Chapter 20: Dinosaur Hunters

Miguel’s first arrow missed the target entirely, falling short and skiting across the floor, before coming to a halt near Tarja’s feet. The blonde woman, her gun pointed at the target near Miguel, glanced down at it without changing position, then looked up again. “Do be careful, Miguel. I’m warning you, if you hit me, you’ll regret it. Though perhaps not for very long.”

Then her own shot rang out. The pistol was equipped with a silencer, but it still made a thumping noise that reverberated around the gym. Miguel was aware of a crackling sound near his elbow as the bullet hit the target; he glanced around, and saw that Tarja’s shot was only a few inches from the very center.

Miguel felt his heart pounding, Frowning, he strung another arrow. He took a moment to glance at the pair of local goons. The man and woman had now stopped sparring and were watching Tarja and Miguel’s shooting contest. This felt reassuring – he might not be as good a shot as Tarja, but at least he wouldn’t be the worst. He’d be better than Kampion’s heavies.

Right?

“Sid, this is crazy,” he called out. “Can’t we just move a bit further apart?”

“I run this training,” called out Sid in his booming voice. “Proceed, or you’ll be out on the street, Rubio. Or worse.”

Miguel pulled back the bow, trying to relax and get a feel of the unfamiliar weapon. “You can do this. It’s just like inside Demon Hunters,” he murmured to himself, stretching the bow a little more and trying to get a feel of the power behind the weapon. As he readied himself, Tarja fired twice more. One of her shots clearly missed the target alongside him, for instead of the crackling noice, he heard it bang loudly as it smacked directly into the wooden wall behind. How close had that bullet gone to Miguel? And was Sid really going to keep making their training activities this dangerous?

Surely not...

But then, why wouldn’t he, Miguel briefly reflected. Clearly, Sid viewed the training as just another contest. No wonder he hadn’t acted more friendly in the car. Things were now even more deadly than before, of course, as the harm of failure could be immediate.

Sid obviously wanted to prove himself, and if one of his main rivals were to die or be seriously wounded in training, that would just increase his own value to Kampion.

Dismissing these thoughts, Miguel focused his eyes on the target, trying to imaging that its central black circle was the eye of one of the monstrous centipedes. Picturing the beast ahead of himself and Chloe, closing in, clinging to his side like she had on the lake. Feeling a sense of urgency, of limited ammo, the need to make the shot or perish...

Ping. He released the arrow. This time, it shot out sweetly, arcing slightly in the air, and then slammed home on the outer edge of the central black circle.

“Nice,” he murmured, pulling a third arrow in a smooth motion. This time he glanced at the target alongside him, and saw that he may have been mistaken. One of Tarja’s shots had blown a large hole right through the target, and if she had hit the same zone again, then one or more of her follow-up shots would have gone right through the same hole, banging into the wall of the gym.

As he thought about it, he was sure that must have been what happened.

“We’re both really good,” Miguel murmured. “Damn good. We’ll show Sid.”

Out of his next eight arrows, seven of Miguel’s shots hit the circular target, all but one of them on or close to the central circle. On the eighth, Miguel was distracted by something looming in the left of his field of vision, momentarily thinking that he was about to be struck again.

He saw that the two heavies had stepped closer to him, but were not attacking, instead walking towards the center of the gym. The distraction was enough; Miguel’s final arrow shot out to the side and lodged at an angle in the wooden flooring.

He looked up at Tarja, who raised one eyebrow. “That could have been worse,” she murmured

“Damn it – I’m really sorry, Tarja.”

“Let’s move, now,” yelled Sid, gesturing for everyone to come closer. “We have a contest to win.”

Miguel looked around, and saw that the heavies and Sid were now standing in the centre of the gym, and he put down the bow and moved over to join them.

A few moments later, the small group had gathered in a circle near the middle of the area, all five of them looking at one another with varying levels of curiosity, suspicion and annoyance.

“What the hell was that, Sid?” demanded Miguel. “Why not have me and Tarja both stand on the same side, so there was no risk of hitting each other?”

“There was never any risk of me hitting you,” corrected Tarja firmly.

Sid just spread his arms. “We need to be good at what we do. No missing is allowed. We all need to focus.”

“No – better than good. The best.” It was the heavy-set man in combat fatigues who had spoken up. His voice was calm – peaceful, even – despite the declaration of intent.

Miguel looked at him. The man was balding but his face looked young, with a wispy moustache. He was taller than Miguel, and had a large protruding belly. “And you are?” Miguel asked.

“That’s Noah,” said Tarja, pointing her thumb in the man’s direction. “And beside him is Aluna. They’re two of the boss’s best fighters.”

Miguel’s gaze moved from Noah over to Aluna. She was short and muscular, as he had seen before. He’d barely paid her any attention before, but now that he got a closer look, he could see that she was also very beautiful, with medium-dark skin, very long wavy black hair, and big dark eyes. “Uh, good to meet you,” he murmured.

“Hey, Miguel,” she replied.

“Don’t get too attached, Shmoop,” said Tarja, arching an eyebrow again as she noticed Miguel’s reaction to the woman. “Only four of us can go dinosaur hunting.”

“Dinosaur hunting?”

Sid cleared his throat, and shot an irritated glare at Tarja. “The next mission is to track and take down a predatory dinosaur, probably a very large one. As Tarja has said, we need to select a team of four for this contest. It’s a matter of speed and efficiency, so we need to move fast, work together, and we’ll probably be limited to traditional weapons.”

“Well,” said Miguel, thinking hard. “At least we have a few days to get used to all the types of weapon here, right?”

Aluna shook her head. “Miguel. We enter today. You’re better start filling in your scores. With a grin, she pointed over to the side of the gym.

