[: Daniel's POV :]**
We sprinted through the forest, the chaotic sound of rampaging monsters echoing around us like drums of war.
Branches snapped, leaves scattered, and the smell of blood thickened with each passing second.
"Daniel, what's going on!? How come every monster we see is acting weird!?"
Fendrick shouted from behind me, his voice trembling.
"Left! Watch out!"
A monstrous serpent, thick as a boulder, lunged at Fendrick with its jaws wide open.
[: 1st Tier Spell: Wind Slash :]
A razor-thin blade of wind left my fingertips, severing the snake in half. It collapsed in two heavy thuds.
We came to a stop, all three of us breathing heavily, not from exhaustion, but questions.
Silvia clutched her wrist device, pale.
"It happened again… no announcement. We killed it, but nothing."
That was the strangest part.
Normally, every kill in the Festival Hunt was recorded..
But now?
Nothing.
Only eerie silence.
"Did… something happen to the Academy…?"
