carry, and now they saw that the reason would become obvious. The person who was pulling the wagon along parked it in the direct center, where its contents would be safest from monster or enemy attack. Once the defensive structures were set and the wagon was secure, they retrieved their weaponry, donned their armor, and prepared for a siege. But they were still looking around to see where it was coming from. For that, Jerik already had a plan.

“Benji,” he said, beckoning the girl up to where he stood on the back of the wagon. She jumped up gracefully, her eyebrows raised in question. He pointed at the entrance to a nearby burrow he could see, holding his hand to make sure she spotted it. “Blow that up for me, please.”

A grin appeared on her face quickly. “Roger that.”

He jumped off the wagon to make sure he wasn’t in the way and turned to watch her revealing a small tek launcher. A shoulder-mounted weapon, she hefted it easily, pointing the laser-guided rocket at the burrow. She lined up the shot, hesitated a second or two, then fired. The rocket was on its way in a flash, sailing neatly through the entrance. Half a second later, there was a muted explosion, quickly followed by a roar. Then another. Then the ground started to shake.

“Hold your ground!” Jerik shouted, a grin spreading across his face. “They’ll be on us any second! Nicholas, you’re on patrol. Jack, watch the entrance for big threats. The rest of you, kill any monster you see, no matter how cute it looks!”

His words drew a chorus of laughter from the others, and they all lifted their rifles to the ready position, eager for the challenge. In just a few short days, they’d progressed well, and they were starting to crave more extreme action. Jerik had provided that with the hunt. They let out a ragged battle cry that echoed out across the plains, drowning the sound of the roaring monsters racing to the surface. Then, they fell silent, waiting.

The first monster through was a were-mole, a blind beast easily six feet high and eleven feet long. It sniffed its way towards them, stomping angrily and creating large clouds of dust as each of its feet pounded into the ground. Almost at once, the sound of gunfire drowned out everything else, and the monster let out a screech as it took the damage, and it spun in place, swinging its broad tail to kick up a cloud of dust. There were a few seconds of uncertainty as the soldiers tried to locate it, but they had bigger problems.

A new monster barreled through the cloud of dust, reaching the first fortification before anyone could really react. Standing at a fearsome eight feet on its hind legs, it was striking at the barricades with powerful clawed paws, its jaws open to sound a challenging screech. An owlbear, Jerik thought, raising his rifle. A rarer monster for sure, but nothing he couldn’t handle. Before he could take a shot, however, there was a blur of movement at the inside edge of the fortification.

Nicholas sprang up onto the fortification, then jumped again, his shield flaring to life as he reached the beast’s head. It wasn’t the tall oval shield this time, Jerik noticed. Instead, it was a small punch shield, held in his fist. And he did indeed punch the owlbear with it, striking the monster across the head. It reeled back under the impact, giving him enough time and space to land, spin in place, and slash at the sensitive stomach. He cut sideways, then raked the sword up, opening a long wound and spraying its blood in an arc. With a shriek of fear, the owl bear tried to retreat but not before Nicholas beheaded it with one more stroke.

The platoon fell silent at the spectacle, not to mention how quickly Nicholas had dispatched the owlbear. Then one of them shouted out a warning, for the mole was back. Nicholas was ready, changing his shield back to the long oval in time to block the mole’s tail. Once it stopped, he stabbed his sword out. The blade extended nearly four feet, piercing through the mole’s thick skull, and it too dropped.

“How the fuck,” Jerik muttered under his breath. “He’s been keeping secrets from us.”

“Not really,” Morgan said lightly. She created a wind spell with her hand to disperse the dust cloud, giving them all full visibility once more. “He just didn’t take the time to show everything his gear could do.”

“Same thing,” Jerik grumbled. “But he really is a good swordsman.”

“He’s the best I’ve seen so far,” She agreed. “I’ve met a few, but none of them compared to him.”

Nicholas was leaping back off the fortification now, to the cheers of his comrades. He grinned sheepishly as hands rained down on his back from all angles, and quietly rejoined his original position. Jerik was impressed but knew that this was a bad time to lose focus. They weren’t even close to done. He let out a piercing whistle to get their attention. “We’re not finished!”

