章 35: Chapter 35
Lixue, Thirteen, and Bai Shui saw the river below them getting bigger and bigger. They activated the anti-gravity function of the combat suit and safely landed on the ground.
"We'll mark this place as our rendezvous point. If anything happened and we got separated along the way, we'll assemble back here. If half a day pass and nobody shows up or someone doesn't show up, we'll assume that they got into some sort of trouble and the assembled member will continue the task." Thirteen marked a tree near the river with his knife.
Lixue and Bai Shui nodded.
[Aaaa!! So cool! Little Prince is leading the team!]
[Why is Little Prince's team only have 3 people including him? Isn't it too little? What if something happens? Not to mention of the other 2 one look average while the other one look like the scholar type, not combatant]
[Heh! As they say, birds of the same feathers flock together. Isn't it normal for him to have a team of weaklings?]
"We're currently near the center of the map. Where do you want to go first? Needless to say, it's better if we collect at least 27 different beast types. So it's better to start where there's not a lot of people so we won't waste any time."
"I think we can go towards the east first. Most of the candidates jumped on the west side earlier if we consider the ship's direction." Bai Shui suggested.
Thirteen looked towards the east. His eyes flickered for a while before he blinked several times. The drone above them didn't catch that from its distance and Bai Shui also didn't see it because he was standing on Thirteen's other side.
"It's feasible." Thirteen shift his attention to Lixue.
"Then let's go with that." Lixue nodded.
The three reached an agreement and proceed towards the east. Just as they entered the forest, they saw several candidates flew up to the sky. They were probably trying to pinpoint their location on the map.
"Didn't they know that the anti-gravitation function has limited energy? Why are they wasting it like that?" Bai Shui wondered out loud.
"They have 5 people in their team. It won't matter much if one of their member's suits runs out of energy. But we can only use it if it's necessary." Thirteen answered.
After walking for almost half an hour, Lixue prompted, "We're nearing Crystal Rabbit's nest."
"Let's go."
They sped up towards Crystal Rabbit's nest as drawn in the map. Bai Shui followed behind Thirteen, feeling amazed. He thought that Lixue would be the one leading towards the nest because he was the one who notified them. But it turned out Thirteen also memorized this part of the map.
Did both of them memorize the whole map?
Haha, no way, right?
Nearing the nest, Thirteen scanned the surroundings.
"Up there." He pointed at one of the trees in front before speeding up first and climbed up.
Lixue followed with no problem while Bai Shui, although caught off guard, also managed to climb up thanks to Thirteen's signal beforehand.
They crouched on different branches. Below them, different colored rabbits were gathered at an open grass field. Their size was almost as big as a human with crystal eyes earning their name as Crystal Rabbit. With every rustle, their long ears would twitch in alert before continuing their activity eating the wild plants around them.
"That one with the yellow eyes." Bai Shui pointed at the one further away from the others on the back.
"No, that one with red eyes." Thirteen pointed another one nearer to them that was also separated from its group.
"Red Crystal Rabbits are more dangerous. They have fire ability. Yellow Crystal Rabbit is safer, don't you think?"
"Yellow Crystal Rabbits are sensitive to movement around them. Although Red Crystal Rabbits have fire ability, they are sensitive to heat. The weather right now is just perfect to conceal our body heat."
"I'll go get it." Lixue shortly said before he jumped to other branches leading to the Red Crystal Rabbit. His movement was fast yet only produced little rustles.
He arrived at a branch directly above the rabbit which was still chewing the plants around it not realizing Lixue's arrival. He took his knife into his hand before swiftly jumping down and stabbed it right between its eyes.
The rabbit didn't even have a second to screech before it met its end.
Lixue cut off its ear before climbing up the tree again. He went back to the other 2 with the ear.
Bai Shui almost clapped out loud, "So cool!"
Thirteen inwardly chuckled. Earlier, he couldn't help but think that Lixue looked like a cat sneakily stealing food.
"Let's continue."
