Ascension: Online

The seven groups started as one, as we slowly got further and further away from the gates of Tianyin City. Soon, we reached the forest where the Magic Beasts roamed. This was the same place where I had made my first kill. Sickleboars were roaming about, but with our large group of 35 people, they weren't a threat at all. We simply broke apart and slaughtered them all, before regrouping once again around Qin Yao.

"Alright. This is the forest between Xiyang village and Tianyin City - and it is also where the Magic Beasts are."

He then looked over to our right. "Nothing is to our right except a long fall to our deaths, but the other direction..."

He glanced at our left, where a dark forest awaited, even though the sun still had not completely set. "Deep within that forest is where the Magic Beasts that attacked Tianyin City last night are all hiding. After all, there is no other place for them to be. All we have to do is split up into our seven groups, and kill any beasts we see."

"But... what about the sabertooths from last night?" the timid girl, whose name was Hua Hua, asked nervously.

"We'll be fine, kiddo," the foreign thirty-year-old dude with an Australian accent, who had been placed into the same group as Hua Hua, replied fearlessly. "We already got'em the bloody sabertooths last night. Why ya worryin' so damn much?"

"U-Um... I-I was just worried if there were any still left, that's all..."

Qin Yao, whose annoyance from this morning was now gone, gently smiled and walked over to Hua Hua. "You'll be alright, Hua Hua. Your group will protect you if that happens - I will protect you if that happens."

Hua Hua seemed to calm down after hearing the beloved leader's words, and blushed slightly. However, my neighbor seemed to have a different opinion.

"Yeah, right... you would've assigned her to the same group as yourself if you really would protect her..." Furuwa muttered in disgust. "Qin Yao... he disgusts me."

"Really? I wouldn't say he 'disgusts' me, but I definitely don't like him either," I replied.

"No one asked."

Okay, Furuwa, okay... I see how it is.

"Alright. Any more questions?" Qin Yao asked, looking around. After a short silence, he continued. "Perfect. Let's go, then."

*****

The seven groups broke apart from each other, and each headed into a different sector of the forest. This was to save time, and also cover more ground. None of us knew exactly how deep this forest was, after all. That being said, it was clear that it led towards the heart of Mount Valgan, judging from the orientation - the opposite direction led off the mountain.

The five of us in my group stayed low and didn't talk to one another as we moved swiftly through the forest. Despite their rather questionable personalities, Furuwa, Ichigo, and Horiya were all quite capable. Qin Yao was slowly getting left behind, as the four of us rushed onwards at speeds he could not match. Of course, he couldn't tell us to slow down - that would be like admitting he couldn't keep up with our strength. As the leader, he needed to keep face.

After about ten minutes of running, we began to get suspicious. We scoped out our surroundings, and gathered around, sitting down in a circle formation. This inadvertently gave Qin Yao some breathing room, luckily for him, because he had been about to run out of energy.

"We've been looking around for ten minutes, and have found nothing," Ichigo muttered. "Oi, Qin Yao, you sure the beasts are in here?"

"Look at your 'Quest' tab. It should tell us there," he replied, having regained his breath back.

Ichigo did as told, and so did everyone else, myself included. I navigated to the quest steps of this public event.

[✓ - Accept Captain Ling Ye's invitation to join the Hunting Party.]

[✓ - Enter the forest.]

[X - Stay on the move as you search for the beasts. If you stop, you will become surrounded, and ambushed.]

All of our eyes widened as we saw this line. We looked up, and exchanged glances. All of us were thinking the same thing:

Well, shit.

As if on cue, a high-pitched screeching sound pierced our ears, and before we knew it, multiple enormous silver butterflies tackled us onto the ground. I was able to dodge out of the way thanks to my quick reaction speeds and high AGI stat, but Ichigo, Horiya, and Qin Yao were all pinned to the ground. Furuwa somehow managed to dodge as well.

"D-Damn it! Where did these bastards come from...!" Ichigo muttered in anguish, gritting his teeth and attempting to pry the butterfly off of him, but it wouldn't budge. Ichigo, who didn't have his weapon equipped to run faster, was left defenseless and at the complete mercy of the insect.

