Gwen and her companions woke up at dawn, woken up by a message that started playing on their devices.

"Good morning, students. Your first objective: follow the directions on the map to Zeta and return with the markers. Points are awarded based on the number of encounters, the speed of progression, and the number of kills. The maximum limit for this mission is two days. Good hunting!"

Therefore, the first task of the Party is to rectify the situation. This is the most common task given to mages by the Frontier Administration.

Where the wasteland overlaps with the human city, magical beasts must be destroyed on a regular basis to prevent the accumulation of mana, resulting in larger and stronger beasts. This is because the neglect of the creatures that fend for themselves in the wilderness inevitably leads to a wave of beasts, from countless social to titanic monsters, a tsunami of flesh, teeth, and claws.

After World War II, cryptozoologists believed that if an area was constantly "burned", elemental mana, as well as tearing of the elemental layers, would be dispersed. In addition, the harvesting of the biological core, a resource that endows humans with skill, makes frequent cleaning a necessity for industry.

In a resource-rich frontier like Sydney, professional hunting squads venture deep into the wilderness in search of rarer prey. Closer to the city, low-level mages conduct large-scale canvassing in the green and orange zones.

Before setting off, the expedition team left excess gear in high shelters, as it was not uncommon for animals to be attracted to the food and equipment left behind by human adventurers.

"March order. Jun watched his teammates take their positions.

When the crows flew away, Zeta was only half a day's journey away. In fact, the terrain consists of descending into the canyon to reach the saddle on the opposite side. Despite this, the party is confident that the target flag will be recovered in Zeta and will return to the camp by evening.

"Just like we practice," Joon pleaded with his companion. "Let's go!"

Gwen told herself to relax her tense nerves. Sleeping on the hump made her insomnia, insects kept her from sleeping, and she slept on her side with a sore back.

"I could kill someone for a latte," Gwen muttered inwardly. It would be perfect if we could ambush a pack of twin white lights.

The first encounter of the group took place half an hour later.

"Stop. Twelve. Very small. A dozen, give or take. ”

Oh my God, a dozen? A rush of adrenaline woke Gwen from her stupor. The group stopped, waiting for what Henry had predicted to come. They remained in formation, hid in concealment, and took advantage of their thick blue gums, motionless.

The leaves soon revealed the goblin, or more accurately, the disgusting little thing produced by decay and fungus, a half-formed, half-sentient goblin, as expected. This area of the coastline is covered with magical particles of mud and water, and as such, is a sacred breeding ground for these critters. This is the reason for the firing route the team travels, and the border militia often sends kill squads to "shoot back" at the area.

Even though Jun was standing less than three meters away from one of them, half of his face visibly sweating, the buddy seemed to ignore him and seemed to be preoccupied with the more despicable instincts elsewhere.

The confessor gestured to AoE.

"Barrage!" Yue cast a spell, and a fierce death fell from above.

"Ice Field!" Jun extinguished Yue's last fire,

Others watched as Elvia excavated the core of the creature in the corpse, and their healers were trained in stitching and sorting and, apparently, slaughtering.

Their first official battle. Ten vicious little guys.

Henry reported the number of their bodies to the base.

Gwen studied humanoids and observed Elvia's work. The Gobi are humanoid in appearance, but have little in common with land animals of non-magical origin. While their bodies have bones, muscle fibers, and green scales for blood, their brains are more jagged crystals than flesh.

Elvia carefully pulled out a bulbous bag, cut it open, and sighed as she poured out the pieces of its core.

Gwen swallowed a mouthful of bile. Even in her old world, she didn't like to go straight to the butcher. She prefers to buy pre-packaged meat, or better yet, ready-made meat.

Avia washed her hands with water from the Yue's cafeteria. In the absence of a water mage, the group chose to make ice in their metal cafeteria through Joon, and then let Yue heat the metal container.

"Don't worry. Let's move on. ”

Their next encounter is made up of scary little insects known as Stirgis that live deep in ravines and only appear to feed.

"It's coming! three o'clock! closest to Yue!" the buzzing sound had reached them when Henry gave the warning.

Jun immediately lowered his best shield, a stacked array of three layers of ice film, completely covering Xiao Yueyue while leaving her with enough visibility to still cast spells. As a fragile element, ice is more effective as reactive armor.

The first Stig hit the ice shield with the power of a spear fired from a ballista, piercing the first layer before hitting the second. The second and third flew through the shield array, trying to stab Yue with jagged syringes. However, the detour had slowed down its movement speed enough for Yue Fei to attack.

"Burning hands!"

A flash of fire strangled the left flank of their formation, and a burst of fire was launched from the sky, which was magnificent. The other Stelg slammed Yue's bulletproof shield, triggering the reactive surface, causing it to slide to the side.

"Thunderbolt!"

