Ena and Agnus followed closely behind Anderson, Olus trailing at the back of the group with keen eyes that scanned the area around them.
For the next 25 minutes, they relentlessly sped forward, coursing through 14 miles before coming within the border sector of their designated objective.
Anderson slowed his pace, allowing himself to maintain his speed at a light jog for a couple of minutes before fully halting, which the others followed. "We are in the sector now. We still have 3 miles until we reach the objective location." Sweat trickled down his hairline as a series of deep breaths was released from everyone.
"Me, and you three," He said as he pointed his finger and wiggled it between the three people, "Will circle around and flank it from the east side.
Anderson turned his hand, "Ena and you three will attack it from behind."
And lastly, his finger landed on Olus, "You and the rest will take it on the path it's traveling. If there are any enemies, we use her spells to destroy the carriage from afar. If that isn't effective, then your group will attack first to act as a diversion, and then Ena and I will attack from behind when the moment is right."
Each person nodded in response, their grips on their weapons tightening as their first battle could possibly arrive very soon.
"Alright then. Start moving." Their three respective groups dispersed, each following a different path. Ena circled to her right, sprinting along the forest to reach the flank of the carriage as she glanced at her map from time to time.
Anderson quickly sped past Olus's group, kicking his speed up a notch to get into position.
Two minutes later, Olus and Agnus reached their positions, crouching beneath the treeline with a group of bushes obscuring them. Agnus flicked his gaze around the forest in front of them, to his sides, and felt the mana behind him. His mana sense was limited to a distance of only thirty meters, but it would detect any stealth-archetype warriors lurking around the vegetative forest.
Anderson and his group arrived at their designated location and quickly hid themselves in the tall grass, proning as their eyes restlessly waited for the supply load.
Ena and her group made it just in time to catch a glimpse of the supply load, featuring 16 examinees guarding it in a tight circle. "That's more than us." She cautiously whispered to her group, making sure that they were aware.
Three minutes later, the supplies slowly entered their vision, along with the number of examinees guarding it. Olus cursed under his breath as he realized this would be much more difficult than they anticipated. To their luck, none of them noticed anyone of astounding strength, but one should never underestimate.
A blue gem hissed in the middle of the supply load, a translucent blue sphere encasing it. Anderson's face hardened as the magic spell strategy was ruled ineffective, as he heavily doubted her skill could penetrate the protection.
He angled his head slightly, "Start shooting Mana Arrows."
The girl nodded and slowly raised herself to her knee, her palm stretched open as her arm pointed outward, directly at one of the examinees guarding it on the side.
A blue orb of mana swelled in her hands as it shaped itself into a pointed arrow, launching it forward with lethal speed.
FFFWISH!
The arrow burrowed itself right into the shoulder of a boy who jumped back in pain, clutching his shoulder as blood seeped from the wound. Olus, Agnus, and three others promptly dashed out of the tree line, swords raised as they launched an attack on the western flank.
A constant barrage of Mana Arrows kept the guardians distracted as they hastily approached them. Anderson was the first to initiate, as his sword flicked outward with immense speed, carving a deep wound in the chest of a boy who was due to bleed out in a couple of minutes.
He stepped forward and smacked away a blade aimed for his neck and thrusted forward, his sword piercing through the shoulder of another examinee. The rest of his group surged forward, brutally cutting down the boy with an open wound in his chest, and proceeded to his peers.
Olus pushed forward like a maddened wolf, his twin swords flying wildly in his arms as his combat technique followed no form or book; Just raw, unrestrained combat.
Both of his swords crashed into a boy who held his sword with a firm two-handed grip, gritting his teeth as the mad wolf kicked forward with the boot that sent him flying back. Leaping forward, he landed right on top of the boy and sank his blade into his neck, killing him on the spot.
His body shattered into shards of mana as his form expelled from the dimension, and Olus smiled as he got his first kill.
Agnus was calmly keeping himself defended against two attackers who unleashed a ruthless onslaught of attacks, not allowing him to gain a single inch of ground.
A dagger parried one sword, while his own blade blocked against the other. He found himself backing up slowly to the treeline and realized his situation was far worse than he originally thought. 'They can't hurt me, but I can't either.' He said to himself in his mind as he narrowly dodged an attack aimed at his head.
He realized they must be at least Intermediate Ascendants for the difficulty he was engrossed in. Fighting a peak Ascendant was a problem in itself, but two warriors who were close to that power?
It resulted in what his battle was now, a standstill with no windows of opportunity.