At the spot Nawa pointed to, a large bonfire suddenly appeared. As Nawa slowly moved his finger, the flames spread in that direction. In an instant, a wall of fire over 3 meters high and dozens of meters long formed, instantly illuminating the entire forest.
"What is this?" Nathee exclaimed, his eyes wide. The others had similar expressions.
It was well known that the greater the distance, the more exponentially reduced the effectiveness of a skill. Using magic skills from a distance of over 800 meters was extremely difficult unless one possessed power at the level of a high-ranking player.
In truth, these walls of fire were not entirely Nawa's power. Even if Nawa had 100% brainpower, with his current mana, using his abilities at a distance of over 800 meters would only result in small sparks, enough to light a cigarette.
The main culprit behind the creation of this wall of fire was White Snake, using his Assist Concentrate skill, which he acquired by devouring hundreds of slime cores at once. The effect of this skill allows White Snake to generate highly concentrated acid from any part of his body.
Besides being highly corrosive, the acid releases a thin wisp of smoke when it comes into contact with air. This smoke has properties similar to highly flammable hydrogen gas.
Nawa instructed White Snake to generate a large quantity of acid, using White Snake's vision to guide him. Nawa used his power to distort the space-time field in the area, creating small sparks.
When the gas came into contact with the flames, it transformed into a sea of fire, just as Natee and his companions witnessed. As White Snake moved further, the flames spread in that direction, creating a wall of fire stretching dozens of meters in an instant.
"Could it be that title of 'Talented One' is real?"
Natee exclaimed involuntarily, then realized he shouldn't have said such a foolish thing. Everything Nawa had demonstrated—using magic skills without relying on artifacts, the sheer size of his dimensional storage, and this long-range magic spell—was enough to earn him that title.
Nawa glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Before speaking in a reproachful tone,
"This isn't the time for nonsense. Look carefully in the direction the flames are spreading."
Hearing this, Natee and his friends turned to look in the direction Nawa indicated. They noticed something moving through the thicket of trees. It was dozens of mountain wolves fleeing from the flames.
"W-what?! W-what are those wolves?" Somchai exclaimed in shock. There were more than ten wolves, and it seemed there were many more hiding in the darkness.
"Nawa's right. If we go out now, we'll be surrounded by these wolves. We won't even be able to escape, let alone deal with them," Ploy said with relief, looking at Nawa with gratitude and thankfulness.
"This won't do. There are too many of them. If we're surrounded, we'll lose our chance to escape. We need to find a way out of here quickly."
Natee spoke seriously, his face showing worry, but his eyes still gleamed.
"Why should we run? They can't pass through our force field."
"They'll leave eventually," Somchai said.
"These monsters are intelligent. They won't let their prey go easily. Even though our force field can repair itself, it requires energy crystals. What if the energy runs out and the wolves still won't let us go?"
Natee pondered the potential scenarios to choose the best course of action. He was aware that his decisions from now on would be life-or-death for the entire team.
"What are we going to do?" Mai asked, her voice filled with panic. Her pale face showed clear anxiety. Although she was a top student at the Asashi Academy, this was the first time she felt her life hanging by a thread.
Natee didn't answer her question, but turned to Nawa and spoke in a polite and respectful tone.
"Can you use your power to create an escape route for us?"
Wild monsters are usually afraid of flames. What Natee wanted Nawa to do was use a wall of fire to create an escape path.
Nawa looked at Natee with a slight smile. He couldn't help but admire the young man. Even in such a critical situation, he remained calm. He could quickly analyze the situation and find a way to deal with it. It's no wonder his friends trusted him to be the team leader.
"Of course, I can use my power to create a fire barrier to open a path, but the problem is that the fire wall I create requires fuel, which is dry branches and trees in the forest. Therefore, it can't last long and I can't create it in the same location a second time."
Nawa explained the scope of his fire power, deliberately avoiding mentioning White Snake.
Upon hearing the explanation, Natee frowned and lowered his head with a difficult expression, realizing that breaking through wouldn't be as easy as he thought. After a moment, Natee looked up and said:
"If anything happens while we're breaking through, I'll buy some time. In the meantime, you help the others escape."
