Chapter 175: Chapter 174: Survival Challenge

Chapter 174: Survival Challenge

Alexey couldn’t help but shiver as he became aware of the creatures in the vicinity.

Although his combat suit had a stealth function, it was not as complete as he would like.

It reduced his presence, but his scent and noise were still dangerous.

They had a set time to complete their task, and every time he surrounded any group of beasts; he became increasingly tense.

The way Érica, Nicole, Leslie, and Vanessa took that challenge made him start to see it for real.

However, Alexey calmed himself by taking a deep breath as he flew through the trees.

He needed to finish his mission and not make any mistakes.

He was chosen because he was one of the best students among the B-Ranks and not only referred to strength, but mostly personality.

Frank, who was among the B-Rank students, was someone more experienced, but in the end, Alexey was chosen.

He met the requirements of experience, calm personality, and, of course, strength.

Now he could calm down and avoided giving vent to the anxiety he was feeling, proving that Edward was not wrong in choosing him.

Flying quickly, he moved forward with agility while he had some spells ready.

“Gaa!”

A jaguar roar suddenly appeared as a feline attacked him in mid-flight and Alexey waved his wand, throwing several blades of water.

Those blades cut the creature’s mouth and face and some went deep into the jaguar’s body.

“Gahhhh...”

Roaring ferociously, the jaguar fell to the ground still alive and Alexey moved again, launching water arrows at a high speed.

Water magic was versatile, having the advantages of other magics, but without strength... Sure, when talking about low-level spells.

In this world, there was no weak magic, but mages with little knowledge.

The arrows were fast and Alexey’s accuracy was splendid managing to bring down that jaguar.

Without relaxing his posture, he continued to advance.

The minutes passed and the thoughts that he would never reach his destination appeared in his mind even though he knew it was the right path.

Although the tension was too high, he took no chances.

One issue was acting recklessly, and another issue was about a person’s impatience.

Alexey had learned about patience in his mid-year practice.

In the Japanese guild where he went, he was taught to hunt sea creatures and his superior called it ‘fishing’.

“In fishing, you always have to be patient, like any subject in life...” Alexey muttered, remembering the words of his superior.

Such an idea kept him moving, stealthy, and as fast as he could, avoiding risks that could cost him the mission.

That patience rewarded him when he eventually reached the lake on the map.

It was a small lake, surrounded by multiple trees and which the beasts usually used for drinking water.

The task was to find the seaweed growing at the bottom of the lake.

“It’s time to prove that I know how to dive,” Alexey muttered, giving a smile as he remembered Clémentine’s words.

The fishing that his superior was talking about was not the traditional one.

It was fishing for sea beasts found in the sea and those who performed this task used their body as a fishing rod.

His combat suit had amphibious capabilities because his advantage was water, so Alexey activated it.

His clothing changed to a bluish color, and Alexey cast a spell to breathe underwater and then another to help him swim faster.

The first spell created two small bubbles in his nose that allowed the water element to be converted into the oxygen a human needed.

Deep in a lake, sea, or river, the water element was always higher.

The second spell produced a layer of water around his body and under his feet, but its effect would only be demonstrated in water.

“Let’s go!” Alexey said, urging himself on and creating platforms in the air as he ran.

Halfway across, he launched himself into the lake.

With a splendid leap, Alexey entered the lake.

Thanks to his combat suit that generated a thin barrier around his body, Alexey could observe calmly.

The seaweed he was looking for was always deep in the lake, having a bright color.

Mentally preparing himself, he descended while at his feet the water churned, pushing him in an instant.

It was no lie that he knew how to dive and in his practices; he did it a lot.

Descending at a high speed, it didn’t take him too long to find and identify his target, but Alexey wasn’t abrupt in pulling it out.

Casting a minor spell, he cut with some small water blades the soil around the seaweed trying not to damage its roots and then stored it in his space ring.

He only needed one, but he risked taking out another even though he felt the fluctuations in the surrounding water.

Normal seaweed did not have roots, but this was a characteristic of that seaweed.

The lake was deep, and although some light came from above; it was mostly dark.

After pulling out the second algae with its roots intact, it moved upwards, trying to leave the lake.

“Ughh...”

A trail of electricity spread and when Alexey looked at the creature he had sensed approaching, his expression changed.

At his back were several electric eels, whose size and appearance were remarkable.

They were slightly wider than an average human’s thigh and about three meters long, and what stood out was the dense electricity they released and spread around.

As if that wasn’t enough, they empowered each other and those three eels became an immediate danger to Alexey.

The barrier became unstable because of the amount of electricity that was continuously spreading through the water and Alexey, as he was about to leave, waved his wand vigorously.