A fast lightning missile hit the third, tearing it to shreds. Jun summoned another ice shield and pressed the first ice shield between the two layers. The second, Xiao Yue had already roasted and cooked in its carapace before finally succumbing to the heat.

As the adrenaline dying, Gwen examines her team for injuries. Shockingly, a messy claw grazed Yue's shoulder, causing her to lose too much blood.

"Yue!" Gwen tugged at her friend's arm. "Oh my God, are you alright?"

"Very well," Yue said with a wincing back, saying that one of its front legs must have scratched me when it flew past. ”

"I got it, don't worry. Elvia rinsed the wound with a jug to flush the contaminants off the wound. Gwen winced, as if she were the one who had been physically wounded.

"Words of Healing!"

Everyone watched Yue's wounds heal. That's the benefit of having a healer on the team. If it weren't for Elvia, they would have had to stop for first aid. If the wound is more severe, perhaps retreat to the base camp and end the day.

When Yue recovered, Avia dissected the insects.

The flesh of these bugs is better, exactly what Gwen expects from a drone-sized pest.

"Huge mosquitoes," Xiao Yue whistled and stretched out her arms. A person's muscles always twitch in pain after a healing spell. "What's the challenge level of these things?"

"The second floor, almost as bad as it is here. ”

The group looked at the disgusting mosquitoes with long, lanky limbs. The jagged barb tore Yue's flesh apart like a sharp knife.

"Keep walking," Yue urged.

Over the next three hours, the group found themselves wandering through piles of Gobi, though the bare-handed creatures offered little challenge. Whether they were spotted or not, these small animals pounced on them with great difficulty like lemmings, ignoring the barrage set up by Yue and Wen.

"Where have they gone?" Mr. Yue didn't ask anyone in particular, "I think we just hit the last shipment in a century." ”

Gwen shrugged. Who knows what secrets lie in the wasteland? Could it be mass migration? Breeding season? Do these things follow the laws of nature?

"How far is Zeta from us now?"

"About half an hour. ”

"Wait a minute," Mr. Yue asked everyone to stop. "I'm soaking wet. ”

Of the five people in the group, Yue had the worst stamina. Xiao Jun was already carrying some food bags from Yue. The fire mage took off her coat and tied it around her waist. Gwen blushed and put her trench coat away.

"Shhhhhh "I feel it. ”

The group fanned out and crouched down to reduce visibility on their sides.

"Medium quality, 5 o'clock, fire on Wisconsin"

In the next moment, a gray blur flew past Xiao Jun, who had been holding the ball while Xiao Yue was changing the ball.

"Damn it!" Henry shouted.

Not having enough time to react, Joon built three hemispherical shields in front of Yue, Wenwen, and Elvia. However, their attackers showed no interest in the girls. Instead, it goes straight to discovering its existence – the soothsayer.

A motorcycle-sized silhouette rolled into Henry, shattering his weak mana shield in an instant, squeezing the air out of his lungs. His world spun, his ribs cracked, and he flew.

The other four watched as their friend flew into the air like a cannonball, his wobbly body doing a few spins before falling like a ragdoll.

The gray blur stops its field, revealing itself as a wolf-like animal, with bristles like porcupines. Its muscular limbs dug deep into the turf, suggesting its speed and strength.

"Henry!" scolded.

"Daragher!" called Henry. He was still alive, and the whole party exhaled en masse.

"What's the game plan?"

"I'll slow it down; you hit it. Jun spat and shuttled his hands in the air.

"Frost Light!" Jun chose his most basic and near-instant tune. The damage caused by the rays is minimal, but it has an additional property that makes the enemy's movement feel cold.

The spell hits the wolf, hooking the wolf with an invisible ball and chains of ice and earth. At a distance of a meter from Gwen, the creature misses its target and falls to the ground like a roaring whirlwind of teeth and nails.

"Shocking!" Gwen cast the first spell in her mind. A bolt of lightning leaped out of her fingertips and struck the creature's torso, destroying its body before it ran aground.

The wolf howled, frightened half to death by the paralyzing electricity. It tried to rush towards Gwen again, but was intercepted by a burst of artillery fire during the jump.

"Burning hands!"

Under Alesia's leadership, Yue improved her control. As her target burns, the edge of her flame barely kisses their companions.

"Thunderbolt!"

By the time both the fire and the lightning had stopped, the wolf had done a good job.

When Avia rushed towards Henry, Joan was still vigilant.

"Words of Healing!"

Elvia ran under the soothsayer's shirt with one hand to make sure he wasn't pierced in the chest.

"Can you speak?"

"Yes...... Yes, I'm alive. ”

"Can you breathe?"

"yes, but it hurts, my ribs, I think it's broken. ”

"Well, don't worry. ”

Elvia, along with three other guards, cut open Henry's shirt and carefully touched Henry's displaced ribs to find an inappropriate protrusion.

