Going Out For A Ride

Aeon still had his hands on his ears. Through the canopy of the trees, he could barely make out hundreds of birds flying their way out of the forest. He looked at Suri and Korona who were just as shocked as he was.

Aeon finally let go of his ears, but he could still feel them ringing.

Magical beasts sizes are classified into 4 types. Small, medium, large, and colossal.

The small-sized magical beasts are those below two meters tall. Mid-sized are the ones that are two meters to six meters tall. Large, six to ten meters. And finally, colossal, those taller than 10 meters.

For a beast that could produce such a loud roar, how big could it be?

This was something Aeon could not fathom.

He realized that his heart was palpitating and thought that his adrenaline might have kicked in.

"Let's go back to the camp. Some other beasts might run away from the center and move to the outskirts!" Aeon yelled as he still had a hard time hearing.

Luckily, Suri and Korona understood his intention, despite not hearing well, and immediately left. They did not even bother getting the meat of the monsters that lay dead around them.

The three rushed as fast as they could back to the camp. When they arrived, all of the students who came to the field trip with them were already there. There was no lack of gossip.

"Don't panic! The beast that made that sound lives more than 90 kilometers away from here, at the center of the forest. We're relatively safe. Rest assured, we're safe. Although there will be a surplus of magical beasts that will be heading our way!" Merell, the other staff, said calmly just as Aeon and the other two scooted over the center of the camp. The students immediately heaved a sigh of relief.

"Yo shit! Let me tell you something," Aeon turned to Suri, "Ninety kilometers is NOT that far!"

"Don't worry. They're not unreasonable enough to put us into danger," said Suri calmly as he observed Klaus' behavior. The latter was really not that worried, giving Suri some peace of mind.

Hearing this, Aeon shrugged. Suri was right. He was just uneasy because if that creature was capable of making their ears almost bleed from that distance, then it should be very terrifying. If that creature had the speed of a horse, it would only take 2 hours for it to reach their camp. And one thing is for sure, comparing a magical beast's capabilities to a regular horse's is a bad example.

"Prepare your weapons and get ready to defend the camp!" Dan said as he turned towards the direction of the roar.

The crowd dispersed and took their positions. For the past two months in the academy, all they did was fight against each other. There were no drills that incorporated large scale battles. Because of that, their formation was quite ugly. The distance between each mage was not uniform, and the Serans in the front were more compressed.

Seeing this, Dan clicked his tongue in disappointment. Unfortunately, that would have to do. It was no time for lessons. Even Academy staff like him could be endangered facing a horde composed of small to mid-size magical beasts.

Rumble! Rumble!

As the ground started shaking, the students gripped their weapons tightly, even Aeon. He did not dare underestimate the capabilities of a horde of magical beasts. Most of them might be brainless and ran on instinct. However, with numbers, they might make up for that.

Several thick, hollow trees a few hundred kilometers in front of them fell down one by one, slowly revealing the approaching monsters. The students did not like what they saw. Many tensed up, which was really bad for mages, especially when they lost focus.

"Earth Remorans, make a thick V-shaped earth wall with us at the tip! We'll funnel them all in one spot and burst them with magic! Fire, and Wind Remorans, destructive spells! Ice Remorans, crowd control! Serans, stand by for sweeping!" Klaus commanded non-stop, giving the students an objective and peace of mind.

After a few seconds, the ground shook, and several segments from the ground shot up.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Earth walls collided with each other as they were erected. In no time, a V-shaped wall that extended outwards was formed from several smaller earth walls. From above, the newly formed wall indeed looked like a funnel.

The weapons of the Remorans started glowing, magic concentrating on their tips.

"Water Remorans, keep your spells!" Klaus shouted through the noise of the thunderous hooves, feet, and claws. His right hand was raised upward, and he was waiting for the right time to release the spells.

Fortunately, the magical beasts feared the roaring beast more than the humans that waited ahead of them. Their charge did not halt, and they were about to fall into the trap.

"Steady!"

At 100 meters, they finally had a clear view of the monsters. There were, at least, fifty of them. There were monkey-looking creatures, dog-like creatures, cat-like, and etc. of all shapes and sizes. One could say that it looked straight out of a horror movie.

70 meters, the beasts were now starting to compress with each other due to the funnel…

50 meters, several fell from bumping against each other while some of the smalls ones moving at the front were flattened…

30 meters...

Klaus dropped his raised hand, "Now!"

Swoosh!

…

Crash! Bang! Boom!

The attacks they released were all D-ranked charged spells and packed quite a punch. Wind blades cut through several monsters' flesh like tofu, while fireballs exploded on their tough hides.

