Anita watched the kids in amusement but was a tad concerned as they eagerly took in the sights that passed the wagon's vision. “You kids act like you’ve never seen trees before.”

“We’ve never left the kingdom before,” Matthew turned to Anita, “you’re not supposed to leave the kingdom before fourteen, and some people live their whole lives in Lumina.”

“So, you kids have never seen the outside? How did you become monster hunters?” Anita was concerned over the experience of her team’s bodyguards, as any adult would if they were being escorted by teenagers.

“Simple, monster tamers would take them into the city. They would let us fight them, make sure we didn’t get hurt too bad.” That answered one question, but did they fight big monsters or chumps?

“Oh, good, I was worried you kids were all talk. What kind of monsters have you fought any ways?”

“All sorts. Hiboars, Loboars, Emboaronze…lot of boars now that I think about it. We’ve fought Fowlcrows, Octoplants, Matthew even stood up against a Hellion!” Anita looked puzzled at all the names thrown her way. She needed details to see if what she had seen matched the names of these monsters.

“You’re going to have to explain all of these to me. What’s a high boar? And a low boar? Do they share similarities?”

Eric rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “A Hiboar is like the leader of a tribe and loboars are their followers. The Hiboar walks on its hind legs while the Loboar walk on all fours; each has a mark to show they below to the same tribe. Alone they’re harmless, some people having Loboars for pets. Hiboars occasionally try to steal food but even a four year old can beat them up. Together, they cause trouble for villages, from shenanigans like ruined crops to outright destroying villages and even killing people!” This shocked the researcher.

“Oh my, and are Emboaronze part of their ranks?” Eric shook his head at this. “No, they’re fire boars that live alone. Emboaronze would tear apart Hiboars and Loboars.”

“Fascinating. What of Fowlcrows and Octoplants?”

“Fowlcrows are big black birds that like to hide in the shadows. Not just in building shadows or tree shadows, but even in the shadows of animals and people. They don’t prey on humans, but they can be pretty mean; some people have used them to gather information or find objects, especially war generals. They like to hunt Octoplants, which are carnivorous plants that like eat just about anything. They’re very cunning, walk on eight roots, and are just as likely to eat monsters as they are animals or people.”

Anita felt scared and excited, recalling when she was a little girl reading horror novels. “How terrifying. What of Hellions? I presume they’re some kind of lion creature.”

“No, scorpion. They live in mountains and are mostly like scorpions, but they don’t like sand and have razors in their claws. Some monster tamer once raised a hellion to travel the mountain range and used his claws to cut metal sheets and bring them back as supplies.”

“Wow, you seemed excited that Matthew fought one, now I see why.”

“Yeah, Matt once had to fight one all alone. During class, the teacher had a tamer bring one out and chose Matt to fight against it. The Hellion tried to grab him with his right claw, then his left, but Matt jumped back each time, smacking the claws with his sword. This went on a bit before the thing used its tail, but Matt blocked it with his shield and slapped it away. The tamer called the creature back, but not before Matt got to pet it and take a ride on up the school building…lucky.” At that remark, the boy laughed, “I was scared going up that building. The guy told me to hold on to the carapace, but I was still afraid I’d lose my grip.”

“Wow, I bet you all have exciting feats!”

“Well Jessy once froze a classroom by accident. Also froze a student solid by sneezing.” Eric could feel said girl glaring a hole through his head. Before he could continue, he felt a hand messing up his already messy hair, “Tell her about how I once jumped from one end of the city to the other!”

“Well I mean you just told her yourself,” Eric sounded annoyed but was secretly grateful for his friend jumping in, “and Adriana-“ Eric’s mouth was suddenly covered by her hand, “saved him from thugs when he wouldn’t stop running his mouth. As you can see, some things never change.”

“And what do you do exactly?” Anita focused her gaze on Eric himself. “You talk about everyone else, but you haven’t mentioned yourself yet.” She watched the boy sink back, his eagerness falling away.

“I’m the cleric, the guy that hangs back in case anyone gets a cut or a bruise. I don’t really do much, I just tag along.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, a combat medic is possibly the most valuable role any fighter could ask for, heck even that a normal person could ask for. People get hurt all the time, often by no fault of their own.”

“Thanks for the confidence boost, but they don’t need me. Maybe one day, but right now I’m happy to just tag along.” The woman watched as the boy faking a smile, but was quickly distracted by a large mass of brown ahead of the wagon.

The wagon stopped, the group exiting to see a tribe of Loboars ahead of them. “Are these the Loboars you were talking about?” Anita was surprised at the group of monsters ahead of them. “Yeah. No worries, I can handle them in one fell swoop” Jessica exclaimed proudly, preparing a large attack, but Matt and Brian rushed ahead. “Jess, keep Anita company, me and Matt need to stretch!” Jessica pouted as the two boys rushed toward the boars, “I never get to have any fun.”

As the first boar rushed into Matt, he picked the creature up with his shield and sent it flying to the side. Brian poked one with his spear, grabbing it by the snout before sending the poor boar flying into the crowd, knocking many back along with the bowling boar. As the two continued to slash and stab, the Loboars began to flee, leaving a tall boar to deal with his foes. The Hiboar raised a club over his head, running at the boys in offensive manner that had them looking at each other in confusion. The two stepped aside, holding their legs out as the tribe leader tripped over and felt face first into the dirt. “Looks like we’re having pork tonight!” Brian’s words had caused the Hiboar to pick itself up post-haste as it desperately fled in a fit of panic.

“What a wonderful display!” Anita and the researchers seem over joyed at the victory, but the group of warriors were rather indifferent. “They should be the thankful ones to be honest. It’s been awhile since we last fought anything and those two especially need to stretch their muscles.” Jessica turned to the rogue inquisitively, “I’m surprised you didn’t make another ‘Brian is an idiot’ joke.”

“That’s because, unlike you, I have a sense of humor and know when a joke gets stale.” The mage lit up profusely. “Oooooh snap!” Brian regretted that reaction, as he could feel his body temperature drop rapidly. “Shut up! Nobody asked you!”

Anita simply giggled at the war one response had sparked. “I see you’re enjoying the fight we have between our friends too,” the rogue turned to the researcher, “good, cause there’s going to be a lot more of it.” Adriana went to stop Jessica from beating Brian to death with her staff while also making sure not to get beaten herself.

“Is it always this exciting?” One of the men asked Matt. “Yeah, pretty much.”