"This will ...... Itch. Elvia warned.

Henry tried to smile, his face already covered with beads of sweat.

"Heal small wounds!"

"Less recovery!"

More advanced healing spells pass through Henry. The soothsayer writhed, and the mending of bones was an itch that could not be scratched.

"Gwen! hold him down!"

Gwen grabbed a trembling Henry's wrist. Henry laughed and moaned. When the spell finally came as expected, they saw a sweaty Henry standing up on one shoulder, shirtless, covering the fallen leaves of the forest.

"Are you alright?"

"Don't ...... Don't do it again, let me die next time......"

"Should this happen?" Gwen and Yue both questioned Elvia, who nodded.

"Normally, we would give the patient a sedative, but I am not qualified to administer anesthesia......" she responded with a cute innocent expression.

"Ding!"

"Ding!"

"Ding!"

Their devices began to hum. A message spell bloomed in their ears.

"Group Seven, are you alright? Do you need help?"

"No, sir. We've solved the problem," Yue told Sergeant Boone.

"Is Henry alright? His transponder triggered. ”

"I'm fine, sir," Henry shouted to his troops.

"Okay, give me a quick sitting exercise. ”

They told Boons about the creatures they had encountered.

"Wind wolves, they don't usually move so far from the coast," Boone sounded uneasy. "I'll let the other groups know. You have the right to suspension. ”

The party has carefully considered the risks and rewards. That wolf is the third layer, but they've come so far, why don't they finish the rest?

"Let's go on, sir. ”

"There is no penalty for resigning if there is an abnormal situation. ”

"Here comes Henry, sir. I am confident that we will be able to accomplish our goal and return before dusk. I hope to continue. ”

"So do we. The team assured the coach.

"Agreed, all right," Boone affirmed. "Be careful, if you come across a soldier-level creature, please contact me. Remember, this is just a test. Don't risk your life needlessly. ”

The message spell loses its light.

"Thank you,." Jun pulls his friend up, and Henry's shirt is still in pieces.

"Is there anything to spare?" Henry asked his friend.

"Use mine, I think we're the same big," Gwen handed Henry her school uniform, and the young man enthusiastically accepted.

Elvia probed the wolf's carcass and found several pieces of what was the size of a thumb.

"Smack!"

The core is cracked. Everything it holds dissipates into the air.

"I'm ashamed," Jun said. "I thought we found something there. ”

As the others slowly walked away, Gwen noticed a warm glow on her chest. She could feel the flow of something indescribable, through the resonance of mana within her.

She put her hand on her collarbone and found the shape of an earring that she had completely forgotten.

She stroked its smooth surface. When she woke up, the jade chimera that her father gave her - what was it doing?

She walked to the back of the line, unbuttoned her collar, and looked down, seeing an inner glow on the jade. Out of curiosity, Gwen tried to identify the mana it infused, but was unsuccessful.

In front, Xiao Yue saw Gwen peeking under her shirt, and she seemed to be mesmerized by everything in front of her, and her face was full of confusion. Is her boobs long? The bra is too tight? Mr. Yue wondered. Why else would she be so fascinated?

"Gwen, is it time to reflect?" Yue asked with a smile.

"I'm sorry," Gwen replied, smoothing her collar and patting her shirt as we walked!

The Party is now progressing more carefully, with every step it takes. They encounter more goblins, eventually a pair of goblins, but not like the Wind Wolves.

It was an eye-opener to watch Elvia dissect these leprechauns, as they seemed to have the same internal organs that one would expect from a human body. Similarly, these creatures also display emotional expressions when they die, screaming and screaming. As Elvia searched for a heart in her chest, Gwen felt sick as soon as she saw her.

Eventually, the group arrived in Zeta an hour later than expected and received a flag that had been planted in advance by an instructor.

"We succeeded! Well done, guys. Lunch and break, 20 minutes. ”

Each of them took out the dry food prepared by the school, and when they added hot water, it became swollen and turned into a stout Gropp. To quench their thirst, they drank pure water melted from Joon's icicles to restore their mana reserves.

"Jun, how can other groups without healers get this far?"

"Most of it was luck. When I was here last year, we didn't see anything but some giant slugs, goblins, some solitary goblins, and some local fauna that had turned half-magical. A scale of 1.5 is my estimate. ”

"Why do you think we keep seeing other creatures?"

"I wish I knew. Jun took a big sip. "I hope the other groups are okay. ”

"It must be. Elvia blinked. "Otherwise we'll get a warning message, watch out for dangerous beasts, right?"

"That's just our luck?" Henry snorted.

"It could be that we were in the wrong place, at the wrong time," Yue added to Henry's assumption.