The monsters in the front fell from the barrage of spells, blocking the path for the others. However, some were still able to move and pass through, those who were resistant to fire and those who unintentionally used the monsters at the front as meat shields. They jumped over the dead beasts and moved forward. At that point, some of the creatures had already realized the dangers lying ahead of them. Unfortunately, the momentum did not allow them to immediately halt. Nor did the ones behind who had no idea what was happening in the forefront.

"Water, now!"

In no time, water vapor from the air solidified then…

Clink! Zing! Swoosh!

The area in front of them was now covered in snow, slowing down the monsters' movement. At the same time, dozens of ice spikes impaled those monsters who did not have very thick skins. Even so, there were still monsters who remained and survived.

Roar!

Several monsters roared in anger. Most of the small ones were now either dead or crawling on the ground from the explosions. Against that much firepower, they did not stand a chance. Only four big and tough ones were left who were a threat.

"Serans!" Klaus yelled.

Aeon rubbed his hands.

Suri gripped his gigantic broadsword.

It was now time for some action.

"Go!"

Thirty-two students shot forward, each holding a glowing weapon. As the snowstorm died down, they entered the fray.

Aeon was at the head of the group slashing at any monster that was still moving with his twin swords. They paved the way for the Remorans to advance. After the small fries were disposed of, they headed towards the big ones at the back.

But Aeon ignored the three monsters at the front. He was coming for the one at the back. The largest one of the four and the least injured, a gigantic grizzly bear.

Aeon looked back. Seeing Suri following close behind him, he nodded.

The two split left and right.

They were going for a pincer attack.

Aeon tightened his grip on both of his swords and dragged them behind his back. With such a huge opponent that towered at 7 meters on all fours, for sure, he would not be dealing much damage. So their main attacker was actually Suri, and he would be serving as a distraction. Moreover, after confirming that the area they cleaned up was safe for the Remorans to advance, they will immediately provide backup.

The situation was already under control. Unless something out of the ordinary happens, they were all good. Calmly, Aeon advanced towards the grizzly bear's left flank. The latter had stopped moving long ago, realizing that they were lured into a trap. It just stood on its two feet, unmoving.

Maybe it has already given up.

Aeon sped up. As he reached the monster's leg, he slashed.

What greeted Aeon, however, was not the familiar feeling of his swords cutting through flesh. Instead, it was a rather disturbing sound...

Ting!

The sound of metal colliding against metal!

For a moment, Aeon panicked. Immediately, he backed off quite a bit but did not retreat. He frantically searched for a soft spot where he could strike the creature.

Ssssssssssss!

Hot steam escaped from the gigantic monster's nose. It raised its paw and smacked it towards Aeon!

Boooom!

Aeon jumped several times backward but he was still hit by the shockwave. Several rocks were blown his way, hitting his swords that were crossed in front of his face.

Contrary to Aeon's expectations, the bear stood on all fours and turned around. It did not show any intention of fighting anymore. It must have felt threatened and was about to escape. But with what it had done to Aeon, will he really let it go? Aeon smiled. He chased the creature.

As the beast began to walk, Suri suddenly appeared in front of it with his glowing broadsword. Suri jumped and slashed at the beast's snout. Immediately, the beast responded by sweeping its right paw towards Suri.

Boom!

Suri's broadsword exploded on the beast's paw, pushing it aside. However, Suri was also pushed back. The glow of his weapon did not dim one bit, though. Causing a huge explosion that had a force strong enough to match the monster's swing, the spell should have cost lots of magic power. However, the Suri now was different from the Suri two months ago.

After shaking its paw from the pain, the beast once more started to run away. It was not much affected, clearly showing its tough nature.

Suri pursued closely. He looked back and was about to give Aeon a gloating look but…

The latter was nowhere to be found. Suri felt a bad premonition and immediately looked towards the grizzly bear.

Sure enough, there was someone who was riding on its back.

It was Aeon!

Suri felt his head spin.

What is this moron thinking?

Suri dodged trees after trees as he pursued the bear while the bear just rammed over them. In no time, the bear exited the V-shaped wall formation and had many more options on where to run. For them, the most logical move was to just leave it be and return to camp. Looking back, Suri also saw that the other three beasts were already taken care of.

There was just one teensy weensy problem…

A fucking moron was riding a magical grizzly bear towards God-knows-where!

The bear was relatively slow for its huge size, but Suri could not keep up if they continued. The bear had huge steps making up for its sluggish movement. Aeon really had to let go. The man held onto a handful of bear fur on his hands to keep himself stable on the bear's back. It looked like he was on a rodeo as he bounced up and down. Suri sighed.

"Aeon! Let go!" Suri screamed as the distance between him and the bear gradually increased.

"You moron! Just! Let! Go!"

"You're straying away from the camp!"

"You'll be in danger!"

"Oh fuck it! Go do what you want!"

Suri's voice reverberated throughout the now empty forest.

….