First Hunt

Chapter 49

"Ugh, what happened?" Elizabeth asked after a few moments she opened her eyes in Kevin's lap. "You passed out while traveling through the gate."

Kevin answered while he thought about his conversation with Haylee before. She had left saying that they would discuss this once they returned to the academy. She also told him not to discuss this with anyone. Kevin didn't have such intentions to begin with, so he nodded.

"Oh yeah. I remember. Ugh!! This headache is killing me. Reminds me of the time when I tested alcohol." Elizabeth said while holding her hand but still remained in Kevin's lap.

"You tried alcohol?" He asked astonished but in a low voice, afraid that with Elizabeth's headache, it would be worse to speak in a loud voice.

"Yeah. Tried Mom's selection once. A red wine. She was out and so was I after I drank it." She replied with a funny face.

Kevin chuckled at her response and started massaging her head to relieve the pain. "Oh yeah! That's it." Elizabeth replied closing her eyes and feeling her headache reduce slightly.

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After an hour of rest, Elizabeth could now stand up but most of the students were still lying on the ground. Although everyone had regained consciousness, they were still quite groggy when they tried to stand up, so they ceased the effort to do so.

"Are you okay now?" Kevin asked Elizabeth who would stumble now and then when trying to move.

"Can't you use any magic of yours to cure my fatigue like you did last time?" She asked remembering that Kevin could do pretty interesting things.

"Sorry. I can't feel it right now." Kevin replied apologetically. The notification of his partner's fatigue hadn't appeared so there was no option of using LE to heal her.

There was an option of potions from his shop but unfortunately, he had only ten gold coins left and there was nothing available in the shop for this price. Even water or more accurately known as rejuvenating water, which was an inferior form of stamina potion, was twenty gold coins.

He didn't know what the difference was, but he had no way of finding out.

Other than that, another interesting thing about his shop was the selection of items. There were even spices of different types in the shop along with different types of meat. They were complete packages like a set of spices, a big bag of sugar, ten kilograms of meat, etc. Their prices were low. Starting from twenty gold coins to 100 gold coins but they were normal items.

Still, most of the items, skills, and contents of the shop consisted of sexual things like aphrodisiac dinner or orgasmic juice which Kevin felt very weird about.

It took some time for everyone to stand up and when everyone was ready, the teachers who had followed them, a total of ten, left them to their own devices.

Kevin speculated that they were here as guards. If the situation became too out of hand, they were here to deal with it. Of course, that would mean a deduction of points or so Kevin thought.

Another hour went by and now everyone was mostly fine. At that moment a group of students, led by Steven, came in Kevin's direction.

"Would you like to come with us Elizabeth?" Steven asked with politeness on his face while Elizabeth just stared at him. Did he really need to ask?

"Why ask the question you already know the answer to Steven?" Elizabeth retorted which turned Steven's polite face to a little of distaste.

But he still asked, "Wouldn't it be better to stick together than failing the course with liabilities?" It was clear who he was calling a liability, but Kevin didn't take his words to heart. Everyone in the class knew Steven had to spend a weekend in hospital because of the said liability.

"How was the hospital visit?" But Elizabeth was the only one who had the guts to remind him.

Steven, who understood the meaning, turned red when he was reminded of the spar a few weeks ago. It was a shameful result and even his father had scolded him greatly for losing to a defect with no arcane ability.

Steven didn't say a word in return, turned around, and left. His group followed him, and it seemed like some were still joining his group. Of course, joining a group wasn't against the rules but even better.

Soon more groups started forming in the class around the heirs of the families. Green family which was the biggest group of nine with all of them belonging to the green family.

Most of the groups were like that with some cooperating with each other such as two families and their groups banding together to create a group of seven.

Elizabeth and Kevin were the only ones from the Derek family as the Derek family had no branches. Sarah had a girl with her who was quite timid, but she was also from a branch of the Callaghan family.

Nathan and Sasha came from the same group as they belonged to the headmaster's wing. Except for these six, everyone started leaving. Many wanted Sasha and Sarah to be on their team, but they refused.

Once everyone left, Sasha asked, "So, what are we going to do?"

"I thought you two were going to stick together?" Kevin asked Sasha as he thought that maybe they had decided to go with just both of them. Kevin hadn't expected that she was asking to form a team.

While Kevin and Sasha were talking, Sarah came in front of Kevin, dangerously close and said, "Team up." Her face was expressionless and the words she said were monotone.

"Su-Sure." Kevin stammered at her closeness and stepped back a bit.

"So, I guess it's' just us six then," Sasha said while turning to the girl with Sarah, gesturing her something with her eyes.

The girl took the hint and replied, "I am Beatrice Callaghan, From the branch family of the Callaghan family. I share the same name because my mother is a main member of the Callaghan family."

She introduced herself before recounting her ability, "Although my ability is ice as well, I can only freeze someone, externally or internally on contact."

While saying the function of her ability, she was a little ashamed as she would have to get close to the target which was counterproductive to her ability.

But Kevin thought otherwise. Sarah couldn't freeze someone internally even on contact. Internal damage was always better than external damage.

Of course, there was the risk of counterattack from your opponent but there were many ways to deal with it.

"Okay. Everyone. Welcome." Elizabeth said word by word ending the conversation there before jumping on Kevin's back and saying, "Now start moving."

Kevin chuckled while the rest of the group didn't know what to say to this. Of course, they were siblings but sometimes they would act as if they had no boundaries.

