The Scrap Tamer - Chapter 35

Chapter 35: The Hunt Begins

Reid and the other participants walked through a corridor that led to the pit. Exiting the corridor, he was able to see the forest up close.

“This is a simulated environment, it’s like a hologram but much more solid(?)” Dean informed and Reid nodded.

The announcer’s suddenly boomed throughout the underground.

“WELCOME, ONE AND ALL, TO TONIGHT’S FINAL HUNT” The crowd standing at the rails cheered.

“THE RULES ARE SIMPLE: SECURE AS MANY CORES AS POSSIBLE BY THE END OF THE GAME”

“WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY… LET THE HUNTS BEGIN” the announcer concluded.

As soon as he was done talking, the all other participants summoned their forged-beasts and disappeared into the forest. Some aiming to set traps and others waiting for the primals to be released.

“So what should we do?” Dean asked he hadn’t summoned his own forged-beast yet and was waiting for Reid “should we also set some traps or are you going to face the beast’s head on, they’ll be released in a few seconds”.

‘If I want to impress the Pit master, I’ll have to defeat as many primals as possible while also dominating the game’ Reid thought.

“What type of forged beast do you have?” Reid asked and Dean immediately summoned it, a Bronze-tier bat like forged-beast.

“This is why I said I’m not great at fighting,” Dean admitted, gesturing at the bat. “This is Scout. Its only abilities are for tracking and reconnaissance.”

Reid smirked. “That’s good enough. You handle recon—spot the primals and keep an eye on the others. Let me know about any traps or movements.”

Dean nodded, his beast already taking flight to survey the forest.

“Point me towards the nearest primal, let’s begin our hunt” Dean did as was asked, spotting their first primal. He and Reid disappeared into the forest, headed towards it.

“Won’t you summon your forged-beast?” Dean asked while they ran towards the primal. He noticed that Reid hadn’t summoned his forged-beast yet.

Reid quickly summoned Rusty, who was still in his mouse form, in response. Dean was surprised at the size of his forged-beast but didn’t say anything about it.

_____

High above the pit, in the VIP booth, the Pit master watched the hunt begin.

The participants were made to glow through the trees so the fans can easily know what’s going on but the Pit master was looking at them through the tablet on his lap.

“Did anyone catch your eye yet?” His escort, a beautiful blonde haired lady, for the night spoke up.

“Not yet, but an interesting individual has shown up” he answered with a grin.

On his tablet, the cameras were currently focused on a white haired, blue eyed man who was breezing through primals and collecting cores.

“Get me any information you can find on him” he ordered and his secretary walked out of the booth to complete the task.

“Now now new guy, impress me” he said and eased into his seat.

______

Elizabeth stood on the rails, watching the ongoing hunt, her attention fully focused on Reid.

“He’s doing well so far” she mumbled to herself “let’s hope he can keep this momentum”.

She raised her head towards the VIP section and spotted the Pit master easing into his seat, hopefully being impressed by Reid.

_____

Back in the pit, Reid and Dean were currently moving through the forest taking down any beast they come across.

Their team work consisted of Dean locating the beasts and Reid taking them down.

Although they were splitting the amount of cores found, they were still in the lead, as shown on the leaderboards.

Reid was only using his bat throughout the hunt since the only primals they faced were iron or bronze rank.

“They’ll start releasing higher ranked ones in a few minutes” Dean suddenly said.

“Alright” Reid replied before asking “what ranks will they release?”.

“They’ll release about 10 silver ranked ones and a single Gold rank beast” Dean explained “the silver-tier beasts will be released in random locations but the gold-tier one is always released in a certain location”.

“Then tell me when the Gold-tier beast is released” Reid said, while he kept walking forward.

“To avoid it right?” Dean knew from his face that wasn’t the reason but he was hopeful that Reid wasn’t actually going to hunt the gold-tier beast.

“No, I’m planning on taking it down ” Reid confirmed his suspicion.

“Take it down? Are you crazy?” Dean couldn’t help but shout “Since the start of the hunt, everyone makes sure to avoid the gold tier beasts because it’s a nothing but a death trap.”

“I know you’re strong but gold tier primals are in an entirely different league” Dean completed.

“I see” Reid said.

“I’m glad you under—” before Dean could complete what he was saying, Reid spoke up again.

“Then just point me in its direction, you can turn back then”.

Dean’s jaw dropped in shock “didn’t you hear anything I just said? That beast is nothing but a death trap.”

“…” Reid didn’t say anything in reply, he just got ready to swing his bat.

“What the hell is he thinking?” Dean muttered under his breath as he weighed his options. He considered the possibility of simply returning, but his gaze dropped to the bag of cores in his hand.

If he decided to move alone now, he knew the risk all too well—he’d lose everything he had worked so hard to collect.

Other hunters would go to any lengths to obtain cores, and his lack of combat skills makes him an easy target.

“Fine, but I’ll run to safety as soon as things start going south” So he decided to follow the crazy man into a death trap.

Besides, he was curious to see just how strong Reid was, especially since Reid hadn’t used his forged beast since the Hunt began.

“Do whatever you want” Reid answered and swung his bat at the beast that jumped at him from one of the bushes.

“ALRIGHT, PEOPLE, THE GAME IS ABOUT TO GET EVEN MORE EXCITING!” the announcer’s voice boomed as he declared “RELEASE THE HIGHER-TIERED PRIMALS!”

The crowd leaning on the rails shouted in excitement and anticipation…