TJ stayed out of the firehouse, musing over the en days and what he was going to do. When people came out, several shot nasty looks his way, but TJ couldn’t bring himself to care. Junior needed a living dad, and TJ was more than willing to be the heel to some of these people to ensure he had his best aking it out alive. After the early lunch was plete, the hunt repared, and TJ was remihere was more yet to do.

  Two more, very different trips were taken that day. The sed expedition was with airely different group than the one from that m, Seth repg Farid and many of the other hunters being older folks whled to walk that far. With the advent of the System and its attributes, many of these people who would be rgely hopeless in any attempt to journey any distance by foot could make their slow and steady way to where the hunt would take pce. Granny Penny ughed when TJ offered to carry her down the road and out of town in the opposite dire from where he’d entered.

  “I’m takin’ care of myself. Don’t you worry that pretty little head of yours, I’m doin’ just fine!” She decred as she tio push her walker down the road. Somehow, when TJ Appraised her, he saw Disciple 2 dispyed, so she’d gained levels somehow.

  “Don’t tell Laura,” she stage whispered, “I went and got me an Occupation. It’s helping out a lot!”

  “Now what Occupation was that?” TJ asked, too curious not to dig deeper.

  She gnced bad forth befrinning widely. “Attendant!”

  TJ squi the old dy, unsure how to react. She kept her joyous look, uned with his potential disbelief. Eventually, he had to ask, “Really?”

  “Sure as be!”

  “Well, I’m gd it’s helping.” TJ replied with a shrug. He internally asked the System, “How does the Occupation Attendant help someone oh to the Divihrone?”

  Every aspect of life be hoo the level of Divinity. Service, healing, leadership, aru are all facets of life, and a Partit choose to exemplify any aspect of life in their pursuit of the Divihrone.

  TJ sighed deeply as he decided not to follow that train of thoughts. Though he had so many questions about the System and everything it wao do, his focus remained on Junior. Thus, he assisted the much less mobile group of hunters, though he was much more careful with how he approached potential bat with them. Instead of just bzing into the forest, he ranged out himself while Seth and the others stayed pletely at the ready for anything to e their way. Thus, TJ slowly kited four coyotes, two javelinas, and a mountain lion to the waiting hunters. The mountain lion was a surprise and very nearly deadly, but TJ was quiough to shift to a coatl and take it down to ehat though its cws cut through a Zealot’s armor without much difficulty, it didn’t strike any deadly wounds. That it was merely level 2 and had ambushed them all and nearly eviscerated someone was not lost on him, and TJ feared the day he entered a level 5, or Kukulkan forbid, level 10.

  As the more sickly of the group gained a level or two, their backs straightened and their breathing grew more steady, Penny especially walking away from her walker whenever she could, though she o return to it for a moment to catch her breath each time. Despite himself, TJ felt himself bonding further with the hunters as they stumbled and crawled and actually learheir five Zealots, only oh a shield, worked together in tandem, and the single Acolyte used her hand crossbow to the best of her ability. Seth stayed near Penny and the other Disciple, the plucky old dy leading her fellow Disciple to throw the rgest stohey could ma the enemies. More often than not, Penny’s gravel would plink uselessly against one of the Zealots’ armors, but once she mao strike a javelina’s eye and she crowed iation as it squealed.

  “Ha HAH!” She cackled. “You slippery varmint! Just roll over!”

  Every other one of her attacks went wide, but her enthusiasm was iious. The Zealots gained levels and experience, and, as TJ learhey gained 3 Strength every level. Though the beasts all remained a higher level, they were outnumbered and with every hunter having someone supp them, there were no casualties or serious injuries. The hunt ended when three pukwudgies tried their luck at ambushing them from above but the two Acolytes shot them from the trees. Seth’s shot struck its eye, and by the time its corpse smashed against the ground, it was dead. Of the other two, one escaped, but the st took a shot to the leg and broke its spine o fell over twenty feet.

  The Zealots closed in, and though they were obviously unfortable with it, they fihe little gobliure off. Then, the quota fiJ threw the mountain lion’s corpse over his shoulder ahe way bae.

  Disaster struck when they’d been where, to the best of TJ’s knowledge, they’d crossed into the “safe” zohe hair on the back of his neck prickled, and TJ shouted, “Get down!”

