Despite the tall trees, it was somehow easier to see several hills in the distance. He could also guess that there were several rivers and valleys around.
It might have been a long shot but from the description from the scroll, wasn't this how fengshui looked like. Well, its not like he would get the time to study it or even create it so he just walked forward having made a mental note of what he had seen.
Lyren had been placed at the middle of the pack and besides him were three weak girls. He could not help but feel that they were nothing more than flower girls.
They were silent but he could tell they were really yappy because it seemed as though they were hurting in their silence.
He was not the kind to start conversations with strangers and he was only following them because they could guarantee his safety and his interests aligned with them.
He also wanted to know what reason it was that they had ventured this deep into the woods. He was shy to ask and he could only wait for things to unravel.
The formation they were using was strong because on the vanguard were the two eighth stage boys who had come with Sera. At the rear guard was Kaelen and the seventh stage spear holder.
They both wore a serious look and everyone even Sera wore a no nonsense look. She was right in front of Lyren with a girl in the eighth stage and the sixth stage archer girl on the other side.
The rest were behind Lyren and no one was actually talking. Lyren could not help but feel that something was not right here. They had spent time discussing but they were silent now.
Too silent actually and the fact that each had a weapon in hand was alarming. This could only imply an impeding danger.
He was at the center of the formation where it appeared safest but he couldn't help but feel that he was the most exposed. He had to do something about this feeling. He needed actual protection. He jogged and caught up with Sera.
"Forgive my intrusion but could I get my sword back?" Lyren asked his voice carrying a sense of urgency.
Everyone was shocked when they saw him run towards Sera and they were more shocked when they heard his request. This kid really had guts… Kaelen especially had an ugly look strapped on his face.
Even Sera was shocked by his request. Of all things, she did not expect him to ask for his sword back. They were hiding something from him but their tense atmosphere, he had caught up to it.
She shook her head and proceeded to say no. Lyren was frozen when her head her blatant rejection. And here he thought he had formed a bond.
He did not bother asking for it anymore as he slowed down and followed in the middle.
Dealing with humans really was a drag.
Arrays were better since he could understand them after a long time of study but he realized there was no way he was ever going to completely understand humans.
He was tempted to go back to his study but this was the worse time to have such thoughts. He sighed and submitted. Before any danger reached him, he was going to make sure they had performed their task as cannon fodder. He got comfortable and folded his hands on his chest.
It did not longer after Lyren had accepted his fate when the group suddenly came to a stop. They then made a circle around each other with their weapons ready to be used.
Lyren looked at everyone of them and he could tell they were all tense. They all looked at Kaelen with an accusatory gaze and Kaelen grunted. Now this was a funny and payback.
Their gazes did not linger and the sixth stage cultivators all seemed to brandish their swords. It appeared that they were the main attack unit.
The three archer girls had their bows drawn to a full arch and it appeared that there was also a guy in the eighth stage who was also an archer. He notched an arrow on the bow sting and pulled it.
The spear guy brandished it as it spun in both his hands almost completely vanishing. He took a battle stance with a flame glowing on the tip of his spear.
Then it came. The rustling in the bushes and the heavy steps that came with a thud. It was pretty far but in just seconds, the footsteps were near and loud.
The girls next to Lyren seemed to shake even as they grasped their swords tightly as they could. Fear and horror written all over their faces.
Maybe they had made a wrong decision by coming to this mission. After all, they were the weakest and most useless. Then a giant of a creature appeared.
It hovered over four meters tall and five meters in length. It was difficult to describe what it was but it appeared like it was a black deer? It was pretty tall and also scary.
It had very long and branching horns on its head. To make matters worse, it was about to break through to the ninth stage. It had sharp red eyes and when it saw them, it screeched and attacked.
Its hooves seemed to want to dig into the ground and the grass beneath was not lucky as it was trampled on.
A ferocious light shone in its eyes and it kept swinging it neck and thus its horns which were pointed at them were its greatest attack tools. The two sword guys charged at the incoming deer in opposite direction.
They came at it from the sides as their swords glowed with a deeper blue light. The deer did not seem to see them or maybe it ignored them.
They leapt and swung their swords at it and what came next was a sharp clang and a reverberation that shook their hands as they flew backwards releasing their swords.
They fell on their back and spluttered mouthfuls of blood. Looking at their points of attack, they had caused no damage at all.
Horror covered their faces and as though the deer had just sensed their presence, it turned to one of the guys and breathed out releasing a white steam.
Seeing this, the guy shook as he crawled backwards. He seemed to scream from his eyes but he could not just find his voice. The deer took a step back and started charging at him with its sharp horns.
Seeing this, the archers did not hesitate and the one girl specifically released her arrow faster than everyone.
Her arrow struck the deer right at the neck but the arrow was rebounded. But that was enough to catch its attention as it stopped and looked at them all as the other arrows reached it and they were also deflected.
The deer looked at them and it started charging at the group forgetting the two guys on the ground.
Seeing that its attention had been successfully captured, the stage eight bow guy released his arrow and its speed was several times faster and powerful than those of the sixth stage girls.
His arrow reached the charging deer and it struck it right where he had aimed it at, the knee of its right leg. The deer sensed some danger and when the arrow was about to reach it, a sudden wind surged from its horns.
This created a shield that the arrow was unable to pierce through and it rebounded. Everyone now had an ugly look because this was the wors case scenario they would expect.
A beast that had an affinity was the most troublesome to deal with. They were also more dangerous since many people wo died from beast attacks were helpless against their elements.
When Sera thought about it, it was not that their attacks were being rebounded by the hard skin of the deer.
It was the windshield that naturally seemed to protect it. This meant that superficial test attacks were not going to work and they needed to go with their ultimate attacks.
"We shall be going all out!" Sera said as she too drew her sword.
In this group, only she and Kaelen stood a chance against it. But that did not mean that the rest were useless.
The guys who had fallen picked their swords as they retreated in order to start again even though they knew they were most likely useless in attacking but they were good at creating distractions.
There was a reason they were here and alive still. They were tough...