What truly astonished everyone, is the word 'first trail'. Meaning, the gravity mountain they scaled with much difficulty is just a qualification round for the trail.
Only after crossing the 200th step, they become eligible for the true trail. Everyone was excited, considering they are going to participate in the trail left behind by an expert.
The youth named Drift is the first to form a team with his fellow friends from the Sacred Union Institute. Wasting no time, they ventured into the fog-covered region before them.
While some were hesitant, some bravely followed the footsteps of the first team. Gin and Shaun also didn't waste any time, they too quickly entered the fog covered wall.
--
In the next second, Gin and Shaun appeared in a place that is different from what they imagined. Both of them were now standing in a thick branch of a tree.
Below them is a swamp, dominated by tall trees that had large red leaves. Tall, thick roots and many branches have grown above the water surface.
There are even shrubs, grasses, and many other plants covered the water surface and thick branches. As far as their eyes could follow, they don't see anything but the swamp.
There was total silence like there's no living being exist here, aside from Gin and Shaun.
"Where are the others? Did we get teleported here?" Shaun questioned.
Gin squinted his eyes and looked around. The sudden change in the location and eerie silence terrified him a little.
Moreover, only Gin and Shaun appeared here while the other peoples who entered the fog-covered region before them were nowhere to be seen.
"Looks like every team is transported to a different area. We can only rely on ourselves and move forward." Gin stated.
"Yes," Shaun responded, he didn't fear this situation as he has seen worse!
"What do you think we should do?" Shaun asked. After interacting with Gin for some time, he knows he's a smart person with clear foresight.
"We need to hunt magical beasts and at the same time, we have to cross the beast garden. For that, we need to find what type of beasts live here." Gin spoke.
As they were speaking, a sudden head filled with sharp teeth came out of the water and sought to bite Gin's waist.
Gin's sensed the danger thanks to his quick reflex and excellent perception. He quickly jumped to another branch above his head while Shaun also followed.
In the next second, the head once again disappeared into the water. "No doubt, it's a Bronze-back crocodile," Shaun commented.
The sudden attack didn't startle Gin and Shaun because they were expecting the attack. The reason they carelessly chated without minding the surroundings is to let the beasts know their position.
As they expected, the magical beast made the first move, now they just have to hunt it.
"Bronze-back crocodile? It's a magical beast with high defense and killing it in its own territory is troublesome." Gin mentioned.
"I will bait it out, you try to finish it off," Shaun said and jumped to the lowest tree branch near the water surface.
Just a second after Shaun stood at the branch, the Bronze-back crocodile leaped out of the water surface and lunged at him. Anticipating the attack, Shaun moved backward while the crocodile pursued.
The Bronze-back crocodile is 35 feet long, weighed around 400 Kg, bronze-colored body, and yellowish belly; Even though it's considered a child for its size.
As the crocodile was occupied with Shaun, it showed its back to Gin. Gin swiftly appeared near it, grabbed it's tail and lifted the entire body in the air.
He quickly drew an arc with crocodile and let it head smash at the nearby tree branch. He continued it for a few more time until the crocodile's head limped with no movements.
The Bronze-back crocodile's head was completely smashed while some of its front teeth were missing, blood oozed from its mouth and eyes.
When Gin thought of searching for the token, the crocodile suddenly vanished with a puff of smoke, leaving behind a small circular token; shocking Gin and Shaun.
'How could the dead crocodile vanish in thin air—unless, the magical beast isn't real?' Gin thought which terrified him a little. He looked at Shaun who also had the same thought.
He couldn't help but wonder, what kind of person has left behind this ruin? and what kind of strength he had?
Grasping the token in his hand, he studied carefully. It was a simple silver token with no markings, while there's an ancient number '1' calligraphed on both sides.
He threw the token at Shaun and said, "Brother Shaun you keep this one. I will take the next one."
Shaun nodded, "It's not an ordinary ruin, we have to be extra careful!"
"Why do you say so?"
"If I am not wrong, the mechanism behind the magical beast's strength and it's disappearance is because of the high-level array formation. It's possibly a ruin left behind by a powerful expert above transcendent level."
"Above transcendent level?" Gin exclaimed with a look of longing. He too desires to reach such level and he will.
Gin and Shaun advanced forth, looking for the next magical beast. They soon spotted another bronze-back crocodile which is two times bigger than the previous one.
This time Gin become a bait, while Shaun killed the beast with a long sword that magically appeared in his hand.
'A storage treasure? Looks like Shaun is not an ordinary youth.' Gin scrutinized. After acquiring the token, Shaun tossed it to him.
After defeating two magical beasts, Gin and Shaun came to a conclusion about the magical beasts' strength in the swamps.
Normally, the magical beasts with three cores will have a strength ranging from 20,000 kg to 50,000 Kg based on their bloodline, class, and so on.
Even though the magical beasts here are not real, their strength is the real deal. Both the crocodiles they killed had a strength of 30,000 which is definitely a top-tier one, compared to the magical beasts present in wildlands of the human continent.
Even though Shaun's physical strength is not as monstrous as Gin, his strength should be somewhat around 30,000 kg which is definitely superior to others.
--
Two hours later,
Gin and Shaun came out of the swamp, but they were welcomed by a towering mountain range filled with trees, stretched as far as their eyes could see.
In these two hours, they raced non-stop and killed all the magical beasts on their way. The number of tokens in their hands didn't increase but the 'number' in their tokens increased according to their kill.
For example, if Gin dealt the final blow, the points would go to him.
After killing more than 50 magical beasts, the numbers on their token also changed: Gin had 27, while Shaun had 28.
If they are not wrong, these mountain ranges before them will be the last obstacle that stands in their way of crossing the beast garden.
Since the rules stated they can kill others to obtain their points, no one can predict what would happen. Even a friend or team member may backstab the other to obtain the points.
It's the true terror of the trail. It's not the magical beasts they should fear, but the humans beside them. A slight error in judgment may cost their lives.
Gin stared at the Mountain forest with narrowed eyes, he could sense strong and terrifying energy levels in the forest. He didn't know whether it's humans or magical beasts, but they are strong enough to pressure him.
Just two minutes after they entered the mountain forest, they encountered a magical beast which looked like a bear, but more menacing and strong.
It's around 15 feet tall, weighing around 2000 pounds, with glistening dark brown fur and an orange collar around the neck. It had a strong jaw as it was able to bite through the thick tree without any difficulty and threatening claws.
What's more astonishing is, neither Gin nor Shaun know the name of this magical beast. Meaning, no one encountered or sighted this type of magical beast in the human continent.
"A magical beast that's not from our world?" Both Gin and Shaun mumbled at the same time.
'Roar!'
The orange-collared bear piercingly looked at them, noticing their presence. With a low roar, it charged and it was surprisingly quick for its size.
Gin swiftly sprang as high as possible using the thick tree branches around him as the footing. And then descended down with high speed, aiming his fist at the bear's head.
He directly used his skill, Fist of destruction, as he could feel this bear is stronger than him.
'Boom!'
His fist struck the head of the bear, the impact shoved the bear three steps back. The bear shook his head in pain for a second and glared at Gin in fury.
Before it could charge at Gin, another attack landed on its back, nearly stumbling it. Even so, it didn't show any kind of pain on its face which astonished both of them.