The two Lynx were not so strong, but their claws and fangs were sharp and their speed was unmatched. They also had an uncanny control over the wind, which made it even harder to chase them.
As Nero stepped forward, he felt a sudden, powerful gust of wind push his leg just a little further than he intended. It was not enough for him to trip, but it was just enough to make him step awkwardly. If he was not careful, he would twist his ankle.
Despite the risk, Nero lunged forward, driving his spear towards the slightly shorter Lynx, forcing it to retreat a few steps back. But just as it began to retreat, a mound of dirt rose and wrapped itself around the Lynx's foot.
The hold was not strong, allowing the Lynx to break free, but it was enough to slow it down. One of the other recruits had used a spell to aid Nero. The timely assist and general awareness of the situation proved how much they were already improving from mindless throwing every spell they had at the enemy.
Nero's spear caught up with the Lynx and nearly cut through its stomach, but it was suddenly buffeted by a gust of air, moving it down.
The fatal strike was diverted, but it still managed to draw blood. Instead of following up with another attack, Nero leaped out of the way just in time to dodge the other Lynx lunging at his back.
Whether it was inadvertent or planned, Nero had moved away from the group and began to take on both the Lynx at the same time. Their coordination was immaculate and indicated a history of hunting together. They would attack from almost opposite sides, making sure to take advantage of the moment Nero was dealing with one.
Barely a few seconds into the fight, Nero had already buffeted various attacks from both of the animals, doing his best to maintain his balance against the forceful winds battering him.
Nero did not get a chance to look back towards the group, so he could only hope that they had managed to stop Adam from bleeding out.
"Hold on!"
"Help Nero!"
"Do something!"
Various recruits finally got over their initial panic and began to respond to the situation. Wendy drew her sword and was about to run towards Nero when something suddenly changed.
Under the relentless assault of the two Lynx, Nero finally made a mistake. A gust of air pushed him too hard, causing him to stumble. That momentary disruption created an opening in his defence that the larger Lynx did not hesitate to take advantage of.
It leaped through the protective gap Nero had maintained between himself and the animals.
Everything happened too fast. Before anyone could even think to help, Nero was falling, and a Lynx was upon him. Blood spewed out into the air.
Panic finally spiked even within Wendy's heart, but that's when she noticed that Nero's expression had not changed throughout.
In the last moment, right before the Lynx reached him, Nero twirled his spear, bringing its sharp edge towards himself, and placed it in the path of the Lynx. He didn't even need to stab, the animal pushed itself through the edge and pierced itself.
As Nero fell backwards, he twirled his spear once more, using it like a catapult to throw the body of the wounded Lynx onto the other. When he fell, Nero immediately rolled backwards and pushed himself to his feet, readying his spear, though he didn't immediately attack again.
He squinted his eyes as he stared at the two Lynx, one of whom was now bleeding out. The two animals growled at him aggressively, but the smaller was clearly protecting the other. For a few moments, they reached a standstill, but then they finally retreated.
"Why'd you let them get away?" asked Wendy, who finally reached his side, anger and guilt in her voice. Her response had been slowed, especially when she saw Adam bleeding from his neck. By the time she gathered herself, Nero had already been dealing with the two overgrown cats by himself.
The entire incident hardly lasted a minute, but it was extremely intense throughout, especially for Nero.
"One's wounded. As long as the other is taking care of it, it won't do anything risky. But if I kill one, the other will be freed up to attack as it pleases, not to mention it'll probably be pissed."
Nero paused for a moment as he recalled the fight. There had been something extremely strange about how aggressive the animals had been, attacking such a massive group, considering how easily they retreated at the first sign of trouble.
"How was my performance?" Nero asked, lowering his voice a little.
"Pretty good, but who are you performing for? I have a boyfriend, and I don't think the others really suit your tastes."
Nero resisted the urge to snort. What was it with people in relationships always bringing everything back to that?
"For everyone who is watching, naturally. Would you please do the honours?" Nero asked, as he handed her his spear. She was surprised by his gesture, but grabbed his spear and activated her ability. It took only a few seconds, and nobody might have even noticed that she took hold of it at all.
She also turned to look at the botch of blood on the ground near them. It belonged to the Lynx, and the way Nero had injured it was ingenious. But… why had he only wounded it? That did not match the Nero she knew.
The two returned to the group and found Adam with his bleeding already stopped, though he looked much paler than before. That did not prevent his eyes from gleaming with excitement.
"Did you see the punch I threw?" he asked as he looked up at Nero. "Knocked out a couple of that big cat's teeth, I did."
"It's called a Lynx," Glade said, but hardly anyone listened.
"It was a good punch, it saved your life. We need to move. We'll enter C-7, finish our mission and then create a shelter for the night. Hopefully, our target will have an abode or a hollow we can use to spend the night. If not, we'll have to work together to erect some earthen walls and a roof. It'll be too dangerous to spend the night out in the open," Nero said, prompting everyone to their feet.
Neither Adam nor the girl would recover from their attacks completely anytime soon, but getting some rest would definitely help.
"Why are we doing your mission first?" one of the artisans couldn't help but grumble. "Shouldn't we avoid fights right now?"
"There are a few reasons, and hoping it has shelter we can use is just one of them. According to our mission details, it is mutating rapidly. The longer we wait to kill it, the harder it will be to kill. More importantly, since I'm the one calling the shots, we're doing my mission first because I say so. If you want to lead the team, feel free to step up. I'll let you take care of all the fighting."
"I was only asking casually, no need to get angry," the artisan muttered. Oddly enough, while everyone else was still intimidated by Nero, as well as heavily reliant on him, this artisan had stopped fearing Nero, and instead was treating him like someone grumpy.
Nero narrowed his eyes. He suddenly recalled the small help he had received with the Lynx, but now that he looked at the rest of the group, it was clear that none of them were in the condition to respond.
Since no one took credit for the help, he did not mention the matter either.
By the time the scouts returned, everyone was ready to move on. They had found a cave nearby, but all signs pointed towards it behind inhabited by a bear, and it would not be the smartest idea to try to evict him.
Nero simply told them to remember the location, and they moved on. They finally entered C-7, and began searching for their target. Along the way, they encountered more animal attacks as well as cursed plants, exhausting them further.
At a certain point, everyone suddenly became aware of the fact that it was incredibly hot and humid, causing their clothes and armour to be drenched in sweat. Exhaustion was becoming a very real hindrance to their progress.
They had all managed to avoid being bothered by flies and mosquitoes because they intermittently used bug repellent cards carried by the artisans, but when they accidentally approached a Vapour Bee hive, dozens of bees attacked them!
Even Nero hadn't tried to fight them, and called for a quick retreat as fighting bees could quickly become a dangerous endeavour in futility.
Finally, by the time they managed to pick up on the trail of their target, the sun had already begun to set. They had gone a full day with barely any food and water, and fought off countless animals.
Any prestige and glory they had imagined belonging to soldiers from childhood stories had long been disillusioned. If this was what was in store for them, then all they could say was that soldiers were miserable wretches, and they were even more so.
Nero was the only one whose shoulders had not slumped by now - even Wendy was beginning to feel the fatigue.
"Let's kill the target. We can rest after that."