The Silvana team stood still, the weight of silence heavy around them.
They were waiting for their professor or another student team to arrive.
Earlier, they had been ambushed by five poachers, each one skilled and dangerous at Rank 2.
And as they decided to retreat, the night rained arrows enchanted with magic upon them.
Two of Silvana's teammates fell unconscious in an instant, while the rest, including herself, were battered and standing on their feet.
Outnumbered, outmatched, and in no shape to defend themselves.
Silvana thought of running, but with their archer injured and their healer barely able to stand, it appeared impossible.
Desperate, Silvana pulled out a rare Warp Stone, a powerful item capable of teleporting the team to safety.
However, when she attempted to activate it, the air shimmered strangely—the area surrounding them had been enclosed by an enemy's wall.
Left with no other options, Silvana directed the stone to transport them to a nearby cave hidden deep within the cliffs.
The stone activated, and with a bright flash, the team vanished.
They reappeared in the dim, cold cave, the sound of dripping water echoing around them.
Though they had escaped the immediate danger, Silvana knew they weren't out of trouble yet.
The cave's silence felt foreboding, and they were far from any help.
"Stay together,"
Silvana whispered, clutching her weapon tightly.
"We'll rest here, but we need to move before they track us down."
=============
"F**k! I never thought I would be in such a situation. If professor is not going to come, I guess we all will die here"
"If there is a will, there is a way. So don't worry John, just don't lose hope. Well we will be fine"
As Masha was trying her best to convince her teammate John who was totally out of sense due to the frightening scene a moment ago.
"Let's go by ourselves, or else we will never make it. I feel it would take a lot of time for the professor to reach us"
Silvana said to Masha.
"Yeah we need to work together to kill those poachers"
Masha replied with full confidence which made Silvana much better in terms of fighting back with those attackers.
At that moment…
"There you are!"
"Aaaaargh!"
The quiet night was shattered by John's scream.
Both Silvana and Masha spun around, only to see a shadowy figure step out of John's collapsing body.
(Shadow Leeching)
Shadow Leeching was a forbidden technique often used by rogue mages. It allowed them to hide inside someone's body, feeding off their energy.
In return, the host gained unnatural strength, but only as long as the leech chose to keep them alive.
Once drained, the host was left on the brink of death.
John's body lay crumpled on the ground, pale and lifeless.
The figure smirked as it flexed its hands, brimming with the power it had stolen.
"Heh, ready to play, little mice?"
"Masha, keep him busy,"
Silvana ordered, her voice steady despite the danger.
Masha was a mid-level fighter at the academy, not as strong as Silvana, but still one of the top duelists. She nodded, stepping forward with determination.
Silvana knelt beside John, her fingers glowing faintly as she began to channel healing energy.
"You're going to regret coming here,"
Masha said, her stance firm as she prepared to hold off the attacker.
The rogue mage laughed darkly.
"We'll see about that."
"Shattering Flower Style: Rose Blossom"
Masha attacked the attacker but to her surprise he defended it with his claw weapon.
Huh!
Masha again reactivated her skill and then attacked the attacker but of no use.
The attacker blocked her attack like cutting a piece of cake.
"Masha , move"
Silvana shouted as the attacker was attacking:
"Phoenix Flame Shot!"
The arrow full of fire directed to Masha but she could luckily escape the attack.
If Masha had been hit by that arrow, she would have burned into ashes.
The attacker continuously hit the arrow towards us until it got destroyed in the air.
However some arrows hit Silvana and even a slight hit was too hard to bear.
"Ahhhhyaaaa….."
"Haha!... Not Bad! Not Bad!. You too are really interesting. So I offer you to join our group or else I will smash you into two masterpieces."
"We would die fighting back with you but will never become one of yours"
"Shattering Flower Style: Withered Petal"
"Aight! If you have decided to go against me, come then die"
"Illusion Body Clone"
Though Silvana and Masha attacked and hit on that body, nothing happened as the body was a clone version of the original one.
Both of them got fooled by the attacker as his original body was totally fine.
"Poison Claw"
On that instant, Masha, who was kind of exhausted, got poisoned in her left hand and that really made her collapse to the ground.
