Wild Zone/Path

Just like Barthold had explained, along the wild path/zone one could either be really lucky and move without interruption, or be really unlucky and meet their death.

As such, they had to be extremely careful. With a wave of her hand, Victoria sent Barthold into action mode. He barreled to the front of the group, holding up a mighty shield that gleamed with powerful light.

He wasn't the only one who mobilized, though. All the level 2 slayers summoned their echoes and entered fighting positions. Clearly, they hadn't been playing around for the past few weeks. They had truly put in the work to become stronger.

"Hmm," Guilliman frowned deeply, watching as they prepared for an encounter. From the corner of his eye, he saw a massive, tree-sized serpent slithering through the trees menacingly.

It hadn't noticed them yet, but their reaction was justified. Waiting to be attacked first before drawing your weapon in these kinds of situations was extremely stupid. These were beasts, after all; they didn't need a reason to attack.

Fortunately, in this particular instance, there was no reason for a fight. Soon enough, the massive serpent went on its way, not noticing them at all.

"Push on," Victoria said, relaxing her gauntlet and signaling for the troop behind her to continue as they made their way through the forest.

'Following them was the right choice.'

As they did so, Guilliman couldn't help but mutter under his breath. His decision to follow them was based on the information he got from the manual, but seeing it in person imprinted the reality onto his mind.

It was a scared beast that had just crossed their path, and just from looking at it, he felt a serious sense of fear in his heart. This wasn't a weakened Dire Wolf. With how much his senses had grown after becoming a slayer, he knew this thing could slaughter the whole party if it wanted to.

The thought of mistakenly stumbling into one of these creatures really struck him in his core. But that moment had passed. What lay ahead was a completely different story.

He had to be cautious.

And so, he steeled himself, walking side by side with the others, watching as they scouted for beasts, avoided traps, and altogether moved as a unit.

He hadn't gotten the opportunity to train in a prestigious training center like the rest of them. All he had were the experiences from his past life, but even that seemed useless in navigating this place.

The sanctuaries were just too different. Luckily, they arrived at their destination without any hiccups, thanks to Lady Victoria and her companions.

Five kilometers from the gate was a Communal Zone.

A few minutes after their arrival, Victoria gathered them together and went over their actions under the shade of a tree.

"For those who were with us yesterday, I'm sure I don't need to say anything. But clearly, we have new people here today, so I will go into great detail," Victoria spoke in a not-so-loud voice.

They had been coming to this same communal zone for the past two weeks. They had amassed at least 20 level 1 Slayers. Their mission was no easy task, so she saw fit to let them know whenever she could.

"We are trying to kill a Peak Stage Mutant SteelShell Tortai," Victoria stated bluntly, causing tension to brew amongst those around, forcing them to listen carefully.

"Now, this is not some random mutant you'd see roaming around. It's a Knight Code beast. It's exceptionally fast and has a very thick defense…"

"Fortunately, this has nothing to do with you. You guys are here to thin the herd. Its little minions are all over the place, you see," Victoria explained, pointing at a small hill-shaped lump of sand and grass in the distance.

There, a chitinous shell could be seen lying lazily on its belly.

"They are, on average, ordinary soldiers, so I don't expect a lot of deaths. Work together and kill as many as you can. Of course, all Beast Echoes are yours to keep, but we will also trade them in for resources if you want," Victoria added.

She had gathered these guys for this and only this. They were not the main attack force and were really not needed. However, there were regulations and fees that needed to be paid for her and her people to even be here.

They would have to do their part.

"Guilliman, right? You come with us." Panning her head around the group, she noticed Guilliman's ragged, blood-stained clothes and called him forward.

Seeing the kid, who looked extremely average, leave their group and join Victoria's men, the others couldn't help but feel out of place. But they quickly accepted it as maybe him being used as a messenger or something.

A few minutes later, the over 20 Slayers formed groups of four and melded into the forest, targeting lone SteelShell Tortai.

One of these creatures would fetch an incredibly high price in the market of the shelter, but killing them was easier said than done. Moving their corpses out of the forest was another challenge entirely.

"What kind of Echo do you have, kid?" Meanwhile, as Guilliman followed behind Victoria's team, the blonde-haired young man from before finally spoke to him.

At first glance, one would think this kid was a homeless person, one who had roamed the streets for so long he might have even forgotten his name. But even homeless people knew how to behave when they met people with status.

You know? Groveling and begging for change and such… those kinds of things. But this one? He went to shake hands with young Lady Victoria.

That took a lot of balls—or maybe he was someone with a background? The young man didn't believe the latter, though. He wanted to know why the kid had such audacity.

"Leave him be, Jemie. This is not the place for a length-measuring competition," Barthold's voice resounded, his massive frame appearing to eclipse them from behind.

"Hmp!! Muscle head!" Jemie sneered, feeling Barthold's shoulder hovering over him.

This kid thought he was something because he had a C-tier potential. He was wet behind the ears. However, Victoria would never allow him to put Barthold in his place, so Jemie just walked away.

"We'll talk later, rag boy," Jemie said, walking to the front as they moved deeper into the communal zone while the others hunted in the background.

"Don't mind him. He's a bit out of touch with society. Too much closed-door training has made him an edge lord," Barthold consoled. It seemed like Jemie didn't like Guilliman for some reason.

"Ah, I'm not bothered. I've faced worse at home," Guilliman smiled and paused a little. People looking down on him was actually a common occurrence even in his old world.

It was quite funny.

"Anyway, why are we still going deeper?" Guilliman asked, feeling a bit confused. The others had already started fighting. Why were they still going deeper?

"It's because… you'll see soon enough," Barthold smirked bitterly as he clenched his shield harder.