A new species entry popped up in front of my eyes, but I didn't have the time to read it right now so I quickly dismissed it with a light tap of my finger.

I sighed quietly and pulled out my dagger from beneath my foot, before instantly striking it into the abdomen of the butterfly who had tried to attack me without any hesitation. I had dodged its attack, but unfortunately for it, it was unable to dodge mine. I nailed it into the ground, ignoring its banshee-like wailing as I drove my weapon deeper into its body.

Its allies then finally realized what was going on, and immediately all turned their target into me. The four remaining butterflies converged on me, surrounding me from all four sides. They then activated their drill-like arms, and all simultaneously dove towards me. I jumped upwards, and honestly, if it wasn't for my AGI stat of 48, I would've died there. However, speed wasn't alone, as I was about to fall back down due to the laws of gravity - straight into their whirling drills of death.

I wracked my brain at Mach 1 to try and think of a way out of this situation, then remembered the skill I picked up earlier today, and smirked.

'Vanishing Clouds.'

Right as I was about to hit the drills, I was propelled downwards by a sudden burst of speed and became untargetable in the process. I phased through the drills and stuck the landing on the soft forest soil. The silver butterflies, confused as to what just happened and why I wasn't lying dead, skewered by their drills, stopped moving for a split second to try and comprehend the situation.

That instant was all I needed.

I drove my dagger into one of the butterflies the same way I killed their comrade. Then, following through with the momentum, I pushed the beast down onto the ground as I broke out of their cage, before extracting my dagger and leaping a safe distance away. The other three butterflies, having finally snapped out of their confusion, were now even more furious than before, and charged towards me. I angled my dagger to block one of the drills aimed for my head, but the butterfly's other arm came flying in as well.

Cursing, I pushed backward, using my dagger as a source of momentum. I crashed painfully into a tree, but narrowly avoided becoming mincemeat. The deadly silver butterflies, however, were not done with me just yet. The two beasts other than the one I launched myself away from closed in on me, one from my front, and one circling around to strike me from behind. I was trapped with a pincer attack.

I quickly got back up and angled my dagger the same way to block another drill. This butterfly, unlike his predecessor, combined its two drills into a more powerful one, and tried to brute force its ways through my dagger. Calcium struck metal, and sparks ensued. However, I could feel the butterfly getting pushed back. The dagger Ming Yi had crafted for me sure was durable, despite its small frame.

However, my relief quickly disappeared as the second butterfly circled around and zoomed towards my open, completely defenseless back.

"Damn it...!" I muttered, gritting my teeth and preparing for my inevitable death.

... Or so I thought.

"Tch-!" a shadow suddenly appeared behind me and blocked the second butterfly's drill with her longsword.

I chuckled. "Furuwa! Finally done watching the show with your popcorn?!"

"Shut up! I was busy equipping my weapon and reading the new species entry! And who said you could call me by my first name?!" she yelled in response, before forcefully pushing the butterfly away with brute strength. I did the same with my own enemy, making good use of my STR stat of 48.

"This is why you always keep your weapon equipped!"

"Save the talking for later, dickhead!"

Then, simultaneously, the two of us each leaped towards our own target and drove our weapons into their guts. The butterflies shrieked in pain, before exploding into billions of tiny triangles of light, along with the rest of their fallen companions. The shards of light - EXP - flowed into my body. Unfortunately, I didn't level up from that, despite having slain four of these silver butterflies on my own. A hologram, however, did appear:

[Obtained: Silver Wings x8.]

Only one kind of item drops from this enemy? Damn.

I stood up from the ground and turned around to see Furuwa do the same. Our eyes met, and she looked away, embarrassed.

"Look... sorry about that. I should've been more prepared," she muttered quietly.

I blinked in surprise. "Wow. You're admitting your mistake?"

"S-Shut it! You're alive thanks to me, you know!" she yelled, changing her tone immediately. "Besides... I did more than those three useless cowards."

She turned to look at Ichigo, Horiya, and especially Qin Yao, who all looked away in shame.

"Hm... I guess so. Wait a minute, what's that smell?" I sniffed the air, and detected the faint scent of... ammonia?

"What?" Ichigo did the same... and immediately regretted it, covered his nose in disgust.

"God, who the hell pissed their pants?!"