Chapter 136: Reliable Ellen

After understanding how the group worked, they arrived at the other side of the cliffs and found two obvious paths.

"What lies after this cliff is a huge grass field with tall grasses, making it hard for us to see the beasts hiding inside. Normally, people will use a truck to cross this field." Phyrill pointed forward. The grasses were flattened while some on the two sides were leaning to the ground. "This is the trail. After getting blown away by the thruster that lets the vehicle float, they turn into something like this." 

Ellen sighed and said, "But we don't have any vehicles. If any monsters tried to attack us, with the grass slightly taller than us, it's impossible to find them."

"Yeah. Vehicles are another layer of protection and the speed is good, so it's the best way to cross this field." Phyrill then pointed to the right. "But if you take a closer look, this place is like a giant lake with the wall circling around us. On our right, you will find some form of a path that will allow you to walk around the wall until we reach the other side. If I'm not wrong, the shortest route is ten miles, so our best chance will be this dangerous path. With our speed, we should be able to cross this place within ten minutes, but I'm afraid we will be attacked inside there."

"We can use our Awareness, right? I think everyone has enough ability to activate your Awareness…" Alea glanced over her teammates while slightly squinting her eyes.

"I can." Ellen, Sihan, Phyrill answered at the same time.

Laust also nodded his head but added, "Not that much. It will only give me a presence within ten feet around me."

"Five feet." Theo raised his hand and answered. He trained his Awareness just recently, so it was impossible for him to have a big one.

"My Awareness is around one hundred feet," Alea said and pointed at Ellen. "I will be leading us from the front while Ellen stays in the back. Sihan and Phyrill will protect Theo and Laust from the sides."

"Then, I will be helping all of you when we are attacked," Theo added, not wanting to be useless.

"Good. Let's go. We shouldn't waste too much time because there is a nest not far away after we cross this grass field." Phyrill smirked and activated his Wolf Transformation, knowing it would be a dangerous run.

Since they'd agreed, Alea raised her sword and started running. The rest followed her according to the formation, crossing this small path.

Surprisingly, the moment Alea stepped on the grasses, a series of roars resounded in this big field.

"Huh?" Theo narrowed his eyes and realized something was wrong. They had been talking this whole time and the monsters remained calm, yet, when Alea stepped on the grass, the monsters knew their presence even though she only let out a small noise. He looked at Phyrill, "What is this place…"

"This is called Unending Grass Field. The only weird thing in this place is the grass. Each of them seems to be connected and transmits a certain signal to the monsters that reside inside this place. At the same time, if we cut these grasses, they will grow again within a day. If there is no continuous effort of a group crossing this field, we won't have this kind of path." Phyrill explained.

"I guess there are many mysterious places in this world."

"Of course. There are Singing Hill, Illusion Forest and a few other places in this country. If you go to another country, you will find more. This is not Earth after all."

Before the two continued, Alea gave them a warning. "Talking is fine, but three monsters are coming from our right. One is probably a snake while the other two are four-legged monsters."

Sihan, on the right, raised his shield as Theo went closer to help him.

And when Laust was about to move, Alea hurriedly shouted, "There are two more coming from the left. Get ready!"

"…" Laust clicked his tongue and went to Phyrill, so there was no confrontation with Theo.

"Whatever you do, don't you dare to stop even for a second," said Alea while releasing her killing intent.

Ellen took a deep breath after seeing Alea's expression, knowing they would be facing a lot more.

Roar.

A series of roars echoed again as the clattering sound of grass filled their ears.

"It's coming," Sihan warned Theo and raised his shield. A grey-colored wolf emerged from the grasses and aimed to bite his neck, only to meet Sihan's shield.

Theo activated his Focused Charge and went around Sihan. When he got the visual of the wolf, he thrust his spear on his head, stabbing it to death. At the same time, Sihan waved his sword to the ground with his colored blade.

"Dawn Strike."

The energy was released and cut the snake that was about to bite Theo's foot and somehow extended a few feet underground.

Sihan then plunged his shield to the side as another grey-colored wolf appeared, trying to kill Theo.

But with Sihan stopping his momentum, Theo and Sihan stabbed the wolf together until Theo got the kill, albeit he didn't feel satisfied as he complained in his mind. "Sh*t. I couldn't kill them easily. It seems the difference in level was still reflected even with my spear."

The left side wasn't that peaceful either. Laust and Phyrill killed each enemy, but Laust stopped for a split second and got left behind. He quickly used his fastest speed to catch up, albeit met another problem because the group was the one actually slowing down.

Many monsters appeared one hundred feet away from their path and Alea could feel more presence hiding behind the grass.

"Theo!" Alea called his name out loud, asking whether he had an idea.

But before Theo could think anything, Ellen had summoned a giant chunk of ice and hit the monster that hid behind the grass on their left.

"Ice Meteor."

She hadn't finished using her second skill yet. Aiming at the ones on the right, Ellen summoned three ice lotuses above them. "Bloom, Ice Lotus."

Each skill hit its target. The huge boulder became a wall that made many monsters crash to it while the other side was blocked by the Ice Lotuses, meaning they only needed to handle the ones in front of them and outrun the rest as long as they were fast enough.

Ellen raised her fingers and made a "peace" hand gesture while saying with an uninterested expression. "Don't forget about me, okay?"