*Mortal Forest

"This cricket is mine; nobody intervenes."

"I've hunted more than you."

"I've won you the bet," *Laughs*.

Many voices could be heard scattered around the area. These were the students of the pandora academy. Although they were scared when they arrived, after hunting for a while, they were all excited.

The soldiers just watched from afar and waited in case they had to intervene. Some put together some bets to distract themselves for a while; after all, they were just basic beasts that the students were fighting with.

"Hey, look over there," said one of the soldiers.

One group was in a formation as they fought 3 red-colored crickets. The soldiers from experience knew that these were medium-level crickets, but the group controlled them well, so they decided not to intervene.

"Fireball now. Change tank position," Chen Mei shouted.

She was the one who was leading the group fighting the medium crickets. She had a remarkable ability to lead the group, so they didn't look with any difficulty.

******

Zack had seen the group leaving the shelter but decided not to follow them right away. He knew where they were headed, so he took his time before leaving.

He took his swords to repair to the dwarves. He had made some money from the spiders' bodies and the body of the second-level beast he killed and sold to the pirate group.

The wait wasn't long, and he retrieved his gear. "Hope to see you around again, brat," Spoke the old dwarf elder as he smiled.

Zack said goodbye as he turned his back. He decided to find a secluded spot where he removed his mask and exited the shelter.

There is a bounty on his head, so the best he could do was leave without his mask and head towards the forest.

Running through the wilderness, he suddenly leaped and unhooked his bow while in the air; he turned his body and shot an arrow.

The arrow managed to pierce through a mound of earth and hit the person hiding behind it.

"Who are you?"

He didn't give the other person time to draw his weapon as he already had another arrow aimed at the guy's head.

"I was just passing by; excuse me, I didn't mean to disturb you."

[*After analyzing his gestures, I analyzed that the probability of lying is 90%*.]

Listening to what the AI said, he released the bowstring, and an arrow came out while sticking into the other person's leg.

"AGH *shout*.

"I'll give you another chance; speak up."

The other person received a large wound and an electric shock that created a burn on his leg and some spasms.

"Forgive me. I was following the masked devil when he entered an alley, and then you came out. Excuse me for confusing you."

'Hum, if he had confused me, he would have no reason to follow me. Zack didn't think about it and loaded another arrow and aimed it at the other person's head.

"Forgive me. I didn't..." He didn't finish speaking when the arrow went through his head. After the fame he had accumulated, he would not let others know his identity or freedom would be in danger.

Sighing, he scratched the back of his head and thought. 'What am I on about... Ah yes, going to the Deadly Forest.

**Mortal Forest***.

"Something here doesn't feel right," Chen Mei said. After killing the crickets, they continued forward more profoundly into the forest and soon encountered bees.

The bees would attack, but they came in a few at a time, and some after attacking would leave and return. But when this happened, more and more bees came.

"You're overthinking it miss, they're just bugs; it's not like they have intelligence," Said one of the group.

The other students were excited because they had made progress in killing crickets, and their view on hunting was softening.

"Bzzzzz!"

Suddenly there could hear a lot of bees flapping, and the soldiers became alert.

The students didn't know why the soldiers had become so severe, but soon their faces changed color. Without realizing it, the bees were beginning to swarm around them, closing off their escape routes.

Unlike the crickets, they were more trained. Also, from the flapping of their wings, one could tell that there were hundreds of bees. On the ground and the heights, they could see how the bees were gathering.

"Miss," the minions gathered around Chen Mei.

"It's time for me to show what I have."

Six flags came out of their hands and covered all the students. "Protective formation."

Everyone was surprised. No one knew what the power of the Chens really was. Only from the second dimension onwards were Chen's active.

"Long-range attackers, fire" shouted Chen Mei.

She had to keep formation so she could not attack. The guards who had elemental power were the first to attack.

Two fire elementals began to set a fire outside the formation, and the bees started to fall. Seeing the attacks, the bees also began to strike the formation.

*Ooong*

Echoes of impacts sounded inside the formation as more and more bees struck.

"Miss, we can't go on like this; sooner or later, it will break. Let's get out of here."

"I don't want to die here," Said one student.

Many sobs could be heard from the students. Chen Mei could escape with her group if she wanted to, but the others would die on the spot. With a pale face and some sweats running down her face, Chen Mei bit her lip.

With her hand, she picked up a drop of blood from her lip and threw it at one of the flags. The flag changed from blue to red, and soon the others did too.

"When I yell, everyone run away!"

Chen Mei waved her hand, and in a single instant, the formation shrank and then expanded again, but with more force.

It exploded when it reached its previous size, creating an impact force that sent the bees away.

"Now!" she shouted.

Everyone started running, even the people in his group. They had a lot of confidence in their boss, so they didn't notice that she had been left behind.

As everyone ran, the soldiers tied up the bees with other students' help, while some were so scared that they didn't even think of attacking.

"Aaahhh," the sting of a bee impaled one student as he was dragged away.

"Hang in there; help won't be long in coming."

One of the soldiers called the school for help. It was only a matter of time before the flying cavalry arrived.

Information about the forest would have to be updated. Initially, there was no report of such a swarm of bees in this territory.

*Fleeting*

A dragon descended as it shot flames at a group of bees. "The cavalry has arrived," said the rider.

Dozens of flying birds arrived. Eagles, griffins, one or two dragons, among others, could be seen.

All the students began to get excited. Soon they began to gather on one side and rest while the cavalry finished them all off. This was composed of elites over 300 in power level.

"We did it miss," Said one student. Soon his face changed as he looked around and did not find Chen Mei.

"Where is Miss Chen!"

When he said this, even the cavalry was surprised. No one was answering by name, which meant that she was not in the group.

This could be the worst situation that could happen to them. This would incur Chen's wrath.

"Clear everything quickly, look for the lady," Shouted the knight on the dragon.

*** Moments before ***

While all the students were running, Chen Mei barely had the strength to run, so she stayed to fight the bees to buy some time, but they split up, and only the mid-level bees stayed behind.

She had managed to hold off the attacks a bit but was soon giving in; she was riddled with wounds all over her body. 'Am I going to die here? Someone... Someone help me,' She thought.

She remembered that boy who looked at her indifferently and was not swayed by her status. 'Why is it coming to my mind now? I think I'm hallucinating, I'm seeing him in a tree while he's looking at me' She thought to what her eyes were slowly closing, but the last thing she saw was how one of the bees was cut, and she ended up losing consciousness.