We continued running for what felt like an eternity, the adventurers leading the way in an eerie silence. The newbies, including myself, refrained from speaking, our senses attuned to the symphony of the untamed wilderness around us.
As the hours dragged on, heavy breathing filled the air, and it was clear that many of the newbies were starting to struggle.
I was no exception – my lungs were burning, and my limbs felt like they were made of lead.
The adventurers, on the other hand, seemed almost unaffected by the exertion. Even the four adventurers who had joined us, while not the most formidable in the grand scheme of things, demonstrated a superior command over their mana in this moment, giving them a noticeable edge.
Yet, amidst the crowd, there was one outlier. Someone who ran with a fluidity that defied the physical toll.
Agon. He moved effortlessly, his breathing steady, his gaze fixed ahead.
Amongst us, both newbies and adventurers alike, Agon possessed the highest endurance, defying his inability to sense his Ord. It was a fact that stood undisputed.
By contrast, those who had sneered earlier now appeared pitiful. What had driven them to mock the character with a regression template? It was akin to inviting death for a late-night chat.
Watching them, I couldn't help but sense that their confidence was misplaced and that their bravado would lead to a reckoning on this journey.
...
After what seemed like an eternity of sprinting, fatigue finally caught up with nearly every newbie. My lungs were on fire, my arms ached, and my legs trembled as I forced one foot in front of the other.
Sensing our exhaustion, the adventurers signalled for us to set up camp. Tents began to take shape, though I went through the motions halfheartedly.
"I've never been camping before. This might be kinda fun," someone ventured optimistically.
Mr. Chain's ears seemed to catch onto the faint thread of excitement. He strode over to the group of newbies who had just completed setting up their tent.
With a swift kick, the tent collapsed, and he proceeded to deliver a series of stomps, obliterating any notion of leisure.
"This is a training ground, not a vacation spot! Quit acting like a bunch of useless stains!"
His stern words hung heavy in the air, but something was off. Professor Chain's sudden change in demeanor was palpable. His head snapped to the side, his gaze sharp and alert.
A chill ran down my spine. This wasn't an arbitrary move; something had triggered his reaction.
Had the scenario already begun? The presence of both newbies and adventurers lent itself to both opportunity and vulnerability.
Damn it! Could my mere presence have already altered the timeline?
"Reveal yourself," Professor Chain's voice carried a commanding edge, directed at a particular spot.
A pale aura enveloped his body, resembling liquid in motion. It was his mana, projected externally to augment his physical capabilities and defenses. To channel mana like this, one needed extensive practice of maa.
With his mana activated, even a meagre blow from an ordinary human could prove lethal.
"It's been quite a while since I last encountered humans," the air carried a nauseating hint of blood.
Emerging from the forest was a nightmarish creature, resembling a grotesque fusion of a massive cow and a human's distorted visage crudely grafted onto its head.
A mixture of disgust and fear surged within me, a sensation far more intense than reading about it in a story. Survival instincts eclipsed repulsion as I kept my gaze locked onto the menacing entity.
Despite the presence of the adventurers, the threat was genuine. Mistakes could occur. Furthermore, this demon wasn't part of the original script – its appearance held the potential for unpredictable variables.
Six chains erupted from Professor Chain's back, materializing like serpents. His eyes turned frigid as the chains swiftly coiled around the demon.
The creature's unnatural bovine form seemed to do little to hinder its agility. It sprang, and one of its eerily human-like eyes dislodged from its socket.
Upon landing, the ground beneath us erupted in a frenzy of blade-like grass. The sharp blades shot toward us, guided by an unseen force.
"It's targeting the newbies!" The warrior adventurer's voice boomed, punctuated by urgency.
In a heartbeat, he was at the forefront, his fist crashing into the earth. The impact triggered a minor quake, fracturing the ground and disrupting the spell responsible for the deadly grassy onslaught.
The adventurers should be able to handle this...
...I hoped.
Derek's mind was buzzing with the sight of power clashes, making him fully aware of the yawning strength gap.
