Boar Hunt (1)

As the squad continued forwards, the barren scenery changed into a forest that was destroyed in many places with open patches of land visible to the naked eye every so often.

The tree displayed scorch marks on its charred trunk from some distant horrifying event in the past. Some trees were bent in multiple ways, with their branches twisting and turning periodically.

As usual, the presence of the grey ash on the ground remained, giving a stark warning for the group to not let their guard down for fear of becoming a crumbling pile of ash.

Stood in formation, the squad members cast wary glances at the surroundings, expecting something to jump at them.

Gazing at the desolate environment around him, Finn swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he muttered.

"Great, what better than a creepy half-destroyed forest, eh? A pack of boars totally won't just magically appear in front of us, haha."

Rolling his eyes at Finn's behaviour, Evan felt his eyes twitch as he sighed internally.

'Sigh, now that he's jinxed it. The probability of it happening has just increased drastically.'

The sound of snapping branches resounded as the squad carefully tried to place their feet in order not to create any noise which disturbed the harrowing silence of the dead forest.

Alas, a misplacement of their feet was inevitable, causing the snapping sound to ring out once again.

Every time a branch snapped, they froze in place as they held their breaths, hoping against all odds that a powerful monster wouldn't be attracted and come over to curiously investigate.

Already accustomed to the eerie silence of the Forbidden Wilds, Evan primed his body, preparing for combat.

Unsheathing his sword slowly, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A couple of seconds later, the lustrous brilliance of his golden pupils was once again revealed, displaying an all too common desire to spill blood.

Moving forward a few meters as he stood in between Otto and Kang, the barren landscape reflected itself in Evan's eyes as a low noise faintly became discernable.

Feeling the tremors coming from the ground, the Fanged Wolves frowned.

As the noise became louder and louder, their faces became more and more serious. Tensing his body, Evan envisioned the cerulean mana flowing through his pathways. The muscles beneath his skin strained, ready to release all the accumulated power in an instant.

Although he wasn't bulky, his former gaunt figure was gone, replaced with a lean body that had somewhat defined muscles in the upper and lower region.

With the noise reaching a crescendo, the source of all this commotion was finally discovered.

Charging through the desolate wasteland, a few packs of boars destroyed anything in their way, as a palpable bloodlust enshrouded their bodies.

"Great, now we have to deal with multiple groups of berserk boars!" Finn said with a bored expression as he stifled a yawn.

'Why can't he just shut up and focus?'

Resisting the urge to facepalm and roll his eyes, Evan composed himself as he showed a wry smile at his squad member's antics.

"Finn, shut up and get ready to fight. If we die because of you being too lax, I swear my spirit will come back from the dead and kill you myself!"

Releasing his aura in preparation to fight, Otto scolded Finn as the silver hammer in his hands shined with a bright lustre reflecting the twilight colour of the sky.

Choking back his words, a sheen of sweat appeared on Finn's forehead.

"Yes, Captain!"

Getting in formation, the Fanged Wolves gripped their weapons tighter as the boars came closer and closer.

Striding into a slow walk that changed to a jog before becoming a full-on sprint, Otto, Kang and Evan began the battle against boar-type monsters.

Standing farther back, Astrid and Finn were reusing the same strategy they used against the pack of wolves.

Cleaving forward, Evan's blade blurred as it increased in speed, aiming to decapitate the neck of the boar opposite him. Unfortunately, in its berserk state, the boar experienced heightened reflexes as it quickly reacted, blocking the strike with its tusks.

Feeling as if he had just struck the hardest steel, Evan's eyes dilated at the startling discovery he just made.

'Shit! A rank 2 boar!'

With the realisation of battling a stronger foe dawning on him, instead of panicking, he felt the blood in his body boil.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

Feeling his heart thrum in excitement with a wave of adrenaline moving rapidly through his veins. All the hairs on Evan's body stood on end in response to such a large stimulation.

Releasing a wild grin, Evan bellowed, letting out all the nervousness and hesitation from within. Moving with targeted precision, the gloomy blade in his hands shone with a red light as its image blurred with its ever-increasing speed.

'First Form—Horizon's Dash!'

Arcing into a lethal trajectory of murder, the blade collided with the boar's neck, which was caught off guard by the sudden rise in speed.

Gritting his teeth, Evan used a fifth of his mana from his mana pool to imbue his muscles with even more strength as he directed the fresh surge of power into the blade.

Puncturing the boar's skin slightly, the blade only left a shallow wound in its place which only served to make the boar even more berserk.

Expression turning grim as he evaded the retaliation strike from the boar, he bit his lips hard in thought.

Hard enough for a steady stream of blood to trickle down his chin onto the ashy road down below.

'If I use the Demon Reaper Art right now, there is a 90% chance of me breaking through the to the high-tier of the first rank. Think! Think!. What are the things currently at my disposal? I have the Whispering Retribution Art, however, judging by the earlier strike, it won't be of much use in this situation.'

As he racked his brain trying to come up with a solution to come out the victor in this life and death battle, Evan's eyes grew more ferocious after realizing where the key to victory lay.