At 7.50am, Yang Tian arrived at the training grounds of the Military Academy. Xiao Fei had already given instructions for everyone to gather at 8am sharp.
Yang Tian had arrived ten minutes early, but everyone was already there.
"Let's go!"
Xiao Fei did not say much as he waved a hand at his seven other teammates and walked toward the door.
Envious glances were cast at Yang Tian and the group's backs.
Xiao Fei was a Class Four Warrior. With this kind of team leader, nothing bad would really happen in the Danger Zone. Unless they were unlucky and met a high-Grade Monster. If not, they would always have large hauls.
Two black four-wheel drives were parked at the gate of the Military Academy.
At that moment Zhao Wu laughed, and said, "Previously these two cars were not full. Now they are."
The rest of the group laughed as well.
After loading their respective packs into the boots of the cars, Xiao Fei sat in the driver's seat of the first vehicle. Zhou Feng moved the fastest and got the shotgun seat. Liu Xiao pouted and opened the door to sit in the back.
At that moment, Zhao Wu, Wang Guang, Liu Jian, and Li Xuan had already filled up the second vehicle. Yang Tian had no choice but to sit with Liu Xiao at the back.
The cars were quickly on the road.
Due to a Warrior's heightened reflexes, they drove at breakneck speeds. They sped around the city and soon reached the city gates.
The gates were open, and Xiao Fei drove right through them.
There were no checks leaving the city, but there was a checkpoint when entering. If one did not have a residence permit in the city or a Warrior identification card, they were not allowed into the city.
After leaving the city, Yang Tian noticed that Xiao Fei took a turn and headed South.
Before the YS Virus, the roads were all very well built. Even though many roads were damaged by the Monsters, a large majority of them were still usable.
The car sped down the road at 100km/h and finally stopped two hours later.
At that moment, they were already more than 100 kilometers from the city. They were in the Danger Zone.
Before them was a very thick forest.
The group got out of the car and pulled out their packs from the boots of the cars. They then examined their equipment.
"This time our goal is to kill a Grade Five Monster. I only want a Grade Five Beast Core. You guys can split the other Beast Cores!" Xiao Fei said with a smile after they had all arranged their equipment.
A Grade Five Beast Core!
Yang Tian's eyes lit up when he heard it.
With his current abilities, killing a Grade Three Monster should not be an issue. If he met a Grade Four Monster, with Drago by his side, he could give it a shot. However, when met with a Grade Five Monster, he would just turn tail and run.
High-Grade Monsters were rare. It was not easy to find one.
After the YS Virus, Monsters walked the Danger Zone. There were no humans in these areas, and the vegetation grew out of control. What was once barren plains were now verdant forests.
Xiao Fei led the group into the dim forest.
At that moment, all of them drew their weapons.
This was Yang Tian's first time seeing Xiao Fei using a weapon. He used a pair of short swords that were just short of two feet long. At a glance, it was clear he preferred to be at medium range when in melee.
Zhou Feng used a short sword with a very curved blade similar to those used by Japanese samurai. Liu Xiao used twin rapiers. Zhao Wu used a Tang dao, like Yang Tian. Wang Guang was large and carried a Gatling gun, bandoliers of ammunition hanging over his shoulders. Liu Jian used a curved sword, and Li Xuan used an extendable spear. He also carried a compound bow over his shoulder with a quiver full of arrows.
When they entered the forest, the group stopped talking and advanced carefully.
This five-month field training's main objective was to kill a Grade Five Monster. Xiao Fei did not move aimlessly. As they traveled, he constantly checked the Warriormate on his arm, and it seemed that he was calibrating their route.
Whoosh!
After traveling for less than half an hour, suddenly, a whoosh could be heard in front of them.
"Careful! It's a Grade One Green Python!"
Xiao Fei dashed and avoided the beast's tail as he spoke.
The rest of the group immediately stepped back.
This Green Python was slightly fatter than the one Yang Tian met the last time. It was coiled around a massive tree, flicking its tongue at Yang Tian and the group.
"Who wants to take it on?"
Xiao Fei turned and smiled at the group.
"Yang Tian should go! He just joined us. If this Green Python has a Beast Core, it will be his lucky day."
