Several minutes ago.
Leonel's rage disappeared like the wind after he entered the forest. He almost couldn't stop himself from laughing. He really hadn't expected things to work out even better than he had thought they would. He felt like this was what people called digging their own graves.
Aina shook her head and rolled her eyes. Unlike the others, she could clearly see that mischievous light in Leonel's eye.
The Leonel she knew wasn't very good at controlling his emotions in the slightest. If he was truly enraged, he would have just attacked and thought of the consequences later. The fact he never attacked meant that he wasn't angry to begin with.
The only thing Leonel really didn't expect, though, was for Ingkath, Irolana and Moos to actually follow him. As for his lovely girlfriend, wasn't that already a given?
If Leonel had to be honest, their following made his task a bit more difficult that it would otherwise be. Their strength was definitely not up to par with him and Aina. But, Leonel definitely wouldn't turn them away. In fact, he would remember this well.
Taking a deep breath, Leonel turned to the three.
Unlike Aina, they didn't understand Leonel very well. So, they had been just as fooled by his previous act. Seeing the solemn expression on Leonel's face, they felt their hearts seize again.
After a while, Leonel smiled. It was quite true that the world couldn't be painted in black and white. The very same Ingkath and Irolana who had drawn a line between them just months ago had actually chosen to side with him today. The human psyche was quite a fascinating thing.
"Alright everyone, take these."
Leonel handed out another few packages of grenades.
"These… These are the grenades." Moos asked softly.
Moos and the others weren't very surprised that Leonel had more even though he had said that he didn't previously. But, Leonel's next words stunned them.
"These aren't the same. The others could only injure a Tier 4 existence and kill anyone below that. This one can even kill anyone below Tier 6."
The three youths trembled fiercely when they heard this.
Every step forward in the Fourth Dimension was considered to be massive. By the time one got to the difference between Tier 4, 5 and 6, you were talking massive gulfs one could waste a lifetime to cross.
Tier 7 to Valiant Heart Mountain was considered to be the absolute cream of the crop. Only blue belts touched upon such a level, yet these three could only lower their heads if they came across a mere white belt.
The idea that they could injure a Tier 6 with just one of these was baffling. Yet, Leonel had given them ten each. How could their hearts not beat wildly?
"Be careful when you use them." Leonel advised. "Whether it's the Titan Hyena or the Oryx, I have a strong feeling that they won't work in the slightest, so don't even bother to throw them in their direction. You'll only be bringing down their attention toward you."
The three nodded solemnly. But, Irolana soon raised a question.
"In that case, how do we use them?"
"To survive." Leonel spoke bluntly. "Not long from now, the Oryx will definitely track us to this location. Trying to escape through the forest will be impossible, so we will be using the mines.
"If I'm correct, the King of Ores faction will definitely do their best to seal off the mine from new entries, so we'll need to work fast.
"These grenades will be useful to you within the mine tunnels themselves. There will also be beasts that enter a frenzy down there. Use the weaker grenades on them, they won't be able to harm the structural integrity of the tunnel
"If you feel that an Oryx is closing in on you, a strategic use of the stronger grenades can collapse a tunnel they would have otherwise used to pursue you."
The three gulped hard when they heard Leonel. He made it sound like the Oryx were already right on their trail. But, didn't night just fall?
Wait… night?
The three looked up into the sky, their legs growing week when they noticed there wasn't a hint of the sun left.
At that moment, the ground began to quake, the trees swaying from side to side as though they were juvenile rather than the thick ancestral beings they actually were.
"Get ready." Leonel said solemnly.
…
Senior Lu bit into his cheek, his expression jittery. He had managed to take advantage of his seniority to build a campsite as near to the cave mouth as he could. Unfortunately, in order to succeed in this, he had to be more aggressive than he usually was, causing many to feel off put by his presence.
To make matters worse, he wasn't even that close to the cave mouth. Under the order of the white belts, he had to be at least ten meters away.
The clearing was already only 20 meters wide to begin with. As a result, most were pushed into the camping in the forest. Though this was more comfortable than setting up came on the hard rock, in terms of security, they felt as though they had none.
The freshmen found themselves feeling empty. Their minds were filled with such a perpetual fear that they couldn't even find it in themselves to relax. They realized then that their current state was a far cry from how at ease they had been during the day.
Though they were tired and spent from their trek here, at the very least, none of them felt as though their lives were on the line.
Even without the appearance of the Oryx, this suffocating feeling alone made them realize just how much they had relied on Leonel. Unfortunately, it was already too late to hold back anymore.
"Fuck this." One of the freshmen rose from their small sleeping bag. "What's there to be afraid of. Would one person really make a difference? How ridiculous."
No one responded to the freshmen's grumbling.
He stood, going a distance away to find a tree to take a whizz behind.
He sighed as a steady stream began to drizzle. He had been so scared before that he had truly held this in for too long.
The more relaxed he became, the more assured in himself that he also became.
"… Just blame yourself. Who asked you to piss off the King of Ores faction as a freshmen?"
The young man continued to mumble before his nose caught the whiff of something terrible.
"Fucking gross, who the hell is taking a shit here? Couldn't you choose another place?"
The young man suddenly froze. It was night, so it was of course dark. But… Had it always been so dark?
His neck slowly cranked backward, only to find a massive silouhette looming behind him.
The young man opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was a gurgle, his head sliding off his shoulders and plopping to the ground.