Claire's complexion was incredibly poor, Finn tried to ask what's wrong.
"Hey you okay?"
"Something moved."
Finn followed Claire's pointing fingers. She was pointing something behind us. More specifically, She was pointing at darkness.
Finn looked again several times, But nothing seemed to move.
"Are you sure?"
However, It seemed like Claire didn't hear him; Instead she took out her bow from his back and took out an arrow.
She then lit up the tip of the arrow and attempted to shoot It towards, the direction she was pointing at.
'Hang on a sec.'
Finn has picked up on this strange and ominous sensation. It was eerily quiet. So much that It felt too bizarre.
The flame arrow flew across darkness, Illuminating the passageway of the path they have recently travelled.
Whilst the arrow flew, It was then deflected by something that arrow has fell to the ground...
Claire stuttered some words out.
"S-Something... Something's there."
The arrow now made a cracking and breaking sound.
'There was noise'
Finn took out a flashlight in his backpack and turned it on.
He pointed it towards the darkness. He then saw a sight of many...
"Monsters..."
It was many monsters at their back, advancing. Finn didn't heard any footstep except his own group.
"Monsters!"
Finn screamed and his group was alerted.
Clark turned around, His eyes grew extra large, He let out a cry, at the top of his lungs.
"Defensive Formation!!"
The group reacted in incredible pace and drew a defensive formation of a circle.
Clark murmured words while writing something in the air.
A Scorching flame of wave, was sent upfront.
It illuminated a sight of a large group of monsters, about to surround us.
The group of monsters crossed the flaming circle, and are now advancing.
"The heck?!"
"Fire Resistance?!"
'No..Their clothes should still atleast have a peck of flame."
"Sh*t!!"
Clark screamed a command.
"Don't break the formation, We are surrounded, Watch your rear!!"
The group tighten their expression.
Claire shot arrows in great reflexes, But strangely it went past the monsters.
"Wha..?"
The monsters started approaching. Our formation are closing in.
"F*ck!"
A guy who cursed, Suddenly rushed towards the monsters.
"Strength Enhancement I , Speed Enhancement I "
"Take this!"
He then striked a horizontal slash.
* Woosh *
A wind of gust powerlessly passed through the body of the monster.
"W.. wait!"
Splash!
The area above the guy's neck was sent flying. The headless body powerlessly collapsed to the ground.
"Uwaaaa?!"
"How?!"
The monster that decapitated the guy's neck, was now advancing, Like nothing happened.
"What the hell?! Does that mean we can't hurt them?!"
"They can kill us!!"
"We gotta fight against this things?!"
'Something's weird. "
The expression of the monsters, emotionless doesn't seemed to change, Are they real? but... no the guy died, then does that mean we can't injure them?!
Finn spotted a stone in the ground and took it. He hurled the stone through the marching monsters, Yet it passed through again.
'I knew it, They are like programmed AI!'
"Guys! Stay out of their reach, and do not attempt to atleast hurt them!"
Finn alerted his group, and their faces stiffen.
It was D-rank Monsters that appeared. Though, they were just trying to trick us by using holographic monsters.
The remaining Shikari began to freak out.
While backing off, we didn't noticed but we were now standing on top of the altar.
"What..what now?!"
"Hey Clark, What should we do?!"
Clark froze, He didn't react.
'What's happening?!'
Skeleton Archers has appeared.
Arrows were sent flying in our direction. Some Shikari's was shot, The other manage to block it using their shields.
An arrow passed through Finn's eye, It almost hit.
Finn looked at the arrows, there's some kind of wet substance at the tip.
It was found out that it was poisoned arrows.
"Don't let the arrows hit you!"
Clark shout.
While being pushed back, Finn's back was hit by something.
It was the altar.
'The altar..'
The instinct of a human being was sending out signals.
The strange altar. That time when Clark read the text on the altar, It triggered a quest.
'It has something to do with it!'
Finn then turned around and called out to Clark.
"Clark, Come over here!"
Clark then stood in silence and hurriedly went to Finn.
