Hunt

The 20th of December arrived. Leo got up early that day. They had decided to meet up at the same inn early in the morning so that they could quickly set out to the forest.

He already confirmed with Daphne and she was coming too. He got up and got ready. He could already hear the sounds from her room so he knew she was up. He got dressed in clothes where his mobility wouldn't be constricted.

He got out of the room and waited for her. When she came out, they set out. They got to the inn where Leo normally ate and saw the group waiting there already.

"Hello, Leo. And this is..." Clarice greeted them.

"Hello, Clarice. This is Daphne," he introduced her to them. Clarice was with Evelyn and Tobias.

"Hi, nice to meet you all," Daphne said.

Tobias expected her young age, but when he saw the two teenagers they were slightly disappointed. Even though he knew Leo could damage a Peak-Stage First Circle Magical Beast, this time it was a 2nd Circle Magical Beast. They couldn't afford any mistakes and having two kids on the team wasn't as reassuring.

But Clarice still had trust. Her face was all smiles.

"Also, your early payment was very useful. My sister broke through to the 2nd Circle." Evelyn blurted out.

Leo smiled. "Congratulations, Clarice. I am sure that it will be a huge help in today's mission."

Clarice nodded. "Do you have everything that you need? We have the healing potions for all of us but none for you or your friend." She asked.

Leo nodded. He brought the potions he bought from Trevor that day. He hadn't needed them till now, but since it was a risky raid he decided to bring them along.

"Then we should set out now. We can spend a lot of time looking for the right opponent. We need someone without strong armor. Tobias can handle any magical attacks with his shield so we just need to find a beast with fur. That will take time." Clarice said.

He nodded. They quickly grabbed a meal from the inn and packed it up before setting out. They walked to the Outer Forest and Evelyn immediately left the group. She would be faster by herself to scout the area. Meanwhile, everyone else just walked slower toward the depths of the Outer Forest.

Since they would have to be somewhere where Evelyn would know, they were going to a predefined location that she already knew. Since everyone except Leo was hunting for years, they knew their way around the forest. They waited at the decided spot for almost an hour before Evelyn came back.

"I found the proper prey. It ventured enough into the Outer Forest to be a good target." She said. They all got ready.

Leo was stretching himself. He was going to have to try his hardest not to use magic. Last time was a very rare occasion since no one was paying attention to him.

They quickly started making their way to the beast. Evelyn already told Clarice the location, so she took Daphne with her using another way. She had already explained to her what she was supposed to do on the way there during the walk. They were going to split up so the Magical Beast wouldn't run away seeing their numbers.

They quickly came to contact with the beast. It was a Golden Deer. They were stronger than Thunderhoof Deers because their entire body had lightning coursing through them. The deer immediately noticed them approaching it and warned them with a stomp.

When they took their weapons out, the deer immediately got ready to battle. Tobias charged to the front and Leo and Clarice stayed behind him. The Deer stomped its foot and a lighting bolt formed in front of it.

It stomped again and the bolt charged toward Tobias. While it did this, two arrows flew from different directions toward the deer. Both of the arrows got near the deer but the lightning coursing through the fur suddenly lashed out and hit them, crushing them.

However, the aura within the arrows exploded. The Snowdrift Arrow exploded into a chilliness which still brought the temperature down, affecting the deer a little. Meanwhile, Evelyn's ability involved some sort of wind element and hit the deer, pushing it a little.

The deer took the damage like it was nothing, but it got distracted a little. Leo started charging it from the other direction compared to Clarice. Clarice, being a 2nd Circle Aura Knight was supposed to be the vanguard, dealing the most damage.

Meanwhile, Tobias guarded the bolt with his shield and was knocked back a few steps.

The deer noticed Clarice and Leo approaching it and immediately attacked Clarice. Tobias saw that the deer was focused and quickly recovered. He went to attack the deer along with Leo. The deer created another bolt that Clarice was forced to dodge.

Meanwhile, another pair of arrows flew toward the deer. The lightning destroyed it again, but this time Leo and Tobias were there to take advantage of its momentary disruption. Leo dug his dagger into the fur. He was immediately pushed back by the lightning, but his dagger stuck there.

Tobias rammed the deer with his shield. At this time, Clarice was able to get her footing back and attack the deer. Her attack was a lot more effective. It slashed through the fur and dealt a lot of damage. The lightning coursing through the fur slowly died down. Another pair of arrows at it completely killed the deer.

The hunt was incredibly quick, but that was only because Clarice was a 2nd Circle Aura Knight. If she wasn't then no one's attacks were dealing enough damage to it.

Clarice being the closest person near the deer immediately cut out the Beast Core and tossed it at Leo. He caught the Core and stored it while Tobias and Clarice started dismantling the Beast.

Leo was smiling. The Beast Core was going to be incredibly important in his plans. He had already hit Peak-Stage 1st Star Mage a couple of nights ago by absorbing a lot of Beast Cores. With the Beast Core, he would be able to finally reach the 2nd Star and become strong enough to deal with the Blacktooth Gang.

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