Most of the places classified as dangerous in this world were known as such because of the dangerous beasts lurking around in those places.
Well, the forest of Audaznimo was no exception because the whole area was crawling with beasts of all types, ranks, and abilities.
Everything just mentioned now was just enough to classify the forest as one of the top five most dangerous places in the world. Parents warned their children to never try to step foot in there and even a common hunter whether it was for meat or crystals couldn't even go in there and hope to make it out alive.
All these would have been way serious matters if the adventurers guild didn't exist.
With the adventurers guild, the common folk or anybody who couldn't handle him or herself in a fight could hire an experienced adventurer to handle everything for them and then pay them in return.
Mr. Almando was one of the big shots crystal traders around the world, and since he needed to deliver crystals to various places around the world in bulk, he needed the help of the adventurer's guild to get as many crystals as possible to make sure his business kept on booming.
The forest always seemed quiet at least to the people walking by but it wasn't going to seem quiet to them today because two men seemed to be wreaking havoc in a particular area now.
A clear space that looked like it was cleared out by them because of all the stumps there and the huge trees that were still surrounding them.
The taller one seemed to be a seasoned man with a skin tone that showed just how much he got exposed to the sun on a daily basis.
He had a very charismatic stature with his very muscular body and the way he stood with his great axe also standing beside him and his blue eyes almost void of any emotion and his face didn't do anything to fix that.
His partner on the other hand seemed to be quite expressive while also having a thinner body and less charisma.
He was wearing a brown hat to go with his whole get up, unlike his partner who was in all black with a green scarf on his neck.
Despite having a hat on, his blonde hair was still able to sleep through to mark a border between his emerald green eyes.
The two were surrounded by a pack of jackals along with the elegantly dressed Mr. Almond and both of his bodyguards.
He tagged along just because he loved the thrill of watching beasts get slaughtered in front of him.
"Here I go, Rufus!" The younger lad screamed before charging head-on at the pack of jackals.
Unlike his partner, he didn't have any weapon and that was because he didn't need it in a situation like this at least.
Just as he got closer to the pack of jackals that were also rushing toward him at the same time, the wind around his body began to get stronger and just before he could crash into the jackals, he thrust himself up before quickly descending with an elegant spin that ended up taking off the heads of most of the bests around him.
Rufus just stood there with an expressionless look on his face as the jackals coming from his side quickly closed up on him.
"Hey! Are you going to just stand there and let those things get close to us?! Your friend is already doing a good job so start doing something!" Mr. Almond yelled with a somewhat assertive voice but that was just something he managed to force out.
His legs were starting to shake now that the jackals were getting closer. He was worried that Rufus wouldn't do anything because he was just standing there.
However, just before the pack of jackals could get to him, he let out a huff before quickly turning around with his axe.
The blade suddenly took on a bright red glow before he quickly smashed it on the floor causing lava-like flames to shoot up and burn all the jackals that were in the area of impact which was a pretty huge area.
While all this was going on, there were two people observing everything deep into the woods a little distance away from them.
One seemed to have keen interest in what he was seeing now and the other person was pretending not to care.
"Wow, they fight really well. If we get caught by those two, we're dead." Devon remarked with his gaze still on what was going on in the open field.
"They are A-ranked adventurers for a reason, dummy, basic tier beasts are nothing to them. Also, not getting caught is the priority in this mission. Did I not make it clear?" Aurora replied with an assertive voice but Devon didn't really seem to be paying attention to her. "Hey, at least glance at me when I'm talking to you." She added before punching him on the shoulder.
"Hey." He winced before quickly turning his gaze to her. "I heard what you said."
"No, you didn't." She replied before shaking her hand. "Anyway, you know coming in here wasn't necessary."
"But we have to mark the bags and know what the adventurers are like so we know how to evade them."
"Those also aren't necessary since they'll leave him once they're out of the forest, you just wanted to see how they fought against the beasts." She remarked.
"Maybe, but you also came along when I told you you didn't have to come along and you've been watching everything with just as much interest as me." He retorted. "Also, how sure are you that they won't follow him back to the kingdom? That's where they live after all."
"Hey, what did Michael say about getting separated during missions? Do you ever pay attention to anything or do you just like being careless for fun?" She asked with a genuinely concerned look on her face.
Devon's response to those questions was a sigh as he slowly turned his gaze back to the area.
'She just ignored the last part.'
They seemed to be extracting the crystals from the jackals now.
"So, you're not going to answer my question."
"I don't have time for arguments, let's just wait this out and get those crystals so I can go do something." He responded without even looking at her.
"Oh, so that's how it's going to be, you're just lucky we're in a place like this." She scoffed before turning away from him.
Devon was about to respond to that when he felt a sudden gust of wind whisk past him but that wasn't just any wind because the hair on his arms suddenly became erect.
He could feel something in the air, a sinister feeling, a thirst for blood and it was right over them.
"Aurora!" He called before he quickly dived toward her and moved out of the way with her just before the pair of gigantic and hairy hands could come crashing down on them.
Aurora was quite startled by how he called her name and grabbed her but what she was looking at now was even more startling.
A grizzly bear about seven feet tall, it had very vicious-looking eyes and it was looking at them now with its breath literally moving the trees in the area.
While Aurora was quite terrified by just how huge the bear was to even say anything, Devon had his gaze on one place, the neck.
The bear had four marks on his neck and once he spotted that, he couldn't help but let out a deep sigh.
'Of all the tiers, it just had to be Master tier.'
*****
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