It's been 20 minutes since the second attempt to hunt down the Steel Winged Eagle had started.
"Go for it!" yelled a black-haired girl with crystal-like golden eyes. "Cut it down, Nero!"
"I got it!" Nero replied to Anastasia while willing mana into his legs, strengthening them to make a jump.
In front of Nero was a pretty big eagle.
"Skii!" the eagle whistled in desperation. It was already down on the ground with multiple wounds clearly visible on his body.
It had no strength to fly anymore.
Nero's figure disappeared and appeared right before the fallen eagle.
"Don't let him get to it!" from the back, Grace yelled at her Unit's marksman.
"On it!" Hugh, the marksman of her unit, yelled back. He aimed the barrel of his twin handguns at the wounded eagle and pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
With a loud, sharp noise, two bullets shot forward at the eagle.
"Amelia!" Nero cried for help from his teammate.
Amelia has already acted quickly. She had already launched an arrow by now.
Tin—!
With deadly accuracy, the arrow Amelia shot collided with the two bullets and deflected them easily.
"Huaaaa~"
While all that was happening, Lucas casually stood under a tree, enjoying the shade being provided by it, and watched the ongoing hunt from afar.
"Aren't you going to help your Unit?"
From his right, Lucas heard a deep, intrigued voice reaching his ears.
"Hmm?" Lucas turned to Alberto, who had asked him a question, and nonchalantly replied while pointing at Kent. "Look at that guy. He's trying to help them but what's he doing?"
Kent was standing in position with a scythe in his hands. His job was to protect the archers of the Unit if the eagle were to come after them.
"He's doing nothing," Alberto concluded. "He's useless right now."
"Exactly," nodded Lucas. "I'm the same as him. In this situation, I'd be useless to them. There are already two archers present there giving him cover fire."
With a suspicious look, Alberto looked at the silver-haired boy in front of him. There was something off about him. He could feel it.
On the outside, this boy was nothing special. He wasn't very weak but he wasn't strong either. He had a reputation for being a brat but he didn't act like it. He had good looks but that's about it.
Yes, no matter how much Alberto looks at Lucas, he can only assess him as a weakling— someone inferior to him.
Nothing more, nothing less.
So why were his instincts telling him to stay the fuck away from this guy?!
"Alberto, let's talk."
Right when Alberto was lost in his thoughts, a member of his Unit came and tapped on his shoulder before making him walk off with him.
Left alone, Lucas quietly observed the hunt in front of him. He was actually counting seconds and waiting for his plan to take action.
Yes, he had already set a plan in motion. A plan to restore his reputation among his teammates— a step that would eventually allow him to create pawns for his exploits.
"Lvae tormentorum!"
Right when Lucas was counting down the seconds, he heard Nero invoking a chant in high elven.
Nero had his hand mimicking a handgun and pointed his fingers at the fallen eagle.
Since members of Grace's Unit tried to stop him from approaching the mana beast, in frustration, Nero decided to use magic instead.
Light particles started converging at the tip of his index finger and in an instant, the whole area was bathed in a blinding white light.
Thwoosh—!
The flash of light caused everyone to squint or shield their eyes with their hands in discomfort.
When the light subsided, the whole area in front of Nero's 'handgun' was destroyed and whatever was left of the trees and grass was set ablaze.
The body of the Steel Winged Eagle was nowhere to be seen. Not even its ashes remained after Nero was done with it.
And despite being injured, that mana beast was on [Bronze] rank.
Knowing the fact that his spell could seriously injure or even kill anyone present here made everyone shudder unknowingly.
Not Lucas, of course. He didn't feel anything as he watched the scene with emotionless eyes.
But in the next moment, he started moving as that spell marked the start of his plan.
"You did it!" exclaimed Amelia in joy.
"Hell yeah!" Nero raised his hands in a show of victory.
"We aced this Unit test!" Anastasia too jumped in excitement.
"Yeah, although I didn't do much, we won!" Kent nodded with excitement.
"You did more than certain someone."
"Oh, come on Amelia, Lucas helped a bunch too."
"Hmph."
While the winners were busy celebrating, Grace was clicking her tongue.