"You can't do that!" Maya shouted anxiously.
"Yeah, are you trying to kill yourself?" Ploi added.
"Clang…clang." In an instant, a sound like shattering glass appeared, and large cracks appeared throughout the force field.
"This is insane! It hasn't even been an hour!"
"Why is my force field in this state?" Somchai exclaimed, his face pale.
Even if he were more conceited, it would be hard to deny the truth that his force field wasn't as strong as he thought. Although the force field could repair itself, the rate was slower than the damage the pack of wolves inflicted, causing it to be close to collapsing.
Natee and his friends tightened their grip on their weapons. Only Nawa remained calm and unconcerned. He sat down before speaking in a serious tone:
"Ploy, tell your friends carefully. If they don't want to die, they must not leave the circle of sacred thread."
Nawa's actions surprised everyone. If the Asashi Academy's force field couldn't withstand the pack of wolves, what could a single sacred thread do?
"What should we do, Natee? If we're going to escape, it has to be now. If the force field breaks, we won't have another chance," Somchai cursed anxiously, tightening his grip on his weapon even more.
Natee didn't answer, glancing at Nawa, who was now leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, as if about to fall asleep. His behavior indicated that Nawa was very confident in his safety.
Before, Natee wouldn't have cared about this crazy behavior and would have decided to break through the wolf pack's encirclement long ago.
But after Nawa displayed so many astonishing abilities, deep down, Natee had come to accept Nawa as a trustworthy person.
"Stay here.""I believe what Nawa said. Don't go out there, please!" Ploy shouted when she saw her friends about to try and break through.
"Are you crazy, Ploy? You want us to risk our lives for a single, crappy warning thread? If the force field breaks, we'll lose our chance to escape!" Somchai argued, looking at Natee expectantly.
"Damn it! Stop arguing. Stay here. If the wolves get through the thread, we'll escape to the east immediately," Natee said, deciding to gamble on Nawa's words.
"But..." Somchai tried to object, but Natee raised his hand to stop him, speaking in a more stern tone.
"Enough. This is the team leader's order."
"Clang! Shhh...shhh!"
A sound like hundreds of pieces of glass shattering simultaneously occurred, and the transparent, dome-shaped force field dissolved.
Wolves the size of tigers began to appear from the surrounding shadows, more than twenty of them. One of them was noticeably larger than the others.
A white fur enveloped its neck. Without hesitation, Natee activated his player device's detection system. The next moment, Natee's expression became even more tense.
"Everyone, be careful! That wolf is a mid-level Professional-grade monster!" Natee shouted to his friends.
Even though they were both Professional-grade monsters, the difference in strength between the initial and mid-level stages was like a child and an adult. Even a dozen wolves alone would be difficult to handle; adding a mid-level Professional-grade wolf, the chances of winning were practically nonexistent.
While Natee and his friends were tense, Nava closed his eyes as if genuinely wanting to rest. This surprised Natee and his friends, leaving them speechless. But when they observed the wolf pack's behavior, they seemed to understand something.
The wolf pack showed no sign of attacking. No, it was as if they were unaware of Natee and his friends' presence. Several wolves were sniffing around, searching for something. Even some wolves less than 10 feet away from Natee couldn't see, hear, or sense his presence.
The energy field created by the wizard Alfor's sacred thread... The camouflage power that Nava obtained from the Himmapan Forest could completely conceal itself. The wolves would see anything within the force field as large rocks, mounds of earth, or small mountains, depending on the surrounding environment.
In terms of defense, it was difficult to penetrate, let alone a Pro-level monster, let alone an Elder-level monster. Furthermore, it didn't require a single energy crystal. Compared to the force field created by the Asashi Academy's Scroll, the difference in effectiveness was like night and day.
The reason Nava was discovered by the Rank A assassin while inside the force field was because Nava was unlucky enough to be too close to the battlefield, causing the force field to be damaged by a high-ranking battle.
After exploring the forest all night until sunrise, the wolf pack found nothing and finally departed.