Kind of on autopilot, he followed the adventurers' lead as they steered the retreat.
But then, a crazy idea lit up in his head, a move straight out of those epic fantasy tales he'd read.
Quick as a wink, he tapped into his hidden abilities and bam, there were two Dereks now.
One was unmistakably him, while the other was like a watered-down copy, seriously lacking in muscle.
Sneakily, the clone slipped into the group that was pulling back, blending right in.
As the look-alike seamlessly blended in, Derek seized the moment. He vanished from the scene, popping up like a jack-in-the-box on a towering treetop.
From up there, he had the best seat in the house to watch the ongoing brawl. It was like being a sneaky strategist, playing puppet master from the sidelines.
In the midst of the chaos, Adventurer Chain found himself locked in a fierce one-on-one struggle with the formidable cow-like demon.
Now, in those manga fights, you'd get all these flashy illustrations of chains flying around and whatnot.
But all Derek could see were these quick bursts of movement, like the air crackling with energy.
The chains were slicing through the sound barrier, snapping like ferocious whips, and bits of that grotesque demon were practically painting the trees in gruesome patterns.
"Talk about bad luck. Running into a tough player," the cow demon muttered, almost sounding downcast.
It was kind of surreal to see its human-like face scrunch up in what seemed like... sadness? That human expression on its face felt strangely... human.
The thing had one eye missing, leaving a squirming, fleshy cavity. Nasty.
"High level player battles are insane," Bets muttered, his hands trembling. He must've been piecing it together, same as Derek.
Derek nodded, his determination kicking in. "Yeah, I'm gonna have to surpass this one day."
Now, let's not sugarcoat it. While Adventurer Chain wasn't a pushover by regular standards or even Exorcist standards, he wasn't exactly topping Derek's list of awe-inspiring powerhouses.
If something didn't shift the balance, he'd go down just like he did in the original story.
The cow demon spat out this dark glob from its human mouth, and like a lightning reflex, Chain's chains slapped it away.
The shockwave sent the gooey mess back, a futile attack, given the demon's apparent immunity.
But here's the thing, the dark glob smacked the one remaining eye, causing the thing to close for a split second.
That was all the time Chain needed. The chains snaked around the demon, tight as a vice, and before it could even whimper, its body just popped like a balloon. Gross, right? And the stench, my goodness.
"Ugh!"
"Disgusting!"
Some of the newbie adventurers couldn't hold it in and tossed their cookies. Derek felt his own stomach churn but managed to keep his breakfast in check – mostly.
Chain, though, he was right there, practically in the splash zone, but a fancy cocoon of chains shielded him from the nasty explosion.
The cocoon peeled away, revealing a pristine, unscathed Adventurer Chain.
He pulled it off like it was just another day at the office, you know? Routine stuff.
Meanwhile, some of the newbie adventurers were probably thinking, "What in the world did I sign up for?"
"Anyone who puked owes me a hundred pushups," Chain barked, like he couldn't wait for an excuse to throw some extra misery our way.
A bit harsh, sure, but Derek understood the strategy behind it. Chain was trying to redirect the newbie adventurers' focus from the gruesome scene to the punishment, get 'em to concentrate on the pain rather than the gore. Cold, calculated teaching.
Oddly enough, despite his tough-love act, it would later come out that Adventurer Chain was the type to sacrifice it all for his students.
Future events and a tragic end confirmed that. So, even though he got on Derek's nerves sometimes, he kept the complaints to a minimum.
Knowing what was coming down the line didn't make him any less of a pain, though.
As if to balance things out, their Beast Master adventurer, Rana, breezed in with a sunny smile.
A tiny frog hopped out from between her... uh, well, you know. It expanded like crazy, going from froggy-sized to carriage-sized in no time.
Couple of the lads went pink as peaches, one even muttering, "Who'd have thought I'd be envious of a frog?"
He clenched his fist like he was making a solemn vow to get back at Rana's familiar someday.