Adventurer's End

The chirping of the birds and the dancing of the trees greeted the adventurers as they entered the treeline. Six young men, three of them were swordsmen, two were bowmen and one of them was a mage. The six were expert hunters of magical beasts, earning a living by hunting down any magical beasts, even the mightiest of them all, the wyverns.

Elbert was the leader of the group and the best swordsmen of the three. He was 25 years old and had been hunting magical beasts ever since he was 16. The group was headed to the Engrovin Temple, the ancient temple of the Goddess of Fiorg that was located at the center of the Anub Forest.

The group was a talkative bunch, they couldn't walk 1 minute without one of them initiating a conversation or remarking about their surroundings, they were young and still had the energy of the youth flowing through their veins.

"This new magic beast, I hope it wasn't just some wild rumor," Zhen remarked. Zhen was the second best swordsman of the group.

"If it was, I wouldn't have supported Ghen's Idea of searching for it in the first place" Elbert replied, chuckling.

"You always agree with what we suggest. you can't resist us" Ghen joked. Ghen was the third swordsman of the group.

"Elbert, knowing you, you had someone from the garrison confirm the rumor" Kinnan retorted as he chugged on a cup of blueberry wine. He was a bowman of the group, an expert marksman but also a heavy drinker.

"Kinnan, you're gonna exhaust our supplies if you continue on drinking the wine" Elbert scolded. Elbert then turned towards Zin, the mage of the group.

"This ancient temple that you talked about, why haven't you told us until last night? boy we could've looted it and got filthy rich"

"The temple itself is thousands of years old and was just abandoned a hundred years ago, no more treasures remained after the Criminal Sect set-up their base there" Zin answered. Elbert took a deep breath, he was always annoyed on how Kinnan knew so much but still refused to share any information with the group unless there are other parties involved. Not knowing that Zin was just trying to protect them.

Terok was the second bowmen of the group, a silent man. Terok would not speak to anyone, he would just nod or shrug to communicate, the group believed he was mute.

The group's babbling mouths accompanied by the sounds of nature quickly broke the silence of the daytime. Not knowing they have exposed themselves to their so-called magical beasts.

A few meters above the treeline, a scout drone was following them. Maintaining a safe distance and blending in with its surroundings to avoid detection. The constant dancing of the trees accompanied by the loud chirping of the birds almost made the drone invisible from the group.

The group were only a few hundred meters from reaching the defense line around the Machine Base, they were already in-range of the sentry turrets standing on the defense line. Sentry Turrets were mobile defense platforms capable to transverse any terrain due to their eight-legs that resembled a spider. A double-barrel turret was placed on the top of the Sentry Turrets that could blast either a high-energy beam or a concentrated ball of energy towards a target with frightening speed and accuracy.

The group continued their walk, moving closer and closer to the sentry turrets. The scouting drone knew the group was getting too close, it relayed a message to One.

"Entities nearing Defense Perimeter, I repeat, entities nearing Defense Perimeter"

"Continue monitoring of position, sentry turrets are to fire warning shots once entities are a hundred meters away from Defense Perimeter"

The Defense Perimeter occupied an area 2 kilometers wide, originally it was supposed to be 10 kilometers but due to the lack of materials being transported through the wormhole, they couldn't fully occupy the 10-kilometer area and have only built 2 kilometers. The Defense Perimeter was a combination of Sentry Turrets and Guard Towers garrisoned by three combat drones. These Three combat drones each had a unique weapon with them, a sniper-rifle, a blaster and a machine gun were the most common loadouts. Twenty meters of energy fences and obstacles separated the treeline and the Defense Perimeter.

The group was now 130 meters from the treeline, still oblivious of what was ahead of them. Terok coincidentally spots the scout drone's shadow as it moved between the treeline. Terok patted Elbert on the back and pointed towards the thick branches above them.

"What is it?" Elbert asked.

"Good ol Terok gettin cold feet haha" Zhen joked. Kinnan finally feels an ominous presence lurking around them. He quickly took cover.

"Crap"

The group took cover under the thick bushes, they were all silent. They could finally hear the scout drone moving through the treeline now that they stopped babbling. The drone knew its cover had been blown.

"Entities have noticed, requesting permission to engage"

"Negative, lure them to the defense perimeter"

"Affirmative"

The drone increased its movements to the point its shadow could be seen as it hopped from branch to branch.

The group was alarmed, the three swordsmen had their swords drawn and the two bowmen had their bows ready to fire. The mage was getting ready to cast a barrier in case of a sudden attack by the unknown creature.

Terok noticed the shadow was escaping further into the forest. Thinking that the beast was scared, he concluded it was a tree goblin.

"It looks like a tree goblin, only a tree goblin could jump through those branches and leaves without breaking them"

"Then let's chase it!"

The group charged towards the shadow. They were shouting their battle cry.

"All men are superior! the beasts the inferior! Lest we slay the dragons, we shall drink through the night!"

The chase went on for half a minute, the two bowmen began firing their arrows. The mage went and cast a fire spell. Setting the branches ablaze but the beast seemed to be unaffected as it continued to jump from branch to branch.

"Entities are within 100 meters"

"Fire"

The group was stunned, a barrage of light struck their surroundings, tossing them all the ground.

"what the heck is this!" Ghen screamed. Volley after volley of concentrated energy blasted them.

"Barrier!" Zin cast a barrier of protection, a translucent dome of magic. The others quickly took cover under the barrier as the volleys kept on coming. The trees around them fell one after another as birds flew to the sky. The sounds of destruction and carnage struck fear into their hearts.

The six were now trapped, the barrier could not withstand the sheer firepower, it shattered. As it shattered a concentrated pillar of energy struck the group, knocking them unconscious.

"Entities rendered immobile"

"Uhm, let me clarify, I said fire warning shots?"

"Warning shots fired, firepower exceeded threshold"

"Huh"

On the walled settlement, several spotters watched as parts of the forest seemingly erupted. It was brought to the attention of the Noble of the Town.

"What did you say? parts of the forest erupted?" The noble asked, he was the same noble who attacked the scout drone yesterday. A strict and handsome young man, his arrogance could be contributed to the fact he was the spoiled prince of the Yuhin Dynasty.

"Yes, sire. The spotters reported that parts of the forest seemingly erupted. A group of adventurers might've been the instigators but the firepower far exceeded their capabilities according to the records"

The noble leaned back on his golden couch, several ladies surrounded him as he enjoyed the company.

"Tell my men to get ready, I will personally investigate"

"Yes, sire"