Li Xuan said with a laugh.
When he finished, the others nodded.
Yang Tian knew this was the group's way of showing him care. If he killed this Green Python, the Beast Core obtained would be his, and not the group's.
Yang Tian did not object. He nodded and walked toward the Green Python.
The Green Python suddenly opened its maw and lunged at Yang Tian as soon as it saw him.
However, Yang Tian lightly jumped and appeared above the beast's head as he cut downward.
Oh…
Yang Tian's blade easily decapitated Grade One Green Python. He made it look easy.
Seeing Yang Tian easily dispatch the beast, Xiao Fei nodded.
Yang Tian inspected the Green Python's head and slashed at it twice to break open the beast's skull. He used the tip of the blade to pry, and a white Beast Core was plucked out.
"Number Eight is really lucky… This is great!"
Zhao Wu smiled as he spoke when he saw Yang Tian obtain a Beast Core from his first kill.
Yang Tian grabbed the Beast Core midair and took out a tissue paper to wipe it clean. He then walked up to Wang Guang and passed it to him. "Fourth Brother, here. I didn't get to thank you properly last time!"
Wang Guang did not show any bashfulness. He took the Beast Core from Yang Tian, and patted him on the shoulder, smiling as he said, "Number Eight, you've given us a good start. We'll definitely get a huge haul from this field training!"
When Warriors formed teams to go out field training, they had their superstitions. For instance, when they did something, they needed to have a good start.
Yang Tian chuckled and scratched his head.
"It's noon. We can have python meat for lunch. You two ladies, it's your time to shine!"
Xiao Fei smiled and spoke as he looked at the carcass of the python.
With that, Zhou Feng and Liu Xiao took their daggers and skinned the Green Python. They cut the meat into small cubes, pulled out a small wok from their packs, and marinated the meat in salt and other spices. Ten minutes later, they added water from a canteen.
At the same time, Wang Guang and the others had started a fire, and stuck two branches into the ground by the fire…
Everybody worked like clockwork doing this.
Half an hour later, the four small woks of python meat were cooked, and everybody took their forks and started eating.
"It would be great if we had some alcohol! Too bad we can't drink when we're out here." Wang Guang said as he chewed on a piece of meat.
Li Xuan replied, "That was a lesson. Remember back then, before Yang Tian, we were also eight people…"
Li Xuan stopped himself then.
Xiao Fei looked at Yang Tian's confused look, and calmly explained, "It's nothing we can't talk about. A year ago, a fellow named Wu Long snuck some booze out on-field training. He drank too much and we met with a pack of wolves. The rest of us had already gotten far away when we realized Wu Long was missing. When the wolf pack left, we returned to the camp to find what was left of him. Remember Yang Tian, you must always be cautious in the wilds. Even when you're sleeping, sleep with one eye open. Nobody knows when the Monsters will suddenly appear in front of you."
Yang Tian nodded.
After they ate and packed their things, the group continued their trek.
"Team leader, you seem like you know where the Grade Five Monsters are?"
Yang Tian was right behind Xiao Fei, and he asked out of curiosity.
Xiao Fei nodded, and explained, "A lot of teams meet lots of Monsters when they're out training. They can't kill some of these high-Grade Monsters, so they put this information up for sale. I spent 100,000 Wu to obtain this information."
When Xiao Fei finished, Yang Tian frowned. "If that's the case, then other people would also know the whereabouts of this beast?"
Xiao Fei nodded. "Of course. However, the higher the Grade of the Monster, the further it is from the Safe Zone. It's not easy to reach that place. You must know that you'll meet a lot of Monsters, especially packs of Monsters. The moment you're surrounded and can't escape, you're dead."
Yang Tian caught Xiao Fei's meaning. Even if others knew, they would not necessarily find a high-Grade Monster, and they might die as well.
Without waiting for Yang Tian to ask, Xiao Fei voluntarily spoke, "The Grade Five Monster is a Silver-backed bear. When on its hind legs, it is five meters tall. Its hide is thick and its a b*stard to kill. However, if we manage to kill it, I don't need to worry about making it to Class Five."
Traversing through the thick forest was always a pain. The journey was hard, and one had to constantly be on guard for a Monster suddenly appearing.