Leonel was likely the first to realize the problem, but he most definitely wasn't the only one. In the recent battle, many of the youths had displayed some level of Force manipulation, whether small or big. There was no doubt they knew exactly what the geyser in the distance was.
'This isn't good….'
Not only would this geyser cause the island to be quickly surrounded by aquatic creatures, but there wasn't any guarantee that these creatures wouldn't come inland as well. It was wishful thinking to hope that they wouldn't. Leonel had already learned that lesson once before.
'The only way is to quickly stop that thing.'
After making this decision, Leonel aimed his pistol at the fish corpse beneath his feet, powering it with lethal Light Elemental Force, and firing.
His sudden action caused many who had been paling under the stress of the sudden change of events to whip their heads toward him. However, by then, Leonel's purpose had already been accomplished.
He had perfectly aimed his shot toward a vulnerable point between the scales of the coy fish, causing them to bend at that point. Then, he reached down and pulled up with all his might, ripping the scales free from the dead beast's body.
He worked quickly. In what felt like the blink of an eye, he had already pulled off over ten beautiful blue scales, each of which was over a foot in length and about half of that in width.
When he had about 20 in his possession, Leonel stopped, having stored them all within his spatial ring. Then, he looked off into the distance.
"If you all want to survive this, I suggest we put aside petty disputes for now and head over there. If we don't stop it, we're finished."
Leonel's calm voice had a magnetic appeal to the youths around him. They couldn't help but instinctively want to listen.
"Going over there? Are you insane?"
Of course… How could everyone be of one mind. Where there were those with one thought, there would always be those with the opposing. This was just the way of the world, the way things worked.
The person who spoke was none other than Ruptured Artery. Despite his history with Leonel, he hadn't spoken out of spite. Instead, he spoke on instinct. How could that place not be dangerous.
This coy fish was the very first SS-grade threat they had ever met, and they all very clearly realized that they couldn't do anything to it. If it wasn't for Leonel, they would have forever been unable to cross this region toward the center of the island.
Knowing this, it was obvious to them that there was likely more than one such creature like this here. And, this also explained the scarcity of beasts as well. If they linked all of these points together… there was most definitely a hoard of dangerous beasts maybe no less powerful than the fish beneath Leonel's feet ahead.
After thinking to this point, how could they possibly dare to continue forward? The best choice was to wait for their overseeing Commander to come back and retrieve them.
"I will only say a few more words to convince you. If they fall on deaf ears, I won't be responsible for what happens to you after this.
"One, you're not the only one's in danger. Your Commanders, waiting off shore for you all, are in even more danger than we are. There's nowhere to hide on the open ocean."
Leonel had hardly begun when the youths turned several shades more pale. Having thoughts that their Commanders were infallible would be utterly stupid. The Metamorphosis just began. Even though higher ranking officials could be said to have far greater combat experience than them as youths, the truth was that there wasn't a large power disparity between them and their Commanders.
There were very few exceptions to this. Geniuses like Old Hutch who could make progress even in a Third Dimensional world, then explode with all their potential now were incredibly rare. Simply put, there were most definitely no such people amongst the Commanders.
"Second, time is of the essence. Even if the Commanders could deal with the initial wave, could they survive a second, a third, a fourth? If you want any hope of making it off this island, the quicker the geyser is dealt with, the better.
"And third… you really don't have much of a choice."
Leonel looked into the distance with a solemn expression. The direction he was looking at was surprising. In fact, he was looking toward the complete opposite direction of the Force geyser.
The dense forest of trees began to rumble and quake.
First, it was subtle. It was an ever so slight swaying of the grass or rustling of the leaves. Then, it felt as though the ground itself was trembling. Soon, even the thick trees themselves began to swing to and fro as though made of rubber.
The Promising Youths looked toward their backs with an eerie cold permeating their hearts.
They suddenly understood what Leonel meant. Though the number of beasts in the forest was less than they imagined there would be, there were still many there. It was enough for Leonel to have killed over 20 in just his first few moments on this island. Even if the number was lacking… If they were all to converge on this point…
They really didn't have a choice but to continue forward. If they tried to fight against the tide of beasts… wouldn't they be swallowed whole before even realizing what happened?
Having said what he needed to say, Leonel didn't hesitate to dash into the distance toward the geyser, thinking to himself that he most definitely needed a treasure capable of transportation soon. But unfortunately, that would require crafting something much larger than he ever had before.
In Force Crafting, difficulty wasn't just decided by the overall grade of the treasure, but also the size of it. A craft that was extremely small or large was definitely much harder to craft even compared to a craft several levels higher in grade.
However, now wasn't the time to think about such things. Leonel could only lament his bad luck. This was supposed to be an easy trial he could place first in with a minimum amount of effort. Why had it suddenly become a life or death situation?
Something about all of this felt off. Things weren't so simple as they seemed.