Chapter 220: Forest Inside the Energy Dome
The girls postponed their lunch because the target was so close. The lone blackish-brown boar was walking casually as if the boar was looking for food.
Serena took the spot for her to shoot her arrows and four other girls surrounded the boar from four sides quietly from a distance.
If only estimated by body size, this boar might be above level 20. Therefore, the additional ten points needed to be secured as soon as possible, before any other groups arrived. Twice they ran into another group on their hunt, and it was annoying to determine the prey"s possession.
*Shiu*
An arrow was fired by Serena. She aimed for the boar"s plump b.u.t.t rather than its legs. Unfortunately, because their target this time was big and strong, the arrow was only stuck in the boar"s b.u.t.t without causing any significant damage.
"Oink!"
The boar squealed and ran, startled by the sudden attack.
"Attack, don"t let the boar escape!" Serena exclaimed as she ran after the target.
Like the previous level 20 beast ambush, four girls and a cat would work together to subdue their prey. Unfortunately, the wild boar dashed towards Cora, and the others had to run first to launch their attack.
Understanding herself had an essential role in temporarily holding the target. Cora held her longsword with both hands then swung it towards the head of the wild boar, which ran straight towards her.
*Slash*
One quick slash was launched, but the target was able to avoid it by tilting its head. The wild boar panicked and felt the danger. It immediately attacked the human girl who blocked its escape route.
"Kyah!" Cora screamed because she was. .h.i.t. She was slightly thrown and rolled to the side. As for the wild boar, it just kept running as if its life was at stake.
"Cora, do things right!" Serena scolded her servant with a dissatisfied expression.
"Sorry." Cora could only apologize and stand up quickly.
"Chase, chase, chase! No target can escape when I have targeted it." Serena kept running past Cora. Annoyed, she shot another arrow. But her accuracy dropped dramatically as she and the target moved. It hit nothing but the ground.
Elysia and Vanessa only rolled their eyes as they ran along with the other girls to chase after Serena. If Serena didn"t keep running, they would definitely let the boar escaped.
The target this time ran so fast. So different from the previous level 20 beast, which was cla.s.sified as easy to attack. It was only a little tough to beat.
"Eh?" Elysia became a little confused. The target that was still within the 200-meter range of her radar suddenly disappeared.
Her advanced perception could not detect the wild boar they were chasing. It was unnatural and strange.
"Nee, that wild boar disappeared suddenly. I can"t see it. We better--" Elysia warned the other girls. Sadly, her words were cut off because of the annoyed girl.
"You think your eyesight is better than mine, huh? Keep running. We"re close. The wild boar ran this way." Serena retorted the suggestion without waiting for it to finish.
As Serena kept running, the other girls also followed her inevitably. At that time, no one felt strange about the white cat running beside them so nimbly.
"Hm?" Elysia found the odd thing even stranger. She felt that she had just crossed an invisible barrier.
The energy barrier was so subtle, no one felt it apart from her and Elena.
"Ely, raise your vigilance to the maximum. I smelled a thick, dangerous odor. Keep using your advanced perception, don"t be careless." Elena warned with a worried expression. She knew more than anyone about the hunch she felt.
"En." Elysia nodded and glanced back, then checked her surroundings. She felt more and more uncomfortable the more she got into this strange area.
One thing she realized shortly after... It was unlike the forest area she remembered before crossing the barrier earlier. As if it were a different environment. If the absurd was neglected to conclude, they had either entered a separate area or were moved to another forest.
They were in a dangerous area shrouded in a transparent barrier dome that could not be seen from afar but could be felt up close. Regardless, no one should venture no further into this strange area.
"Stop, stop. Don"t run, there"s something strange. Don"t you notice something odd? Let the boar go. We can find another target." Elysia suggested because Elena and her hunch prompted her to stop running.
As their damage dealer suddenly stopped running after saying that, the girls took turns stopping their steps, and Serena was the last one. Serena also stopped running because the others did too, like it or not.
If the MVP in the hunt said anxiously, then it could be true. It didn"t matter if Serena was the group leader or not. The warning would be heeded even if Serena said otherwise.
"What? Don"t you dare say you"re tired of running..." Serena scorned with a disgruntled expression.
"No, I"m fine. Didn"t any of you feel like we just pa.s.sed through a transparent barrier? It"s still there, and it seems like it"s acting like an illusion or something. I don"t know what it is, but we better get back." Elysia pointed towards the back and conveyed her persuasion.
"Huh? I thought there was something important until you spoke in that worried tone. There are no barriers or anything, so it"s just your feeling. Don"t you realize we haven"t ventured into the forest for more than 40 kilometers? We haven"t even met the river mentioned in Teacher Ruth"s explanation." Serena frowned when she heard that.
She let go of a wild boar that was probably level 20 or maybe more just for such a stupid reason? It wasn"t easy to find a beast of that level, and small animals were simply ignored because she aimed for big ones.
"Really, no one noticed that?" Elysia asked the other girl for confirmation.
Sad to say, the girls shook their heads. Even Vanessa only looked at her master with a confused look despite the trust she had. The cat didn"t feel the barrier in question, but she believed in her master.
"Forget it, let"s keep going. I"m sure the wild boar is around here. There"s no way the animal keeps running all the time." Serena wagged her hand with a sigh. Then, she walked away, and she was followed by her servants.
"Uhm, we better follow them, Miss Elysia. As said, we haven"t met the river, which is the border of our hunting area. After all, some instructors are camping out on guard for many things." Zofia tried to reconcile the atmosphere that suddenly felt awkward.
"Is that so? Then, what"s with this forest area? It"s as if we are no longer in the Hastterre Forest. Look around us. These types of trees have large, tall, thick leaves and grow tightly together. Is this the same forest we were hunting in earlier?" Elysia warned again with something easy to notice.
Hearing that, Zofia looked around more closely and froze as she was. .h.i.t by the realization. Sure enough, if only seen from these trees, they were no longer in the same forest. She didn"t really know much about forests or the like, but she knew something was wrong.
As far as she could tell, Hastterre Forest was a monsoon forest with trees that weren"t this tall. Besides, the trees were several meters apart from each other, and unlike these trees.
Not only was Zofia awakened by Elysia"s words, the three girls who were walking in front as well. They looked far ahead, and it seemed even darker, lonely, and gloomy... Most importantly, there was a sense of anxiety about the danger.
Wherever they tried to deny the reality, they were no longer in the forest they had explored just a moment ago. So, where was this? Was what Elysia said real and something complicated to explain happened?
Serena turned and walked back towards Elysia, as did her servants. However, all the girls" attention and alertness were suddenly tested as they could hear a squeal of pain not far from their position.
All the girls prepared their weapons in surprise. It took Serena a few seconds to realize what was happening.
The sound was like from the wild boar they were chasing earlier. Maybe, there was another group that conquered her prey? She couldn"t allow that. If push comes to shove, she needed to ask for compensation.
If she could s.n.a.t.c.h the other group"s prey, it was sure that she would do it from the start. Regretfully, the risk was too significant if caught by the teachers and instructors.
The rules were clear, and students had no idea how supervisors would test their honesty when the point court was held.
"It"s our prey. Yeah, it"s coming from that direction. Let"s go over there. Our wild boar has been captured by another group. I can"t just let this go." Serena grumbled furiously and immediately ran towards the source of the sound a moment ago.