Ambush

"Ha… Ha… Where is the freaking juvenile class alien we're searching for?" Nathan complained. "We have been going around since yesterday, but we haven't found a single clue of the juvenile class alien."

"It's not that big of a deal. We still have four days left." Fenrir shrugged while staring at the sky. "We should get back soon. It's going to be dark in an hour or so. We have ventured a little bit too far."

"Fine." Nathan sighed. He might have become a bit impatient because he had promised the aunt from the tavern that he would kill this juvenile class.

"Besides, haven't we killed a lot of aliens lately?" 

"Yeah." Nathan scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit frustrated. 

"Anyway, what's…" Fenrir suddenly stopped talking and tilted its head to the left.

"What's wrong?"

"I heard a scream in that direction."

"Let's help that person then," replied Nathan without hesitation. "We can still get some points by killing the alien." 

"Yeah. Let's go!" Fenrir led the way. 

They crossed the woods at pretty high speed before Fenrir noticed even more things as they were approaching that person.

"My instinct is kicking in. Something strong, but not in the direction of the scream from earlier." Fenrir pointed his paw to the right this time. 

"Huh? Not in that direction?" Nathan paused for a moment. "Is the one screaming a woman or a man?"

"A man."

"Alright. Let's check the danger first." Nathan pointed to the right. 

"…" Fenrir's eyebrows twitched. "You sure know your priority…" 

"What? The teacher is gonna save him even if we don't. On the other hand, if that scream somehow disturbs this strong presence, that might be the juvenile class alien, we would be screwed."

"Yeah, yeah." Fenrir sneered while adding inwardly, 'Who would believe you?'

"What?" Nathan shrugged.

"Nothing. I'm just thinking that you're going to face a lot of problems with that mindset in the future… I'm sure of it." Fenrir harrumphed.

"Cursing me, eh?" 

Fenrir didn't reply anymore as he guided him closer and closer to the strong presence he sensed. 

It took them three minutes since they had to slow down and be careful.

They ended up reaching a small hill. The small hill was only 30 meters (98 feet) tall. Even though the trees were scattered evenly in this hill, there was a small spot on its slope with no trees on it.

It was there they found several aliens.

"Five…" Nathan squinted his eyes. "…proto-class aliens. It is a lot, but I don't think those are the ones you sense, right?"

"Can you see that small cave?" Fenrir asked, pointing at the small black dot between two trees. 

"Cave?" Nathan had a hard time finding it since the entrance wasn't too big and the trees almost completely covered his eyes. 

It was a bit hard to see, but he indeed found a cave. "What of it?"

"You might not be able to see it, but that's where the terrifying existence is. I can't see it well from this location, but I don't think I can win against that with my current strength." Fenrir's expression turned grim. 

As if sensing Fenrir's gaze, an alien emerged from the cave. 

It had pale purple skin. Its body was similar to that of a human, but its head was like a skeleton that was only covered with a thin layer of skin, which made the noses much bigger. The alien was three meters tall.

"Hide." Fenrir slapped the back of Nathan's head as they hid behind the bushes. 

The alien was looking around as if trying to sense the gaze from earlier. 

Nathan and Fenrir couldn't see it, but they could hear a rumbling sound from the hill.

Nathan carefully found a small gap that he could use to see through the bushes. That was when he found the alien was carrying a tree on its shoulder as if it were his weapon.

'If that's really the case, a single hit will be quite fatal for both of us. In addition, there are a lot of proto-class aliens protecting this alien. Fenrir has to focus on the juvenile class, but I can't handle all those proto-class aliens by myself.' Nathan's expression turned grim. It seemed that they had to separate the proto-class aliens first before defeating the juvenile class.

Fenrir gritted his teeth. "I might have the chance to kill it, but I need more Ena. If I don't open up some of my abilities, I won't be able to defeat that alien."

"If that's the case, let's give you more Ena. I have a lot of Ena right now."

"If I can unlock some of my abilities, I might even overpower it. I need about five times the amount of Ena I have right now."

Fenrir got 30 Ena from the summoning and 9 Ena from the first Soul Contract. Five times the amount was a lot, but it wasn't half of what Nathan currently had after swallowing all the cores they got here.

Nathan said, "The Soul Contract is the only way."

"But I don't want to sell my dignity."

"Let's go back to the camp first. We can think of the exchange slowly… such as doing an errand or something for the next seven days."

"Well, let's think about it first." Fenrir nodded in agreement. They waited until it was safe to pull back.

While returning to the camp, Nathan was in deep thought, wondering what kind of exchange he wanted to get from Fenrir.

"I was too focused on that juvenile class alien…Oi, brat. I have two bad news." Fenrir's expression turned grim. "There are more than ten aliens chasing after us from behind. At the same time, there are six people in front of us."

"Huh?" Nathan furrowed his eyebrows. "We should avoid both of them, allowing those people to take care of the aliens—"

He suddenly heard voices coming from behind. With a single glance, he found an alien about to reach him. There were a lot of aliens following right behind. 

It was at this moment he understood what Fenrir meant that he was too distracted. 

"Tsk." Nathan clicked his tongue and turned around. "Kill that one and we run!"

Fenrir couldn't move immediately because he sensed Ena coming from behind. Yes, those six humans had finally reached them with their own familiars. 

"Watch out!" Fenrir gnashed its teeth, ready to protect Nathan from both sides.

"!!!" Nathan didn't understand why he had to watch out, considering those people must be his classmates. But the moment he glanced back, he knew he had fucked up. 

The group of people coming toward him was none other than Raivan and the five people whose cores he borrowed to sponsor the first Summoners War. 

"Are you freaking kidding me?" Nathan looked frustrated. He had to run away from all these aliens, but for some reason Raivan's group also came at the perfect timing. 

"Attack!" Raivan shouted, commanding his team.

Those familiars launched their attacks at the same time. 

Nathan had gathered his Ena in his hands, ready to use the Deadly Claw to protect himself. But to his surprise, the volley of attacks from their familiars actually rained down the aliens. 

"Raaa!"

"Ree!" 

The aliens were groaning in pain. An imp took the lead and jumped toward the alien that was about to reach Nathan, dragging it down to the ground. 

"!!!" Nathan widened his eyes in disbelief. 

"What are you doing? Attack, you lowly commoners! Those are the aliens." Raivan shouted, acting as if he had forgotten the grudge between them. No, Nathan could still see some hatred in him, but he actually put it aside because of the aliens? 

He was taken aback to the point where he couldn't help but think, 'Wait. That's not how your script should be.'