"What is it?"
"What does it says."
Finn pointed at the Runic text written at the altar
Unfortunately, Finn can't read Runic Languange, Since he's not gifted like Clark was.
" I-it says...Better old than young; the healthier it is, the smaller it will be."
"Better.. Old than young?"
'What does it means?'
It rhymes...
It was here that a piece of puzzle found it's place in Finn's head.
"Does it have something to do with the Altar?"
Instead of a reply, Finn simply places his index finger on his lips. It was a sign asking for a bit of time to think.
'If my thoughts are right..'
Finn went to his pocket, and took out a small pocket knife.
"A knife?"
Finn looked at his hand and slashed it without hesitation, with the use of the pocket knife.
Crimson blood drooled over his hand.
"If this is right!"
He the placed his hand on the altar.
"D-did it do something?!"
"..."
For a few minutes, A window has appeared.
[ Quest ]
Congratulations, You have finished the test. Now proceeding to the Main scenario.
~Please wait a moment.
***
"F.. Finn."
Finn looked at Clark, His face looks pale white.
"It's... changing."
Finn looked at his front. It was indeed changing. The cave is now turning into a whole new different area.
"Is it over?"
"Illusion magic?"
"We escaped?"
"I wanna go home!"
The remaining group was in a confused and relieved state.
Claire hurriedly went looking for Finn.
"Finn! Are you okay?"
"Y-yes I'm fine.."
Claire gazes at Finn's bleeding hand.
"You're not fine at all!"
"Don't worry it'll heal up."
"More importantly.."
The area was now finished changing. The area looks like a... forest.
The altar remains.
Clark spoke in an agreeing manner.
"Yes, This does indeed looks like a forest."
'So that means..'
"It's not over yet."
A window has popped up again but it contains a different message.
[ Sub-Scenario #1 ]
Please wait for [ 23:45:31 ] and survive, Until the next scenario is given.
'This is new, I haven't heard of a scenario before.'
"It's not over yet.."
"Why? Why? Why?"
"What is this?!"
The group was panicking, It truly was unquestionable.
Clark sighed, He then approached the panicking man.
"We are all gon-"
Clark punched the guy. He alerted the group and was watching him, with feared eyes.
"Listen here!! You dimwit's."
"Do you guys wanna survive, Then try setting your mind straight first!!"
The people laid their heads low, They think they are pathetic for acting out like this, This is actually a normal situation for a Shikari that is.
The group calmed down little by little after hearing Clark say his words.
He then commanded.
"For now let's gather supplies, How many have we lost?"
The group showed a pain expression.
"We lost... 3 sir."
We are 14 in total with 4 Chromium rankers and 10 Aluminum guys. We just lost 3 Aluminum, That makes it 11.
"A few people come with me to scout the place, The others... stay here and prepare shelter."
"Understood?!"
"Y-Yes!!"
Clark is a tough guy, I envy him l
Clark has more experience than all of us, He has 5 years of experience being a Shikari.
He's basically our senior.
A few strong guys went with Clark to scout the place, While the rest stayed and tried to prepare shelter.
We didn't move our location, since the Altar is still here, That it might trigger something.
After a few hours, The scouting team returned, Unscathed.
"So how did it go?"
"There's no monsters nearby, But we do saw animal's roaming that can be used for food."
"But for safety measure's, we set up multiple magic tripwires, In our surroundings."
"I see that's a relief."
***
it was a night, That in its darkness rocked bright star, A sighing wind ran faintly. As the starry silence has covered the entire forest.
Clark who was looking at the stars, now approached the group.
"I'll be on guard."
"Open Quest."
[ Sub-Scenario #1 ]
Please wait for [ 16:24:02 ] and survive, until the next scenario is given.
"Tomorrow's the big day, So you all rest."
"H-how about you?"
"Me? I'm fine! I've done this many times."
It's understandable that Clark's the one guarding, He's the strongest and the leader of the group and he's more experienced with this kind of stuff.
Clark went to get his staff, and sat on a nearby rock.
The group then went to sleep.
