CHAPTER 367: SPAWN STONE

"That was amazing!" Zuyo exclaimed, jumping out of his hiding spot and shot a grin on Coco’s way.

"As much as I appreciate the compliment, there’s no time to bask in it." Coco commented, rearing her arm back and slammed the hoe down on the pig’s head, ensuring that it was indeed dead.

"Why not? You were awesome!" Lukas whistled, a proud grin settling on his face.

"Because I saw a spawn stone not too far from here." Coco said, straightening herself and motioning her towards the direction the flying pig came from.

"Spawn stone?" Myra asked, walking over to their spot and stopped beside Zuyo. "You were amazing with that jump by the way. It was much more pleasing to witness it closer this time."

"Spawn stones are stones where the monsters come from." Coco said and her unbreakable hoe over her shoulder. "Let’s camp beside it and kill whatever it spawns."

"I like how you think." Lukas commented, slinging an arm over Coco’s shoulders. "And you’re strong, too."

Lukas leaned down, pressing his cheek on Coco’s head, hugging her like how a friend would hug their best friend after a long day, but Coco wasn’t having any of it.

"Yeah, let’s go." Coco said, shrugging Lukas’ arm off her shoulders and turned away from him.

Lukas didn’t mind that Coco blatantly shoved him off her and just respected her space, opting to walk beside her with a good distance between them.

"Wait for me, please!" Yura called out, running after her two teammates.

"I didn’t know spawn stones existed." Myra said, walking beside Coco, her gaze fixed on the path ahead of them as they approached the said stone in the distance.

Greinzer, who was confused as to why the two teams he was supposed to observe were walking away from their area, immediately ran after them to ask why they were abandoning their posts.

However, he stopped himself from interrupting the conversation because Coco had just said something that he also didn’t know about.

"From what I know, spawn stones are supposed to be a teleporting device for the monsters." Coco said, her pace slowing down a little to let the others catch up to them. "Just like us, the monsters can teleport as well."

"Woah.." Yura mumbled, eyes wide in surprise.

"I didn’t know that." Zuyo stated, scratching the back of his head as he looked away from Coco.

"Don’t worry, I also didn’t know about it until one of my friends told me what spawn stones are." Coco assured them, making them feel less about themselves.

"There are people from this city that knows a thing about monsters?" Myra asked, raising an eyebrow at Coco.

"No.. I came from Yogusho Village." Coco said, her eyebrows pinching together in confusion. "My friends work at a butcher shop and they sell the monsters I hunt for the day so they know a thing or two."

"You were already hunting monsters before you took the hunter license examination?" Julian commented, his question and sudden curiosity catching Coco off guard.

"Yes.." Coco answered the man’s question, trailing off as she thought her next words carefully.

If she were to tell him— and indirectly tell Greinzer— that she had been hunting monsters for only a month, would she get in trouble? There’s no rule about hunting monsters outside of their village, right?

"I decided to take the examination because I want to sell fresh meat inside the city walls." Coco said, not really revealing anything important to any of them.

"Because of your husbands, right?" Yura inquired, tilting her head.

Coco blinked, pausing momentarily which made the others pause as well, and continued walking as she nodded her head to answer Yura’s question.

"You can say that.." Coco mumbled, not entirely confident about her own answer because she was sure that a month ago, she was thinking of earning money to pay off her debt and to divorce the husbands, right?

"But I only wanted to become a licensed monster because I wanted to earn money." Coco added to her previous sentence, half lying and half stating the truth.

Lying? She doesn’t know why she felt like she was lying, but she felt like she was lying to their faces.

The conversation ended with Coco answering Yura’s question because the seven of them arrived at the area where Coco saw the spawn stone.

Lo and behold, the spawn stone was glowing and was emitting a soft whirring sound.

"I think it’s about to spawn another monster." Coco said, making everyone alarm and hold their weapon as they get ready to attack whatever the stone brings out.

Greinzer stepped away from them, his footsteps quiet and quick as he maneuvered his way towards the nearest tree.

The spawn stone glowed brighter and brighter until finally, a new monster materialized before them, its form hovering in the air and enveloped in a soft glow.

Slowly, the light faded and it revealed the form of a tough crocodile, its rough reptilian scales glinting under the sunlight, causing the group to tense, their eyes narrowing as they took in the new threat before them.

The monster soon fell from the air, its form falling to the ground with a soft thump, causing the group to instinctively take a step back.

The impact of the monster’s landing stirred up a small cloud of dust under its weight, momentarily obscuring their view.

The crocodile, now fully on the ground, slowly raised its head, its gaze fixed on the group, a hunger in its eyes, a look that made Coco grip the handle of her how tighter.

"Your group should end it, Myr—" Coco started, gaze shifting, but at the last moment, her eyes caught the swift movement of the monster.

In a heartbeat, the crocodile began to charge towards the group at a surprising speed, its powerful legs propelling it forward with a malicious intent.

"Sorry, Myra!" Coco said, jerking her hand up and meeting the crocodile half way. "I’ll take this one, too!"