"Hahaha….!"
"Finally, these first years are finding out the hard way what hunters experience on a daily basis! It isn't like the creatures they faced in the first event, even if you considered the boss creature!"
"Yeah… I can count at least 250 elite students already eliminated in the last two hours. And it seems the miracle boy is about to experience it."
"Do you think he will take on the form he did during the Convergence Maze event?"
"…."
Silence settled in the instructor's lounge once that point was raised. Alex's path was uncharted territory and they couldn't make any assumptions without having sufficient data.
Instructor Horvey remained quiet as well and while he had a few eyes look his way, he had no answers for them.
'I'm as clueless as everyone is, okay? Just because I'm his homeroom instructor doesn't mean I know everything about him!'
Right now, they had the display focus on Alex frozen in place as the void creature searched for him.
...…
*BOOOOM!*
The blast was powerful and it came fast, taking Alex by surprise even with his reaction speed. He was sent flying into the cavern ceiling at breakneck speed.
*BAM!*
"Ugh!"
Before he could fall down from that height, he heard the growls of the void creature drawing close, prompting him to lift his head.
"!"
The void creature was upon him with its right claws swinging in his direction and going straight for the head!
"Shit!"
With swift action, he brought his staff forward that was now in its long form before…
*CLANG!*
Because the creature was moving while Alex practically stayed still, the momentum of the void creature's swing swatted him down with the force of a moving train.
*BAM!*
The ground cracked under the weight of his fall, creating a mini crater at the sight of impact.
'Heavy!'
The amount of pain he felt at that moment was blinding, disorienting his senses and momentarily making his vision blurry.
Luckily for him, his armour took the brunt of the impact, sparing him any broken bones. With no time to rest, he had to move.
The void creature growled in annoyance at failing to kill the target a second time. As it watched the target make a move to escape, it gathered light energies in its maws and fired another attack in the target's direction.
*BOOOOOOOM!*
Yet again, if failed. The target had managed to climb out of the hole before the attack landed.
*GROWLLLL!*
"Huu…."
Letting out a deep breath after evading the second breath attack, he had a bit of breathing room to think about his next course of action.
'Dragging this fight out might attract the other void creatures if they aren't already on their way.'
Finally bringing out the bladed tip of his staff, Alex swung it around before channelling his mana through it, the low hum of the charge causing the spear to light up a bit.
His eyes remained focused on the void creature, taking in its features. The void creature floated at a height of 2.5 metres and had a bulky figure like a bodybuilder with its writhing skin invoking repulsion.
Then, the creature stormed forward quickly followed by Alex as the two clashed midway generating a gust of wind that spread outwardly from the point of contact.
In the clash, Alex came out on top with his superior speed and power. Void creatures may be more powerful than their counterpart hunters, but Alex was different.
Right after the first clash, Alex wasted no time as he dashed after the void creature that was sent flying.
His spear glowed brightly as he used a combination of thrusts and slashes, piecing and cutting the tough hide of the creature.
The void creature could do nothing but take the attacks, getting pushed back further. The wounds created as a result of his assault pulsed with a discussing beat that indicated regeneration.
Alex knew that and he had no plans of allowing the void creature to regenerate. Their fight had created too loud a commotion to not be noticed by nearby void creatures.
And if that wasn't enough, the swirling mana in the air was indicative of their position.
For a brief moment, the white sclera of his eyes turned dark and at that moment, he adopted x-ray vision where he pinpointed where its core was located.
'Let's end this!'
With a roar, he thrust his spear into the throat of the void creature, precisely targeting the core. The mana within the spear was released on contact creating a momentary bright light.
*BOOM!*
The void creature's head exploded with its core blasted out. The cores weren't something fragile that could be destroyed with ease. In fact, the goal was to collect them, but in this instance, that was not the purpose for which they came.
"Haa…! That took more mana than expected."
After eliminating the void creature, Alex looked around to see if there were any more coming his way. His mana might become an issue if he faced more than three void creatures.
"Let's find another way out of here."
...….
Alex moved rapidly and wasted no time in fighting. The magical beasts he came across were eliminated with ease. Those that moved in groups, he cleared a path before zooming past them.
None of the beasts could keep up, at least for those still at the Class F level.
After several minutes and many kilometres away from the warzone, he spotted another opening high above and simultaneously a ding from his sensors.
"Well, lucky me!"
He flashed a victorious grin. The opening may just be an opening to the outside world, and with the system's notification, he could kill two birds with one stone.
And unlike the previous one he saw; this opening wasn't a direct path to the surface as it seemed light came through the opening. He had to get through the opening to see what exactly was in store for him.
Of course, the minerals were a guarantee.
Attaching his spear behind him, he moved to climb the walls of the cavern and shortly arrived at the opening.
"Caution first."
After a sharp intake of breath, he slowly climbed through the opening, yet he didn't go all the way through.
He poked his head out first to look out for any dangers that might be lurking around. Well, they say when one goes searching for trouble, he finds trouble.
*Gulp*
Alex's eyes widened as his eyes fell on the majestic creature that had its eyes locked on him. He didn't dare make any hasty moves for fear of the beast lounging at his head before he could move. He did, however, manage to take a quick scan of the space before focusing on the beast again.
The space he saw was exactly as he expected. It had a path leading to the surface and within its walls were hordes of minerals that reflected the light that bound off them—a light Alex realized came from the beast.
He then took in the features of the beast to make sure it was exactly what he had seen on the empire's network. Magical beasts and their nature were a course taken in their second year and because of that, the information he knew was what he found himself.
And unlike the magical beasts he fought with ease since he arrived here, Alex knew the beast in front of him was no such weakling. From childhood, they were already as strong as a high-tier Class F hunter.
And the beast before his eyes was no baby, it was a fully grown beast.
'Astralyon!'
It was a magical lion beast with majestic white flames for its mane and on the creature, the white flames were harmless, but against anyone else, it was extremely deadly.
The beast was the size of a full-grown horse and its sharp claws gleamed with a bluish-white lustre; just like its body. The creature's eyes—a glowing wonder of colours reminiscent of a nebula.
It was majestic.
But…
It was just as dangerous, and the thing the Astralyon despised the most was uninvited guests.
*GROWL…. *
A menacing growl escaped the creature's maws as it stood up in all its glory, head raised up and eyes still locked on Alex.
On one end, Alex had a clear path to the surface and an added bonus of magical minerals he could harvest. Yet, to move forward, he must face the Astralyon or withdraw altogether.
'These kinds of magical beasts aren't known for letting their prey escape; it will definitely chase after me. What's more, I don't know how strong it is!'
It was a grim situation, but there was only one choice to make. There was never a second choice the moment the beast noticed him.