43

Hunter, Don't Shoot My Friend

Chapter 43: Someone Disappeared, Part 1

A week had passed since Stiles abandoned his investigation, which led nowhere. Since then, he has been studying with JJ the various ways to deal with the unknown.

He was being instructed in theoretical matters, and JJ was also teaching him how to fight. "As a field agent, you can't be a hero, or your life will slip away before you even realize it."

"Aren't we supposed to be heroes?" Stiles was confused by J.J.'s anger. As hunters, weren’t they supposed to hunt the beast?

"Rule number eight: if we're alone and can't win a battle, we avoid it, even if it means letting some people die." JJ knew this sounded harsh, but he explained, "A field agent's life is ten times more valuable than a civilian's. You have the data—a field agent saves 2,000 people a year and takes around five years to train."

The explanation was simple and easy to understand. One couldn't sacrifice themselves in normal situations because the life of an agent was more valuable than that of a civilian.

If the agent stayed alive, they could save more civilians and be of use later on.

Ethan nodded slightly, sharing the same viewpoint, and added, "Unless you can handle the threat, you wait for reinforcements."

That was the reality, and Stiles understood it perfectly. Still, he questioned Ethan, who had just joined the conversation: "Then how did you earn the nickname 'the hunter who never abandons his battles'?"

"I'm different—not as human as you think." Ethan said this and then stopped, looked up, and added, "I can't be killed because I've made too many sacrifices throughout my life. I regret it, but in the end, nothing matters if we're dead."

Stiles raised his eyebrows and said, "You have a good point. I can't complain about my life, though I do feel weaker when I think I could be attacked by anything."

"Come on, Stiles, you're human. Any human can kill men, wolves, or vampires if they have the right weapons." JJ had killed more supernatural beings than he had met people; he was just an ordinary human, so he knew Stiles could become much more if he trained him.

"Can I be stronger than werewolves?" Stiles was pleasantly surprised by this.

"How do you think we're winning?" JJ asked, a bit annoyed by the lack of respect.

Ethan looked at JJ and said, "Come on, the kid doesn't know anything about our weapons and training."

"That's true, so let's get to training." JJ set aside the cigarette in his mouth and walked to the shooting range to teach Stiles a bit about gunpowder.

But at that moment, before things could get more exciting, a call interrupted Ethan's thoughts. "Who's speaking?"

"Zz… Directly report to the regent, whose current location is Beacon Hills. Are you ready for the report?"

"Proceed."

"Zz… Sir, we've detected that a surge of dark energy erupted a week ago in Beacon Hills. Due to the barrier, we only noticed it now."

Ethan's expression hardened, and he asked, "Estimated strength?"

"Zz… The largest we've detected in that location. Your special team has been dispatched and will arrive this afternoon."

Upon hearing this, Ethan shook his head slightly. He had retired for a reason and didn't want to be bothered with more missions. But for some reason, dark entities followed him as if he were the Tooth Fairy.

"I'll take care of it," Ethan said as he set aside all his other commitments.

Sebastián, who was arranging the liquor, asked, "New orders, sir?"

"Prepare the guesthouse. My squad is coming." Ethan stood up, looked at himself in a mirror, and, seeing the black suit and the visible guns along with his sword, he shook his head.

The coming days would be a bit more hectic, especially with that dark entity that seemed to have been playing in his backyard for some time now.

He had to get to work, especially when the police in this town were not equipped to handle operations against dark entities.

"I'll be back soon."