Chapter 12: The Sniper of the Jungle (Part 2)
With their new sniper helper watching their backs, the family felt confident enough to explore a bit more of the jungle. It was a beautiful day, and the forest was surprisingly peaceful. They quickly discovered why: the outer area was filled with weak, low-level units that posed no threat.
"Oh! Look how cute!" Mia squealed, pointing eagerly through the bushes.
A group of Fluffy Red Rabbits (Level 3) and some brightly colored Forest Birds (Level 4) were hopping around.
"They are cute," Aurora smiled, pulling out her basic hunting knife. "But Mama needs crafting materials. I am so tired of wearing these stiff, dirty clothes. Sorry, little ones!"
The family spent the next hour hunting the low-level creatures. It was incredibly easy work. The rabbits and birds posed absolutely no threat, and the loot drops were exactly what they needed. The rabbits dropped soft Cotton and low-grade meat for cooking.
"Perfect," Aurora beamed, holding up a large bundle of white fluff. "With this cotton and the Advanced Workbench blueprint we just got, I can finally craft us some elegant, comfortable shirts. You guys smell terrible!"
"Hey, survival is sweaty work!" Randolf laughed loudly. He took out a piece of flat bark and a piece of charcoal from their campfire. "I'm drawing a map. We'll mark this stream as the 'Fluffy Rabbit Zone'. It is good to know exactly what units spawn where in case we need more cotton."
"Good idea, Dad," Ran said, updating his own digital System map to match.
Suddenly, their new Sniper Beast summon let out a low, warning grunt. It raised its hand and pointed its long rifle toward a thick cluster of giant ferns to the north.
Ran crept forward and peered through the large green leaves. His breath hitched in his throat.
Not one, not two, but *five* Sniper Beasts were gathered around a fallen tree. They were roasting some kind of large jungle lizard over a crackling fire. Their levels ranged from 10 to 15.
"Five of them," Ran whispered, retreating back to his family quickly. "This is bad. If they spot us at this distance, they will act like a firing squad. Their guns do massive damage. Even if I activate my Chaos Armor, I couldn't stop five heavy sniper rounds at once."
"So, we run away?" Mia asked nervously, hiding behind her father's leg.
"No," Randolf grinned, his eyes gleaming with tactical excitement. "We plan. We have tools, and we have the element of surprise. If we force them into close combat where they are weak, we can capture all of them."
They retreated to a safe distance and spent a solid thirty minutes discussing their strategy.
They gathered all their remaining vines and ropes. Randolf quietly climbed into the tall trees surrounding the lizard-roasting camp, tying heavy nets to the branches to create a massive drop-trap. Ran and Aurora silently set up tripwires around the edges of the clearing, making sure to block the snipers' escape routes.
The plan was set. Everyone got into position. They just needed to close the distance without getting shot.
Mia stepped out of the bushes first. A brilliant light flashed as she assimilated with her Martial Innate Soul. Glowing line tattoos traced down her skin, her eyes snapped to bright yellow, and those beautiful butterfly wings burst from her back. "Hey! Ugly dwarfs! Over here!"
All five Sniper Beasts snapped their giant magnifying eyes toward her. Startled by the glowing girl, they dropped their roasted lizard and immediately unslung their massive rifles to shoot.
But before they could even pull their triggers, Ran gave the command.
*Bang!* Ran's summoned Sniper Beast, hidden perfectly in the thick brush fifty feet away, fired a precision shot. The bullet hit the heavy rifle of the highest-level beast, knocking the weapon right out of its hands with a loud clatter.
Startled and confused by the friendly fire, the other four beasts panicked. They aimed their guns at the brush where the shot came from, completely ignoring the sky above them. That was their fatal mistake.
"Incoming!" Randolf roared.
Using his double jump and **[Dash]** skill, he had perfectly positioned himself in the tree branches directly above them. He dropped like a meteor, holding a massive vine net. He landed right in the center of their camp with a heavy thud, throwing the wide net over three of the beasts at once.
The shockwave of his landing knocked the fragile snipers off their feet. They tangled in the thick vines, completely unable to raise their long guns in the tight space.
"**Paralyze Powder!**" Mia shouted. Since she still couldn't fly, she ran forward and used a large mossy rock as a stepping stone. She jumped up high, furiously flapping her beautiful wings to hang in the air for just a second. From above, she sent a massive shower of sparkling, paralyzing dust over the entire camp.
