The Hunting Game (1)

"I hate hide and seek."

Carl and Thomas looked at each other at the same time. It was from Jacob, their classmate, who said that.

"Then go back to the teacher and ask him to separate you," said Daphne, walking past him.

They laughed at that because her words represented their reaction. It was too early to complain. They had just entered the hill and began their search.

"I can't believe there's anyone worse than Dex in complaining," Thomas said, continuing his stride after stopping for a moment.

"What did you say?" Dex protested. He did not accept his accusation.

"You heard it well."

"You want to fight me, right? Let's fight here!"

Carl sighed heavily. They started again.

Miku suddenly quickened her pace and stopped in front of them. She turned away and glared at those two men, who were getting nervous at her sudden movement.

"W-What?" His tone didn't sound challenging at all. Dex actually looked scared.

Both her hands reached right in front of Thomas and Dex's faces. Then a hard flick landed on their forehead. They reflexively stroked the scars.

"Stop your argument. We're here to do our task," Miku said with her hands crossed. "When will your cooperation increase if it's always like this?" she continued.

She looked at them in turn, making their guts shrink even more. She was like a mother scolding her sons.

"Do your best at this task, understand?"

Thomas and Dex immediately corrected their positions and said, "Yes, ma'am."

"Good." After that, she turned around and continued on her way.

"Miku is so scary," Thomas whispered to Carl.

"Yeah. She's scarier than my mom and Thomas's." Dex chimed in.

Carl let out a stifled laugh again. To be honest, this was the first time he had seen her react like that. Perhaps she couldn't hold back her annoyance at always seeing their bickering.

"Is she always like that?"

"No. But you may be careful to know when to quarrel in her presence. I think she'll be scary as she's angry."

"I agree."

Then they continued their journey in peace. No more debate or bickering.

Students split up to look for the pouch. They dug up bushes and leaves, climbed trees for better eyesight, kicked hard at trees hoping the bag would fall out, and more. However, no one got results.

Then, when they were busy searching, suddenly a scream startled the students. They instantly turned towards the sound.

Silence for a few seconds.

Before long, Jacob appeared while running towards them. He looked like he was trying to get something off of his shirt. Meanwhile, Bly, his companion, seemed to block something with his magic. "Run!" he shouted.

They didn't immediately obey him. They took a moment to see why Jacob was acting like that. And as he drew closer, finally, they found out the cause. There were thousands of crabs chasing him.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed his classmate.

Companion reacted quickly to throw the crabs away. But they seemed endless. They kept appearing, making students shudder at the sight of their claws. It would hurt to be pinched by that.

Grus did his magic by creating a barrier. However, crabs were smarter. They took another route. Students had no choice but to run.

But then another scream appeared, followed by a thumping sound. Apparently, a deep hole appeared and caused a student to fall. "Help!" he shouted in frustration. The shadow of the crab joining him in the hole frightened him.

It confused his companion about which one he should come first. Taking care of the crabs or saving his mates.

And so Miku decided to help them. She raised her hand as her magic worked and made all the crabs float. Then she snapped her fingers, and whoop... The crab was gone.

Elsewhere, apparently, Julian and Vega were watching through several screens in front of them. He smiled as Miku erased one of his tricks.

"You didn't disappoint me. But it won't be interesting if only you work for these."

Let's get back to students.

They had just breathed a sigh of relief after escaping from the crabs, but suddenly clouds appeared above them. A few seconds later, heavy rain fell. It wasn't ordinary rain but felt like needles.

"What is this?"

Companions created shields to cover them from rain. At first, they were calm because their body was safe. But over time, the rain eroded the barrier, so they had to run while the companions continued to renew their magic.

But Thomas fell as the roots moved and quickly pulled him up. Dex took his hand and was also dragged by it. Dex cast his magic to cut the roots. But just as they were released, another root immediately pulled them. And it was not only Thomas and Dex experiencing it. Other students also fought against roots, including Carl and Miku.

Carl ran as fast as possible to avoid the range of the roots attack. He ran west. But once he found another root, he turned north.

The problem was that roots appeared everywhere. The roots pulled his classmates and companions up one by one. Of course, the companions tried hard to slash it even though the effort seemed endless.

Carl and Miku jumped, looking for an opening to avoid getting caught by the roots. On the other hand, Carl also had to make sure he was under Miku's shield that protected him from the needles rains.

However, after a long effort to dodge, the root managed to catch his right ankle, causing him to wobble, and he was instantly pulled by its fast movement. Miku immediately cut off the roots, leaving them on the ground among the many roots, ready to pounce on them.

Miku slashed all the roots around them and gave Carl time to get up. He was breathless and sick from the rain.

Miku teleported herself to Carl. Being close to him made it easier for her to protect him.

She then swiftly moved her hands in a slashing motion to cut all the roots ensnaring the students.

"I want to get rid of all these, but it won't help them. They need to improve their skills and levels," Miku told Carl. She indirectly asked for his opinion.

"Then don't do that. Besides, this won't kill them. We'd better go find the pouch," Carl agreed with her words. After all, obstacles were not created without reason.

Miku raised her hand. As if understanding her meaning, Carl held it. And they disappeared in an instant.