New World with Four Husbands

"Why are there so many spawn stones?"

The question came out shaky and confused, the sense of dread and fear evident on how Myra slowly walked over to Coco's spot.

Coco was standing on the first spawn stone which was the nearest stone, its color was bright— glowing impeccably and raising their guards' up from how it emitted a soft yet menacing glow.

"We need to destroy these stones!" Coco announced, her right hand curling into a fist before she brought it down to the stone, hard and powerful.

However, the stone showed no sign of damage.

"But it seems like you can't break them as is!" Coco hissed, the frustration in her voice loud and clear.

Greinzer was the first to step forward, his eyebrows pinched together as he looked around and counted how many spawn stones were right next to each other.

"Why do we need to destroy these magical stones?" The hunter asked, raising an eyebrow.

Despite not knowing why Coco looked spooked and anxious, he still placed a hand on his gun and withdrew it from its holster, getting ready to aim and fire at the spawn stone before him.

"They're going to kill those who will pass by.. And this many spawn stones shouldn't be this close to each other." Coco said, pointing at the other three stones.

"Something must have happened then." Myra spoke up, making Greinzer and Coco look at her.

"What happened?" Zuyo asked, walking over to their instructor and team leaders, Yura and the other two men in the group trailing behind him.

"Coco wants us to destroy these." Myra pointed at the spawn stones before them. "But Coco tried and it was a failure."

"How are we going to break them then?" Lukas questioned, his gaze shifting away from Myra to his leader. "You told us to destroy them, but physical attacks don't work, right? Any ideas on how to destroy them?"

Coco's eyes darted to the sacred beast, her gaze narrowing.

A part of her blames Lukas for the mess she was forced into, but a part of her also told her that he doesn't know better— or he did, but he was probably unaware about the effect he has on his surroundings, right?

"I have no idea." Coco grumbled, telling them the truth.

"Although.." She continued and looked over to Greinzer, her eyes landing on his gun. "We can try by letting the instructor shoot at it first?"

Since physical attacks don't work, maybe magic does? Coco wondered, her lips forming a straight line.

"I'll see what I can do." Greinzer agreed without much thought, turning away from the group, his gun swiftly finding its target as he pointed it at the nearby spawn stone.

His red eyes narrowed in focus, his hand steady as he aimed with precision, ready to fire at the stone.

Then, without warning, Greinzer's finger squeezed the trigger, sending a shot flying towards the stone with a loud bang, the round shot out from the barrel, cutting through the air until it hit the spawn stone with a sharp ping.

The sound echoed through the area, momentarily disrupting the rather peaceful morning silence.

Greinzer lowered his gun and made his way over to the stone, his footsteps light and quick, eager to see if his weapon made a dent.

However, his footsteps faltered.

"It.. It doesn't have any damage on it." The hunter stated, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

The group walked over to the stone, leaving Coco by the other spawn stone; indeed, the spawn stone Greinzer just shot appeared to be completely unaffected by the bullet, not a scratch or crack on its surface.

"Woah, as clean as a newly cleaned glass." Myra commented.

This left Coco visibly puzzled, a frown etched on her face as she studied the stone beside her with a mixture of frustration and confusion.

What could possibly be the potential weapon to destroy these anomalies?

Coco wanted to ask whoever gave her the quest, but she knew that she wouldn't get a response due to how urgent the quest sounded.

"Okay, let me inspect it." Coco said, making the group turn to her.

She was about to approach the stone, but she— no, all of them paused upon feeling the entire atmosphere around them shifting dramatically.

Whirr.

Suddenly, all four spawn stones began to glow, the light emanating from them intensifying in brightness.

The group, surprised by the unexpected flare of activity from the earlier dormant stones, tensed instinctively, their eyes wide with surprise, along with the stoic Greinzer— his expression flickering momentarily, showing his surprise.

The bright light cast an eerily glow across their surroundings, forcing the group to instinctively take a step back, exchanging worried glances, unsure of what to expect next.

"Coco?" Yura called, her eyes landing on her leader.

Mentioning Coco's name seemed to put the others at ease, their attention shifting away from the glowing stones to the black haired woman instead.

However, an order was barked, making everyone alert.

"Get ready! These stones are teleporting monsters right now!" Coco announced, drawing her unbreakable hoe from the ground while stepping away from the stones.

"At this hour?!" Zuyo asked, horrified.

"Can we even defeat them?" Julian mumbled, jogging away and separating himself from the group to go to Coco's side.

"Of course, we can!" Myra growled, not liking the pessimistic tone of her teammate. "Just follow Coco's order and everything will be fine!"

As if on cue, numerous silhouettes began to materialize in the air, hovering around the spawn stones.

The sight of these forms emerging was alarming, causing the group to instinctively comply with Coco's suggestion, each individual retreating backwards, their muscles tense and their eyes glued to the materializing threat before them.

A flying pig was first to finish materializing in the air so Coco wasted no time in issuing orders, her voice breaking, but commanding.

"Think of this as part of the exam and count the monsters you'll take down!"

The group immediately shifted their focus.