章 2: A New Job
The echoes of a loud squeal reverberated throughout the Tru Forest. The smaller critters scurried away into cover to avoid the wrath of the raging beast that tore through the forest. A gargantuan boar covered in dark brown bristles and bearing imposing tusks made its way across the forest. It was evident from the way it moved that it was running from something, but what that was could not be quite made out from a distance. Its thick hide was covered in several lacerations that had put it in its fit of frenzy. The creature was caught unawares by what had attacked it and was immediately compelled to flee.
"Wait!" A voice yelled in the distance. "Come back!"
The source of the beast's fear was none other than this young archer who was giving chase to it. The dark-skinned boy dressed in camo and brandishing a loaded bow was close at the heels of the hog. Despite the tension of the situation, his lips were locked in a quirky smirk, giving way for his dimples to show. He quickly brushed aside his kinky dreads as he pulled back the arrow in his bow and let it take flight. The projectile whistled through the air and found its mark in the rare end of the beast, firmly planting itself in its skin.
"Bullseye!" He exclaimed.
The hog let out another squeal of anguish. It quickly turned around the face its attacker, eyes bloodshot with rage. Though the pain of the arrow and its initial fear were overwhelming, they had been quickly washed away by its sudden anger. The archer immediately halted as the beast turned to face him, but he still wore his cocky smile across his face.
"Come at me."
A deafening growl erupted from the beast as it charged at the archer. The roles had been swapped and the pursuer had become the pursued. The gap between the two began to close at an alarming rate, leaving the hog's tusks inches away from the archer's back. Before he could be impaled, he quickly ducked and rolled away, leading to the hog crashing into the tree he was running towards. The tree was immediately pierced through by the hog's tusk causing it to fall over with a deafening thud. Another arrow flew at the hog again, this time cutting it but not finding its mark in its hide. Its intended purpose was met though, and the beast gave chase once more.
Several more arrows followed each other as the two's game of cat and mouse continued. Only a handful were able to pierce the hog while the rest made away with just a cut. It squealed louder with each new injury it sustained, its pain fuelling its rage. The archer reached back into his quiver for another arrow but was met with nothing. His head turned to face the empty quiver, causing him to lose sight of his footing and slip on a rock. He promptly fell to the ground, leaving him wide open to an incoming attack. The hog squealed again and charged at the archer even faster. Before he could regain his footing, he felt a crushing force sweep off the floor and send him flying into the air.
The archer crashed into the branches of a tree before tumbling down. He groaned in pain, his smirk briefly leaving his face as he clenched his injured abdomen. The wound he had sustained was very deep and he felt as though he had broken a few bones in the fall. The hog showed no mercy to his condition and charged once more. Instead of trying to flee, the archer's smile returned as he looked at the beast approaching the marked spot on the ground.
"You're in the impact zone." He said.
His words were immediately followed by the sudden descent of a figure onto the hog. The crack of the beast's spine was like the crack of lightning as it let out a deafening scream before going silent for good. The figure stood, putting his dark skin, dark grey hair and large frame into view. He wore nothing but a pair of leather pants, leaving his muscular torso in full display. His sharp metallic grey eyes stared intensely at the freshly made carcass he stood upon before turning his attention to his partner.
"Nice one Sola," The archer greeted.
The grey-haired boy sighed.
"Did you really let a Gigahog do this to you?" Sola asked. "I thought you were a 'master manoeuvrer' Fólórunsó,"
"What do you mean? Of course, I am!" Fólórunsó smiled. "But everyone has their off moments every now and again,"
"Whatever you say," Sola grabbed the large hog and lifted it up. His veins bulged as he placed it on his shoulder. "Can you stand?"
"What do you think?"
Sola groaned loudly before picking up Fólórunsó and straddling him on his back. The archer winced slightly but he kept his smile on. Once secure, the two departed from the forest with their score.
