“Let’s go,” Sophie said.

The group descended the tree and set off. Luna and Lana traveled in front of everyone else constantly observing their surroundings. After accepting the quest each member received information about the general direction of the den. Luna and Lana’s map skill let them clearly see the location. Also, both of them had better perception so the they volunteered to scout ahead. Sophie didn’t feel comfortable with them moving a great distance and asked them to stay within sight at all times.

The sounds of the forest made everyone tense and the darkness of the forest made everyone feel suppressed. It felt like there were creatures hiding in the darkness all around them waiting for them to drop their guard. The darkness hid creatures but it also hid them as well. The thickness of the darkness would help them to move unseen during the night.

Although the darkness was intense it was not impossible to see through. Everyone but Shane had high perception that allowed them to be aware of their surroundings. Even if an enemy appeared they would not be caught off guard.

To make sure Shane wasn’t caught of guard he stood next to Shawn, Sophie and Jason. They would be able to point out danger and he would be able to protect them from threats that got to close. Zane walked in between the group of three and two. He was behind Luna and Lana but close enough to quickly help if needed. The same logic could be applied with Shane, Jason, Sophie and Shawn.

“Somethings coming,” Luna said.

A few moments passed and Zane was able to make out the outline of a creature. It was four legged, its eyes had a red glow and were at the same height as Zane’s. Zane couldn’t tell what color the fur was but it looked dark. Zane could barely identify the creature but the system helped him out.

Adolescent Panther Lvl 18

Luna and Lana had spotted the panther before Zane and were moving backward. The creature started to growl and approached them at a faster walk. Zane was moving toward them and had equipped his spear and shield. He sensed Sophie and other approach him from behind.

“This one is mine,” Zane mentally told them. “I need to warm up before we fight something stronger.”

Zane started to slowly walk forward to the approaching panther. Zane saw it stop and it appeared to be hesitant. It paced back and forth and released a few low roars. The creature was cautious but Zane didn’t feel like waiting for it to find its confidence. Zane griped his spear, raised his shield and used Charge.

The distance between Zane and the panther quickly shrunk. The panther roared as Zane approached it and raised one of its paws. Zane met the paw with his shield and was pushed back several steps. He heard and felt something sharp dig into his shield but Zane didn’t see any claws. Zane grinned as the panther chased after him and attempted to deliver a second strike. Zane used Warrior Steps and dodged the attack. Immediately after, Zane activated Skill Combo and used Stab. His spear was aimed at the panther’s neck but it moved and Zane hit its shoulder. Zane used Pierce to dig further into the wound, hitting something hard and dealing bonus damage for using two skills. Zane quickly pulled his spear out and backed away.

The panther roared in anger and unleashed a series of furious swipes at Zane. Zane backed away and watched the creature vent its anger and pain. The panther chased and Zane dodged. Although Zane would only barely avoid being hit most of the time, he didn’t feel strained or flustered. When he couldn’t dodge, he would use Block. When Zane saw it slowing down, he gathered his energy and used Charge when it stopped. Zane connected and the panther went down. What followed was a repeat of the three skills used previously. This time, he managed to hit its throat and rip open a large hole.

Blood gushed out and the anther let loose a distorted roar of pain. Zane tried to use Slash to widen the wound but missed. Aware that he was being greedy Zane backed off. The panther struggled to its feet and glared at Zane with madness in its eyes. It tried to attack Zane but its movements were sluggish. Zane dodged and delivered a normal attack with his spear. This happened a few more times before the panther fell down and stopped breathing.

“That was fun,” Zane lowered his spear and mentally addressed the group.

“I thought it was a little unfair that we didn’t let you fight before but I’ve changed my mind,” Jason said. “You made that fight look too easy.”

“Although it looked easy, I had to put in a lot of effort. One mistake and I would have been ripped open by its claws.”

“Sure, it was tough but it didn’t look that way. The rest of us would have been exhausted or forced to drink a potion.”

“I would have exhausted my stamina and loss a lot some of my health,” Shane said. “I would barely be able to dodge the attacks from the panther and I would only be able to win by exchanging one attack for another.”

“I would have had to use almost all of my mana to make sure the panther died before reaching me,” Jason added.

“I admit that I don’t need to fight creatures at this level but I think it’s important for me to be fighting from now on,” Zane said. “Our goal is to complete the quest and letting me kill all the creatures we meet will allow us to quickly arrive at the den,”

“It sounds like you really want to fight,” Sophie said. “We should move faster but I think it would be better if all of us participated in the battle.”