More monsters came out of the burrow, and from another burrow several yards away in a different direction. Most were pack animals like dire badgers or wolverines, but occasionally there was a unique animal that broke through. Jerik himself dealt with the sudden appearance of a Nagatha, a long serpent-like creature with two arms that could spit venom. He caught the beast right as it exited, and fired a round into its skull, killing it instantly. Its body collapsed in the entrance, blocking it for other monsters trying to use that burrow.

After perhaps fifteen minutes, the monsters seemed to give up the attempt. At a shouted order from Jerik, grenades were thrown into the burrows, collapsing them completely. It took a bit for the dust to settle down, but eventually, once the coast was all clear, those who were proficient at skinning and gathering the materials went to work.

“We really do need a research team,” Morgan said, resuming the discussion they’d had that morning. “Without one, our progress is hampered. We’ll have to sell the majority of these materials when we get back to Zenken.”

“Nothing wrong with selling them,” Jerik countered. It wasn’t the first time he’d made the point that day. “Besides, we need gear. Without a research crew, the only way we can get new equipment is if we buy it. So we’ll sell this stuff. Besides, we won’t get a lot of good from this junk.”

“True,” She agreed, watching as piles of materials were brought back to the wagon. “It’s more important that they’re getting practice.”

“Exactly.”

“Thirty-four kills, boss,” Benji reported once everything was accounted for. After they’d been harvested, what remained of the monster corpses dissolved into black ash, and faded with the afternoon breeze. They were reforming the column already, eager to move on.

“Thanks, Benji,” he said, and turned to the others, raising his voice. “I think we can call it there!”

There was a faint grumble of disappointment from the others. In spite of himself, Jerik let out a bark of laughter. “Don’t worry, you’ll get to kill plenty more monsters eventually. We have to kill nearly all of them in any event.”

The men laughed, and set about turning the wagon around, then setting out for Zenken once more. Now that the wagon was full of materials, they moved more slowly and had to focus on defense and reconnaissance to make sure they didn’t lose it. Jerik noticed Morgan dropping back to take up the rear. Confused, he fell back as well, staring intently at her.

“What’s up?” He asked. “Something on your mind?”

“There are any number of things on my mind at all times,” She replied, her usual sardonic smirk appearing. “But I suppose at the moment, yes. I do have one grievance I’d like to share.”

“What is it?”

“You’re a gifted commander,” she said. She stated it bluntly, but it didn’t sound like a compliment. When Jerik said nothing, she continued. “But I fear you may not be doing this for the right reason.”

“I’m doing it to get that wish and kill the King of Monsters,” he said. “Isn’t that the point of it all?”

She took a long time to reply, as if she were mulling it over in her head, trying to decide what were the best words to convey her point. “That’s the main goal, yes. But what do you really want out of it all?”

“The wish,” he said bluntly. When she raised an eyebrow at him, he frowned. “No. I want to go home.”

“Exactly,” she said, lifting one hand to gesture at the platoon. “That’s what we all want to do. Go home. But what do you think would happen if we went home right now?”

“We’d save ourselves a lot of headaches,” he replied, but he had a sense that wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear. The flash of anger in her eyes proved his suspicion. “I don’t know. You’re expecting philosophy from the wrong person, Morgan.”

“I know,” she said. “You have sociopathy. I don’t expect you to understand what they’re all thinking.”

That made Jerik freeze, stopping in his tracks. Only Morgan seemed to realize, the others continuing on as she too stopped, turning to face him. “How did you know?”

“Oh please,” she said, snorting derisively. “It’s obvious. In all the time I’ve known you, the only emotion you’ve ever shown is mild annoyance. You don’t exactly glow with empathy.”

“What’s your point?” He asked, his mood souring. He didn’t like it when people pointed out his weakness with empathy. “Or are you just trying to piss me off?”

“My point,” she said, gesturing again at the group, “Is that all this fighting, especially the last two years of tyranny and fear, it all leaves a mark. If we were to go home right this instant, they’re all going to have long-lasting issues. It’ll be years before they feel even a little normal.”

“I suppose,” he said. “But how am I supposed to change that?”

“Learn to act like you give a shit about how they feel,” she said. “It’s really quite simple. If they think you have their best interest at heart, they’ll feel more at home. Then they can count on each other for support, and they’ll weather the campaign more easily.”