Chapter 60: Pack alpha!

"…" Lucien's gaze was fixed on the list of abilities he had obtained in just a short while forcing him to smile sheepishly. His eyes seemed twitched and he felt the urge to go through the other notifications he received but now is not the time.

"We need to find somewhere safe to sleep… This place is too open… It's not safe" Lucien asked Lenard.

The trio shut each other glance before they shook their head in response. They too were ambushed by magic beasts of various levels and they were forced to retreat but unlike Lucien, they had left clues as they retreated just to make sure they can find their way back. It turns out that the spawn spot for everything has a flowing stream for bathing and spring water for drinking. Anywhere outside those spawn spots lack these things.

"We can head back but those monsters that attacked us may still be there… we could only kill a few before we escaped…" Lenard explained. 

The days where he would look at Lucien with disdain has passed. Back then he only felt that Lucien was just an extremely talented noble who looked down on others, especially humans but right now he realized that Lucien is not extremely talented! He is a monster!

Also taking into account the way he treated Brian, a human with so much care and love, Lenard could tell that Lucien wasn't the same cocky brat he used to be anymore. Finally, they also realized that something had gone wrong with the test, high level magic beasts are roaming around the area and students are dying every hour! It would be a miracle if half of the fresher students survive this event.

"Why do you want to go back with us?" Logan remained calm and maintained his dull tone when speaking to Lucien. Even though he had seen Lucien's strength upfront it didn't mean he would treat him any differently.

"This test is messed up… we will be killed if we split up… our chances of survival are higher if we stick together" Lucien said while he gently picked Brian up.

"And you don't mind teaming up with we, Humans?" Logan asked with a hint of disgust in his voice.

Hearing this Lucien only shot the youth a glance for a short while before turning his attention to the unconscious Brian.

"I was saved by a human, twice now… Comparing how I have been treated by your people and how my people have treated me… I believe the humans are way better than we beast-men in terms of morale standards… So yes, I believe my chances of survival are higher if I go with three of you" Lucien said softly while carrying Brian in his arms.

Seeing him handle Brian with so much care was enough to shatter the last doubts in Lenard's mind, as well as that of his team mates. They shot a glance at each other before they started heading back from where they came and Lucien followed closely.

"Let me help" Hex hastily tried to take Brian away from Lucien's hand but he took a step back and shook his head in disapproval, before following Lenard's team.

___________________________________________________________________

The two teams walked through the thick forest in the dark night and the area filled with magic beasts but surprisingly these common magic beasts couldn't sense their presence at all. They would walk past these magic beasts and none was able to detect them.

"What do you call this ability again?" Susie and her teammates were greatly impressed by Lucien's wide array of abilities gotten from magic beasts.

"This is one of the Black Devil's abilities… shadow cloak" Lucien answered calmly.

His eyes were pitch black and the tattoo on his back kept glowing. Occasionally, they would glance at the new tattoo on his right shoulder which looked like the hell hound, wondering what abilities Lucien got by defeating the general level magic beast, but they didn't ask since he didn't look like he was in the mood to talk.

"Hey…. Did we win?" 

Lucien heard a voice only to look down and notice Brian was awake. He shot the youth a casual smile and nodded firmly.

"I got a new tattoo and some sweet new fire abilities… You will never catch up to me at this rate" Lucien laughed dryly.

"Hehehe! Even with a thousand abilities from a thousand magic beasts, you will never be able to take me on" Brian joked as a sweet smile appeared on his pale face. 

Using the Lucardo family heirloom for too long left him drained and weakened, Lucien had gone through this too so he knew all Brian needed was enough time to rest and he will be alright.

"Hey guys… I'm sorry about earlier… I couldn't react, I was too distracted by Lucien's strength and newfound powers that I ended up messing up… It won't happen again" Hex finally broke the silence between them and said those words while bowing slightly.

Seeing this, Lucien and Brian shot each other a glance and sighed.

"We don't have issues with you… or what you did… what annoys me is why you did it… we are friends, teammates and comrades! We fight together and die together… we are not rivals not enemies! The growth of a teammate is should serve as a motivation and not a threat" Lucien said casually while Brian nodded in agreement.

"We are here!" Lenard said while hiding behind a tree and looking the camp which was just ahead of them.

Just as they expected there were still about two soldier level flames hounds and close two ten fiery pups.

"Hold on to him a little bit"

Lenard heard Lucien speak but before he could turn Lucien had already walked past him towards the camp. His silver eyes suddenly turned orange as his aura turned orange, creating a fiery image of the hell hound behind him. His steps turned heavy as his finger nails turned into claws. His muscles kept bulging and his breathing got heavy.

Seeing him approach the soldier level magic beasts took numerous steps back with their heads lowered.