  Everyone listened, but poor, or lucky, as the case may be, Peter, the sole Zealot with a shield, went down with his shield over his body. TJ couldn’t say how, but the pukwudgies’ thrown spears bounced off the shield and one flew straight up and cut through Peter’s right eye’s ea. As the man about the same age as TJ himself screamed in pain and fear, the rest of the hunting party tried to protect him, to retaliate against the pukwudgies. They disappeared into the trees too quickly, retreating from the space they couldn’t yet intrude upon.

  TJ growled curses under his breath as he dropped the mountain lion corpse where he stood. “Disciples, on him, now!”

  Penny pushed through the group of ed but uo help hunters and id her hands oer’s fabsp;

  “Hold still, honey. It’ll be just a sed.”

  Peter stilled to mere shaking breaths as a light washed over the group from Penny’s hands. She took a shuddering breath and swayed while TJ reached a hand out to steady her. The old dy gratefully took it and struggled to stand. He helped her to her walker while the rest of the hunters gathered Peter into their arms and carried him deeper into the safe zone, hopefully away from the range where the pukwudgies could reach him. There wasn’t any more movement from anything in the forest nearby, but TJ didn’t take any risks. He activated his Diviransformation and dragged the two corpses left behind as the rest of the hunters hurried to the firehouse. It wasn’t long before TJ caught up and could hear the panicked versation.

  “It’s all blurry!”

  “Like you see light or just like you need gsses?”

  “Like it’s all blurry! I ’t… I ’t see anything! I’m blind!”

  TJ quickly caught on to what the cresdoing discussion was about. When he came around and was able to see Peter’s face, the blood had been wiped off as best as it could in so little time, though it still filled the man’s eyebrows and eyeshes. Uhat, though, was the much more ing eye. It had once been a dark blue but now was cloudy and unresponsive. Peter was waving his hands, the terror of losing his sight stealing his rationality.

  “EveryoJ shouted while using Wind Manipution to blow back their screams and force their attention onto him. “There’s nothing we dht this sed. Let’s get to the firehouse, speak with Laura, and figure it out from there. Got it?”

  Surprisingly, Peter was the first to respond, gritting his teeth and nodding before turning and leading the way to the firehouse. The rest of the hunters gathered whatever came to their hands and followed his lead. TJ walked in the back, eyes wide open and searg for any abnormality. There wasn’t anything that stood out to him, but he’d already known that didn’t mean anything. Even so, he’d gotten pt aer paid the price. He was supposed to be the smart, experienced one, and he’d lost focus at the st sed.

  As they stumbled into the firehouse, TJ saw what he’d refused to earlier. The ugly looks he’d received at lunch hadn’t e from the zy who resented being made to work. They came from the survivors of the less fortunate expeditions. Peter’s wound was far from the most serious he could see. Missing fingers and thickly scarred faces were on while wounds so serious they were still only scabbed over instead of fully healed patterned most people. Wounds had beeed only to the level that HP recovery wouldn’t be impeded so that natural regeion could take care of the rest. For a moment, TJ questioned why they’d beeo suffer, but as he watched harried Disciples pag between groaning patients, he realized why.

  Necessary though he thought they were, these hunts were dangerous, and each person out there risked their lives. Looking around in these people’s faces, he saw many that would struggle to walk out of this building again tomorrow. They’d set off with expectations of strength and security, and ihey’d found their own weakness ah. Groans of pain and fear filled the air, and TJ worried that he’d broken the spirits of these people. Then, he worried for himself, and cursed his selfishness.

  Fortunately, before he’d lost himself in his worries and fear, TJ took a sed look. Though some faces were filled with despair and weakness, most were set with stubborn defiahey’d seen their friends and panions be hurt and they decided to do something about that. His reluce was washed away by a righteous fury, and TJ felt that these mere beasts had challehe dignity of a coatl for long enough.

  “Peter?” He asked, and the partially blinded man turo look.

  “Yeah?”

  “Will you be ok here for now?”

  Peter shrugged. “Nothing else I do, to be ho.”

  “Ok. I’ll che you when I get back.” Then, TJ stood up ahe eyes of those who looked at him. “This is ridiculous. Those mohink they ambush us and I’m not going to do something about it? I’m taking the fight to them, weakening them even more. Anyone who’s at least level 5 in their Css and willing, meet me outside in ten minutes. I’m going to kill some of the bastards.”

  He didn’t say anything more, merely stalking out of the room. Shuffli and murmured voices answered him immediately, but TJ didn’t look back. He merely walked to the tree where he’d settled down earlier that m and turo sit down. Before he fully hit the ground, though, the sight of a dozeermined denizens of the towed him, Stanton in front of them all.

  “Kid, we’re with you. Let’s hunt some of the fuckers.”

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