[ Clark's POV ]
A starry night.
Clark went to his pocket and took out a photo.
The photo contains Clark family.
'I'm gonna return, wait for me...'
Clark was reminiscing at his photo when suddenly someone tapped his arm.
When he turned around, he saw 3 of his friends.
Jimmy, Shawn, Sam.
One of the 3 powerful and reliable shikari in this group.
"You won't sleep?"
Clark asked the three, They answered nonchalantly.
"Can't sleep."
"We can't just leave you here"
"Who knows what might appear."
Clark smirked. Shawn approached Clark.
"Star gazing ey? you know.. I like the night. Without the dark. We'd never see the bright stars looking down on us."
"Do you think so too, Clark?"
" For my part, I know nothing certainly...But the sight of star makes me dream the simplest way as I dream about the black dots representing my daughters drawing back then."
"If we could just look up the stars and see your daughter drawing, We would look at everything differently, looking for the
beautiful picture your daughter drew.
[ Midnight ]
"Hey wanna play some cards?"
"Yeah let's do it."
Jimmy pulled out a stack of cards in his bag.
They started playing.
Shawn asked a question.
"Say? How did we manage to escape the first scenario?"
"Did you do something Clark?"
Eyes went to Clark.
Waiting for his answer, Clark looked at his card.
"It wasn't me.."
"huh? Then what happened?"
"It was.. Finn who did it."
The group went in silence, Then they laughed.
"Nice joke man, But seriously how?"
"I'm not joking, I to-"
'Bzt!' 'Bzt' 'Bzt' 'Bzt'
Clark held his head, There was a sharp pain..
This means..
'It's the tripwire!'
"Clark.. you okay?"
"How.."
'The trip wire I set up surrounding us was all triggered.'
[ Sub-Scenario # 2]
Defend the group from the monsters. The group was put to slumber.
'Current Defenders.'
-Clark
-Jimmy
-Shawn
-Sam
-Finn
※ Warning: Failure of the quest will result in the death of your comrades.
"Sh*t, What now?!"
"Prepare for combat!"
Shawn noticed something at the System window.
"Finn?"
The group then faced Shawn when he mentioned the name Finn.
"Finn's awake?"
"Where is he?!"
They heard a shriek sound from the woods.
"You got to be kidding me.."
Clark said in a hurry.
"I'll go get Finn, You guys stay here and protect the group!"
"Roger!"
Clark used his flame on his feet, to get momentum and illuminate light while running.
"Finn! Where are you?!"
The forest was not that dark, Several light bugs were scattered over the trees. It was beautiful.
'Growl'
Clark turned around when he heard a growl.
The light bugs started to disappear as their light went out.
It was said that, When a monsters nearby. The light bugs turn their light off, To confuse the monsters direction.
Clark held his staff and started to chant.
He point his staff at the bush, where the sound came from.
The bush moved.
Clark fired his Fireball, The bush went sent into flames.
There was no monsters hiding in that bush.
Someone tapped his shoulder, Clark was shook. He turned around reflexively prepared another fireball.
The staff was in Finn's forehead, ready to blow up any seconds.
Finn quickly held his hand up.
"It's me!!"
Clark slowly lowered his staff.
'Growl!'
Finn then grabbed pushed Clark's back into the ground.
"hngk!"
The monstern pounced but Finn and Clark managed to duck in time.
"Flamus!"
A flame of wave was sent flying at the wolf like monster.
It retreated.
"Run!"
Finn followed Clark and went back to the camp.
The camp was filled with grey direwolves, with only 3 defendants, They were able to hold back, through teamwork.
Jimmy = Tanker
Shawn = Barrier specialist
Sam = Rune swordsman
Jimmy used the skill taunt, while Sam striked using a flaming sword.
"Clark, You're here!"
"Clark! A little help here?!."
Jimmy was fending off, Direwolves with his bloodied shield.
Clark pointed his staff and burst out a fireball.
The direwolves engulfed in flame, and retreated back in the woods.
"Did you found him?!"
"Yeah, How's the situation?"
