Min had reduced the pyromancer’s power, something the auxiliaries hadn’t initially agreed with, their protective training flaring against him getting aggroed by the attacker.
“It’s too dangerous to expose a student!” they had protested, but when his water began effectively reducing the abyssal pyromancer’s flames, their protests transformed into tactical orders. Every splash weakened the corrupted fire’s intensity.
So they left their complaints for later.
The combat had ended quickly after that.
The pyromancer, unable to maintain his defensive zone under constant aquatic assault, fell to the auxiliaries’ coordinated attack. His corrupted flames sputtering out against the relentless water.
Later, the complaints would turn to praise from the snail auxiliary…
The remaining abyssal, now surrounded by all three auxiliaries and Luna’s wolf, decided to flee rather than face such overwhelming odds.
Now, in the improvised shelter, the calcium-plated snail auxiliary tried to maintain order. Several students were too excited about having participated, boasting about their contributions with youthful enthusiasm.
“I made that wall that stopped him!” “My lightning almost hit him!”
“Silence!” the snail auxiliary reinforced another section of his barrier, his patience wearing thin. “Or have you forgotten the incident with Master Jared (the boar one)?”
Some students shrank back, remembering how a misdirected attack had struck the auxiliary’s back instead of the enemy. That painful lesson was still fresh.
Which had led to the snail auxiliary forbidding any attacks except from Min or Luna… In the wolf’s case, it was clearly on another level entirely.
“At least Min really helped,” Taro murmured, his friend’s water had soaked the auxiliaries too but that had ultimately contributed to their victory.
Luna remained apart from the others, her shadow wolf returning to report the last abyssal’s position, who had opted to flee when surrounded.
He had fled in the direction where the first group had escaped from Zhao, perhaps seeking his leader’s aid.
“They should have let me help,” Klein complained quietly, his golden lion manifesting with contained frustration. “My beast is more powerful than…”
Luna’s look silenced him instantly, her cold gaze brooking no argument.
“This is ridiculous!” Jin’s voice cut through the tension. “He just got lucky having a water beast! Anyone could have done the same!”
“Sure,” Min responded softly, a slight smile playing at his lips, “are you perhaps jealous of my snake?”
Jin turned red with rage, but before he could respond, he seemed to notice something amiss in their group.
“Wait a minute… where’s the rotten one?”
The silence that followed was revealing. No one had noticed when Ren had abandoned the shelter.
“I knew it!” Jin swelled with renewed indignation. “The coward ran while we were all fighting!”
Min and Taro exchanged worried looks, knowing their friend was out there somewhere in the night where abyssals still lurked.
♢♢♢♢
The calcium-plated snail auxiliary evaluated their situation with professional scrutiny. The shadow stalkers would return soon, Taro had informed him that Ren’s trick had sent them to their cave, but they would eventually return to their hunting territory.
“We need to reinforce this shelter,” he announced while studying how to create a roof in the hole. “With a small but well-positioned ventilation shaft…”
“Are we staying here?” a student complained, voicing what many thought. “It’s dark and damp!”
“I prefer dark and damp to being drained by those jellyfish,” the auxiliary responded dryly. “Those with earth or rock beasts, help with structure. We need this place to hold for the rest of the night.”
“The roof is almost ready,” reported one of the students with an earth beast. “Will the vent here work?”
The auxiliary nodded, though his mind was elsewhere. Not only did he have to keep the students safe, but Zhao was still out there, and if what Taro said was correct, the shadow stalkers wouldn’t take long to return.
“This stinks, the air feels stale in here with the rotten one’s friends,” Jin commented in his group, his disdain evident.
“Jin,” the snail auxiliary interrupted while supervising the new roof’s construction, “if you have so much energy to complain, help reinforce that section.”
Luna observed everything in silence, her shadow wolf occasionally manifesting outside to explore the surroundings. Klein and his group kept apart, clearly bothered by not having participated in the defense.
♢♢♢♢
“By the way… How did you find me?” Zhao asked as they advanced slowly. The exhaustion was visible in every step he took.
“I followed the battle’s traces,” Ren responded, the mushrooms in his hair pulsing softly. “The patterns in the blood stains, the marks from the feathers…”
“You surprise me more and more,” Zhao glanced at him sideways. “Did you perhaps find some hidden ability in your spore? Do those mushrooms feed your brain and give you a super sharp mind perhaps?”
Ren hesitated a moment. “Something like that… it gives me information about beasts and their behaviors. And sometimes… I can use that knowledge to deduce other things.”
“I see,” Zhao smiled slightly, though it was evident he wasn’t completely convinced. He probably thought the boy was simply a genius hiding behind modesty.
“I look forward to seeing what other surprises you have in store,” the professor continued. “Though I’m afraid it will have to be another time… The expedition must end here. We need to report this and secure the children. It seems they’re the target of some noble’s dirty battle…”
“It’s a shame,” Ren adjusted his containers full of specimens. “Though at least I got a good harvest…”
A noise alerted them.
Quick footsteps approaching through the darkness.
Zhao’s feathers flew before the fugitive abyssal could even register their presence.
Despite his exhaustion, the Hunter’s precision hadn’t diminished, the enemy, already tired and wounded, fell lifeless instantly.
“Professor!” The falcon auxiliary emerged from the trees, followed by the boar and lynx one. They stopped upon seeing the abyssal’s body.
“We arrived late,” the lynx one observed the feathers of Zhao. “As always, the Hunter never lets his prey escape.”
“The students?” Zhao asked while recovering his feathers.
“Safe,” the boar master responded. “Carl (the snail one) stayed guarding the hole.”
Ren looked at the sky. They had less than ten minutes before the medusas returned to their territory.