Zane decided to agree with Sophie’s argument. One reason was to respect her status as the leader and the other reason was because it allowed him to keep fighting.

Zane picked up the corpse of the panther using mana and put it in his space bag. Although the panther was large it didn’t reach a size the average space bag couldn’t handle. Zane and the others all had bags that were above average.

After putting away the corpse they continued to move quietly through the noisy forest. They were prepared for danger but danger didn’t come. It was surprising because they encountered a powerful mana creature a few minutes after they left their shelter. Zane thought about a bit before telling the group his theory.

“The fight with the panther should be considered a rare event. The mana creatures in this forest seem more active at night. All of them should be at or headed to areas with large amount of mana. The area we just left had low amounts of mana compared to the area we are in now.”

“That makes sense,” Sophie agreed. “I thought the mana was increasing everywhere but it looks like the area we picked still has a small amount of mana. Looks like we picked a good spot.”

Everyone decided to speed up since the chance of meeting a mana creature decreased. They slowed down when Sophie said the mana in the surroundings stopped increasing. A few minutes later Lana said she saw something. The group moved closer together and slowly approached what Lana saw.

“It looks like a pile of dead bodies,” Lana said. “I can’t tell how many.”

Sophie asked Luna if she smelt anything but Luna shook her head. Luna’s nose was stronger than Lana’s eyes when it came to sensing danger but the pile of dead bodies disrupted her sense of smell. They moved close enough so everyone could see the outline of the bodies but they stopped after that.

“I think we should go.” Zane said. “If we stay, we might bring ourselves trouble. There aren’t any benefits for investigating what happened here.”

“I think we should burry them or at least burn them,” Jason said. “The chance of them becoming undead is small but its possible. The high levels of mana and the possibility that this group may have died with mana sickness increases this possibility. Plus, it’s the kind thing to do.”

There wasn’t a good reason to argue with what Jason said so the group agreed to burn them. Zane said that only Jason needed to approach the pile. He would go with Jason for protection and everyone else could stay back in case something happened.

Jason and Zane slowly approached the pile of bodies. They were cautious and attentive but they didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. When they were a few feet away from the pile they stopped. Jason raised his arm and aimed his palm at the pile of bodies.

“This is the best we can do for you,” Jason whispered. “I hope you rest in peace.” After Jason finished speaking, he unleashed a weak flame that spread out like a carpet.

“NOOOO”

Zane dropped his spear, reached for Jason and dragged him to the floor the moment he heard the voice. Zane raised his shield to cover the both of them just before he heard an arrow pierce the ground a few feet away from them. Before Zane could make his next move a figured charged out of the pile of bodies and fell on them.

Zane easily pushed the figure off him before standing up. The moment he stood up; Zane saw a figure running toward him right before an arrow hit his right shoulder. Zane took a step forward before turning and raising his shield. He looked upward right before he heard a scream and saw a figure falling out of a tree.

Turning around he saw the figure that was running toward him fighting Luna. He looked down and saw that the burning figure from the pile of dead bodies rolling on the ground. The flames that had covered him were almost out. Zane reached for his waist, drew his sword and delivered a Slash to the figures neck. The head stayed still, the body rolled one more time and blood gushed onto the forest floor.

“Someone wants to tell me what the fuck just happened?” Jason asked.

“We were ambushed,” Zane answered back mentally. “Continue burning the bodies while everyone else collects the bodies of our attackers. Be careful everyone, there might be more people hiding in the dark.”

The bodies were quickly gathered and dumped on to the burning pile of bodies. The bodies didn’t tell them much about their attackers. They decided to view them as bandits and keep moving forward. After that was done Sophie pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and used a spell to heal him. They quickly moved away from the large fire that would draw attention.

“That sucked.” Jason said out loud.

“I don’t know why you’re complaining,” Zane said. “I’m the only one who got injured.”

“Sorry about that. If I hadn’t suggested we-”

“Stop.” Zane interrupted Jason out loud. “Never blame yourself for the evil others do. You made a suggestion and we all agreed to go through with it. It wasn’t your fault.”

Everyone else agreed with what Zane said. They did there best to console Jason while discussing what they could have done better. They talked about what they experienced as they continued walking towards the den. Their eyes constantly moving in search of danger.