"We're fucked," Harry whispered, realizing this could be the greatest challenge they've faced yet.
As the four-eyed humanoid creature approached, the squad tensed, preparing themselves to fight whatever it was.
"I will attack it first. Fire lizard, fireball!" Carl commanded his pet, which conjured a fireball. But before he could release it, Harry stopped him. "Wait."
"Why did you stop me?" Carl demanded, unable to understand why Harry would prevent him from attacking when they had the chance to injure the creature.
"Look carefully," Harry said, offering no further explanation.
"Wait! Don't attack me, I am not an enemy!" August shouted, raising his hands in the air upon seeing the fireball.
As the squad members focused on the silhouette of the four-eyed humanoid creature, they realized it was a human with jet-black hair and blue eyes. On his shoulder rested a serpent, its blue eyes glancing at them, jade-like horns protruding from its head, and scales white as snow.
The entire squad sighed in relief, relaxing their guard slightly.
"Hello, my name is Harry, and I am the leader of this team. Thank you for helping us," said Harry, a slightly burly boy, as he stepped forward and extended his hand for a handshake.
"I am August," August replied, shaking Harry's large hand. "And you don't have to thank me. I couldn't let a fellow adventurer get attacked by beasts, could I?" He smiled warmly at the team.
"Let me introduce you to my teammates," Harry said, gesturing to a timid-looking girl. "This is Rina. She has a plant-type healer beast called Red Mend."
"H...hi," Rina said softly.
[ Red Mend ]
Rank: 1 (Peak)
Bloodline: F
Element: Plant
Ability: Root Bind F2, Light Heal F3
Status: Inferior ]
"This is Denver. He has a physical-type beast called Ironfist Gorilla," Harry continued, pointing to a boy with black hair and eyes.
"Thanks for saving us," Denver said.
[ Ironfist Gorilla ]
Rank: 1 (Peak)
Bloodline: F
Element: Physical
Ability: Body Enhance F2, Ironfist F3
Status: Average
"And this is Carl. He has a fire-type beast called Fire Lizard," Harry pointed to a boy with red hair.
"Yo!" Carl greeted.
[ Fire Lizard ]
Rank: 1 (Peak)
Bloodline: F+
Element: Fire
Ability: Fireball F3, Fire Skin F1
Status: Inferior ]
"Finally, this is Dina. She has a wind-type beast called Gustling," Harry said, pointing to a girl with almond-colored hair.
"Hello," Dina smiled at August.
[ Gustling ]
Rank: 1 (Peak)
Bloodline: F
Element: Wind
Ability: Wind Cutter F3
Status: Average ]
"And my beast is an earth-type called Earth Golem," Harry introduced his own beast.
[ Earth Golem ]
Rank: 1 (Peak)
Bloodline: F+
Element: Earth
Ability: Earth Absorption F4, Earth Wall F3
Status: Good ]
"Nice to meet you all," August greeted them as he used inspect on all of the beasts.
"Are you the one the receptionist recommended to us?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, he said a team had accepted the mission. Are you that team?" August responded.
"Yes, we are. So, are you going to join us?" Harry inquired eagerly, thinking, 'If he joins us, we can complete this mission without any problems.' After seeing August defeat the beasts without a scratch, Harry couldn't help but feel hopeful.
'They don't seem like bad people, and I'm heading towards the cave anyway,' August thought. He then replied, "Yes, I can join your team temporarily."
"Thank you for accepting, and welcome to the team," Harry said happily.
"Then let's head to the nest," August suggested to the team.
"Aren't you going to get the cores from the snow vipers?" Dina asked, noticing the corpses of the vipers.
The mist had completely disappeared as Aurora stopped supplying mana to it, revealing the beasts' scattered remains.
"Oh, I completely forgot. Thanks for the reminder. I'll be right back," August said. He quickly retrieved the cores from the beasts and stored them in his inventory. Then, they headed towards the nest.
*****
After some time...
They were hiding in a bush near the cave entrance, which was guarded by two Rank 1 peak-stage Snow Vipers slithering nearby.
"What should we do?" Carl asked.
"What are they guarding?" Dina wondered.
"We'll find out once we get inside," Harry replied.
"Your squad handles one, and I'll fight the other. What do you say?" August suggested.
"I don't mind. We can handle that easily. Earlier, we were unexpectedly attacked and got surrounded," Harry said. The team members nodded in agreement.
"Okay, but we need to finish them quickly to avoid alerting the nearby Snow Vipers," August reminded them.
"We understand," Harry affirmed.
"Then let's attack with long-range attacks first, and then charge at them," August planned.
"Okay, my beast will use Fireball," Carl said.
"And my beast will use Wind Cutter," Dina added. Only the two of them and August had long-range attacks.
"Get ready to fire," August instructed. Carl and Dina informed their beasts to charge their attacks and wait for the order to fire.
"Aurora, charge Elemental Bite and wait for my call to attack," August told his beast. Aurora quickly gathered her mana, forming the Elemental Bite ability.
Once everyone was ready, August shouted, "Fire!"
Carl's pet Fire Lizard launched three fireballs, and Dina's pet Gustling released four wind cutters, all aimed at the Snow Vipers. Aurora then unleashed the Elemental Bite at the other Snow Viper.
The fireballs and wind cutters hit one of the Snow Vipers, burning and cutting its body. However, Aurora's Elemental Bite slightly missed the vital area, only injuring the second Snow Viper slightly.
The team charged at the Snow Vipers with their beasts. Harry and Denver took the front, Rina positioned herself in the middle, and Carl and Dina stayed at the back.
August went separate from them, heading towards the other Snow Viper. 'I can't let Aurora use Mist Veil, or it might obstruct my allies' vision,' he thought.
"Aurora, let's quickly deal with it. Use Ice Spike," he told Aurora, unsheathing his blade.
On the other side of the fight...
"Redmend, use Root Bind," Rina commanded her pet. It quickly lowered its hands to the ground, pouring mana into it.
Several white roots emerged from the ground, wrapping around the Snow Viper. The Snow Viper couldn't react in time and was tied up by the roots.
"Ironfist Gorilla, attack it with Ironfist!" Denver shouted.
The Ironfist Gorilla's arms glowed with a silver light as it activated its ability, punching the Snow Viper's mouth and breaking some of its scales as it struggled against the bind.
Carl and Dina also attacked with their pets, killing the Snow Viper. Harry didn't attack, allowing his pet to recover its mana from the earlier fight.
"Is it over here too?" August asked as he approached them. 'They're not that bad of a team,' he thought, seeing they had quickly killed the Snow Viper.
"Yeah," Harry replied, glancing at the corpse behind August. The Snow Viper's body was pierced with ice spikes, frozen where the spikes had hit, and its head lay beside it, cleanly severed by a sharp blade.
'If we fought him, could we even scratch him?' The thought made Harry shiver in fear.
"Then let's head inside," August said, leading the way into the cave. The others quickly followed after him.