Leon noticed that in the group of 20, there were about 7 people that he recognized. It wasn't like they were lifelong, old friends of his or anything. He recognized them because he made sure to remember their faces from a moment ago.
When he was eating, he memorized the faces of those who were looking at him for too long. Although this was an odd thing on top of another one, there was still a chance that it was a coincidence. After all, they were near the platform anyways, so out of 20 they could have all been picked randomly...
He shrugged it off but not entirely. Caution still pervaded the back of his head, but he wasn't going to let it turn his brain into a smog of uncertainty. With a team of 24, he had already made it out of the dome and they arrived at the forest.
The four held a group vote on which biome to head toward since they were all nearly the same distance away. Leon voted for the tundra since it seemed interesting.
He least wanted to go into the forest. He was tired of being only in the forest for so long during his and Alten's journey to the center. However, that was the winner in the end. He also took note that all 7 of the kids he recognized from before voted unanimously for the forest.
After getting right outside of the woods, the 4 kids who lead the group stopped as the black-robed one shouted out to everyone, "We will hold another vote! Are we thinking of groups of 2s, 3s, 4s, or just solo? Put up your fingers for what you want!"
Leon put up one finger, wanting to go solo. He noticed that oddly enough, the 7 kids had also put up one, and they all shot glances at him every few seconds as well.
'If not anything else, these are some annoying, weird kids.' He thought to himself.
However, everyone else that was left had 2 fingers up. The 7 all looked to be slightly irritated by this. The 4 leaders of the hunt quickly paired up groups of two for everyone. Leon was given a stern-faced boy that wore basic fighter gear and had a short sword for a weapon.
Leon wasn't the talkative type, but he didn't look to have an angry expression on his face at all times unlike this kid, whose eyebrows were scrunched together as though he was furious or something.
But, Leon was still slightly happy that he wasn't going to have to deal with nobles since he hated their guts and their personality more than anything else in the world.
The stern-faced boy spoke, "Hello maggot."
"Don't call me that," Leon said as they both shook hands.
"Fine."
The dark-robed boy spoke again, "Everyone split up and go! We will all meet here again in 6 hours!"
By this point everyone knew how to hunt, so he didn't bother explaining much. Leon's teammate immediately began dashing in a certain direction in the forest, so he followed behind. In 2 seconds he was right next to the boy.
Seeing this, the stern-faced boy slowly turned his head to look at Leon as they ran. Leon's face was casual, his run almost like a jog. The boy slowly turned his head forward again as he thought to himself, 'This is my maximum speed... who the hell is this guy?' His face still completely straight.
After a about four hours of basic hunting with a few break's here and there, the two finally came across a creature above tier 2, a tier 3 Fire-Fanged wolf just like last time. Leon had dealt with creatures like these easily, so he wanted to finish the fight with it as soon as possible and move on.
But before he could attack it, the boy next to him--whose name was Ko apparently, as he randomly said during their time together--shouted out, "Step back! This one's a dangerous kind! I'll deal with it!" He jumped out behind the wolf, which caused it to quickly turn around and begin to growl.
Ko held his hand back toward Leon, "Just make sure you don't get it by its flames, they might get you if you are in its area of attack..." He spoke heroically.
Leon hadn't unsheathed his sword even once yet, since nothing was strong enough to need it. He squinted his eyes slightly in confusion before quickly dashing in, nearly unsheathing his sword for the first time as he stopped himself from doing so. The wolf was suddenly thrown back as multiple fast daggers pierced through it.
Looking back, Leon noticed a few faces come out from the bushes behind him and Ko, "You... I knew it." He said, recognizing every single face.
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm "We didn't have to be too unsuspicious, just enough for you to think we weren't a threat." A boy from the 7 said as they all showed themselves with smirks on their faces.
Leon thought about the best course of action here. He wasn't a fool, a situation like this was calculated precisely by someone, which could give him power over that someone depending on how he played this situation.
He let go of the hilt and put his hands up, "Listen, before you guys eliminate me... I want to know something, a final wish." He spoke nonchalantly, not willing to act out anything.
"Huhh!?" Ko exclaimed in shock, looking at Leon and then at the 7 kids back and forth in shock, "What the hell is--" He cut himself on, too surprised to even explain himself. His tough facade from before was broken, almost comedically.
Still, Leon's words were enough, as the kid who spoke before from the 7 began to speak, "Final wish huh? Sure... You heard of the Deck group?" He questioned.
"Yes."
"Then you know why we are here..."
"I don't have any cores though..."
"We know... we also know who does have them."
Hearing this, a concerned expression shadowed Leon's face, but inwardly he smiled, 'Giving away information so easily... pfft. But... I guess I should get back to Alten as soon as possible then.'
***
Back within the cave, Lyrian created away, using the Art of smithing to forge a brand new creature with the most optimal of attributes from both the Hobgoblin Shaman and The Generational Grizzly...
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