The First Hunt (3)

After getting up and searching for the rest of the squad, Evan met Otto, Finn, and Kang on their way to the cafeteria.

Turns out they just overslept by a little, causing them to be marginally late in coming to the cafeteria.

Walking with them as they arrived at the cafeteria and met up with Astrid, Evan felt a bubbling sense of anticipation rising within him at the thought of battling some monsters.

Although this trip was bound to be dangerous, the thirst for battle flowed through his veins like the rest of the Hale family members.

Sitting down, the group quickly finished their breakfast before Otto imparted one final warning.

"Once we are out there, keep calm and listen to what I tell you to do. As this is your first time being in the Forbidden Wilds, Evan, try not to get yourself killed."

Chuckling slightly, Otto stood up and began leading the group out of the military outpost.

Following behind, Evan clenched his fists as he vowed to himself that he'll not become a burden and drag down the rest of the group.

"The place we're hunting at is an hour away from the outpost, so we will walk there. Be on high alert, there is a high chance of us being ambushed."

Making sure everyone had their gear, the fanged wolves exited the outpost as the forbidden wilds came in full view of their vision.

Walking on a wide road, derelict buildings surrounded the squad from both sides as a crunching sound echoed out every time they stepped forward.

The buildings looked extremely fragile, as if the slightest breeze could break them.

Once magnificent pieces of architecture, these dilapidated buildings accentuated the full horror of the 'collision' and what came afterwards.

Gazing at the state of the buildings and the surrounding, Evan's face became extremely grim.

'Just how many lives has the descent of the red beam destroyed?'

Sighing to get rid of his poignant thoughts, he lowered his gaze, looking downwards towards the grey-looking road they were walking on.

Squinting his eyes, Evan began surveying the path.

Because of the passage of time and the innumerable number of battles fought on the black concrete, minute cracks covered its surface, with there being an occasional crater or two revealing tiny-looking insects crawling underground.

On top of the black concrete was a thin layer of grey 'dust' covering it completely, causing the colour of the concrete to change into a dark-grey colour.

Picking up a bit of this 'dust', Evan rubbed it between his fingers, trying to get a feel for the texture.

However, after a few moments of contemplation, his face paled considerably as his eye widened into saucers.

'This…'

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, he attempted to not lose his composure at the startling discovery he just made as a slightly sulphuric smell made its way into his nose, imparting its mark on his lungs.

'This is ash! No doubt about it. Could this be the remains of the humans who first fought against these monsters?'

Looking at the solemn expression on the rest of his squad members, Evan increasingly felt that this was the truth.

Shaking his head, he let the grey ash fall back onto the floor, as he continued travelling alongside the Fanged Wolves.

Looking ahead, directly in front of him, he gazed at Otto's wide back as his leader's laid-back demeanour vanished, being replaced by that of a warrior prepared to fight to the death.

The fanged wolves positioned themselves in a set formation designed to increase the squad's advantages and minimise their weaknesses to ensure their survival.

Kang, Otto and Finn stood at the front, with Evan and Astrid stationed behind them, each for different reasons.

Evan's reason was because of his weakness whilst Astrid's was for the brief span of vulnerability she would face when preparing to cast a spell.

As she is a mage who specialises in offensive spells, her offensive power is equivalent to a rank 3 warrior, provided she remained at a large enough distance not to be cleaved in two by the attack of a stronger monster.

Half an hour later, after more travelling, the squad arrived at a cluster of buildings which looked to be in somewhat better conditions than the rest of the buildings, which were battered beyond belief and worn down by the passage of time.

Raising a hand in the air to stop the squad, Otto began straining his ears, trying to hear the slightest sound to dispel the nagging feeling that something approached their group nearby that was creeping on him.

However, unfortunately, what Otto desired did not happen as an eerie silence enveloped the entire area, as if showcasing the calm before the storm.

Evan, who was at the back of the group, felt extremely unnerved at finding the area devoid of any noise.

The wind ceased howling, the grey ash remained on the ground, and the only sound created in the immediate vicinity was the hushed noise of the party's breathing.

Suddenly, Evan felt all the hair on his body stand as a chill crawled its way down his spine.

"Move! Now!"

Otto roared at the top of his voice as he swung the silver hammer in his hands backwards.

Upon hearing Otto's voice, Evan immediately strained his body, rushing to get away.

Clash!

Fierce gales appeared from the shock wave of the collision, causing the ash to fly up into the air as it pushed Evan back just from the remnant power of the clash.

As the dust settled, the group could finally get a good look at the unknown creature, which was the source of danger that plagued their minds.

Stood 3 meters tall, was a wolf with murky-brown fur and red bloodshot eyes, as if it has sensed the smell of blood and gone crazy.

Equipped with very sharp claws, the wolf was releasing a pressure that made Evan struggle to breathe, feeling like a truck was on his chest.

'This wolf is at the very peak of rank 2 or just recently ascended to rank 3.'

"Kang and Astrid, you two are fighting the gigantic wolf with me. Finn and Evan, you clear out the weaker wolves of the pack. Go!"

Heeding his words, Evan unsheathed the sword from the scabbard on his hip as he looked up and found a group of a dozen smaller wolves about a hundred metres from the alpha of the pack.

Making eye contact with Finn, whose carefree and joking expression was nowhere to be seen as steel-like determination, made its way to his face.

Nodding at each other, the duo sprinted towards the group of smaller wolves, ready to engage in an intense battle.

Meanwhile, Otto was fighting the three-meter brown wolf as Astrid was at the back, preparing to cast an offensive spell.

Kang was constantly weaving in different directions, trying to utilise the openings given by Otto, who was tanking the blows of the monster.

Equipped with daggers, Kang specialised as a close combat mage, a sort of hybrid between the warrior path and the mage path.

Close combat mages were fearsome combatants. Not only were their blatant weaknesses nullified by their proficiency in close-quarter combat, but they also proved to excel in dealing with enormous waves of enemies using their combat spells.

Swoosh!

His daggers blurred as a green hue erupted from his body, covering the blade in a thin membrane of mana, increasing the daggers' speed and sharpness.

Puchi!

The daggers struck true as Kang skillfully stabbed them into the wolf's hind legs.

However, before any of the trio could shout in delight, the full extent of how deep the dagger impaled the wolf's hind legs made its way into their vision.

The daggers' only managed to just barely pierce the outer layer of skin, causing at most a superficial injury which, although wasn't fatal, still hurt like hell.

ROAR!

The wolf's enraged roar rang out, with its red eyes turning even more bloodshot as it turned its body and pounced on Kang.