Aaron and his teammates opened their eyes to a new environment, the gentle breeze blowing the surrounding dirt.
"A desert, huh?" Aaron muttered looking around calmly. "There's barely anything here."
Aside from the rocks, many hills and a few bushes and cactus-like plants, there wasn't much in the vicinity.
And most of the hardened portions of the desert were farther apart, revealing more sand dunes than rocks.
Then the star above also shone brightly, its intense heat capable of breaking any man within hours.
'Fortunately for us, we're not normal beings.' Aaron turned to face his companions, giving them time to take it all in. A couple of seconds later, they turned to face each other.
"How are we going about this?" Yvonne, a one-horned girl, asked. "We need to plan this out carefully."
"Plan how?" Johnson, a normal human, echoed. "Fighting magical beasts simply requires we attack and kill. Nothing more, nothing less."
"No, dumbass." Rachel, another normal human, retorted. "She meant someone taking charge. Teaming up to fight creatures always requires someone to take the lead to issue commands."
The girl glanced at Aaron, expecting him to say something. Of course, the others noticed this as well, turning to look at him.
"I can understand why you guys are looking at me, but am I really the best choice?" Aaron looked at his teammates, his eyes noting their expressions.
"How about this…" The last member, Branson, proposed. "You'll take the first lead and we'll see how it goes. We'll do our best to follow your lead and if we find it satisfactory, you continue, okay?"
The others didn't have an issue with this, as they were already looking at Aaron to take charge. Some things could only be accepted, regardless of how we feel about it.
A person's circumstances and connections can more or less influence how the people around them perceive them to be.
"Fine." Aaron sighed and then gave his first order. "Put on your headpiece. It's the only way to communicate with each other from a distance."
Aaron turned around, retrieving his weapon--a broad sword with intricate designs that were clearly mana channels to help direct his energy. He firmly placed it on his back, its overall length almost his height.
His teammates followed his lead and put on their headpieces, bringing up their HUD system that began to scan the environment for threats.
"That way." Aaron said, stepping forward. "There's something moving underneath the dunes."
The students moved swiftly, closing the distance while making sure not to give away their location. Once close enough, Aaron signalled for everyone to stop.
"There seems to be more than one lurking under the sand." Aaron counted four unique moving signatures. "And they seem to be some centipede-type magical beasts with tough exoskeletons."
Turning around to face his companions, he continued: "I'll draw them out and you guys swoop in for the attack. Branson, you and Yvonne will create openings for the rest of us to strike." The two nodded in acknowledgement, finding no issues.
"We go in fast and aim for their weak points." Aaron gestured to his mouth. "Are we good?"
"Mm." His teammates nodded.
Aaron stood up from his crunching position and retrieved the sword on his back. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and held the weapon horizontally before his chest. He past his left hand over the side of the gleaming blade, channelling his mana.
CRACKLE
The sound of blue lightning began to crackle faintly. First from his body, and then slowly into his sword. His magic flared gently around his body, influencing his surroundings.
A gentle breeze blew past his teammates who moved several steps back while the clouds above began to darken, following the buildup of Aaron's lightning charge.
RUMBLE
Aaron abruptly opened his lightning-charged eyes and then took to the skies, quickly reaching a height of 500 meters.
The surrounding dark clouds crackling with lightning descended on him as if by command, following his will.
He brandished his sword with lightning tendrils, directing it towards the ground. With a loud roar of thunder, Aaron unleashed several thick bolts of lightning, each the size of a person.
BOOM…!!!
The rain of lightning bolts reached the ground in an instant, exploding into the dunes with such ferocious intensity that the sand turned to glass.
Still, Aaron achieved his goal.
SCREECH…!!!
Several cries of the creatures lurking within the resounded across the desert as the centipede-like monsters bolted out of the ground and towards the skies.
The length of the creatures were impressive, reaching as long as 300 to 400 meters. They glimmered with reddish-dark exoskeletons, and they had pointy appendages capable of piercing anything with ease.
"NOW!"
Aaron bellowed to his teammates, descending from his height while channelling his mana to engage the creatures.
Branson and Yvonne made their move, dashing towards the creatures with agile movements. Branson's choice of weapon--a spear--no coincidence, hurled towards one of the centipedes.
SCREECH…!!!
The creature cried out again, its tough exoskeleton cracked under the weight of the spear. Aaron took advantage of that opening as he explosively increased his speed, reaching the creature's opened maws.
He plunged the charged sword into the mouth, tearing the creature from within. A jolt of powerful pulse from his sword brought the centipede to sleep.
BOOM!
The upper part of the centipede blew up in a rain of blood and torn flesh. The rest of the centipede came down crushing into the glass floor with a thud.
Yvonne took a slightly different route than Branson. She didn't use her weapon, opting to use her hand in this situation.
Her ability allowed her to interface with anything she touched, granting her the power to soften or harden said material, living or nonliving--a deadly ability.
With a defiant roar, she struck the creature dead in the underbelly, causing a ripple to disburse over the creature. The centipede monster felt the force of the strike in addition to something else.
SCREECH…!
The creature turned its glowing eyes at Yvonne, extremely pissed off at her actions. Unfortunately for the creature, Rachel and Johnson were not idle.
The last two members abruptly appeared to the side of the centipede, each on opposite sides and at different heights.
The two students had their eyes blazing with killing intent as they struck the centipede, cutting through the creature with the ease of a knife cutting through butter.
Without delay, they dashed towards the other creatures, taking them apart before they could retaliate or even escape.