The roar of the Glacial Leviathan reverberated through the forest, even as Kain and his team, carried by the Vespirae, fled the scene. The oppressive cold that followed its roar was like a vice around their chests that made it challenging to breathe.
Kain glanced back at the chaotic scene receding into the distance, his breath misting in the frigid air.
One of the Vespirae, its transparent wings shimmering as it darted through the air, let out a low, agitated hum. It was clear that even the normally fearless Vespirae with the Dauntless skill were unnerved by the Leviathan's display of power.
Thankfully, after retrieving back the egg, the Leviathan and its followers did not continue their pursuit.
However, Kain still had the Vespirae flee with them for nearly three hours just to be safe.
Finally, the Vespirae set them down in a clearing that seemed momentarily safe.
As soon as they touched ground, Kain and his group dismounted. He took a deep breath, attempting to shake off the cold that had seeped into his bones. "Everyone, check in. We need to assess if anyone was heavily injured just now."
Thankfully, aside from some minor scrapes that obtained while fleeing, and a persistent chill, there were no major injuries.
In addition to their group of ten that had all made it, there were now two new additions.
The two survivors, clearly traumatized and exhausted, were now huddled together near a fallen tree, their faces ashen with fear and fatigue.
They had been fortunate enough to not be the main target of the Leviathan's rage and to have effective life saving measures. However, majority of their group, including their group leader, was now dead. Moreover, they had still not even completed the task assigned to them by the professor.
Obviously, their task had not been to steal an egg from such a powerful creature, that had been completely their leader's decision.
They had stumbled across the existence of the Leviathan at the bottom of the lake by accident, as well as the egg it had in its nest.
Although they weren't experts on all spiritual creatures, they knew that the Leviathan was at least of Platinum quality to reach its current level of strength. Its child must also have fearsome potential.
Their captain was not content with being towards the bottom of the top 10, he felt as though he could be in the top 5. Moreover, the Leviathan also happened to be compatible with his affinity, so likely its offspring would be too.
He felt as though it was a sign from the universe signifying his future ascension into the big leagues. He had even vetoed the concerns of his teammates and coerced them into helping. He also lied that the Leviathan's nest would provide the clues needed to complete their mission, which also involved hunting an elusive water-attribute creature under the lake.
The atmosphere surrounding the pair was incredibly somber.
Kain wanted to tell them off for their greed endangering all of their lives, however after hearing their story and seeing their pale, snot covered faces and hollow eyes, he could no longer work up the anger.
They were also victims of an absolutely terrible leader. And the main perpetrator deserving of Kain's wrath was now dead.
Kain and the others had purposefully fled back towards the direction of where the life-draining effects within the environment were still present, which also likely played a role in why they were no longer pursued.
They set up a fire, unable to care about potentially attracting spiritual creatures. They were freezing and most of the high-level beasts in the area had already migrated away.
Kain couldn't help but stare blankly into the flames as he relived what he had experienced earlier that day.
"I've never seen anything like it," Finn said to nobody in particular, his voice heavy with the weight of their close call. "It was more than just a powerful creature. It was like facing the raw force of nature itself."
The others also nodded blankly.
Addison who had been talking to the new arrivals off to the side approached Kain and the others.
"The survivors from the other group—Riley and Elara—are in pretty bad shape. They need rest and medical attention. We can't afford to push them too hard."
When Kain observed them closely, he could tell that in order to preserve their lives Riley had used a secret spiritual skill that seems to have pretty severe side-effects.
Elara had sacrificed a one-time use magical equipment and was in much better shape. However, she still had a deep gash in her side that she obtained while fleeing the beast hoard.
Unfortunately, neither of their two groups had a healer. Leonara had been the healer for their group missions in the past, but unfortunately, she was nowhere to be seen.
Their only option was to administer first-aid while making their way to the meet-up location.
As the hours passed, the team settled into a restless sleep, their minds haunted by the day's events.
However, they couldn't afford to rest for long. Kain had calculated their current distance from where they needed to go and woke everybody up before the sun rose. If they hoped to make it in time to not fail their first field assessment, they needed to get moving.
To further increase their speed, those that had mounts with a decent speed carried their owners, and as many others as they could comfortably support to their destination.
Kain had the Wasps scouting the way ahead since many of the contracts of the others were serving as mounts.
Thankfully, by the time the sun had fully risen they were already back at the meet up spot. Although, they were one of the last teams to arrive.
Kain saw that Bridge and others were all safe in their respective groups and let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly they heard loud movements through the thicket before they saw the appearance of their professor on a massive furry beast that brought a great deal of pressure to the students just by standing there.
Professor Flint dismounted his contract, and looked at the students gathered with an unreadable expression. Although, when looking at Riley and Elara his expression went noticeably more cold.