Ignoring that scene, everyone started walking in a different direction from everyone else. Kevin relished the soft sensation of Elizabeth's mounds on his back through two layers of clothes.

The place they were in was warm. Like a desert but on a lot lower scale. There was seldom any greenery and mostly there were only cactuses. There was no sun in the sky though, yet the sky was still yellow.

Noticing every detail, Kevin and the group kept moving until Kevin spotted a creature a good distance away.

"Stop." Everyone stopped and Elizabeth raised her head from Kevin's shoulder to look at him and so did everyone else.

"There is something ahead of us in that direction. It matches with the description of the monster Benny told us about." Kevin explained and everyone became vigilant.

They lowered themselves while moving and hid behind a rock to see the creature. It was about six feet in height and round like a ball. It looked like a porcupine with thick sharp needles protruding from its back. Its arms were long, almost reaching its knees with long sharp nails on its hands.

It was alone and just roaming around doing nothing in particular. The moment Kevin analyzed it completely, a notification appeared in the system.

[A soldier-level mana beast is spotted]

[Threat level E]

Kevin read the notifications and a thought came to his mind. If the dimension's threat was C, that would mean there were stronger monsters in this dimension than this one.

Kevin and the rest observed it for a while and then they looked at each other as if deciding who would be making a plan.

"So, what do we do?" Elizabeth asked Kevin upon which everyone else turned to him as well.

"I guess first we need to observe its patterns. We know what Benny told us. Its senses are sharp, and it can shoot needles from its back so unless you are very fast, attacking from the back is out of the question."

"That leaves us with the option of attacking from the front. But that leaves us with the problem of its attack reach. Its arms are longer than even our legs which means it can attack us before we land our attack."

"But that is only possible if it is fast enough. If its speed is not that much, then we have nothing to worry about. I assume its weak points to be its head or abdomen, but I can't be too sure about that."

Kevin explained everything he analyzed, and Sasha asked, "So what's the attack strategy?"

"A simple hit and run would be ideal in this case, but we have Sarah and you. If I remember correctly, you can shoot light attacks. Sarah and I will close the distance and Sarah will freeze its feet while I protect Sarah. Your job is to get close enough and shoot at its face. Nathan will protect you. I will move in since I will be the closest and land an attack. If I can't finish it, then Nathan will attack if the opportunity allows. Elizabeth and Beatrice are on hold for now."

Everyone nodded and they all moved in. Kevin and Sarah moved at the same speed and closed the distance between them and the beast. Nathan and Sasha followed behind them. Kevin ran ahead and came in front of Sarah so the beast wouldn't notice her.

According to Sarah, they needed to be at a distance of two meters for Sarah's ability to work. They kept on closing the distance with the beast and when they were about ten meters away, it also noticed them and turned its black ball eyes to them.

It shrieked and started running towards them, rapidly closing the distance. It was fast but not that fast and when Kevin and its eyes met, an idea struck Kevin's mind.

[Skill dark thoughts has been activated]

[Your opponent is confused for ten seconds]

The beast stopped running, closed its eyes, and started shaking its head. "Now," Kevin said loudly while moving out of the way. Sarah initiated her skill and a trial of ice left from her feet which connected with the beast and froze it up to its abdomen.

Sarah also moved out of the way and from behind her, Nathan and Sasha were running towards the beast. They were about ten meters away when Sasha attacked the beast, sending three balls of light out of which only one hit its face.

It screamed when the attack connected and covered its face with both his hands. Taking the opportunity, Kevin moved in, and gathering all of his strength, he landed an attack directly in the middle of its chest.

As soon as the attack landed, Kevin felt something soft, and his fist went through the chest of the beast though it didn't exit from the other end as its power greatly diminished upon contact with the bones.

[A Mana beast had been successfully slain]

[You can sell mana-infused parts of the beast in the shop]

Kevin smiled upon seeing the notifications. He was a little disappointed since usually in games you would get EXP when you kill something, but he didn't get anything. The others came close and saw the beast dead.

"Give me your knife," Kevin asked turning to Nathan. Nathan threw his knife and Kevin started skinning the beast. Everyone was puzzled at his action, but no one said anything. Soon Kevin had harvested its organs. Its heart was damaged, and Kevin didn't know if it would sell or not.

Just behind the heart, he found a crystal with dark particles in it. He had seen the same one in Benny's hands.

He then cut the skin open and separated the meat and bones. Once he was done with everything, he threw the crystal to Sasha and said, "Sasha will keep all the crystals we collect."

Then he turned to everything else and touched meat and organs with his both hands.

[Would you like to sell Grade E meat in the shop]

[Price 50 GC]

[Yes\No]

[Would you like to sell Grade E ingredients in the Shop]

[Price 200 GC per set]

[Set is damaged]

[Price 100 GC]

[Yes\No]

There was no reaction from the skin and bones, so Kevin discarded them and pressed 'Yes' in his mind. The meat and organs started disappearing in front of everyone's eyes. At the same time, Kevin received 150 gold coins in his shop.

"Kevin! What the hell happened just now?" Sasha asked the question everyone was thinking.

"Nothing." Kevin replied simply and continued, "Come on. We need to hunt twelve monsters at least for the whole group to pass."

Everyone wanted to know what was going on, but they didn't have the chance to when Kevin picked Elizabeth on his back and started moving.

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