"Haha... This isn't looking good, Silvana. I'll hold him off. You need to run and get help."
"No! If I leave, he'll kill you!"
"If you stay, we'll both die. At least one of us has to make it out of here."
Silvan clenched her fists, her heart torn. "I can't just leave you behind…"
"Listen," Misha said softly, her voice steady despite the fear in her eyes.
"I've always dreamed of doing something big—traveling the world, standing against evil, maybe even becoming a hero someday. But this is my chance to do the right thing now. Let me protect you, just this once."
Silvana hesitated, tears welling in her eyes. "I'll come back for you, I promise."
Misha smiled faintly, drawing her blade as she stepped forward.
"Make sure you do. Now go!"
As Silvan turned where Misha took a deep breath, facing the enemy with resolve.
Her hands trembled, but her grip tightened. "Alright, let's see what you've got."
Just as Silvana was about to leave the place, another group of poachers came and she remained stuck.
"Boss, How could you not slay those girls who are so weak?"
"Don't you know about me? Huh! I was just playing with them for sometime"
"Let's not waste our time anymore Boss as we got to hunt other students"
"Alright"
"Fire Shot: Triplex"
The final shot was attacked towards Silvana and Masha where both of them had no hope and thought that it was their fate to die in their hands.
Whoosh!
"Ice Wall"
-Zrrrrrhhhhhhhh
At an instant, the big Ice wall appeared from nowhere and the attackers were really shocked to see that it could dodge their attack.
"Boss, How is this even possible"
It was indeed Xerox Zee, who figured out through a loud noise produced by the attackers who were attacking Silvana and her team.
It was their luck that my team came to see the situation.
"What do we do Xerox?" Aria asked with a worried face.
"Ahh…."
I couldn't reply at the moment.
"Should we go to call the professor or should we help Silvana and her team?" Sofia said.
"No way! , If we are to help them we are going to die as they are so powerful and the rank 3 poachers"
Carter replied.
Meanwhile…
I was drawn into the novel flashback:
In the Novel, I remember that if we all go to call the professor, we will meet with another group of poachers and if we stay and help them, we would also get killed by the attackers.
So What Now?
I questioned myself!
"Xerox Zee what shall we do…."
I came back to my senses where I told them that if we could divide ourselve where Sofia and Carter can go to call the professor with one condition that to take a short way which was so steep and dangerous but there they won't meet any poachers.
"Okay Let's do it this way!"
We went separately. I was a bit worried about Liam and Carter hoping that nothing happened to them while going back to call the professor.
"Xerox, I am really sorry for looking down on you all the time"
Out of nowhere, Aria said to me feeling guilty for being like that previously.
I was wondering what this girl has to say as we have got a strong enemy in the front.
So without wasting much time, I said;
"It's okay! Past is past. So don't you worry about it anymore as I have already forgotten"
...…
As we were so near to the battle area where I could see that the Ice Wall that I had secretly summoned earlier was about to break due to so many flame shots.
So, I shouted :
"Hey You F**kers!"
And then I immediately activated another Ice Wall in front of Silvana and Masha.
"Xerox Zeeee Wow!"
Both the girls shouted out of excitement.
"Who the hell are you?" One of the poachers asked.
"I am your motherFu*ker"
I replied with full aggression on my face.
"Haha ! You are just a NOOB!, Anyways Let's see what you have got little boy"
The Boss of the attackers said with full pride.
"Gigantic Fist: Overflowing Power Strike"
As the attackers were busy shouting at me, Aria suddenly gave them a powerful strike.
"Watch out"
"Defensive Mode"
"Wind Swirl"
"Whoa! You also got a friend"
Actually, the powerful strike made by Aria was not really impactful for those enemies.
The enemies easily dodge her strike.
"Shadow Style: Silent Slash!"
I moved swiftly, cutting down the enemies as they chanted their spell.
Spells left them wide open, and I took advantage of the moment they dropped their guard.
The mage collapsed, lifeless, as I stood over the body, my blade dripping with blood.
My expression remained cold and unshaken.
"What just happened?"
"Did you see that?"
"Stay alert! This one isn't ordinary!"