Forest Trip Made Gone Wrong (1/2)

After leaving the town, the group soon arrived at the periphery of the BlueTide forest. A huge river was going through the forest, and people had made a camping ground fifty meters away from the riverbank on an empty, lush ground.

Eleven tents of various sizes were there for a quick supply and gathering their hunt prizes there.

Minions were quick to be born as atmospheric magic and Mana directly affected them, and their genes would also straightforwardly evolve by eating each other, eating magic resources, or getting influenced by various magic phenomena.

The most important part of Minions was their cores. The value of 1st and 2nd-grade minions' cores was low, but they would still fetch prices since their cores were magic-rich and would be useful for beginner Alchemists and Blacksmiths to create magic potions and magic items for practice and sale. Upper-graded Minions were more valuable as even their body parts and organs could be useful.

Moreover, hunting in this forest was recommended more than ever because if the number of Minions were not under control, a beast tide might form and wreak havoc.

"Which Minions are we going to hunt?" Luna curiously asked. 

"We are going to the inner domain of the forest," Arlott said with a faint smile. 

"I-Inner domain?" one of the men shouted and stopped but quickly forced a smile when Arlott turned his head at him. "I-I mean, it's dangerous there. Will you be able to handle it, sir?"

"I can handle even grade-10 Minions, so don't worry," Arlott chuckled. "You don't need to fear anything or anyone but me. Got it?"

 The four men looked at each other and only saw helplessness in their eyes.

"Shut up and just follow us," Iris snorted and really wanted to beat them up for fooling her and annoying her with such a plan.

Soon, they started encountering various types of Minions, both small and big, but not too big.

"Kill the Minions," Arlott swept his glance at the four men. "Don't let any insect Minion or animal Minion near us, got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Also, you can keep their cores to yourselves and sell them later," Arlott added. 'Not like you will have any chance to sell them.'

"Thank you, sir!"

The four men quickly replied and focused. When they spotted any Grade-1, they readily killed them and harvested their cores. Even a palm-sized insect might be a late-stage Grade-1 minion and could be dangerous since they would have special magic powers, either simple or poisonous, so it was important for 1st-class mages to remain careful.

"I will also fight and practice," Luna grinned. She had also learned magic spells but had yet to enter the forest for the real thing, so she was eager.

"Sure, but only use long-range attack and practice that instead," Arlott nodded with a smile. "You've trained with me, so this should be a piece of cake for you."

"And you four! Focus more on late-stage Grade-1 Minions and leave some Grade-1 Minions for her."

"Yes, sir!"

Luna weaved her magic in her Arcane zone to gather Mana and unleashed Ice-elementals offensive spells at Mid-stage and lower Grade-1 Minions they encountered. Her Ice shards were formed with proper shape and structure, so they were stronger. Control and precision were important to increase a spell's power and potency, no matter the type of spell.

Her Arcane force was not strong enough to severely injure late-stage Grade-1 minions who had Arcane Force at 8000 or more, so she mostly targeted Mid-stage and low-stage Grade-1 minions, whom she could one-shot.

Luna had Water, Earth, Wind, and a bloodline inherited Advanced affinity, Ice. 

Normally, Water + Wind can create Ice in one's Arcane Zone, and after getting familiar with Ice elements, one could get Ice affinity after creating Ice nexus. 

Having affinity meant directly being able to turn Mana into that element, and Luna was born with Ice affinity due to her parents having acquired Ice affinity long before she was born.

Such occurrences were rare but often happened in the latest generations from high-class mage couples.

Arlott was an anomaly since he didn't inherit Advanced and Exotic affinities from his parents, but since he acquired all primary affinities, Kiera and Derek thought that it was good as well since they could teach Arlott about their Advanced and Exotic affinities along with their magic spells after he graduated and learned basics.

As a matter of fact, Derek was returning home after three days precisely because he wanted to see Arlott's growth. Kiera has disappointed Derek due to her actions since Arlott was born, but Arlott was also his son, and he wanted to teach him and make him strong.

Alas, he didn't know that his son was the reason for this crack between him and Kiera, and a pleasant surprise awaited him once he returned home.

…

"Sister Iris, your physical strength is so strong! You one punched that Grade-2 minion," Luna was shocked.

"How did you do that?"

Iris's cheeks slightly turned red, but she quickly adapted and professionally smiled. "I've already created Nexuses of Fire, Lightning, Water, and Sand affinities."

The Sand was an Exotic element that was made from Earth, Wind, and Flame. A powerful offense-defense-oriented element.

"And I," Iris glanced at Arlott, who only had a faint smile on his lips while walking ahead, and continued, "I started using my Mana and turned it into elemental energy from nexuses to enhance my Genome Tree to make my body powerful."

"Yes. Miss Iris is very powerful physically. She must have a good Genome talent from her parents."

"Indeed. She is the most powerful newcomer of the guild."

The four men sang her praises, though they were facts since Iris was indeed talented in magic combat and Arcane formations.

…

After around forty-five minutes of traveling, the group was not even close to the inner domain of the forest, but Arlott stopped after seeing there was no human presence within a hundred meters of them. After all, he was leading the group toward places with lower human presence in the first place.

"This is a good place," Arlott nodded as he rubbed his chin.

"For what?" Iris was confused.

Arlott chuckled and turned around, facing the four men.

The four men thought Arlott was going to order them something.

But Arlott didn't waste his breath on them and snapped his finger.

A second later, he released a burst of his soul pressure and sealed their souls as they fell to the ground, losing their consciousness.

Afterward, Arlott waved his hand as their bodies disappeared into his life storage ring.

"What did you do? Why?" Iris asked, startled.

"These four were rather brilliant young assholes but on the wrong path. Five years ago, when they were in the last year of their high-grader study in some random academy in the city, they trapped an innocent village student in a calculated web after speaking to her occasionally and getting her background."

"After doing the deed with her and even disposing of her, nobody fucking found evidence or ties, nor they found her body. That's how through these scums were."

Both girls were shocked at the revelation.

"But how did you find that out?" Iris was confused.

"I can read memories with a trick. But I haven't used it on you," Arlott laughed. "Worry not."

Luna and Iris's eyes widened.

"N-No way. I'm sure you've read my memories," Luna intensely blushed.

Arlott laughed and patted her head, "Sorry, little pervert. I saw that. I'll fulfill your wish soon, hahaha."

"Nooooo!!" Luna's face turned entirely red due to embarrassment.

"Then you also read mine?" Iris asked, her lips twitching. 

"Nope, I never read yours, really," Arlott shook his head. 

Iris heaved a relief as she believed that Arlott really never read her memories. 

"Phew, good."

'Wait, Laverna. So you purposefully never told me about Iris's memories?'

[Yeah. I thought it was cute to see her coming into the room in a jolly mood and humming and then sucking your dick every morning without you noticing it. She even sometimes masturbated and rubbed it, but unfortunately, she was scared of putting it inside. I guess she wanted to do it while you were awake instead of doing it secretly.]

'… And I never woke up during these times,' Arlott was speechless. 'You kept me asleep purposefully.'

Laverna burst out laughing as the cat was out of the bag.

On the other hand, Luna recovered from her embarrassment and smirked as she seemed to have planned something. "Arlott, I will take revenge for that. Humph."

"Sure, try anything," Arlott chuckled. 

"But for now, let's finish the business here."

'Laver, transfer it.'

[Done. Just infuse some Mana into the orb and bury it in the ground.]