The planet these two live on is known as Pedtro, the third planet in the Yubila Galaxy. It is notorious for being the only planet of 12 in Yubila to have a naturally occurring satellite, being orbited by a moon-like station known as 'the Placeholder'. Records do show that at one point in its history, Pedtro did have a moon, with it having been pushed out of its orbit and into the planet a century ago. Due to the advent of the Placeholder, Pedtro has been able to continue to exist as a regular planet with a thriving ecology. The natives of the planet refer to themselves as the Pedtrians.
The two arrived at the Universal Freelancer Organisation (UFLO) branch in Raudis and submitted the Gigahog carcass to a surveyor to receive their payment.
"Excellent work as always," The surveyor commented after reviewing the carcass. "I see you managed to defeat the thing while leaving as little damage to it as possible, though the person who made the request would have preferred it alive."
"Bringing in a live Gigahog is too much of a hassle," Sola grunted. "They'll have to make do with this,"
"Apparently so, but with the condition this carcass is in, I doubt you'll get any significant cuts from your pay," The surveyor handed Sola a slip of paper with a signature and a bar code on it.
"Thanks," he said as he took it.
Fólórunsó and Sola both worked as freelancers under the UFLO. No matter the job or request, the UFLO always had someone they could hire to take care of it for you; for the right price of course. Though most freelancers worked individually from each other, it was not uncommon to see a pair or more team up to take up higher-risk jobs. Fólórunsó and Sola, however, were a freelancer duo and rarely ever took jobs without the other.
The pair approached the front desk of the branch and gave their payment slip to the person behind the counter, a girl named Alice. She quickly scanned the slip and transferred their payment to their accounts.
"250 Durl is pretty decent," Fólórunsó commented as he checked his comm. "You want to get something to eat?"
"Sure, why not," Sola shrugged.
"Wait, I almost forgot!" Alice exclaimed. "Someone left a job for you,"
She pulled out a slip of paper and handed it to Sola. He cocked his eyebrow and took the paper. As he read through its contents, his face became scrunched with disgust. He looked up to Alice hoping to understand why she had handed this to him.
"I thought I said you shouldn't hand me fan mail?" Sola said.
"I know it seems like fan mail, but it was submitted as a legitimate request, with a commission payment and everything," She explained.
"Don't mind if I do," Fólórunsó swiped the paper from Sola's grasp and read its contents aloud.
'To the Silver Bulwark,'
"Do people actually call you that?" Fólórunsó teased.
"Shut up," Sola grunted.
'I would beseech you and your incredible strength,' Fólórunsó snickered. 'To accompany me on a hunting quest. This is all for the sake of formalities, as the true purpose of this request is to witness your skill and expertise in person. I am willing to compensate you royally for this service, and if you are willing to partake in this, I will await your arrival at my abode tomorrow. Yours truly, Jonathan Immortalis.'
Fólórunsó's eyes widened when he read the name of the requester.
"Damn dude, you have fans in high places," He commented.
"You know how much I hate doing babysitting jobs," Sola said to Alice. "Turn down the request,"
"Are you sure?" She asked. "He's offered to pay you 5000 Durl if you'd basically spend the day with him,"
"5000 Durl?! Come on man, we have to take the job at this point, he's practically giving you the money!"
Sola scowled at his partner. Neither was in any urgent need of a large sum of money, but having some could always come in handy and let them work less. It didn't hurt that it could aid him in his personal agendas that he had going on as well.
"Fine," He sighed. "We'll take the job."
"Well, you say 'we', but Jonathan only requested for 'you' specifically," Alice winced.
"What? That's not fair. Who wouldn't want to see a display by the Camo Arrow?" Fólórunsó asked dramatically, his hand raised to no one in particular. Sola simply ignored him.
"You know the drill, Alice; we work together, or we don't work at all."
"Fine," She sighed. "I'll let him know. Who knows, he might just drop the request because of it,"
As Alice walked to the back, Fólórunsó wrapped his arms around Sola's neck and pushed his face against his.
"Thank you for taking me into consideration buddy," he said.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Sola pushed him off. "It doesn't mean I want to do this job any more than I did before."
"Come on, it's free money! What's the worst that could happen?"
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット