Hiding behind a couple of bushes on the side of the stream, Will's decision to come here had absolutely been correct. Because right now in front of us, we were currently watching a pack of lesser wolves drinking from it.
A single lesser wolf wasn't all too scary to deal with, as they were merely [F]-rank monsters, with the only somewhat remarkable trait being their above-average agility and speed. However, what made us careful before engaging with them was that they were even better than goblins at working together.
'There are only four of them...'
Still, while I could understand that it was good to be careful and that Will was probably quite determined to practice his leadership skills, watching him give us the hand signs we had agreed upon before venturing out felt pretty unnecessary. Will could probably fight them all by himself, after all.
Then, not minding my inner thoughts at all, the unspoken countdown started, with Will holding up three fingers, slowly lowering one at a time.
'3'
'2'
'1'
'Go!'
Both I and Will quickly dashed out of the bushes, him readying his sword and me bringing out my claws, ensuring we would create a good wall for our ranged damage dealers behind us.
*Grrrr!*
Bending their forelegs, all four of the gray wolves showed their teeth in response to our presence, taking a couple of moments to think about what was happening. This happened to be a rather big mistake, seeing as we were currently only buying time for...
"Lydia, Jessica! Now!"
"Yes!"
*Awooo...!*
Having gotten more than enough time to prepare their attacks, two of the unprepared wolves quickly met their fate when the powerful stone arrow penetrated the chest of one, and a blade of wind sliced the head of the other.
"Aarick, it's our time!"
"Yes, yes..."
I truly couldn't get used to just how protagonist-like Will was acting right now, passionately throwing out orders and acting as if this was the fight of a lifetime as if we were fighting the demon king himself or something.
'Come to think of it... With all that had happened lately, maybe the demon king is also real?'
Unfortunately, as Will dashed forward, I didn't have time to think about the possibility of the demon king being more than a fairytale any more, as I was forced to follow him.
*Grrr!*
This time, our opponents finally understood the situation, and in pure desperation, they both jumped toward Will with the intention of bringing down one enemy at a time.
*Fwoosh!*
Then again, as Will's sword already started to get enveloped in fiery flames, and I was more than ready to intercept one of them, it was futile.
'[Pull]'
Pulling myself forward, using the momentum to the best of my ability, I destroyed the throat of one of the wolves who had been trying to sink its teeth into our leader using my claws, gouging out a big chunk of its flesh.
*Awooo...*
Falling to its side, whimpering a bit as it lost the ability to breathe, only able to watch in pain as its red blood flooded out of its neck, I had finished my part.
*Grro!*
Therefore, I turned my sights back to our leader, who just ended the life of a scorched monster on the ground by thrusting his sword into its head, ending its life in an instant.
Despite all the blood that was now starting to soak the grass around us, I was pretty delighted to not feel my body responding to it. The blood of a monster didn't seem to be at all attractive to the dhampir side of me, and although Dona had already told me so, it was still a relief to know that I wouldn't have to struggle after every hunt to contain myself.
"Good job, everyone. Aarick, please collect one ear respectively from them. After that, we will move to our next location."
Sheathing his sword after swinging it to get rid of the blood, Will wasn't about to let us rest now that our preparations were complete. Even if it wasn't a competition, this was still a ranking event. In other words, there was still pressure on us to perform as well as possible.
Although I had already stopped caring about what rank I would get to some degree, I was also not about to let this influence this little field trip. Because as long as I just did my best, I figured that things would go smoother than if I lazed around.
Therefore, while still having my claws out, I just went around the corpses lying on the ground, doing the job that I had been assigned in silence. Simultaneously, I couldn't help but think that Will seemed to be pretty fitting for this kind of leadership role.
Though he had also been pretty good at getting people to follow him in the past, it was still obvious that he had grown a lot during the years that I had been absent. And I didn't particularly like that.
Because I still knew what kind of person he was. That he would stop at nothing to attain his goals, no matter who got hurt in the process.
Even if he felt guilty about what he did to me in the past, and that things had escalated to the point they did, I was still certain that if he found it necessary, he wouldn't hesitate to get rid of me again.
****
[Celina's Pov]
Facing off another pack of monsters, consisting of a group of kobolds, that were now running towards us, I quickly put my hands down on the grass-filled ground, pushing my mana into it as I activated my ability.
'[Nature's Grasp]!'
*Gru?!*
Surprised to feel the roots coming of out the ground, quickly taking ahold of their ankles, the kobolds came to a complete stop, not able to move an inch until they had gotten rid of my ability.
An ability that was derived from my blessing, Caller of Nature, an earth-attribute blessing that allowed me to control nature around me.
Even the elemental blessings could come in various shapes and forms, and my blessing was something very unique to the Black household, a blessing that all of the heirs had acquired during their awakening ceremony.
Unfortunately, acquiring a blessing like this, where you didn't inherit the primary form of the element, meant that one's potential could never be [S]-rank, and [A]-rank potential amongst these was so rarely seen that it could pretty much be said to be impossible as well.
I, however, had been pretty lucky, at least having a more than solid [B]-rank potential, meaning that if I worked hard, I could still reach the elites of Teton.
"Die."
Taking advantage of the kobolds being held down by my roots, our leader once again showed a very, very cold face, raising her hand as she activated the ability that showed the differences in our powers.
*Grooo...*
Even the kobolds' faces paled as the huge watery beast in the form of a serpent flew towards them, as they quickly became aware of their fate.
*BOOM!*
An explosion of water and blood was detonated in front of us, creating an incredibly disturbing sight as furry limbs were flying through the air.
"Man, shouldn't you allow us to fight some as well, Levi? We also need to practice!"
Walking forward to me and Levi, Astor still wore that fake smile on his face, his sheathed sword proving that he hadn't expected to fight anyway.
'This man...'
I couldn't help but dislike the yellow-haired more and more for every day that passed, mostly due to the act he was putting on at all times.
To be fair, I also knew that I wasn't being completely honest in the way I acted, but it was nowhere near his level. Because unlike me who was just trying to lay low, he was actively trying to make sure he had some kind of connection with everyone.
"I'm, huff... fine without fighting, huff...though..."
Then we had the last member of our group...
'What was his name again? Eh, it doesn't matter.'
Taking a look around us, looking at the small grove that we had arrived at, a small opening in the otherwise very tree-filled forest, I couldn't help but sigh when thinking about how our path here had been paved with blood.
The beautiful girl with the blue hair, the ice queen herself, had conducted a straight-up massacre during our first day here, and although the sun was about to go down, I had a feeling that she was still not content.
Despite my gathering information about her and Will, and making sure to prepare for the future, it still felt a bit bad to see her act like this. It was obvious that something happened, and if something made the ice queen like this, it must have been something very impactful to her.
Suddenly, a very stupid thought emerged in my head, remembering the words coming from a white-haired man that I absolutely didn't believe for a second.
'-She used to be in love with me.'
Looking back at Levi who was now aggressively cutting off the ears of her prey, I felt myself getting a bit nervous.
'There's no way. Right...?