Chapter 149: Constant Vigilance

"Now, is there any question?" asked Angus towards the others.

After showing his strength in front of everyone, Angus became sort of their leader. This is also fundamental knowledge when forming a team in Firuman. The strongest person usually will become the leader and decision-making person.

Unless there is some dispute or conflict with the leader, everyone usually just uses this way to select the leader. Then, the team member will reselect another leader if there is more problem in their leadership after a few confrontations.

In the case of the Angus team, everyone already knew and trusted Angus, so they didn't mind Angus taking leadership, especially after Angus's act to push back King Leon.

After looking, there is no question. Angus immediately tells the others to move out. He could feel more monsters coming towards their place because of the space fluctuation from the portal.

Being in the lead, Jayna moves as fast as possible following the route. Judging by Angus's tone to make everyone hurry, she knows that danger is coming towards them.

Fortunately, everyone's training paid off, and they managed to follow Jayna's speed. After running for a few kilometers, all of them hear a fighting and growling sound of a monster behind them. *RROOAARR*

Judging by the mana fluctuation in the air, they could feel a few high-grade monsters clashing one with the others. 

This kind of thing is quite normal inside the monster den or habitat. Monsters of different species often clash with each other, especially if they have the same strength. Only under Monster Overlord's rule, all these monsters will not fight one with the others.

Hearing the sound of the clash, Angus and the others subconsciously increase their speed. After running for a few hours, they finally left the grassland and entered the thick forest.

Entering the forest, Angus decides to slow down their speed as this forest is the border between Monster and Beast territory. According to Angus's knowledge, both of them are hostile towards each other.

However, there is no other safer route than this. It is either they are going into the monster den or the beast territory. So, to keep their presence low, they decide to slow down and walk through the forest.

Angus and Jayna also noticed that the others were also exhausted after running full speed for hours, especially Millie, since physical strength is not her forte.

Now, everyone knows how dreadful the Endless Battlefield dimension is, especially with their current strength. Just after they enter the dimension, they need to run for their life.

On the other hand, the Endless Battlefield environment also helps them. All of them could feel their mana reservoir increasing at a fast speed from the thick mana in the air. Combined with the pressure, they could feel they will upgrade their mana core soon.

After walking for a while, they found a river. Angus decided to take a break for everyone to recover their stamina. Going further without stamina is the same as suicide.

As everyone starts to relax, Angus looks at them, wanting to say something but chooses not to say anything in the end. During this moment, Ian approaches the river to wash his face.

While washing his face, a jaw with a sharp tooth came towards him from inside the water. Fortunately, Ian managed to react fast and dodge the sharp jaw. From the river, a bipedal crocodile appears and attacks Ian once again. *Roar*

However, Ian managed to retreat backward in time. Hearing the commotion, everyone begins to look at Ian, who is retreating from the sharp jaw.

Seeing Ian fighting against the crocodile, Axel and the others immediately want to help him. Jayna also wants to help but is stopped by Angus.

"There are others." said Angus while looking in the forest direction.

Seeing Angus's direction, Jayna managed to perceive a few vague life presences from the forest. Looking at this, Jayna begins to pull out her sword, ready to battle.

"Kill them quickly without wasting too much mana." said Angus before taking out his Sky Thorn.

Then, Angus uses [Beast Walk] and instakill one of the hidden snake monsters on the nearby tree. While Angus and Jayna fend off the monster that hid near them, Ian and others fight the bipedal crocodile.

Looking for its prey multiplying, the crocodile roared with joy before shooting a few small [Water Bullet]. The approaching few water bullets managed to graze everyone and create a minor wound.

Because of their hellish training, they managed to ignore the slight pain and become more serious. Ian immediately shot a [Spark] and electrocuted the crocodile. But, the crocodile managed to resist it.

Mia and Axel use this opportunity to confront the crocodile in close combat using their weapon. Mia using her sword, and Axel using a battle axe. They managed to draw some blood from the crocodile, but it moved very agile in the water.

After a few confrontations, the crocodile moved back to the river to run away. Before it managed to run away, Ian cast a spell towards it.

"Wanting to run? Eat this [2nd Circle - Lightning Bolt]." said Ian after chanting the spell.

A bolt of lightning approached the crocodile at fast speed and electrocuted it until it was dead. After looking at the dead monster, they begin to feel relieved, but they hear another monster roar from behind them. *Roar*

In the meantime, Ian fights with a bipedal crocodile, Angus and Jayna hunt down a few hidden monsters. This monster is the only grade one monster that specializes in sneak attacks while hiding.

Angus already notices the monster approaching them stealthily, but he decides not to tell everyone to make them experience this. As an expert, he knows that the greatest teacher is the experience itself.

He also didn't feel any high-grade monsters among these monsters. Angus and Jayna managed to clear up the monster easily using their combat prowess and sharp perception.

Although Jayna's perception is not as sharp as Angus's, she practices [Arctic Heart] and increases her perception of other living beings around her within a certain distance.

Since the monster is weak even among grade one monsters, both of them quickly kill all of them by the time Ian and others back from the river.

Looking at the corpse of many death monsters, Ian and others could stomach such a scene and didn't feel well.

Some of them even vomit on the spot. Even Though they already expected this, looking at such a gore scene and hearing it from others is a different kind of thing.

As for Jayna, she didn't feel anything about it since her [Arctic Heart] could help to calm her mind. Angus himself was already used to such a scene.

After everyone calms down, they decide to move to another spot not to attract another monster. During this fight, they realized their shortcomings and decided to improve. However, right now, all of them are exhausted. Not physically but mentally.

Except for Angus and Jayna, all of them feel overwhelmed by such situations they experience in the last few hours.

After walking for a while, they decide to rest while keeping vigilance. Their last experience already teaches them constantly to keep their guard.

Angus also decides not to say anything about their performance. If they are compared with Angus's standard, all of them are fighting poorly. Even Jayna is barely acceptable in Angus's standard. 

However, they learned from their mistakes and didn't complain, which is an excellent thing for teenagers.

After resting for a while, everyone feels a drop in temperature in the air and surroundings. Noticing this, Angus immediately uses [Great Mana Echolocation]. He perceives that the cold air is coming from one direction.

But, even with [Great Mana Echolocation], he still didn't find the source of the cold air. At this moment, they hear a roar that reverberates all over the forest. *ROOAAR*

They could feel the temperature drop at a fast rate, along with the roaring sound. Even the river nearby becomes wholly frozen.

"Everyone wait here" said Angus before climbing the tall tree.

Angus decided to see what was going on from the top of the tree since his [Great Mana Echolocation] couldn't even perceive the source.

Arriving on the top of the frozen tree, Angus found a massive monster made of ice completely walking in another direction. On the opposite of it, another gigantic Ape with a long claw coming towards it.

Angus didn't recognize the two of them, but he knows the two of them are on par with Seven grade combatants and hostile ones with each other. Looking like they will clash anytime, Angus climbs down the tree.

"Angus, what is it?" asked Jayna.

"two massive monsters or beasts that are on par with seven grade combatants fighting each other dozen kilometers away from here. One of them even radiates cold air that changes the surrounding temperature."

"We need to get out here now to not get in the middle of their clash." said Angus.

Hearing this, everyone immediately packed their food back. Although they don't know how strong the seven-grade combatant is, since it managed to change the climate, its strength must be disastrous.

"Axel, take out the map. We need to change our route. Now, everyone, where should we go? Beast or Monster territory?" asked Angus to everyone.