Miguel looked back to where he had left the sheet from Bratislav’s clipboard lying on the floor, near the bows on the side wall.

Later that day, Miguel looked at the same sheet, now largely filled in:

Strength: 14 Speed: 18 Melee: 4 Ranged: 14 Spirit: 1 Agility: 4 Dead lift: 92kg Time trial: 2.6 minutes Melee bout percentage: 82% Shooting accuracy percentage: 91% Magical knowlege: no data Obstacle course: 55%

All in all, he had made good progress, even if the obstacle course was almost as difficult in real life as it would have been for his clumsy avatar inside Demon Hunters. It consisted of a series of barriers to jump over, reminding him a little of the chain of islands on the underground lake. He had seen Tarja complete the very end of that particular task.

As he pondered over his scores, Tarja walked away from the other three and came to his shoulder. “Seems like you’re acing it, hun,” she said.

“Eh?” He looked up, and saw a smile playing across her face. “Are you being sarcastic?”

She shrugged. “Well, you’re not doing as good as me, it’s true... But you have a chance. Ranged weapons are going to be useful.”

“You can say that again,” he replied. “Who’s going to want to get close to a dinosaur?”

“I would,” said Aluna, stepping closer with Noah and Sid approaching just behind her. Her dark eyes were glistening. “I’d love nothing better than to slam a sword into its tendons and then gut it from throat to belly.” She grinned broadly, eyes glistening.

“That’s, uh... vivid,” Miguel replied.

She pouted, glancing at Tarja and then back at Miguel. “Well – I’m in this ‘cause I like to hunt.”

“And you will,” declared Sid, putting ne hand on the woman’s shoulder. “I’ve decided. It’s going to be you, me, Noah and Miguel for this task.”

“What? That’s not fair!” cried Tarja, holding up her own sheet. “My scores are better than anyone’s – look!”

Sid shrugged, and he folded his muscular arms. “I’ve made my choices. It’s not just about individual skill. And the time has come – we need to be underway in less than half an hour.”

“But, but...”

“Tarja, we need a particular combination of talents, and this is what I’ve chosen. You can stay here and watch. Unless you want to take the issue up with Madam Kampion?”

“I...” Tarja began to speak again, then fell silent, her face still emanating fury. “Fine,” she spat. “I’ll carry on with my own training.” With this, she unhooked a spear from the side wall, gripping it tightly in her fist as she glared at Sid, and then began to jog towards the back of the gymnasium.

“Well, squad,” said Sid, turning to the others and ignoring Tarja’s response. “It’s time to go back under. We have a dinosaur to hunt.”

“So, we need to get to Viperstar headquarters again?” said Miguel.

But Sid shook his head. “No need. Kampion has all of the facilities we need right here on the compound.”

He led the way out of the gym and around the building in an anticlockwise direction. At the side, a second door that Miguel hadn’t seen before led to a set of steps. Soon, they were in an unfamiliar area above the gym. It looked clean and uncluttered, and there were several further doors along a corridor.

“So... like, they have headsets up here?” asked Miguel.

“Uh, huh,” said Aluna with a nod and a placid smile.

“But what about service androids and all that?” Miguel continued, looking around. Something about being in this desolate-seeming wing of the complex filled him with a sense of dread. At least Viperstar were professionals. They had designed Demon Hunters in the first place. But this...?

Noah slapped Miguel on the shoulder. “Everything we need is here. Relax, Miguel. Not only will the androids look after you, but you’ll experience it all even better than before.

Miguel nodded and sniffed, aware of a strong smell of body odor from Noah’s combat fatigues, and took a step away.

Aluna nodded. “Noah’s right. It’s gonna be really immersive. This is top tech. No expense spared.”

“Miguel, you can go in there,” said Sid, pointing. “Door number four.”

Miguel moved over to where he had been directed. And when he entered, he was astonished to see that the tiny room within was exactly like the ones at Viperstar. The surroundings were almost indistinguishable, with the single chair and a panel in front of it, though this time the panel was transparent, and the headset could be seen behind it.

A service android was there, too – if anything, it looked more high-tech than the ones he had seen before. The mechanical arms were much the same, but it was gleaming, and covered with mysterious lights and buttons.

Before stepping over the threshold, Miguel looked back up the corridor to wish the others luck, but all three had already moved quickly into their own rooms. Instead, he looked at the android. “Okay, then,” he said. “Let’s get this over with.“

“Please, be seated, human.”

“Right you are.”

Soon the mechanical arms of the android were placing the headset on, adjusting it... and moments later, all Miguel could see was gray.

At least until his vision adjusted.

Then he could see... green?

He took a deep breath and looked around, blinking. There was a damp smell in the air, and everything around him was composed of various shades of green, like a wall... No – it was plants.

But not like the grass and lily pads that he had seen at Madam Kampion’s, or even the tall grasses of the previous Demon Hunters contest. These plants were huge, dark, overwhelming... Trunks of trees could be seen high up, but for the most part, his surroundings were thick with leaves and foliage. Some were brushing against his face and arms.

Miguel took another breath. The air was humid, and he could see steam rising from the ground. A squawking noise came from above, and insects were buzzing all around. One landed on his shoulder, and he brushed it off.

He looked down. Unlike in the gym, he was now dressed all in green combat fatigues, not unlike what Noah and Aluna typically wore.

And he was unarmed.

“Shit...”

He began to move, stepping carefully through the undergrowth, pushing back one branch after another. He ducked under a branch, and stood up to find himself in a small marshy clearing, no wider than a city street. And ahead of him, dominating the area, was a large, squat, blue animal. Its neck was very long, and as Miguel froze in shock, it lowered a very large head towards him.

Clearly, it was a dinosaur.

Miguel took one step back, ready to run.