2: Trap

"What the fuck… was that?" The Archer whispered.

"..."

Instead of replying, the woman brazenly took hasty steps forward towards the origin of the sound. The archer sighed after noticing the lust dripping from her eyes. He couldn't help but follow her.

After walking for 15 minutes straight, they both reached a plain with extremely tall trees stretching all the way till the eyes could see. Surprisingly, All the horrifying noises have finally vanished. This forest was so quiet that it made their guts churn.

"I don't like the rhythm of this place!"

"Behold… the core of the ghost valley!"

"It's as obnoxious as the rumors make it out to be… "

"Alright! Now take it from here… better make yourself useful…"

"Yeah.. yeah.. Just shut your damn mouth!"

The archer put his hand on the ground. A pulse of chakra, rushed from his arms to the ground and spread across the entire area. Soon he pulled his arm away and pointed in front.

"Around 525 meters, north west… something is definitely moving in that direction! It's not a human…"

Without wasting even a single second, the woman immediately rushed. Both of their feet glided over the ground without making a single sound. Their stealth made it seem as if they were flying over the ground.

As they got closer, they began to slow down. Something was finally in their sight. Both of them felt a rushing ecstasy seep through their bodies.

"Got you!"

The woman shot a beaming smile at the sight of a rare beast resting under the shade.

A huge scar on the beast's left wing was visible from a distance. Some other scars were also apparent on his body, including the beak as well as his talons.

Regardless, the elegant gray feathers were covering most of his scars. The Inca's elegant ambience combined with his mystical aura made it look undoubtedly stunning. Almost like an angelic bird from the seventh heaven. The beast had his eyes closed as he rested without a care in the world.

"Woah! Is that an Inca? Holy shit… no doubt that's an infant Inca Aves!"

"Shhhh…. Keep your voice down… you retard! And yes, what you are looking at is an S-Class Higher-Tier infant Inca Aves! "

"But… but… where did such a gorgeous beast come from?"

"How the fuck would i know? I just spotted him only 10 days ago completely by chance! Been tracking this baby ever since…"

"But why here…away from his natural habitat? This isn't their favorable hunting ground… Aren't they supposed to make a nest at a higher altitude?"

"Maybe it just got stranded and doesn't know its way back? This is a god-given opportunity on a silver platter…"

"Wait! this is too good to be true! Let's not assume that it's stranded… what if his mother is also somewhere here… if that's the case, we better run for our lives! There is no way the two of us could handle an adult higher-tier Inca!"

"No! Trust me, he is the only Inca in this valley… This place is filled with hordes of low-level beasts whom nobody wanna hunt. Turns out, this baby Inca has gotten accustomed to this valley. He plays, hunts and sleeps here without ever getting out."

"Damn! If that's the case…hmm… this is a fucking gold mine."

"Alright! Now enough talk. We'll circle him from both sides. You will act as a diversion. I'll sneak up on him from the other side. We break his leg, trap him and go home wiggling our asses against each other."

"Alright! But why do I have to make the diversion?"

"It might be an infant, but… this beasts is just too freaking fast. In these 10 days, I have made several attempts to sneak up on him, but every time I failed. I've done nothing but only rattle his senses. Fortunately, after so many attempts, I have gotten used to his quirks. I can do it, but there is no way you can sneak up on him just on your first try."

"Alright! Fair enough…" The archer nodded and slid his mask back over his mouth. "But remember our deal! We split the profit in half"

"Yeah, just avoid killing him at all cost…" The woman pulled out her broadsword, took a step in the opposite direction of him."We don't wanna ruin the merchandise…"

They had their presence muffled to the point of being non-existent. With each step, they were blocking the Inca's every ‌path to escape. An approach so silent and elusive that it might even be comparable to muffled strangulation.

The beast was still resting under the tree with his eyes closed without a care in the world, ignorant of its abysmal fate. Step by step, they soon closed up the gap between each other. Now, both the hunters stood only 25 meters apart from each other, with the beast exactly in the center.

Soon, the woman nodded. This was his signal for her partner to initiate the diversion. The man took out an arrow, stretched the bowstring with a rigid pull. The very next second, he released the grip and arrows burst forward, slicing the air in half.

~SWISSSHHHHH

The woman who was keeping a track of the archer's trick smirked disdainfully. She felt that intensity of the shot inside her gut.

'Why did I even bother trying to trap him from the other side? When Robin gets serious, no way an infant beast could dodge a shot like that!'

The arrow tore the air in half, bolted towards the poor creature's right wing. It cut the air like a missile. The arrow was so fast it didn't even take the tenth of a second to appear right in front of the beast ready to impale the beast's bloody wing to the wooden trunk. However, something happened the very next moment.

The beast opened his eyes and glared straight at the Archer. Seeing such calm demeanor, the archer's soul leaked out of his body. Nevertheless, despite notice the arrow heading its way, the beast didn't even bother to move even an inch away from his position.

The Archer felt something was wrong. However, what he saw next was beyond comprehension. The creepier part was that the arrow passed through the beast's body as if the he was some kind of cloud of dissipating smoke. The arrow went past the beast's illusive body and impaled the tree truck.

~Thud

"What… in the bloody hell was that?" Archer's genitals almost froze after watching something unbelievable happen right in front of his eyes. The scene was so bizarre—even for an experienced scout like him—that he had to blink several times.

However, his mind took a descent through paranoia when he saw a look of horror in the eyes of his partner, who was almost 20 meters away from him on the opposite side.

The woman's eyes were filled with urgency as she now started running towards him. This sudden hasty approach towards him instead of the beast confused the Archer even more. This wasn't the plan they agreed to. She was supposed to sneak up on the beast.

"Why is she coming towards me?" He mumbled with an erratic whiff.

Soon enough the Archer's vision began to turn shady. For some reason, his pulse raged like thunder. His elbow felt a draft of air. The left side of his shoulder felt warm and wet. An unexplainable tick went through his spine, screaming that something was not right.

"BEHIND YOU!" She yelled out of desperation, "IT'S A MOUSETRAP!"

Her voice was trembling. The ear screeching words entered his ears, but they were a tad bit slower.