The dust settled on the three trapped beasts, instantly locking their muscles so they couldn't struggle or break their own bones like the first one did.
However, the fifth beast, who had been standing slightly further away near the fire, managed to dodge the dust. It raised its rifle, aiming directly at Randolf's unprotected back.
"Not today!" Ran shouted, bursting from the bushes.
Ran pushed his energy down into his feet and triggered his Active Skill: **[Chaos Armor]**. Instantly, his clothes shifted, hardening into sleek, black leather armor. Because his soul was Mythic, the power boost was absolutely insane. His speed tripled. He blurred across the clearing like a striking cobra.
Before the beast could pull the trigger on Randolf, the sniper panicked and tried to leap backward to create distance—that was exactly what Ran wanted.
The beast slid backward across the dirt, its heel catching the invisible tripwire Ran and Aurora had set up earlier. The wire snapped tight, catching the beast's legs and flipping it upside down. Ran leaped up and delivered a swift, non-lethal strike to the back of its neck. *Thud.* The beast was knocked out cold before it hit the ground.
Meanwhile, Aurora stood safely at the edge of the clearing. Her hands glowed a bright, beautiful green as she continuously cast **[Replenish]**. She kept Randolf and Ran's mana bars completely full, ensuring they never ran out of energy during the rapid, high-stakes assault.
In less than a minute, the entire fight was over. All five Sniper Beasts were completely subdued on the ground. Thanks to the carefully placed nets, the paralyze powder, and the tripwires, not a single beast was badly injured, and no family member had a scratch on them.
"Flawless execution!" Randolf laughed loudly.
"That was amazing! Did you see me jump?" Mia cheered. Her glowing tattoos and butterfly wings slowly faded away into sparkles, and her yellow eyes turned back to normal.
Ran walked over to the five subdued creatures on the ground. He pulled out five empty blue Basic Orbs from his inventory. Keeping two for himself, he turned and handed the other three to his family.
"Here. One for Mom, one for Dad, one for Mia," Ran said.
"Are we supposed to capture them?" Randolf asked, examining the crystalline sphere. "I thought only the Lord could use these."
"Actually, the System allows subordinates to use Orbs to capture and command units just like a Lord can," Ran explained, recalling the System's deeper mechanics. "The key difference is authority. As the Lord, I possess master control, meaning I can override commands or take control of any unit subdued by our family. But if you capture them yourselves, you get direct command over your own personal protectors."
"That's fantastic," Aurora smiled, gripping her orb. "Let's do it."
Moving quickly, they each stepped forward and pressed an orb against a beast's chest. One by one, glowing magical circles lit up the dirt beneath the creatures. The physical bodies of the five beasts dissolved into streams of bright blue light, getting safely sucked inside the crystalline spheres.
*Ding!*
The System chimed happily with each successful capture.
"Awesome!" Mia cheered. She held her filled orb, accepted the System prompt to claim her new unit, and immediately summoned her Sniper Beast. It materialized beside her, looking like a tough, dwarven bodyguard.
Aurora smiled, accepting her own unit. "Thank you, sweetie. This will make gathering cotton and cooking much safer."
Ran checked his Beast Space Manager screen. "According to the System, my personal manager can hold a maximum of 10 units right now. The capacity is directly linked to our base level. We need more blueprints to upgrade our base if we want to build a real army."
"So we shouldn't just capture everything we see," Aurora noted wisely. "We should save our space."
"Right," Ran agreed. "From now on, we will just kill the normal beasts for their loot and experience. We will save our capture slots for rare or highly useful units. I will take the remaining two Sniper Beasts I just caught and assign them as guards to patrol our base's perimeter. That way, we are always safe while working."
They updated Randolf's map one last time, marking the area as the "Sniper Beast Camp." Feeling deeply satisfied with their huge haul and flawless teamwork, the family agreed it was time to head back. They wouldn't explore any further today; they had pushed their luck enough and won big.
By the end of the day, sitting safely behind the tall wooden fences of their camp, they reviewed their progress.
Because of the massive experience from capturing five Epic units and hunting the smaller beasts, the family's levels had spiked dramatically. Ran managed to level up 5 times in total, finally hitting Level 20. Mia leveled up 4 times, reaching Level 17. Randolf and Aurora both leveled up 3 times, reaching an astonishing Level 23.