It was currently around 10 AM. Shye and his party members were peacefully hunting creatures while moving deeper inside the beginner adventurer zone.
Due to their recent experiences, Shye's classmates could now take down Irontusk boars fairly easily. The next step for them would be to try and confront an apex predator with only a little bit of help from him.
Finally, after a few more minutes of walking, they encountered a red-spotted jaguar which was one of the apex predators inside the beginner adventurer zone.
Shye immediately charged forward to gauge the strength of this red-spotted jaguar and fortunately, its strength was within the capabilities of his classmates.
If they work together, although some of them might be wounded, Shye believed that they could take down this red-spotted jaguar.
He immediately went to the back and signaled his classmates to fight it.
*GULP*
Some of his party members gulped in nervousness while others were excited to try their hand against an apex predator.
If they wanted to become adventurers, then they would have to fight creatures who are stronger than them most of the time.
This is the reason why adventurer parties are the norm and solo adventurers are very rare. Only the strongest adventurers dare to venture alone.
Seeing that the human who engaged it first seemed to be using it as educational material, the red-spotted jaguar was infuriated. It growled in anger for a brief moment before charging towards one of Shye's party members.
A wild creature's instincts were always razor sharp so the red-spotted jaguar sensed which one of them was the weakest and the most scared in an instant.
Upon seeing that the red-spotted jaguar was charging towards him, the party member immediately panicked.
He thought that he was ready to face an apex predator but it was only when he actually faced one did he realize that he was still far too inexperienced.
"AAAHHHH!!!"
The guy named Tom immediately turned around and screamed in fear after realizing that the red-spotted jaguar was targeting him.
If this was a normal situation, turning your back on an apex predator is basically wishing for death but fortunately for Tom, Shye wouldn't let him die.
*BANG*
Shye kicked the red-spotted jaguar who was sent flying for a few meters before managing to stabilize its footing.
"Tom! Don't turn your back! Analyze the creature's attack as calmly as possible before dodging at the last moment!"
"If you keep doing this, even if you graduate from the academy, you will not survive in the adventurer zones!"
Shye was a bit angry. He wanted all of them to improve and he didn't want anyone to die so he couldn't help but give some advice to the guy named Tom.
Sometimes, Shye is happily thinking about the future where he would meet some of his classmates in other cities and high-level adventurer zones where they would greet each other, happy to see the other person again after a long time.
Such daydreams made him excited to become stronger and achieve higher heights together with his classmates while they were still in the academy.
This is because he knew that once they graduated, it would be every man for himself. He wanted his classmates to thrive so he couldn't stand seeing them like this.
After hearing Shye's words, the guy named Tom seemed to have successfully gathered his wits. He nodded at Shye and looked straight at the red-spotted jaguar as he assumed his battle stance.
Although he wasn't totally calm yet, he could at least protect himself now.
…
…
…
"Haaah…Haaah…Haaah…W-WE DID IT!!!!"
"Let's freaking goooooo!!!"
Shye's party members celebrated as they collapsed on their butts in exhaustion, the carcass of the dead red-spotted jaguar was right in front of Tom, who dealt the final killing blow.
Shye was ecstatic after seeing his classmates improve so much in just a single battle. Indeed, a life-or-death struggle is the fastest way to grow in combat.
Tom, who turned around and screamed in fear, improved so much to the point that he had developed the guts to narrowly avoid the red-spotted jaguar's attack by a hair's breadth in order to give himself and his classmates the chance to deal huge amounts of damage.
Finally, after a desperate struggle, the red-spotted jaguar collapsed and died.
Unfortunately, their celebration was cut short as a huge tree suddenly toppled over revealing an angry creature who wasn't supposed to be inside the beginner adventurer zone.
"E-E-Ember Tiger! Why?! Why is it here?!"
Even Shye was in utter shock and disbelief upon seeing a raging ember tiger right in front of him. Fortunately, he managed to quickly gather his wits and so, he immediately sprinted in front of the entire party to protect everyone.
"Everyone, run towards the safe zone we marked earlier! Let me handle this ember tiger."