"Tsk," she looked at Hugh, giving him a death glare. "You are useless!"
"I am useless?!" Hugh retorted. "I did everything I could! You guys can't win against Nero!"
"True," William nodded. "That guy was too strong."
"Same," Elijah sighed. "All of us did everything we could to keep him away from the eagle but he still managed to hunt it down."
Ella walked up to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Grace, it's a fair loss. No one is to blame here."
"Shut up!" Grace burst out, slapping Ella's hand away and pointing at Hugh. "Your guns are useless."
"Oh yeah? Why didn't you accomplish something with your rapier then— HEY, WATCH OUT!!"
Before Hugh could finish his counterargument, however, he saw something. His eyes widened as he shouted out a warning.
A red-furred wolf emerged from behind the cover of the woods and charged toward Nero's Unit.
The wolf, seeing Amelia as the closest target, leaped at her from behind.
Nero, who was facing the black-haired girl, was the first to notice the red-furred wolf jumping on her from behind.
He quickly reacted to the situation and tried to protect Amelia by instinctively moving his body toward her.
However, he was too far away, and by the time he could reach her, the wolf would have already bitten off her neck.
Anastasia and Kent were also facing their back to the wolf's side so they had no idea about it either. And there was no time to alert them.
Hugh tried to shoot the wolf but his magazine was already empty. He'd have to reload, and again, there was no time for that.
The element of surprise and proximity of the wolf to the group made it impossible for them to avoid the attack.
"Wurf!"
When Amelia sensed the presence of something behind her, she abruptly turned her body.
She could only widen her after seeing a red-furred wolf inches away from her face.
"Haa!"
A short gasp escaped her lips in shock and fear as she realized the danger she was in.
Time seemed to slow down as she stared into the wolf's eyes, unsure of what to do with no time to react.
At that crucial moment, Amelia felt a sudden force pushing her out of the way of the wolf.
She stumbled to the side, narrowly avoiding the wolf's canines which would have ripped her face apart.
As she fell, she caught a glimpse of strands of silver hair flashing before her eyes. It was a boy dressed in a black and red jersey of the academy who had saved her.
Yes, it was Lucas.
"Wruuuf!"
As Lucas pushed her out of the way, the wolf turned its attention to him.
The silver-haired boy had his left hand outstretched, trying to fend off the wolf's attack, but the wolf's weight and momentum made him fall back as it jumped onto him.
"Arghhhhhaaaa!"
He couldn't help but let out a beastly scream when the wolf bit down on his left hand.
However, he was prepared for this.
Click—!
Flicking his right wrist, a hidden blade extracted from below the sleeve of his jersey which he used to stab the red-furred wolf right around its jaw.
Splurt—!
Bang—!
Swoosh—!
Almost instantly, a bullet pierced the wolf's skull, killing it immediately.
But as if that wasn't enough, Nero swung his sword and cleaved off its head.
"Are you alright, Lucas?" Nero shouted with genuine concern for the boy who had risked his own life to protect one of their teammates.
"Lucas! Hey, man, hey!" Kent too rushed to his side with a face full of worry. "He's losing consciousness!"
"I'm calling the Instructors!" Anastasia announced before tapping on her smart bracelet.
"Is he okay?"
"What happened?"
"What was that?"
Grace's Unit came to the scene of the incident too.
But Lucas was already closing his eyes. The red-furred wolves, also called Venom Wolves, had neurotoxins in their teeth that could paralyze their target and it was taking effect.
Amidst the commotion, Amelia was left stunned. With a lost look on her face, she sat there, utterly confused.
Why did he save me?
Or
Did he really save me?
Those were the only thoughts echoing in her head. Despite the clear evidence, she couldn't believe what had just happened.
Lucas, on the other hand, while losing consciousness, mustered all his strength to move his hand and point his finger at some people standing in the distance.
They were Alberto's Unit and they were watching the scene in confusion.
Despite clearly being present there, they did nothing to provide any kind of help.
"I-It… It w-was… It was them! They did this!" with the very last ounce of his strength, the silver-haired boy whispered before his consciousness drifted into the darkness and his hand dropped on the ground.
He had done his work. His plan was a success and now he would rest and watch the results he had wanted to create unfold