With their decision set, the trio changed direction and headed in what appeared to be in a western direction (the needle was pointing south east).
They decided being cautious was the better option than going head-first in unknown territory. At least now they knew that there was still some life that existed in this forest. The eerie silence had suggested otherwise.
Continuing with their search, the trainees from hut three tried their best not to be discouraged by their lack of progress. The mission was absurd and required tremendous amounts of patience, not to mention there was no guarantee of even sighting their target.
Nico muttered some curses under his breath and increased his grip on his spear. He wiped the sheen of sweat on his forehead with the back of his sleeve.
As they headed deeper and deeper into the East Leaf Wilderness, he noticed a pattern.
At first, when they first entered the forest, juvenile trees were not a rare sight. In fact, they had been so plentiful that Nico could have found one with every tenth step. The plants on the moss-covered floor also adhered to this rather esoteric phenomenon.
Now, however, Nico found the presence of anything 'young' slowly but surely disappear.
He clicked his tongue and cursed the creepiness of this damned Wilderness. Finally, after an indefinite amount of time of overall travel - probably a few hours - Nico came to a stop and motioned for his friends to do the same.
The boy sat down, panted, and leaned on the bark of an oak tree with his eyes closed, "Let's rest for five."
Henry and Leon shrugged and found their own trees to rest their backs on. The trio of trainees now faced each other in a position similar to an inverted triangle, with one person at each 'corner'.
A minute or two of silence followed, the two humans and half-blood too absorbed in their own thoughts. Nico opened his eyes and absentmindedly gazed at the now all-too-familiar scenery as a weak breeze ruffled his brown hair.
He now found constantly gazing at trees repeatedly, dull and repetitive. He almost… wished for something to come and spice things up.
Nico chuckled to himself and continued idly tracing the outline of the towering trunks with his eyes. A few moments later, his reverie suddenly ended as he realised he had forgot to be vigilant of any threats that might come to harm them.
'Crap…'
Just then, a sudden shiver crawled down his spine for no apparent reason.
Nico locked eyes with his two companions, attempting to convey the urgency he felt. Henry and Leon stared back, their faces quickly turning serious. The duo swiftly scanned the surrounding area, before their gazes settled on the upper reaches of the nearby trees.
Nico saw their pupils constrict.
His breath hitched.
Time slowed to a crawl as the brown-haired boy suddenly felt a pair of eyes staring at him from above. Like an unoiled machine, Nico craned his neck upward. Fear enveloped his entire being.
'Blazing Fat-'
"Nico, watch out!" Henry's shout made its way to his ears.
Simultaneously, two things occurred at the same time. As Nico shot up from his seated position, a beast with dark crimson hair that covered its entire body and long, gangly limbs leaped from the branch it was perching on.
Nico's body went cold as his instincts screamed at him to evade the coming danger. With grim resolve, he released a bellow and tensed his core. His right foot dug into the ground before he spun and slashed with his spear toward the unknown enemy.
A dark blur was all Nico made out before he felt tremendous force impact against his spear. As he had hastily constructed his stance, it was feeble.
He felt his body fly back, greenery and trees rushing past his vision. He painfully rolled on the ground a few times, ultimately landing a good few metres away.
Just after Nico and the beast clashed, Leon and Henry instantly spurred into action. Reflected in their eyes was an animal with eerily blood-red hair standing on two short legs, its prolonged arms on the floor, twice the length of its hind shanks.
Madness swirled deep within its eyes as its nose twitched sensing the delicious aroma of its prey right in front of it.
The half-blood gripped his sledgehammer tightly and roared, the weapon rising above his head, preparing to crush its target to a paste.
The young farmer dashed to the side, deciding to attack from the flank and force the bloodthirsty creature into a corner with his burly companion's strike.
Nico finally rolled to a stop. He immediately rose and used the momentum from his legs to propel himself forward into a sprint. He had to get back and help Henry and Leon.
The duo meanwhile, finally clashed with the ape. Or… at least tried to. The damned beast was just too nimble.
Leon cursed.
The frenzied creature shifted its body at the last second and, evaded the potent force that the sledgehammer contained. Then, with another nimble movement, it dodged Henry's strike and sent one of its own, which forced the green-eyed farmer into quickly blocking.
Attack, after attack, after attack. Small depressions and thin cracks littered the ground, from the half-blood's weighty strikes.
The crimson-haired ape alternated between the two trainees, constantly weaving in and out of their weapons' range. Occasionally, it even used its terrain to its advantage, dashing behind a tree and reappearing not a second later, its limb outstretched to claw its prey to death.
Nico, who just now returned to the battle - he had used the loud noises coming from the clash to run to his fellow trainees' location - had a grim look on his face. He gripped his spear tightly and dashed forward.
He wanted to catch the beast off-guard with a sudden attack, however, that would probably fail due to the ape's sense of smell. Surely it could sense him before he had even neared its position.
Nico didn't bother trying to come up with some grand scheme. The only thing that gave them a greater chance of victory was using their numerical advantage against the ape.
And he was determined to do just that.
Nico sped forward, reaching Henry and Leon's position within a few seconds. His eyes darted across the forest, taking in the ape's current location and his companions' difficulty in dealing with it.
'First Form - Horizon's dash!'
The brown-haired boy's spear shot through the air as he thrust with ferocious intent. They had to deal with the ape. And now.
The maddened beast grunted in alarm. It arched its back suddenly, the spear whizzing inches past its hairy hide.
Encouraged by how close he came to inflicting a wound on the hairy animal, Nico increased the intensity of his attacks. So too did the half-blood and farmer.
The addition of a new fighter had a profound effect on the flow of the battle. The tide instantly changed, now favouring the young trainees.
With Nico's swift strikes, the prospect of being flattened by the burly boy's sledgehammer, and Henry attacking from behind, the crimson ape found itself on the defensive.
Blood trickled down a few tiny wounds that littered its hide. It had sacrificed these areas to prevent being placed in an inescapable corner.
Unfortunately for the deranged beast, no matter how much it tried, it could not deal with three opponents at once. With a furious scream of agony, it felt one of its arms sliced off from behind.
As blood spurted from the wound, the creature suddenly tensed its legs and leapt into the air, hugging the trunk of the nearest tree with its only arm. Before any of the three trainees could react, it had already shimmied up the ancient oak.
Nico saw it exhibit what appeared to be a resentful expression as it snarled toward them. Then with another indignant grunt, he witnessed the ape retreat, swinging from branch to branch precariously using its remaining limb.
Their first encounter with a beast in the East Leaf Wilderness had not gone as bad as they had originally thought.