*BOOM*

A ripple spread out under his feet, managing to push a large amount of water towards the eels, slowing it down, while he shot off into the sky.

Unlike a fish jumping into the sea, Alexey watched cautiously as he used his flying device to steady himself.

He did not wish to be like those fish that ended up being swallowed up in their jumps.

Finally, when he came back to land, he took a deep breath and, letting out a sigh of relief, he moved again.

“I hope the others are doing well,” Alexey muttered, but instantly chuckled and commented. “I think I should increase my caution. I don’t want to screw up.”

He didn’t care if he was alone or if there were cameras recording for the tournament. The truth was that he needed to say those words to himself.

After all, there was still the trip back.

******

Nicole ducked into some bushes and looked at the target for the task.

Her target was a fungus growing at the base of a large tree using snake dung as fertilizer.

It was easy to pull out, so she didn’t need as much skill to take them, however, the danger level was high.

That was because of the Giant Anaconda.

A simple-sounding name, though if someone looked at those giant snakes entwined in the tree, they would no doubt make sense of the name.

As thick as the torso of an adult human and with a length that exceeded ten meters and such a size was only for those who were B-ranked.

That kind of creature was savage and unintelligent, whose size was the only strength it had and needed.

And it was not strange that it had such an advantage when a single lash or bite could leave a B-rank fighter in a dangerous position.

In case she was caught, those snakes would circle around her body to strangle her in the same way as in animal documentaries.

With the only exception that this snake was gigantic.

Nicole pondered how to get those mushrooms without putting herself in danger.

She was a fighter and liked to go head to head in combat, but she was no fool.

Enjoying the melee was not the same as acting as an idiot and reckless... Aurora was teaching her to think during combat.

To see how to win, to plan her moves, and to learn from her opponents by analyzing the situation.

Her father was the one who taught her the basics, and the one who polished her was Aurora, for that reason, she had a similar style to her partner.

Thinking quickly, Nicole finally took a deep breath and defined the plan.

Not only did she have to take out those mushrooms, but then she had to go to a nearby spider habitat.

That last task was the most complicated because she had to take the eyes of a spider!

The worst thing was that both species live in large groups and were extremely territorial.

That wanted to use Nicole and, to her regret, meant she would have to demonstrate all the skills she had learned.

“Okay... Okay... Okay...” Muttering three times as she waved her hands, Nicole took a deep breath and charged forward.

The anacondas had sensed something and looked in her direction.

There were about twenty giant anacondas all coiled up in large trees.

“Come on!”

Nicole shouted at the top of her lungs, releasing her aura as if she was an invader who came into the territory to claim it.

This technique in a game would be considered a ‘provocation’ skill and, seeing its effect, Nicole didn’t doubt that it was a skill.

The snakes hissed and attacked her, opening their mouth wanting to swallow her.

“¡!”

The anacondas collided with each other as Nicole began to jump and dodge with pirouettes at a high speed while continuing forward.

Using the anaconda’s body for support, using the trees, or creating platforms at her feet, Nicole showed agility that no one had seen in the tournament.

She admired Aurora and so she asked her to help her train, and this was what she had learned.

She may have had the speed of an average fighter, but she trained her agility and evasion to the best of her ability, learning to use her surroundings to avoid attacks.

After passing the first wave, Nicole headed for the anaconda she was targeting and that snake attacked her.

Nicole could see the large mouth approaching her and she twisted her body as she caught both parts of the mouth with her hands.

“HA!”

Releasing a roar, her gloves unleashed an intense round of lightning that went deep into the snake’s mouth, managing to lower its resistance from the damage.

It was a brief second in which the anaconda was paralyzed and she took advantage of it.

Using all the strength her body was capable of exerting, she pulled on both sides of the anaconda’s mouth.

Blood spurted from the mouth and the wound opening and the snake writhed around, waving its tail everywhere, desperate from the pain and the inability to move.

“...”

Splitting the anaconda’s mouth and throwing it to the ground, there was a terrified silence as Nicole ended up killing that anaconda... In the group’s home.

That brief moment was taken by Nicole to grab as many mushrooms as possible in her space ring and then, without giving it a thought, she started running.

*BOOM*

A huge anaconda fell from the top of a tree, trying to crush Nicole and she rolled on the ground and ran again while at her back hisses and noises came from behind her.

All the giant anacondas were angry!

An invader entered their territory, killed an anaconda in the group, and then escaped!

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For wild creatures like these that were territorial, Nicole’s action was like a declaration of war.

*BOOM*

A tree snapped as a large snake charged hard through the trees.

