Chapter 715: Hunting demonstration
Coco turned her back on the team, her sharp gaze landing on Leroy— who was watching with quiet curiosity due to her questions.
They saw that something unreadable flashed in her eyes for a second before she crouched down and without a word to anyone, she began picking up the shards of the shattered spawn stone off the ground.
One by one, she gathered them carefully, her gloved fingers deftly collecting each fragment before slipping them into a small pouch in her slung bag, the weight adding nothing but significance to its contents.
The others exchanged glances, but didn’t question it; they knew better than to ask about Coco’s actions.
Once done, she stood and adjusted the strap over her shoulder, ready to move on again.
Coco took a decisive step forward, her boots pressing into the frost-covered ground and she didn’t bother looking back, simply stating her intent as she walked ahead.
"Follow." She instructed over her shoulder. "I’ll show you guys how to kill a monster."
The four members exchanged glances, waiting for a couple of seconds on their spot before quickly falling in line behind their leader when they noticed that she was serious.
They moved like shadows through the trees, matching Coco’s pace as she led them deeper into the woods where they knew monsters often lurked.
With each breath, a thin wisp of smoke curled from their mouths, visible in the icy air.
The cold didn’t bother Coco as much; her lovely thick coat acted as an effective shield against the biting chill, keeping her warm and mobile.
She moved with ease, her layers not restricting her movements at all.
Meanwhile, one of the teammates shivered slightly,
— the tallest member, Fan, his thinner jacket failing to provide full protection against winter’s grip.
Coco didn’t slow down for him though, she was on a mission to get rid of them.
She kept marching forward through the trees, her steps swift and sure despite the heavy coldness around her.
Noticing that the deeper they went into the wood the temperature became colder, she decided to pull her hood up slightly to protect her face from the chill wind as she navigated through snow-covered branches and paths.
The team behind her huddled closer together for warmth, their breaths coming out in puffs just like hers.
Coco walked for several more minutes, her senses sharp, listening to the quiet sounds of the woods and making sure to keep an eye out for gaulters because that’s mostly the kind of monster that she encounters.
She walked, they walked, and kept walking, until a sharp sound cut through the woods.
Rustle, rustle, rustle.
She halted instantly, her body going rigid, eyes squinting, with her grip tightening on her hoe as she raised it in front of her— a silent warning to those behind that something was ahead.
The team froze, too, their eyes darting toward the source of the noise, the trees just a few feet forward shivering slightly from movement.
Coco didn’t turn her head, her eyes stayed locked on the direction of the rustling.
She spoke in a hushed whisper, her voice low and firm. "Stay here and don’t make any sudden movements. I don’t want the monster to change its target."
"Ma’am?" Jade called, blinking in worry.
Without waiting for a response, Coco took slow steps forward, the crunch of snow beneath her boots barely audible, with her trustworthy hoe remained raised, ready to swing at any moment if something hostile emerged from the bushes.
The team held their breath, frozen in place, their muscles tense as they waited.
Just as Coco was about to disappear into the treeline, a sudden lurch of movement came from ahead and a massive stone golem erupted from the bushes, its hulking form barreling straight toward her with terrifying speed.
Its rocky limbs slammed against branches, sending splinters flying everywhere.
"Ma’am!" Fan screamed so loudly that it ripped through the air, his voice laced heavily with panic.
The team gasped in unison, their hearts stopping as the stone golem charged at Coco like a boulder of destruction, but then..
WHOOSH.
A single, lightning-fast swing of her hoe sliced through the airband right down the middle of the golem.
The creature froze for only a second before it got split cleanly in half, its upper body crumbling to dust while its lower half collapsed with a heavy thud.
Dead silence immediately fell over the group.
Their jaws dropped— completely stunned by how effortlessly Coco had just annihilated a massive golem in one hit, and the only thing they could do is blink.
Meanwhile, Coco didn’t react to their shock at all.
She simply exhaled through her nose, a quiet huff of mild annoyance, and stepped forward toward the pile of rubble where the goleter’s remained scattered.
She crouched down and plucked out a dimmed shard from among the stones, adding it to her collection in her bag.
When she was done with her business, she started walking again, which quickly snapped the team out of their daze, jolting forward when they saw that Coco continued walking, unfazed and completely unbothered with what she did.
They scrambled after her, boots pounding against the snow.
Leroy was the fastest out of the four— his long legs carrying him ahead of the others, with his face twisted in a scowl, his frown deepening with every step closer to Coco.
"Ma’am." He called out sharply, his tone rude. "You can’t just do that and not say anything."
Coco hummed and didn’t slow down, or even glance at Leroy, and simply kept walking, her boots crunching over the snow as she responded bluntly.
"What am I supposed to say?" She shot back, her tone flat. "It’s not like I forced all of you to come with me."
Leroy was quick to grit his teeth, irritation flashing in his eyes, and he could hear that the others had caught up behind them— panting slightly from the sprint, but staying quiet.
"Is this how hunters act?" Leroy asked, growling.