Chapter 36: Wailing Forest IV

"They're salivating…"

"They must be hungry."

"Ugh… They look like they're about to get crazy…"

The bloodshot eyes and salivating mouth of the wolves caught the student's attention. Their presence was completely astonishing and they were nothing if compared to the previous normal beasts they killed…

Luckily, they were Arcanists and they have the aura of their Arcana that slightly protects their minds.

"Don't act rashly… They're not an Evil Beast but we had to be careful. Focus."

Alexander showed his leadership skills and the fight started as soon as he utilized his Arcana.

He raised his sword and for the first time after entering this forest, he activated the skill it possesses.

Indomitable Will!

It covered not only the wielder but also the nine other members of his group…

Aria felt that her concentration, strength, and control in her Spiritual Energy had improved. She had also suddenly felt her confidence building up even when faced against the six ferocious Forest Wolves.

'So this is one of the skills that a Mythical Rank Arcana has… Although I have something similar with my Arcana, I can only affect three more people besides me. But this guy seems to have no problem supporting even more than 10 people. Impressive…'

Aria always wanted to know how different the Mythical rank can be compared to Legendary. It wasn't because she felt inferior but because she wanted to properly gauge her strength.

As she was mostly surrounded by common rank Arcana wielders and not close to other competent students, she had no one to compare with.

Graaa!

The six wolves in front of them had surprisingly ignored any battle tactic like surround their group and instead rushed onwards.

Since Alexander was in front, they have to step forward and bear the pressure together. It would be easier if they all fought together.

Bang! Bang!

"W-what's this?!"

"Their fur and claws are so tough…"

"Tsk! They can even ignore the sharpness of an Arcana?! Why is it like this?"

Clang!

One of the member's Arcana was thrown away after the wolf smashed it…

'They're strong!'

This is what everyone thought aside from Aria and Alexander.

Alexander had never underestimated his opponents but he might have focused too much on his enemies that he miscalculated the dumbness of his teammates…

'Only Aria was doing good with her unique skills.'

He couldn't help but comment as he saw the young lady calmly using two weapons. It was her dagger that was a Magic Weapon and supported by her Ring, a legendary rank Arcana.

She's showing a magnificent battle sense and had a clear grasp of the situation in her surroundings.

Since the eight other members in their group only had a common rank Arcana, Alexander had instructed them earlier to get paired and help each other.

Right now, with the appearance of the six wolves, Alexander and Aria took one wolf each for themselves while the other four were taken by four pairs.

Crystal Lance!

While Alexander was taking his time fighting the wolf assigned to him, he saw Aria used one of her ring's skill…

This sudden usage made him delighted. It was worth sparing these wolves and let the members fight them. He already showed one of his skills and it should only be right for Aria to reciprocate it…

An elongated cold and a sharp object like a lance form in front of Aria and instead of hitting the wolf she's currently dealing with. It actually helped the student who had just failed to tightly grasp his Arcana…

The wolf couldn't avoid it completely and was now bleeding on his left back leg.

Aaaarrrgghh!

The beasts didn't take it lightly and in a feat of anger, he ignored the pair student who was previously fighting him and headed towards Aria…

Baam! Baam! Baam!

Five more Crytal Lance had formed and attacked the two Wild Beast targeting her!

It was very impressive!

Forming that large lance in succession without consuming a lot of energy wasn't something that a young student should be capable of.

Even Alexander was baffled by this…

'How does she possess such a large energy reserve… She didn't even look like she's struggling… It feels like she can do this as much as she wanted… It's weird…'

Alexander thought and this piqued his interest.

This made him desire to observe Aria's battle even more. With this in mind, using his limited strength, he pushed and thrown way the Forest Wolf wanting to eat him as it stumbled on the trees and ground before it tried to return to battle…

'The previous Spiritual Energy rating that we did in our class should've made it clear that I'm possessing the highest reserve of energy, but why—'

"Ooh!"

His thought was suddenly interrupted as he noticed that the dagger she was holding had suddenly cracked even though she's not using it…

Baam!

"Annoying…"

Alexander struck the head of the pouncing Forest Wolf that was probably thinking that he was not focused on the battlefield. The wolf wasn't aware of how sensitive his senses were.

"Haa~ I understand now…"

Alexander smiled confidently as if he understood Aria's secret. It felt good…

He looked at her beautiful right hand wearing the ring on her fingers and holding the dagger…

He wasn't sure at first but based on his observation, instead of draining Aria's Spiritual Energy, the Legendary Ring she has was capable of using the energy being contained with the weapons or equipment that she was holding…

'That's an impressive skill… But there must be quite a few conditions to fulfill to use that…'

"Aaah! Help!"

"Save me!"

The cries from the students that were asking for help were heard but it was ignored by the young man.

Alexander shakes his head at his dying fellow students… He didn't bother helping them since the teachers that were watching will surely interfere to save the students once they're about to die.

Well, it wouldn't matter even if they died. Only Perrin had to survive at least as they were serving his family. He'll be scolded by his father if he let him get killed.

'Annoying… You're all targeting the back of Forest Wolves? Their body has a thick fur that's known from their toughness… You don't even know how to deal with this Wild Beast, the eight of you will only be a burden.'

***

While this was all happening, Diether's group had quickly rendezvous with one of the members of Eight Thunder Claws… He quickly explained the situation and waited for Wang Lin to instruct them.

"Very well… We need to gather all the Eight Thunder Claws to deal with the bandits, while the remaining Hunters will stop monitoring the students and focus on targeting the mid-grade beasts... You can also kill any suspicious people that you found lurking around…"

"Understood!"

"Sigh~ I have a bad feeling about this."