"The monsters approaching us doesn't seemed that of a high level."
They are mostly D-Rank monsters.
"Since we're all here, I'll set up a barrier!"
Shawn approached Clark, and told a suggestion.
Shawn didn't used the barrier, eversince Clark was missing trying to locate finn, They were in need to defend the monsters with sheer strength, as to wait for Clark to regroup. It prevents movement and access on both side, and is a limited time use, that it cost such mana.
The green barrier surrounded the vicinity, Monster's tried to attack the barrier but it was useless.
"Done, This can hold on for sunrise."
"Treat the wounded!"
Jimmy was heavily wounded with scratches and bite marks, all over his body.
Jimmy took all the damage since he's the tank of the team.
[ Finn POV ]
'So.. many monsters'
Finn was amaze by the quantity of the monsters that attacked us, and how they were able to fend off.
Clark shouted.
"Finn get the bandages!"
"Y-yes!"
Finn went to the backpack and took bandages.
"Here.."
"Thanks."
Jimmy was lying on the ground, Groaning in pain.
Finn asked.
"Can't we wake up... the others?"
"It's no use."
"They were put to sleep."
We supposedly had a healer in our group, But he won't wake up.
Sam approached Finn, and grabbed his clothes with anger.
"Where the hell did you go?!"
"... I'm sorry."
[ A few minute's ago ]
'I need to pee..'
Finn stood up and went into the woods to take a pee.
"Ah.. That's better."
Finn zipped his pants and looked at the forest.
"The forest looks mystical at night."
While Finn was examining the forest he heard a bush moved.
Finn faced the bush that was moving.
"Who's.. there?"
Finn slowly approached the bush with a knife in his hand.
He slashed with his knife but nothing seemed to have hit it, except green grass.
Finn sighed in relief that no one was near him at that time.
Except he was greeted by a message saying.
[ Sub-Scenario # 2]
Defend the group from the monsters. The group was put to slumber.
'Current Defenders.'
-Clark
-Jimmy
-Shawn
-Sam
-Finn
※ Warning: Failure of the quest will result in the death of your comrades.
"Sc-Scenario?!"
'Growl'
Multiple growl were heard by Finn's ear.
It's approaching.
Finn ran in extraordinary speed, Wind passed through Finn's body. Many branches was stepped and made a sound,he got caught.
"Shit!"
The Wolf like creature started to pursue Finn, In an incredible pace.
Finn knew that, He soon will fight this monster, Yet he can't.
So he cowardly ran, and ran to lose the wolf, But no matter how hard he tried.
4 Legs are better than 2.
'I need help!'
"Help!!"
Finn cried out for help, But it only alerted more.
It was a dumb choice.
[ Present ]
Clark approached the raging Sam.
"Enough! We can't do anything about it."
Sam clicked his tounge and he let go Finn's clothes
Sam asked Finn a question.
"You got the quest right?"
"Yes.."
"We'll be defending from now on."
"So do your best not to die."
"Okay.."
"Don't scare the kid, It's not like he's gonna fight, We're protected by the barrier."
"I see.."
"Tsk."
Sam was dissatisfied and he finally snapped.
"Why do you even do this job?! You can't use magic or even fight, You're just a burden to us!"
There was a sharp pain in Finn's chest when he heard those words.
He's used to being criticized, He had heard it many times, at the point it doesn't make him feel sad or angry about it anymore.
"..."
"Enough Sam! Leave the kid alone."
Clark commented.
"G-guys?"
There was a hesitant and frail cold voice.
We all turned around and saw Shawn with a pale expression.
He was staring at something uphigh.
It's a giant silhouette.
"H.. help."
Shawn said with a shaky voice.
"Shawn!!"
'Boom!!'
A gigantic hammer squashed Shawn.
The barrier was dispersed.
"Sh.. shawn!!"
Sam cried.
The silhouette started to approach us, Eith big steps that can shake the earth crust.
"How are we supposed to defeat that thing..."
The dark silhouette formed a grim smile.
< Chapter 2 Fin >