The leader was a Rank-A creature, and it was a truly thick and long snake, with a high slithering speed and worse yet a terrifying leaping ability.

Worse than the charge of a rhinoceros, that huge snake led its companions to attack Nicole.

However, Nicole was breathing a sigh of relief and even though she had to dodge every jump she made, everything was going perfectly and the next part was the hardest.

Releasing her B-Rank fighter aura, she gave the impression of taunting those snakes, provoking her even more and causing them to follow her with even more madness.

It was at the moment when the big boss anaconda jumped to catch her that the trees and a large amount of spider web were revealed.

With an amused laugh, Nicole created a platform under her feet to use as a base and leap into the air.

*BOOM*

The strength of that giant anaconda was too high and although the spider web of the Amazon Spiders was strong, the trees to which they were holding onto were not.

*BOOM!

Two trees fell and so did the spiders on top as the big A-Rank anaconda tried to break the spider web that stuck to its body.

And as if that wasn’t enough, about fifteen anacondas also jumped to charge at Nicole, falling in the middle of the spiders’ nest.

Looking at their leader, who was rolled up by spiders and noticing the spiders coming down from the trees... Everything turned into a mess!

The Amazon spiders were fat and hairy-legged.

The B-Rank ones were as tall as a child, while the A-Rank was as tall as an average adult.

Next to these snakes, they were ‘small’, however, the number of these spiders was higher.

Spider web attacks began to fall everywhere as Nicole tried to dodge in midair.

The spiders descended from their trees and the snakes dug their fangs into those that had fallen.

*BOOM*

The A-ranked anaconda that was trapped unleashed and used its tail as a whip that snapped the trees.

Those trees were giant and thick, but the force behind those tails was impressive.

In the middle of it, all was Nicole, who was dodging and jumping everywhere, having as her enemies the spiders and snakes, who wanted to eliminate her.

Although her movements were fluid, she was at the peak of her tension and her mental load was overwhelming.

Her eyes not only had to focus on the attacks of the spiders or the jumps of the snakes, but she had to look for her target to escape.

The spiders started falling first and the biggest reason was that the scales of the snakes were difficult to penetrate.

The blows of their large hairy legs were noticeable, though insufficient to hurt the giant anacondas.

The two A-ranks of both groups clashed as one tried to sink its fangs and the other sought to use the spider web to its advantage.

At that point, Nicole noticed two spider corpses in the middle of the mess and, taking a deep breath, deactivated her platforms in mid-air.

She had been in the air trying to dodge both attacks and reduce their pressure, but now she descended like a meteorite.

*BOOM*

Falling onto the back of a large anaconda, Nicole crushed her body and dirtied her feet up to her ankles from going through the snake’s back.

Unmindful of the dirt, she dodged another spider attack and then touched the corpse of a spider, then the corpse disappeared.

“Haha...” Unable to help herself, Nicole laughed as she saw that her plan had worked.

While the authorities emptied her space rings so that she wouldn’t store any items to cheat, the same rings remained and hers could store giant creatures.

And she took advantage of this.

Instead of trying to take out the eyes directly, she would let an expert do it!

Putting away another corpse just in case, Nicole looked at her surroundings.

Snakes watched her from the ground, while in the trees were the spiders and although several were still fighting, now being in the center, she was a perfect target.

However, Nicole gave a smile and activated her ‘blink’ ability from her combat suit.

Not only did it serve to close the distance but also to lengthen it.

In just an instant, she reached a hundred meters distance and Nicole, concealing her body, retreated while listening to the disaster behind her.

******

Under some trees in some bushes, the surroundings began to distort, and Leslie revealed herself as her holographic stealth stopped activating.

Even though her armor had only mimicked the surroundings, the stealth was high.

Since the armor was full body and fully sealed, the scent was not a problem and since nothing was leaking, a predator couldn’t notice her.

In that sense, her stealth capabilities were higher than her peers.

Holding her ‘Justice’ sniper rifle in its assault rifle mode, Leslie carefully analyzed the situation.

Her target was some fruits growing on top of some of the tallest trees in the area.

The problem was that these fruits were the main food of some of the most terrifying primates in the area.

Big-eyed and protruding, these small, half-meter creatures could be adorable if it weren’t for the fact that they could eat humans and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths in a short time.

They were carnivores and their only reason for eating this type of fruit was because it helped them reproduce faster... Taking their reproduction was similar to rabbits, to a higher level.

Becoming a creature that was known to raid entire cities with their overwhelming numbers.

There was no belittling their size or strength.

They were weak C and even D-Rank, however, if one couldn’t cause a wound, then ten would, and if that didn’t work, then a hundred.

