"It's been an hour since I killed the Shade Prowler, yet I haven't run into a single beast. What's going on?" Orin kept moving, each step measured and silent, dagger ready in his grip, hoping to catch his next prey off guard.
The forest was eerily quiet until the distant clash of battle shattered the silence, snapping Orin's attention toward the sound. A fight? Nearby? He tightened his grip on the dagger.
"Let's see what's going on." He moved toward the direction of the clash, careful not to make a sound. The trees and undergrowth blocked his view, so he decided to climb a nearby trunk for a better vantage point.
"It's… her." His voice was barely a whisper, surprise etched across his face.
On the other side was Maelis, her expression cold, was locked in combat with a low-tier beast—the Gravejaw Ape. The gorilla-like predator, infamous for its bone-crushing bite, might have ranked low, but its raw, brutal strength was nothing to scoff at.
But the creature was already in a sorry state with ice clinging to its fur and freezing its joints, each movement slowed to a sluggish crawl
Its sheer strength shattered the ice again and again with it's fist, but no matter how much it broke free, the frost returned as if it were endless.
For those below the Martial Apprentice Realm, it was a deadly hindrance. Yet the girl faced it with effortless grace, as if the beast's strength were nothing more than an inconvenience.
"She must have awakened an ice-type talent," Orin thought. He had no plans to join the battle—judging from the pace, it would be over soon. "But I wonder what grade her ice-type talent is."
Talents are ranked from F to A, with F being the weakest and A the strongest.
He was right. The fight ended swiftly, the girl encasing the beast in layers of frost until it was completely frozen—lifeless and still.
The girl raised a single finger.
Bang!
A deafening crack split the air as the frozen beast shattered like glass, shards of ice and torn flesh scattering across the ground in a grisly spray.
"Is she insane? Does she want to draw every nearby beast to her?" Orin muttered, shaking his head.
Maelis on the other side walked with unhurried grace, stopping to pick up both of the beast's ears. Then she pulled out a small device—the Extraction Transmitter.
"Is she quitting already?" Orin couldn't believe his eyes.
But after studying the device for a few seconds, the girl secured it back in place and simply turned to leave
"What a weird girl," he muttered.
Once he noticed she was gone, he dropped down from the tree.
"Should I follow her? From the looks of it, she must have a way to track beasts."
While the girl was fighting, Orin had noticed her slipping the beasts' ears into a leather pouch strapped to her hip. It was already half full.
Everyone in the trial had been issued one of those pouches — each designed to hold exactly five pairs of ears. Which meant she'd already taken down at least two beasts before this one.
"My guess should be right—she must come from some mysterious family. But with how reckless she is, I think it's better not to follow her." He shook his head and turned to leave in the opposite direction—only to freeze at the sudden rustle of bushes nearby.
From the bushes, a wolf-like beast emerged—its build heavier and its nostrils flaring as if it could smell the blood in the air from a mile away.
When the beast appeared, its blood-red eyes fixated on the torn carcass of the creature the girl had slain. A low, guttural growl rumbled from its throat before it lunged forward, swinging a deadly claw at Orin—intent on killing him first and feasting afterward.
"I knew she was trouble," Orin muttered, eyes narrowing. His dagger hovered, gleaming, before streaking through the air toward the wolf in a deadly arc. With a wet snap, the beast's paw was cleaved clean off.
Orin slipped to the side, skidding over the bloody ground, avoiding the wolf's collapsing weight.
The beast landed hard, claws gouging the earth, its howl ripping through the forest like a jagged blade. Pain sent it into a blood-mad frenzy. It lunged at Orin with even greater ferocity, using its remaining limbs and teeth.
Orin wasn't about to be outdone. He controlled the dagger, sending it slicing through the air and striking the wolf point-blank in its left eye.
The wolf let out a pained roar. The strike from the dagger was near fatal.
"Take this," he said, guiding the dagger through the wolf's head, ending its life. The beast's body collapsed to the ground.
"Really handy—being able to deal with it without resorting to brute force." Orin guided the dagger as it sliced through the wolf's ears, then it flew back to his hand, carrying them both.
He placed both ears carefully into his pouch. "Two down, three to go." Orin paused, glancing at the setting sun as a thought struck him. "It's getting dark… I should find a safe place to stay for the night and plan my next move."
"But… what to eat?" A growl rumbled from his stomach. He stared at the dead wolf, grimacing. "Ugh… I've never eaten one of these before. Guess this is dinner… I wonder how it'll taste."
"It's said that before the apocalypse, the beasts we see now were once ordinary animals that evolved after energy began spilling from the Rift. This one must have been a normal-looking wolf years ago."
Orin approached the wolf, bent his knees, and hoisted it onto his shoulders. "Lighter than I thought," he muttered.
With the wolf on his shoulders, he ventured deeper into the Beast Grounds.
Minute by minute, the shadows around him grew longer. By now, he was deep into the Beast Grounds, far from the gate where he had started.
"This place should be safe for the night. The branches can serve as a makeshift bed, I guess." Orin reached a spot where bushes were sparse, and tall trees stretched up to the sky before him.
He dropped the wolf's body onto the ground. "But first, I need to make sure this place is secure—no surprises when I least expect them. I'll also gather some branches to start a fire," After he spoke, he went to scout the area, moving carefully among the trees to check for any signs of lurking beasts or hidden dangers.
Just after Orin left, a group consisting of two students arrived, clearly with the same intentions as him.
"Tavin, let's stop here. This place should be secure enough for the night," the boy on the left said, relief softening his expression.
"Hey, look." The other boy pointed at the beast lying on the ground. "Our luck must really be good. I was beginning to think I'd be sleeping on an empty stomach tonight, but I guess fate had other plans."
"No. A lifeless beast wouldn't just show up here on its own. And look at the surroundings—there are no signs of a battle. Even its ears have been cut off. Someone must have killed it and dragged the body here." The other boy said with a frown.
"Hmm… now that I think about it, you might be right. But then… who could've killed it?" Tavin murmured. "Should we stay?"
"Why leave?" the other person said wickedly. "Since we're already here, we should stay. No one else is around to keep watch, so he's probably alone. With the two of us, taking him down will be easy… and we can split whatever's in his pouch."
"Hmm… you might be right. But what if he's from Class A? With those bloody bullies, even if he's alone, do you really think we can defeat him? We'd just be handing him our loot, wouldn't we?" His voice trailed off, a look of dread tightening his features.
"That might be true. If two of us aren't enough, what about three? Tobin's already on his way. We've taken down a couple of beasts with him before—his E-ranked enhanced strength and our talents together? I don't believe we can't take him down." he added with a confident smirk.
"Who are you?" the voice came suddenly, shattering his smirk and sending a cold sweat down his back.
From the side, Orin appeared, carrying a bundle of wood large enough to last the night and to fashion a makeshift spit.
"Hey, this kid isn't from Class A. I've seen him before together with Tobin," Tavin pointed.
"You've seen Tobin?" Orin asked, dropping the wood, a frown creasing his brow.