Free Web NovelChapter 53: Elites
A luminous arc cut through the air followed by a heavy thud and a loud, pained groan of a Brown Bear.
Alex looked at the injured bear and turned his gaze toward the ten figures standing a few steps away from him.
Five of them belonged to Free Sword, while the other half was of Lightbearers.
A few of the familiar faces including Mia and Naria stood within the ten.
The other four Free Swords were Ren, Julian, Sasha, and Lukas.
And Naria was accompanied by Harley, Cassie, Torus, and Wanir.
Each of them possessed combat-oriented talents, making them the strongest members their groups could spare.
Alex pointed Velcrean at the injured beast and said, "Julian. Kill it."
Julian nodded his head and stepped forward while shivering.
The reason for this wasn’t the dense forest or the dangers lurking within it but the horrible presence of the one responsible for their venture.
The plates of his armor clicked together as he stopped beside the bear and looked at it with his brown eyes.
Then he raised his silver sword and brought it down at its neck, killing it in a single strike.
Alex patted his shoulder and looked at the elites. "We are going to move deeper because this side of the innermost layer doesn’t have much for us to hunt."
The elites nodded and Naria tiptoed closer to him.
"Sir Alex, don’t you find this forest scary?" She asked while looking around with a smile that didn’t match her question.
What does she want? Alex looked at her from the corner of his eye and shook his head. "No, I don’t." frёeweɓηovel.coɱ
"Then~" she whispered as she stepped even closer and raised her left fist. "I should stay near you to make sure nothing happens to me!"
The other elites watched her with furrowed brows and deep frowns as none of them could understand how she was able to say that while resisting the sickening presence emitting from him.
Seeing everyone’s reaction, Alex’s jaw tightened but he pushed away the hard thoughts and moved deeper into the forest.
Suddenly, Sasha stopped in her tracks and raised a fist. "Wait!"
Everyone stopped and turned their heads to her.
"Did you sense something?" Alex asked.
Sasha’s E-Rank talent wasn’t directly related to combat instead it allowed her to sense vibrations which proved very useful with her innate gift of wielding a rapier.
Sasha nodded at Alex’s question and said, "It’s a pack of small animals."
"Take us to them," Alex commanded and the group moved once again.
Within a minute they reached a spot which had a pack of 12 black foxes running around.
Alex pointed at Lukas and Torus and said, "Lukas attacks the farthest. Torus you take care of the near ones."
The two nodded and moved.
Lukas brushed his shoulder-length white hair to the back and his blue eyes shone with excitement as a bluish current crackled behind him and he appeared before the farthest Black Fox.
"Eek! Grr!" The fox jumped in surprise and growled at him but before it could even run away, a colorless glow wrapped around his sword and cut through the fox as though it was nothing.
On the other side, Torus slammed his heavy foot into the ground and sent a yellowish shockwave which knocked a few of the foxes off their feet.
Then he raised his hammer and brought it down on the nearest fox.
A heavy thud and a wet squeak resounded throughout the area as he instantly turned it into a bloody paste and moved to the next one.
"Wouldn’t it be better for all of us to take care of them as fast as possible?" Mia asked while frowning.
"It would be faster, yes." He pointed at Lukas and Torus and said, "Lukas has a D-Rank Speed Blitz talent while Torus has an E-Rank Shockwave talent." freёwebnovel.com
His finger shifted one by one at the elites who had yet to reveal their talents and he added, "But how can we do our best without knowing what each of us has to offer?"
He looked at Mia and continued in a flat tone, "Although I am here to protect you. This whole thing would mean nothing if all of you didn’t learn to complement each other’s weaknesses and strengths."
As he finished, Lukas and Torus returned after killing all of the Black Foxes.
"Good job," he praised and asked Sasha, "Did you find anything else?"
Sasha shook her head and said, "Nothing."
"Alright. Let’s go."
With his words, the group continued walking and after a few minutes, they reached a clearing with a pond.
"I am sensing a lot of vibrations from there," Sasha commented while pointing at the other side of the pond.
Alex narrowed his eyes and muttered, "It’s a pair of pale tigers."
[Pale Tiger X2]
[Type: Beast]
[Rank: Bronze V]
[Level: 9 (F)]
Although the two tigers were at the same level as the Shadow Half-spirit, due to their biology they were physically much stronger.
"You can see that far?" Ren asked with his eyes gleaming in curiosity.
"Yes."
"Whoa..."
Seeing Ren acting like a child, Mia shook her head and whispered in his ear, "Are you not scared of him now?"
Ren waddled away from her and said in a haughty tone, "Scared? Who? You don’t mean me, do you?" He crossed his arms across his chest and added, "Ren is never scared. Hmph."
"That’s good," Alex mumbled with a smile and pointed at the pale tigers.
"Ren go take care of them."
"W-What?!" Ren’s face drained of its color and he looked at Alex with a pleading look.
However, Alex was too much of a heartless person to give up so easily.
"Chop chop."
Ren looked at everyone with his puppy eyes which appeared rather cute with his short stature and fluffy blue hair but none of the elites had the guts to stand against Alex’s decision.
Shocked by everyone’s betrayal, Ren walked toward the tigers with heavy steps.
Seeing him, Cassie commented in a low, sympathetic tone, "Poor Ren..."
Hearing her, Alex chuckled inwardly.
Poor? Heh. Just you wait and see.
