Languid Kane

Chapter 6: Team 9

“Sorry for calling for you all of a sudden, Mr. Vasquez.” The manager whom Kane talked to when he applied before smiled apologetically. “I am Reese Valencia and I am the manager who handles all the scouts.”

“Thanks for having me.” Kane shook Reese’s hands with a polite smile.

“Oh! I’m here to introduce you to the new group that you would be working with.” Reese walked closer to the dungeon entrance and he saw a group of hunters talking to each other as if they were having a meeting. “Team 9, Your new scout is here.”

The team looked at him so he bowed his head but his expression remained blank. “I am Kane. Looking forward to working with you.”

“Tsk. We already told you that we don’t need a piece of excess baggage. We can do the scouting ourselves.” A guy with blond hair said as he glared at Kane.

“I know that you don’t want a scout in your team, Mr. Fuego. However, Mr. Vasquez has proven his abilities when he went scouting with Team 3. His report was the most accurate and the most effective data that I’ve ever seen in my years of being a scout manager.” Reese said sternly. “You don’t call the shots, Mr. Fuego. I am the DME manager, my orders are absolute.”

Kane smirked when he saw the arrogant guy roll his eyes at him. What was his deal? Was it his fault that he was completely shut down by the manager?

“Welcome to the team, Kane. I am Team 9’s leader, Carlo.”

Kane shook his hand and curtly bowed his head. “Pleased to meet you.”

“If you were all set, then please go.” Reese gestured for them to enter.

The whole team entered the dungeon. Just like his first experience, the atmosphere in the dungeon was different from the atmosphere before they entered. It was dark and cold which was obvious knowing that they were surrounded by snow. Unlike his first experience which seemed to be in a forest, the current dungeon he was in seemed to be a snow mountain.

He immediately took his tablet and recorded everything that he needed to record. His hands moved fast but it wasn’t enough to go along the speed of his thoughts. After recording everything, he also noted the possible monsters that may come out based on the winter-like environment.

“A Yeti?” One member of team 9 who seemed to be just around his age chuckled after he peeked at Kane’s tablet. “This dungeon is Level B at most. How could you say that a Yeti would be a subclass monster here?” He said without taking out the lollipop in his mouth.

Kane just looked away and ignored him. Unlike the first team that he worked with, he felt like the members of the current team would be hard to deal with. Since it was like that, he chose to ignore every one and just do his job without trying to socialize with them. It would be better that way since they seemed to not like him as well.

Well, the feeling was mutual. Why would he like people who looked down on him without even knowing how he worked. Despite having a weak ability, he still had his brilliant mind. He wouldn’t let anyone look down on him.

Kristoff scoffed when he saw his teammate was ignored by the scout. He brushed his blond hair with his fingers as he shook his head before walking towards his group.

“Did you see how he ignored Xander?” Kristoff asked Brandon who was the melee mage of the team.

Brandon smirked. “Do you want to screw him over?”

Kristoff pursed his lips. Brandon really knew him well. Who would’ve thought that he would voice something that was just running on his mind earlier?

“Are you sure about that? The Scout manager would flip if something went wrong,” Anthony, a wood puppeteer, butted in.

“So what? Do you really believe that the manager could do something to this team?” Kristoff snickered. “Though we are team 9, we are still considered as the most important team in the guild since we are all children of influential people.”

“There you go bragging about our parents’ authorities again…” Anthony mumbled.

“Come on, Dude! What’s the use of their authorities and influence if we won’t use them?” Kristoff pat Anthony’s shoulder. “Let’s just have fun today, okay?”

“Wow! Are you a clairvoyant? That is really a Yeti!” Xander yelled when he saw an ape-like white monster that was walking towards them with strong killing intent.

Kristoff looked at Xander who seemed to be amazed by the scout’s prediction. He looked at Brandon and whispered, “Did you bring it?”

Brandon let out a mischievous smile. “Who would’ve thought that we would use it today?”

“Leader, there are three groups of Yetis!” Xander exclaimed again.

Carlo looked around before he started giving out orders. “Xander, lead your men to the second group. Kristoff, lead your group to the third one. Kane, you should stick with me and my group.”

Kristoff held Kane’s shoulder and showed him a worried yet serious expression. “Before you go there, you should wear this musk.”

Brandon handed Kane a bottle of spray perfume.

“Why do I need to? I’m just a scout.” Kane asked and turned his back.

“We just thought that you needed a little protection so that you wouldn’t be a deadweight to our leader.” Kristoff and Brandon looked at each other and discreetly sprayed some of the musks.

“What are you doing?” Kane took a few steps away from them but it was too late because the musk was already on his clothes.

“Kane! Come over here. You three, focus on the mission!”

Kane had no choice but to run towards Carlo and stand beside their Team Healer. He was suspicious of the musk that they sprayed on him but he dismissed the negative thoughts thinking that they wouldn’t try to harm their teammates.

Kane observed the three groups fight. Kristoff’s group was composed of Level C hunters, Xander’s group was composed of the Lower Level B hunters, while Carlo and the main group were in the Higher Level B.

He first watched Kristoff’s team who were the weakest group. Even if they were considered a lower-level group, their strength was not something that anyone could just ignore. Kristoff’s jumps were amazing on their own but the way he utilizes his ability was what made him a formidable one.  Aside from him, his group also mastered their abilities.

After he recorded all the data for the third group of Yeti, Kane averted his eyes towards Xander and his group. He couldn’t believe that he was watching someone in the same age as him.

Xander was the youngest among his team, but he was the leader. He had a strong defensive ability which could also be converted as an offense. Xander was just standing there as he watched his groupmates attack. By watching intently, he would time his repulsion when the Yeti would attack one of his groupmates. The skill to utilize his ability was even greater than he gave him credit for. He was like a totally different person when he was fighting!

He moved his gaze towards the main group. Though there were only two of them fighting the Yeti, they immediately overpowered the monster. Carlo had scanner eyes which were effectively used by scanning the critical and vital points of the monster and attacking point. Carlo’s partner also had a paralyzing touch which made it easier for Carlo to shoot his arrows.

Kane felt relieved when he saw that all the Yeti were knocked out. However, he felt chills when he noticed that intense killing intent was directed at him and it wasn’t just one.

He slowly turned around and saw that a bigger group of Yeti arrived and it seemed like their target was him.

JUST WHAT THE HECK DID HE DO TO GRAB THEIR ATTENTION?