That’s how terrifying they were and now Leslie had to take the fruits and escape, but without luring these creatures to where her group was.

That was the biggest problem, and Leslie checked the bullets and equipment.

Because she was a weapons master, she had many weapons and some were heavy weapons, like a grenade launcher or high-powered grenades.

She had a permit for ‘war weapons’ and thanks to her father, she could get such weapons.

Unfortunately, due to the context of the challenge, it was limited, leaving her with her pistols and sniper rifle, along with several modules and some smoke grenades.

Ammunition was also limited and Leslie checking all available resources, took a deep breath, and braced herself.

She stowed her rifle in her space ring and pulled out her two pistols, activating a silencer module at the same time.

This module would allow her to hide her shots completely and, thanks to the fact that they were enchanted with air magic, would not let out any noise.

Stowing a pistol in her holster, Leslie located the tree that held the fruits she was looking for.

They were in the center of where the Aotus dwelled, and that meant she would have to go in deep to get it out and then come out.

For Leslie, the biggest difficulty was in getting out.

She could get in by surprising the Aotus and that time of surprise she could get what she came for.

As for getting out was another matter.

Organizing the plan quickly in her mind and checking her radars with the help of her artificial intelligence, Leslie identified the targets with her heat radars.

Looking at the place where she had to go, she used her combat armor’s movement ability and reached the top of the tree where the fruits were growing.

“HAIAAA!”

Grabbing as many as she could quickly, a shriek echoed in her ear and Leslie started running to escape.

“HAIAAa!”

The shrieks of the Aotus began to spread in numbers and then those little bug-eyed creatures began to appear among the leaves of the trees.

Thanks to her combat armor, Leslie had the physical strength of a B-Rank fighter and it allowed her to run quickly while producing platforms under her feet to move through the air.

“HAIAaa!”

The Aotus was surprised to see the enemy running so fast, but the shrieks grew louder, and then they jumped to catch Leslie.

“Tch...”

The surprise of the Aotus and her late reaction helped her get halfway to the exit path, but she’s still in a bad situation.

Dodging the Aotus with the agility of a fighter, she continued running and when she started to feel the pressure; she pulled out her pistols and fired.

*Bang*

Deactivating her silencers, she made the sound very noticeable in this place along with the shrieks of the Aotus.

More and more began to approach, jumping through the trees and for a moment Leslie noticed that they filled the large trees as others jumped and tried to get ahead to corner her.

They were very numerous and knew how to use their numbers.

Even though the sight was overwhelming, Leslie kept firing without backing down.

She had already used the fast-moving ability of her combat armor and was currently on cooldown.

The creatures let loose, wanting to cut her down, trap her, and shrieked as more and more jumped, taking her vision.

And even as the creatures covered her vision everywhere she looked, Leslie didn’t panic.

“HAIAaa!”

From ahead, another large group of Aotus approached, attracted by the shriek of their companions, and Leslie continued to fire as her movements slowed.

With her artificial intelligence, she could see everything around her thanks to the combat armor functions and, with her B-rank strength, she was able to dodge and withstand the attacks.

While her body followed her quick reflexes.

“HAIaaa!”

*Bang*

The shrieks and gunshots merged together, managing to draw more Aotus together.

Leslie’s bullets hit her moving targets and sometimes slid through the air, hitting some hiding Aotus.

One magazine emptied and Leslie only had to bring her pistol to her wait for another full magazine to magnetically replace it.

Putting her mind into overdrive, her weapons mastery shone through as she began to feel the pressure of her enemies.

Aotus was jumping and clawing at her barrier before dying from a headshot and even though they were dropping like flies, she still saw dozens in the nearby trees.

Those dozens became hundreds, filling her surroundings with enemies, leaving her completely surrounded and unable to move, all while dozens of them charged like mad.

The numbers advantage proved itself and at that moment Leslie gave a smile under her helmet.

With one hand, she holstered her pistol and pulled out a smoke grenade in her space ring, tossing it under her feet.

Her helmet switched to thermal vision, revealing the Aotus around her and Leslie activated the movement ability, which at this point could now be activated.

She used it to get in and not out while fighting all for this moment!

She needed it to recharge fast.

In an instant, she found herself a hundred meters away, and even at this place there were five Aotus.

“¡!”

Before the Aotus could shriek and call out to their comrades, Leslie drew and fired at a terrifying speed.

Her last victim was Aotus, who was hiding behind a large tree and the bullet went around the tree and hit that creature’s head.

In the end, there were no enemies left around her and when she was just safe, she mimicked the surroundings, disappearing without anyone noticing.

Leaving only angry shrieks behind her, she retreated back to her group.

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