An arrow whizzed by, arching between two thick tree branches and splitting the skull of a prowling jaguar. The beast didn't even get a chance to roar out in pain before it collapsed, falling from its high perch and landing with a heavy thud on the forest floor.
Leonel rubbed his fingers, a tingling sensation making him very much aware that the arrow had been shot by him. Ever since his body entered the Fourth Dimension, he hadn't needed to worry about slicing his fingers on his own bowstring again. But that didn't stop the thin almost metallic string from digging into him.
'There's a lot more than I thought there'd be…'
The freshmen separated out into teams to Leonel's back. If they tried to move forward in a swarm through this forest, they'd be asking to suffer.
Instead, Leonel and Aina took the vanguard as promised. As for the others, they split into the team they had originally come with, forming up groups of five to seven as they slowly followed.
By now, the group had run into several beasts, more than enough for them to realize that something was wrong. The populations shouldn't have been this dense.
Only Leonel seemed to be aware of what was happening as he had already warned them that this would occur.
The Oryx gave off a very strong odor. To humans, this was no different from any other foul smell and many would choose to just hold their nose as opposed to analyzing what was wrong.
But the truth was different from this. The foul smell that came off the Oryx was an evolutionary quirk to scare off competition. Back when the Oryx were a much weaker race, they relied on this to carve out their territory and keep themselves protected.
However, over time, this smell became more potent. It was even to the point that the most talented of the Oryx tended to have the most foul smells which helped them to gain the favor of mates.
As a result, the effect of the Oryx's smell grew even more exaggerated, it was even capable of sending beasts into a frenzy from fear.
The influx of beasts now wasn't because the Oryx could control beasts, but rather because these beasts were running away from the Oryx.
Even with Leonel senses leading the vanguard of the group, allowing them to dodge the most populated regions, they still ran into so many.
Leonel had taken down the most beasts, but the other groups were fighting as well. Unfortunately, things weren't so convenient for all the beasts to come down toward them from just a single area.
Still, Leonel's constant support had long since won the favor of many of the freshmen. Even after over half an hour, though they were still over 45 kilometers from their destination, not a single person had died yet.
As the group moved along slowly and cautiously, they ran into other groups. Assimilating these groups wasn't as difficult as it had been to convince the first. This was simply human nature, it was far easier for others to accept something when many others already had.
Aina walked silently by Leonel's side, brandishing her ax with both hands. In a thick forest, such a weapon should have been cumbersome yet Aina didn't seem to have any problems with it at all.
Aside from the two of them, Moos, Ironala and Ingkath followed closely behind. Since most of their team had been wiped out, it was difficult for them to split out alone with just the three of them. As such, Leonel allowed them to join up with them.
The three remained on high alert, not wanting to be burdens. But, it felt like every time they sensed something, Leonel would have long since acted. Even the more stealthy of beasts couldn't avoid Leonel's detection.
They had a feeling that Leonel found these beasts long before, it was just that he only acted when the best opportunity presented itself.
'The atmosphere is too tense.' Leonel thought to himself.
But, he wasn't sure how to alleviate it. The group walked forward in silence, the slight rustling of leaves being about the only thing one could here. The sun was still high in the sky, though obstructed by the thick canopies, one would think that it was the dead of night considering the atmosphere.
Maybe that was a part of the issue, though. With their pace, it would be impossible to make it to the mountain pass before night fell. And, even if they tried to speed up, they would only be asking to get killed.
'Little Blackstar already finished throwing the Oryx Tribe members off our trail, if there is more than one. But, I'm not sure how long that will last so there's no point in telling them this to get them to relax. Maybe this tense state is the best for them, they would be more likely to be alert…'
Leonel had sent Little Blackstar back to spread the blood and guts of the Titan Hyena in a different direction, hoping to fool the Oryx. With their love of scents, it was no surprise that they were also quite sensitive to them. So, Leonel felt it would work.
After a quick dip in the Cleansing Waters, Blackstar didn't even have any lingering smells on him.
But, Leonel couldn't help but wonder if it really was enough…
At that moment, Leonel's pupils constricted. Holding a hand up, he brought the group to a stop.
Everyone strained their ears, trying to sense what Leonel had. Some of them with better senses grasped onto the faint sounds of battle. In fact, it sounded as though there was a large group fighting.
The group slowly moved forward as Leonel stretched his senses to their limits. He had to decide if they should attack or change course, but what he saw made him frown.
Reflected in his Internal Sight, he saw the outline of a familiar silouhette. It was none other than the busty Balthorn. At that moment, her fleshly underboob was still just as prominent even as she fought amidst a group of more than a dozen at that very moment.
Aside from her right hand lady, Henorin, she was unsurprisingly still surrounded by a flock of men. Some of these men were cowering, but others among them were still boldly trying to gain Balthorn's favor by battling valiantly.
However, there were two matters that made Leonel pause. The first was an eyebrow raiser, but the second was something that made his own pupils constrict.
The former was the fact that amongst the dozen, there was a man whose white belt was very prominent. It was clear that this senior had come here for the sake of either protecting or impressing Balthorn, likely even both.
The latter though almost made Leonel sigh with helplessness.
The creature they were battling was yet another Titan Hyena. And, since Leonel knew what to look for this time, he didn't need to cut it open to know it also had a full skeleton.
That confirmed it for Leonel.. The likelihood that there was more than one Oryx in this forest just skyrocketed.