'What the hell are these guys doing' Daniel thought. As they backed away from Percy.
Argus might have told him to give them some space but still he was responsible for their safety.
As the figure dashed out of the forest, Daniel raised his hand.
Margaret stopped him before he could make a move.
"Hold on, it's a level five"
It was an Orsk which flew out of the forest after sensing a multiple human presences.
It flew head on into Percy where he stood isolated on the road.
Before the Orsk could get within a feet of Percy, it was bathed in flames.
The Orsk writhed in pain as it burnt to ashes.
Daniel stared wide eyed at the first years and turned to look at Margaret.
"Did you see that" he almost screamed excitedly.
"Yes, dumbass I was right here and I'm not blind either" she scowled at his enthusiasm.
Daniel was totally wowed, how far had they gone.
They were just first years, and they had such confidence in each other.
Daniel was crazed when they left whatever was incoming to Percy, but Percy didn't even break a sweat.
He still stood at the same spot, as he had when the Orsk rushed out of the bushes.
Could they already tell the difference in demon levels, they are just first years. Daniel wondered.
"Why were we assigned on this mission. They don't need us" Daniel grumbled to Margaret.
"That's just small fry"
"But still, it took just one of them to bring it down"
"Well, time will tell" Margaret tried to act as uninterested as possible, but even she could not deny the fact that she was impressed.
She smiled inwardly as she looked up and saw Levi clap Percy on the back.
"That was hot bro" Levi said.
"Literally" Jake added and they all laughed.
"But that was a level five?" Lisa said
"Right" Tony added
"Maybe, he meant that the main threat were the level four demons" Kayla said
"That makes sense" Percy spoke for the first time, since his awesome take down.
But Daniel thought otherwise, what Argus said still played in his mind.
There was a feeling he just couldn't shake off.
"Let's move guys. We haven't got all day" Daniel called squeezing Percy's shoulder in the process.
They set off once again, moving towards the south, the sounds of nature filtered into their ears.
Daniel tried his best to block the sound out and focus on anything that might sound off.
Daniel led them through a different route from the one they had passed through on their first mission.
At the end of the journey, they came out into a clearing which was at the end of a few tall trees.
Which cast a light shadow over the clearing.
It looked better than where they had stayed when they came on their first mission.
"What is this place" Levi asked
"It's our camping site" Daniel replied him. "When we came on our first mission, the heat from the sun was unbearable. So we began to clear this area.
For every mission we had we worked on this place for months, to make it into this" Daniel explained.
"Woah, that's some work" Percy commented.
"We will drop the bags here and spread out" Daniel continued
"Drop the bags?" Levi asked.
"Yes, drop the bags" Daniel answered.
"Won't we build a tent or something"
"There is no need for that, you just need to carry the things you will need, it's not like anyone will steal them or something.
You're not supposed to expend energy, building a tent. Because there is a chance that you might finish at once.
Then you will have to waste extra time taking it down?"
Levi thought about it and saw that there was actually sense in what Daniel was saying.
"Alright. You heard the man" Levi called to the rest of the team.
Everyone, put the bags down and began rummaging.
In a few seconds they had their weapons out and were set to go.
"We are supposed to split into three groups or four even"
But either me or Margaret is supposed to be with either of you, so we will be moving in two groups.
So, in that case…"
"Percy, Anna and Levi with me" Margaret called.
Without argument, they moved to her side.
"The rest of you are with me" Daniel said, stating the obvious.
The bags were arranged on the floor in a circular shape.
Giving the bags one last look as if wishing them good luck in their quest, Levi trailed behind his group, following Margaret into the forest.
"Level four demons" Percy spat "where are they at? I'm getting pumped"
"Would you calm down for a moment" Levi spanked Percy.
Margaret just kept silent and headed the journey, Anna who was behind her watched her intently.
She hardly flinched or gave attention to the usual noises or movements in the brushes around her.
It seemed like she was not bothered at all, she looked formidable, like a one man army.
It didn't look as if she had companions, she walked like she was on a solo mission.
She paid no attention to Percy and Levi's squabbles at the back.
'Something just feels awfully off' Anna thought.
She couldn't read Margaret, it was either she was uninterested in the mission or she was concentrating on something.
'No, something was definitely off'. The air had grown stiff and cold'
Anna stopped and looked up, Margaret had also stopped.
Levi and Percy were busy talking, they almost walked into Anna.
When they saw Margaret and Anna frozen on a spot, they immediately became at alert.
Something was wrong, something was coming, and it definitely wasn't good.
Margaret didn't need to say a word, Levi drew his sword out, Annabeth drew her bow and kept a hand close to her quiver.
"Fwip" something flashed through the trees. And again.
Annabeth nocked her arrow, she fired exactly where the creature popped up a second after the arrow left her bow.
It dodged the arrow in a quick movement.
The creature stood few meters ahead, it stood like a man, but it's back was hunched.
It's eyes were dead and hollow. And it stared directly at Anna.
"A wendigo" Anna breathed
"A what?" Levi asked
Daniel and his group had taken another route, no one talked.
Daniel walked in front and the first years followed behind him.
'If Percy was here, it would have been noisy' Lisa thought.
'But his jokes were fun though, it helped maintain a lively atmosphere'
Everyone kept walking in silence, Jake's eyes followed anything that moved.
He knew he didn't have magic, so he had trained his senses to be very alert.
Not even an earthworm moved by without him noticing.
Daniel could still feel the presence he had felt earlier, something was definitely following them.
But it was getting closer this time. He caution was rising by the minute.
Jake paused for a second, his pause was too short for anyone to notice.
He thought he had heard something, maybe he thought wrong.
Then he heard it again, that was definitely not a sound an anal could make, he thought.
"Daniel?" Jake increased his pace and walled side by side with Daniel.
"I think something is coming" Jake alerted him.
Daniel just nodded.
"You knew?" Jake was shocked
"Yeah. Just be alert" he told Jake.
Jake's hand instinctively moved to the hilt of his sword. The leaves somewhere at the right rustled and what looked like a man wobbled out.
Daniel had never seen anything like it before, but he could tell it certainly wasn't a low level demon.
It was slightly bigger than the average man. It's eyes were sunken and hollow like the depths of an abyss.
Its teeth were scattered everywhere in it's mouth and it's long arms had sharp claws on each end.
It's face had no emotion, no expression, it just had the gaze of the dead.
"What is that?" Jake turned to face Tony.
Tony stared wide eyed at the creature in their front.
"Dear Lord, it's a Wendigo" Tony whispered. "It's a level three demon and worse than the gargoyle".
"How do we kill it" Daniel asked
"Fire"
"Percy" Jake said.