55 Tension

As the group progressed further through the forested terrain, the usual sounds of life had all but vanished. A tense atmosphere had continued to build and, even without him telling her to do so, Emilia had slowed her pace to stay a little closer to the Party.

Linnaeus couldn't help wondering if monsters knew how to scare people. While he remained calm and focused on the outside, he began to feel increasingly unnerved in the more primal areas of his mind. It felt like his instincts were warning him to flee yet, in spite of this, his [Sense Danger] was just as silent as the surroundings...

For a brief moment, Linnaeus was reminded of the time when he and Saht were being hunted by a group of elite bounty hunters. Their leader had managed to get right next to them without a single hint provided by their usually reliable Skills and instincts...

Giving a small gesture for Eliza and Krone to speed up, Linnaeus quickly caught up to Emilia who, even more so than him, seemed concerned about their present situation. This made it even more important for him to stay composed so Linnaeus was forcing himself to take even breaths, his face an absolute mask of calm.

Once the Party was together, Linnaeus immediately explained his conjecture, stating in a hushed tone, "The enemy should have the [Stealth] Skill. There may be more than one. Stay close and on alert at all times."

Even as he spoke, Linnaeus never stopped observing the surroundings, an action that was repeated by Emilia. She had made the same assumption so it eased her mind a bit to know that Linnaeus had been on the same page.

Linnaeus could see Emilia visibly relax but, in the back of his mind, he was focused on other matters. He knew they would need to develop a signal to alert each other to any invisible enemies as it was very dangerous to group together like this during tense moments...

As if to emphasize why grouping close together was bad, the ground beneath them began to vibrate and, immediately after, thin stone spike penetrated through the dirt and attempted to skewer them.

The moment Linnaeus realized what was happening, his eyes sharpened as he shouted, "We need to get into an open area! Stay close but don't get within five meters of each other...!"

Fortunately, as they all had [Barrier Aura] on them, the only loss was around 900 of Linnaeus' SP. The surprise attack also taught them a very important piece of information as, despite having climbed a lot higher than the rest of them, Eliza had never encountered monsters that could use Magic.

While some monsters had unique racial abilities, such as venomous spit or flame breath, most Magic was either derived from a Blessing or arduously practiced over several years. This required both hard work and comprehension of what you were trying to learn so, with most monsters having a middling level of intelligence, at best, they were fundamentally incapable of using complex Magic spells.

Understanding this, Linnaeus knew that haste was their friend as, unless they had a Blessing that had broken through the Level 100 threshold, invalidating the need for surprise attacks, their Magic would be useless outside of a 50m range. [Stealth] also reduced your mobility considerably as, if you made a lot of noise and bumped into various objects, it would obviously break.

This wasn't knowledge unique to him so, understanding what was going on, everyone else in the Party had equally hardened expressions. If their opponent dared to give chase, Emilia, in particular, was fully intending to teach them how terrifying Magic could be...

Unfortunately for her, most proficient [Stealth] users weren't the type to haphazardly pursue a group of enemies.

By the time the group had run for a little under two minutes, the uneasy feeling that had plagued both Linnaeus and Emilia began to fade away and, when the entered a clearing, it had vanished in its entirety. There was still a chance their enemy could be tracking and skulking after them but, after the failure of their surprise attack, it was far more likely that they had retreated in the complete opposite direction.

Eliza reached this same conclusion so, much to Linnaeus' surprise, she stomped on the ground a few times, her face showing clear frustration before she noticed he was looking at her. This caused a rosy blush to spread across her cheeks but none of them were foolish enough to point it out.

To help cover for her senior, Emilia cautiously observed the surroundings while stating, "That attack definitely came from a person. Unless they have allies, we most likely won't have to worry about any other attacks from them..."

Linnaeus nodded his head upon hearing this, adding, "The safest assumption is that your enemy is always at a maximum level of preparedness. We'll proceed on the basis that they retreated to gather allies. It is fortunate that we're intending to leave this floor today as it would be too dangerous to return to the den."

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As their den was located beneath a rock formation, it was basically suicide to enter inside if you knew an enemy capable of using earth magic was around. It was the same as inviting them to crush you into oblivion so, without arguing at all, everyone in the group gave an understanding nod.

Seeing that they were all on the same page, Linnaeus was tempted to smile as it was very helpful to have allies capable of understanding things without needing to go into greater detail. This had been one of Saht's greatest weaknesses and, though they had learned to work with each other, her failure to understand strategy had almost gotten them killed on several occasions.

Remembering his partner reminded Linnaeus of the urgency of the task at hand so, in order to put even more distance between themselves and potential ambushers, he gave the order to double the usual pace as they proceeded toward their destination. He didn't even bother having Eliza and Krone move cautiously as their enemy would still be able to track the duo's best attempts...

