Within a few minutes, Kutcher had returned to their camp with over 300 pounds of elk meat.
Upon noticing his return, along with the massive amount of elk meat he had brought back, Prīōra instantly rushed toward him.
"What the hell, Kutcher?!" she yelled.
"What's the matter, Prīōra?"
Prīōra's expression hardened.
"What the hell is up with all of this elk meat?!"
"What are we supposed to do with all of this?"
She let out a huge sigh.
"We'll have our fill and throw the rest away," Kutcher replied flatly.
"Ughhh!!"
Prīōra gave him a nasty glare before storming off in a fit of rage.
Meanwhile, as we check on Tuziku...
Even though Tuziku had arrived at the base of the nearby mountain some time ago, he had yet to retrieve any wood.
That was because he had run into one minor problem.
There were no trees at the base of the mountain.
The only tree that could be seen, grew from the side of the mountain, hanging at least 50 meters above the ground.
As Tuziku gazed silently at the mountain, he thought to himself:
You've got to be kidding me...
How the hell is it even possible for a tree to grow from an angle like that?
He scratched his head in curiosity.
Suddenly, Tuziku let out a huge sigh.
"No point in thinking about it too much!"
Tuziku slowly took a few steps back from the mountain.
Then—
He took a deep breath before suddenly bolting toward the tree with incredible speed.
But just as he neared the mountain—
FWP!
He leapt high into the sky, jumping even higher than the tree itself.
And just as he began to descend—
"Heavy—Gust!"
FWOOOOSH!
He unleashed a powerful gust of wind that uprooted the tree from the mountainside.
BAM!!
The tree came crashing toward the ground before Tuziku could safely land.
TAP...
"Phew!" Tuziku wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Suddenly, he came to a realization.
"Am I supposed to drag this huge tree all the way back to our camping spot?"
He let out another huge sigh before reluctantly grabbing the tree and dragging it back.
...
A few moments later...
The sublime view of the evening sunset slowly began to fade as the trio made preparations to spend the night outdoors.
Prīōra was preparing dinner while Tuziku and Kutcher desperately struggled to build a shelter to cover their heads.
"Hold it, hold it..." said Kutcher as he placed the final piece of wood across the top of the small, unstable wooden structure.
"This looks like it should do," said Tuziku as he collapsed onto his butt from exhaustion.
However, as soon as he muttered those words—
Creak...
The wooden shelter began to slowly tilt to the side.
Then—
CRACK—
BAM!!
The entire structure came crashing to the ground, scattering into pieces.
Prīōra glanced toward them with a furious expression.
Kutcher let out a nervous grin.
"Oh, umm... oops?" said Tuziku as he scratched his head awkwardly.
A few moments later...
Night had fallen upon the trio as they sat around a pot of stew bubbling over the campfire while reminiscing about their days as members of the Casoltins.
"Kutcher, remember that one time you decided to take a nap while we were going up against the Power Punches?" Prīōra asked before bursting into laughter.
"They caught him sleeping and captured him!"
"That's because you guys went on ahead and left me behind!" Kutcher clapped back.
"Hahaha!" Tuziku laughed.
Kutcher and Prīōra also burst into laughter.
Suddenly—
Tap! Tap!
A pair of footsteps quickly ran past from behind the trio.
"What was that?!" Prīōra panicked.
Tuziku and Kutcher immediately got up and turned toward the disturbance.
"Tuziku... it sounded like someone quickly ran by!" Kutcher said in a soft tone.
Tuziku desperately tried to spot the source of the footsteps. However, the light from their campfire could only illuminate a small portion of the seemingly infinite darkness that surrounded them.
"Did any of you guys see anything?" Tuziku asked as he frantically turned his head from left to right, attempting to spot the disturbance.
"I didn't see anything," Kutcher replied.
"Neither did I," Prīōra added as she huddled closer to the guys.
"Maybe it was an animal or something," said Kutcher.
"No... those were definitely human footsteps."
Prīōra immediately took a fighting stance.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
Fwssh!
"Ahhhh!!"
Prīōra screamed as she collapsed to the floor.
A sudden shot had been fired toward her.
"Prīōra! What happened?!" Tuziku rushed to her side and knelt beside her.
Prīōra held the left side of her face.
As she slowly removed her hand—
Blood began gushing from her cheek.
Tuziku's jaw dropped.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"It's okay... It only scratched my cheek," she replied in a frightened tone.
"Kutcher, we're being attacked!" Tuziku shouted.
SHLING!
Without hesitation, Kutcher drew his blade.
"I can see that, Tuziku!"
"The problem is... I can't see who's attacking us!"
"The place is too dark."
He turned his body from left to right, desperately trying to spot the enemy.
Meanwhile, as Tuziku helped Prīōra back to her feet, he noticed something.
"Prīōra, were you crying?" he asked.
"No, I wasn't. Why are you asking me that?"
Tuziku gazed at her with a blank expression.
"Because your face has tears."
He used a finger to wipe the substance from her face, carefully examining it.
Suddenly—
BOOM!
Another shot was fired toward Tuziku.
However, just before the attack could land—
Kutcher ran toward Tuziku and pushed him out of the attacker's line of fire, causing the shot to just barely graze his leg before striking the ground.
THUD!
Tuziku fell to the floor.
"Ahhh!" Kutcher screamed as he grabbed his leg.
"Kutcher, are you alright?!" Tuziku asked as he quickly got back to his feet.
"Everyone, stay close to me!"
He huddled close to Prīōra and Kutcher, keeping the three of them together.
As Tuziku glanced toward the area on the ground where the projectile had made contact, he noticed a small puddle of water surrounding the impact mark.
As Tuziku witnessed the familiar residue, a thought immediately crossed his mind.
Water?
Could it be...?
This person is firing concentrated shots of water toward us at incredible speeds.
As the trio huddled together and covered each other's backs, Tuziku was in the midst of figuring out the nature of their enemy's attack.
"Tuziku, what's the plan?" Prīōra asked.
Suddenly—
"I can't believe I'm being forced to fire a third shot."
The enemy's voice echoed from somewhere nearby.
The trio's gazes immediately turned toward the voice that had emerged from the darkness.
"Where the hell are you hiding, bastard?!" Kutcher shouted.
Soon after—
"Don't worry... I'll make sure the next shot hits the bullseye!"
"Hahaha!"
The mysterious shooter burst into laughter.
CHAPTER 70 END!