The research team studied the ravines below from the vantage point provided by the Qi feature. Why is a creature more powerful than cannon fodder in the Green Zone, so close to their training zone?

In the distance, they watched a flock of birds flying.

Ibis Gray said. "Scavengers, the largest have a wingspan of 4 meters. ”

Up close, the birds are hard to look at, but from a distance, the landscape has the quality of a Namitira watercolor.

The journey back to the base camp was uneventful as they followed the path they had come. After a dangerous run-in with the wind wolf, they agree to take a more conservative approach so that another unexpected encounter puts them in greater danger.

The team made better progress than expected and arrived at camp as it was getting dark. However, when they came to the half-clearing, they knew they were no longer alone. Even at a distance of a hundred meters from the camp, they could see signs of an invasion.

"I'll lead the way. Jun chanted. "Wedge-shaped formation, Gwen and Yue on the left and right flanks. ”

Elvia and Henry are close to the middle. Jun prepares his shield pile.

"Big, eleven o'clock. Henry shuddered and said, "We should contact the base camp, it's—"

They heard it before they saw it, and it was smashed to pieces when a ridiculous thing exploded from the trunk of a half-rotten blue gum tree. The creature that bored them for no reason resembles a hornless rhinoceros, with its feet turned inward, like a wombat, giving it two paws that look like giant pigeon's toes. Winding muscles wrapped around its wide, muscular back like a tightrope, and the thick silvery-black hairs on it stood on end as it moved. Its pearlescent eyes were bloodshot and mad.

"Guwak!!"

The thing barked, half-grunting and throwing spit in all directions. Its stomach opens to reveal rows of yellowed canines, which makes it choose its favorite food without question.

"Defensive shield!" Unlike the shield he usually forms in mid-air, Jun uses the strongest shield in his arsenal. Three buffers in the form of crystal ice fragments dug deep into the earth, creating a wedged barrier.

"Get ready!" Jun shouted. "Everything you have. ”

"God forbid!"

"A real hit!"

"Bane!"

The creature hit.

Its skull must have resembled a slamming ram as Jun watched in disbelief as his best shield suddenly shattered.

"Stack shields!" he shouted, but the running creature was big and fast. Three more layers of ice shatter like rice paper, and all Joon can do is change his orbit so as not to hit him head-on.

Before the others could react, the thing flew past Joon and tossed him aside.

Bad luck!Gwen's heart screamed. Either now or forever!

"Barrage!"

"Guide Bolts!"

Yue's artillery fire hit the beast, causing it to crooked. However, her flames did not have a noticeable effect, pouring down from the blazing sheets.

, this thing probably has fire as a basic element. Yue realized in a panic. Gwen better clean up the mess!

Gwen's signature spell quickly followed her arrows.

"Thunderbolt!"

She infuses as much mana as she can into her "Must Kill" spell, feeling like her reserves are dropping from full to depleted in a single cast. Huge silica erupts underneath the soil, generating enough heat.

The thing fell and began to slide out of the remaining momentum, stopping half a meter in front of Elvia and Henry.

"Is it dead?" said Elvia.

What the fuck is that? They want to scream. That shouldn't be in the Green Zone!

The creature was built to resemble a combination of a Ute and a brick shit house, easily breaking through the little mage's attacks and shields. There is a serious problem with the regional intelligence the school receives. This creature is definitely a warrior class, at least level 4.

"I've found him!" Avia cried, and with Henry's help, she carefully rescued Joan from the bushes.

"My arm ......," Jun groaned. They could see his left arm strangely turning in an impossible direction.

"I'll call the base camp," Gwen said, and he was worried when he saw Xiaoyue. "Elvia, do what you have to do. ”

"It's going to tickle......" Avia told Jun apologetically before she started the spell healing spell.

Jun's eyes rolled back.

"Sir, we just ran into a giant creature! That's at least a squad of soldiers!" Gwen reported. "Request to return to base camp!"

"Of course, come back as soon as possible, seventh group, we have received reports from all over that there are higher level creatures in this area. What is your identity, do you need an escort?"

"We'll be fine, sir, please give preference to other groups. ”

"Admit it. Stay safe and hurry!"

Henry slapped him a few times, and Jun regained consciousness.

"Forgot about our camp, we're going back to base camp now!" he declared.

"Can I get that stone back, Gwen?" asked Elvia.

Everyone looked at the smoking corpse of the giant beast. It will take them at least an hour to dig it out.

"Forget it," Gwen took over. "Let's go. ”

Just as she was giving the order, another wave of heat rushed to her chest. Anyway, there's no time for mystery, Gwen thought as she took the pendant out of her mind. They need to get out of the way before another damn thing comes along.

"God forbid!".

Elvia added another buff to them, relieving their fatigue.

The group moved away, and hopefully nothing will happen to them again.