The rabbit ear was put into the space storage. It was provided by the military exclusively for the practical entrance exam. The device also contained nutrient packs and bars for the group.
"There's a swamp nearby. Though it wasn't marked in the map, it doesn't mean there won't be any beast around." Thirteen suggested
"Let's check it out." Bai Shui agreed.
[Why are they heading to the swamp instead of the cave? The cave is marked on the map as Sonic Bats' nest. Did they forget?]
[It's possible. The map is so big and there are only 3 of them. I think they didn't manage to memorize the whole map]
[But I think it's fine. Another team is heading to the cave. They will have to fight each other if they arrive at the same time]
When the team reached the vicinity of the swamp, they could immediately smell the thick scent of earth. The air became damper than when they were at the grass field. Birds chirped from time to time, lessening the gloomy atmosphere.
"There's a small lake up ahead." Lixue notified.
They went there and arrived just in time to see a creature surfacing up from the lake. It was a black alligator. Its green eyes were the same color as the moss resting around it. There was a ball full of spikes at the end of its tail which were dragged on the ground by the body, leaving deep trails wherever it went.
Swiftly, the 3 people hid in the shadow behind a large tree before the beast noticed them.
"It's a Level 2 Armored Alligator," Bai Shui shook his head, "We can't defeat it with only our current equipment. Unluckily for us, only bullet-type guns can inflict injury to that."
Thirteen thought for a moment before and an idea struck him. He smiled handsomely to Bai Shui, "How good is your stamina?"
Bai Shui shuddered. Why did he feel like that smile was full of malice?
...
"Hey, you're sure this will work?" Bai Shui gripped his plasma gun while he asked the nth time to Thirteen.
"Trust me. I won't kill you off for no reason," Thirteen shoved Bai Shui out towards the beast, "Now go!"
"Huh?! Hey!"
So you will kill me off if you have a reason??
When he looked back to his previous spot, both Thirteen and Lixue were already gone. His shout attracted the beast, and its glowing green eyes were immediately locked onto Bai Shui's figure.
Above them, the drone's lower part opened, and 2 smaller drones flew out following the direction where Lixue and Thirteen were going.
Bai Shui stood petrified at where he was. He was engaged in an intense stare-down with the beast. Sweating cold, he slowly moved his hand holding his gun. He swore he could hear the beast's growling at him!
In the comment section, the audiences cursed their stupidity and waited eagerly for the upcoming disaster. Some even left to watch another candidate thinking their failure was a given.
[Armored Alligator can't be fought with plasma guns and knives with low penetrative power. They're overestimating themselves]
[Let's just wait for them to humiliate themselves]
[Hey, they have a plan, alright? At least they're brave enough to try]
[Bah! More like reckless]
Then, he saw the beast's tail twitched and moved as if it was ready to attack him. In reflex, he aimed his gun and shot the beast several times.
"Damn it!"
Without waiting to look whether the attack worked or not, he quickly turned back and ran away as fast as possible. Not long after, he felt something flew past his side. With wide eyes, he saw a black spike hit a tree in front of him. His attack didn't work sh*t okay?!
The beast weighed heavily because of his armor scale. But when chasing its prey it wasn't a problem because it could launch spikes from his tail almost as fast as bullets. That was because the beast's wind ability boost its spikes' movement.
"Don't run too fast or the beast will lose you."
Bai Shui heard Thirteen's voice nearby but couldn't see his figure.
"Don't worry, your shield will protect you from the spikes." Thirteen added.
"How long and to where do I have to run?!" Bai Shui shouted. He didn't know where Thirteen was and he needed to make sure he heard it.
"Just like I told you before. As long as you can, wherever you want. Wait for Lixue's signal."
"I thought you were joking!!" Bai Shui cried.
クリエイターの想い 
ohremi19
ohremi19 Starting from here, there're going to be quite a few beasts appearing. If you want me to make the list for it, please say so in the comments. I'll update it from time to time when new beasts make their debut ฅ(=චᆽච=ฅ)
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