Without ever encountering another group of wolves, despite passing through the very heart of their territory, it became pretty clear that the King of the region had been dealt with. They had either been lured elsewhere or, as was the far more likely scenario, had been killed by the earth mage. Linnaeus had never seen the 'Wolf King' use an Ability like [Steath] during his preliminary investigation so, in hindsight, he realized that should have been a red flag.

The most likely scenario was that they encountered their enemy as the latter was leaving the heart of the region. This had caused them to hide their presence away and follow after the group. Since they weren't moving too quickly due to their heightened state of awareness, it wouldn't have been taxing to keep pace, even with [Stealth] active.

What concerned Linnaeus the most wasn't the sneak attack itself but the reaction of the wildlife in the forest. It didn't make sense for them to fall silent in response to a single person using [Stealth]. In fact, it would be a huge tell to anyone with even a basic amount of attentiveness as the absence of animal sounds within the forest was extremely unnerving.

This was the main reason Linnaeus urged the group forward. He suspected that their hidden enemy was paired with someone far more powerful so, being the cautious person he was, Linnaeus decided it was for the best to open up as much distance between themselves and their would-be attackers as possible.

Fortunately, even after crossing into the territory of the monster ape, there hadn't been a single sign to indicate they were being pursued. The appearance of monsters allowed Linnaeus' nerves to ease a bit so he finally gave the order to reduce their pace and resume their usual formation. Only this time, he would be the one to take up the rear as he wanted to see if it was possible to obscure the tracks left behind Eliza and Krone as they awkwardly passed through the forest.

Eliza was a little bothered to have Linnaeus following in her wake as it made her feel self-conscious, for a variety of reasons. Still, she tolerated the complex feelings as she tried her best to leave behind as few traces of her presence as possible, all while periodically looking back to make sure he was still there.

Unlike when Krone followed behind her, Linnaeus' movements were completely silent. This was the main reason why she felt unnerved as it felt like, at any given moment, he would just disappear into the forest, never to be seen or heard from again. He might not be aware of it but Eliza was using him as an anchor of sorts so, if he were to suddenly vanish, she felt like any motivation she had to climb higher would vanish with him.

Linnaeus didn't know the truth behind why Eliza would periodically look back at him but, as he could tell she was nervous, he did his best to appear calm. He just assumed she was afraid that he, being the weakest in the Party, would be picked off by the enemy before she was able to react. This wasn't really a rational concern but, so long as she was doing her best to fix her bad movements habits, he was content...

---

After half an hour passed without instant, the Party regained its usual atmosphere. Linnaeus knew this was the opportunity he would be looking for if he was going to assassinate someone but, as he would never attack a group of people with unknown strength, he assumed this was an unnecessary concern.

Eventually, the group had finally reached the area where the monstrous ape had resided so, with even more motivation to succeed than before, Krone placed his palms against a dark grey stone to absorb its traits before moving forward without hesitation. He was the type that could follow a plan without issue but, when it came to battling against a monster on his own terms, he chose what could only be described as the 'direct' method.

Sensing its habitat had been invaded, a primal roar escaped a cave located on the upper slope of a small mountain. It took less than ten seconds for a 4m tall ape-like monster to leap out of the hole, its black fur glistening like metal in the nascent sunlight. It had all the basic features of an animal known as a Gorilla but, at the top of its head, there was a large bald spot that was covered in scars. It also had a striped pattern along its muscular arms and legs, despite no apparent need for any kind of camouflage.

Without shying away, Krone released a war cry of his own before bending his body low and tackling the ape as it attempted to swipe at him. The thing had much smaller legs than arms so this put the grey-skinned man in a rather awkward position, at least for a while. Fortunately, his Skill wasn't just a number within his Status so, as the ape tried to use its greater strength to its advantage, Krone was able to keep it off balance. He even managed to get the monster onto its back, his heavy fists hitting into the neck and jaw as his previously stony skin gained a thin layer of metallic fur.

Emilia wasn't wrong when she said the ape was physically stronger than Krone but, as was often the case in such situations, combat experience made a massive difference. The ape only knew how to use brute force while Krone, having advanced knowledge of [Martial Arts] and [Grappling], was able to use the monster's weight and strength against it. He even managed to break one of its arms by putting pressure on the joint when the monster hyperextended its arm in a vain attempt to dislodge the man pummeling him to death.

Unfortunately for the ape, Linnaeus' [Barrier Aura] prevented it from getting any advantages and, by the time Krone managed to absorb its traits, the battle had already been decided. His Strength had spiked from 232.2 to 270.9, a thirty percent increase on his base parameter. Since parameters gave higher returns at higher levels, an additional 38.7 points of Strength almost negated any difference between Krone and the much larger ape.

The battle ultimately came down to a contest where both parties had similar strength but, as a result of Krone's experience and Linnaeus' [Barrier Aura], one side was unable to gain any advantages. This turned the battle in a one-sided slaughter, one where Krone used his bare hands to bash the ape's face until it had caved in completely. It was an extremely brutal method of fighting but, based on the results, the effectiveness couldn't really be argued...