"Wait." Alice said, suddenly stopping in her tracks. The group was heading toward the mysterious thing that could be linked to the current monster stampede. Since taking down the Night Deer, they had been walking for almost half an hour.
And because they were walking for such a long time, Luna wondered what it felt like to be so concentrated that Alice was able to detect its presence from that far away with her skill.
"Can you two guard Luna? If it comes to a battle, I will handle it." Alice stated, feeling tense.
"Let us fight with you!" Jay protested, confused why only Alice volunteered to fight. It did not take a complete focus to tell that the incoming foe was strong. If they worked together, they would be able to defeat it.
"Neither you nor Erik is equipped with weapons that could handle it, and do not even think about going in bare-handed. I can sense that that thing isn't someone you should confront with no weapons, or any high-level skills...!"
Jay wanted to argue back since he did not want to sit back and watch her fight alone, but she was right. As of now, he only had low-level skills, and his sword was one of the cheaper ones.
"Understand." Erik said, agreeing with her words without any signs of resistance. It appeared as if he trusted her to handle it accordingly and understood that they would only be in her way.
"Then, can you please move to the back?" Alice asked, preparing to unsheathe her sword.
Luna had no right to say anything back because she was by far the weakest link in the group. Thus, she quietly did as she was told. Her eyes, however, looked at Alice's back with concern.
"Is it coming?!" Jay said, raising his guard after hearing the sound of loud and wild rustling becoming more intense. It seemed like the thing detected them, too, and headed to them. Fortunately, they were in an open space, allowing Alice to fight as she wanted without worrying about hindrances in her vicinity.
And within half a minute, it finally appeared.
Everyone—except Alice—widened their eyes, catching a glimpse of that monstrosity.
"I've never seen something like that before..." Erik gasped, taken aback.
Before them was a raven-black creature with features belonging to different monsters of the Tutorial Section. Its ball-formed head possessed no eyes or ears, but instead it had a mouth with fangs belonging to a Hunter Bear, and antlers of a Night Deer. And not just the antlers, but also the torso and arms were reminiscent of a Night Deer, albeit its left hand was that of a Hunter Bear. The thighs looked like those of a Killer Rabbit, with the feet being similar to the feet of an eagle. The mix of monsters stood on two feet and expanded its bat-like wings as it let out a distorting roar.
Overtaken by a mix of shock and fear, almost everyone in the group could not avert their gaze from the monster that was at least as tall as a Hunter Bear. However, among the group, Erik had a suspicion, which was confirmed immediately when both his and Jay's status windows suddenly popped up.
[Current Quest (7/100): Defeat the mutation.]
"T-that's the mutation?! The target we've been looking for all the time?!" Jay shouted, perplexed and nervous.
It was no surprise that mutations—beings with features belonging to others—existed. They were very rare, and if sighted, they would either be captured or killed based on how dangerous they were. However, Erik and Jay did not expect to find a mutation that was a mix of at least five different monsters. It was unheard of that a mutation had traces of more than two different beings. And based on its sheer aura, it was not a question whether to capture or kill it—for now, it was more important to survive.
"Alice, don't kill it! It's our target for our quest!" Erik announced.
"Even if it's you asking, I can't let it escape. As a Kilgen, I have to fulfill my duty." Alice replied apologetically. Her back was still facing the others while she stared at the drooling monster, which was also observing its prey.
"Isn't it possible to fail the quest and take the penalty? Maybe-"
"I can't wait, Alice!" Erik interrupted her. His tone was urgent, atypical for the usual calm Erik.
"Jay... Jay and I need to advance the tower! We can't waste our time here!"
Even while using her exclusive skill, Alice could not come up with a solution both parties could agree on. For Erik and Jay to clear their quest, they had to defeat the monster on their own, but they currently lacked the preparations to do it. Meanwhile, Alice had the opportunity to slay it now, as failure would only ruin her family's reputation and further endanger the other people going to the hunting fields. But slaying it here would also be an inconvenience for Erik and Jay. Becoming a party was also out of the question, as that would only bring other problems with it.
"Do you think you can defeat it in your current states?" she asked the two.
There was no immediate response. However, there was a slight change in the way the mutation moved—and Alice was the first one to notice it.
"I'm deeply sorry, but I will take matters into my own hands now! I decided not to betray that person's expectations of me!" she declared, ready to fight.
Erik and Jay attempted to rush in, but they simultaneously realized the shivering hand that was tugging on Jay's shirt from behind.
"Luna..."
Since arriving in the Tutorial Section, she encountered one life-or-death situation after another, but this time, she was sure that making even one single misstep would mean the end of her. Her eyes stared at the black monster who was sending shivers down her spine, and making her gasp desperately for air, almost choking during that process.
"Let's take the penalty, Erik." Jay suggested, sounding reluctant.
"We can't, Jay! We can't let them get a bigger advantage on us while we have to wait for the next quest!"
"Them...? No... That's not important right now!" Jay muttered, glancing at the frightened Luna.
"We can't take risks here! Not with Luna being here!" he added determinedly.
Erik sighed.
"That's why I was against having her join us..." he whispered to himself, ruffling his hair. However, Jay managed to catch his words.
"What did you s-"
But before Jay could continue the discussion, Alice landed the first strike. The monster attempted to fly into the air, but Alice stopped it from doing that by striking it vertically. It reacted just in time by using its thick forearms to block, and what should have usually cut a Night Deer's forearms only left a shallow cut on them. Blood dripped to the ground, but only just a few drops, as the wound inflicted was nothing to write home about.
The monster grinned triumphantly as if to mock Alice, who was frowning unconsciously, and proceeded with flying into the night sky. With the moon shining on it, it looked down on the group and let out a human-like—but also distorted—laugh.
"I-it's laughing...?" Jay murmured. He and the others could not believe their eyes as they had never heard of monsters laughing or even showing emotions akin to that.
The mutation slightly turned its neck in the direction it came from.
"Erik! Throw me at him!" Alice shouted, already running toward Erik.
Confused by that command, Erik awkwardly hurried to her and clasped his hands together, for Alice to set foot on them. Without hesitation, Alice slightly jumped onto Erik's hands, and as if his hands were a springboard, she was launched at the monster.
"I won't let you escape...!" she said, glaring fiercely at it. Alice held her sword tightly and swung it as fast and as hard as she could before the mutation tried to fly away from the scene. She hit its right wing, hoping to cut it off, but once more, the cut was too shallow and only cut through halfway.
The monster let out a pained screech as it was about to lose its balance mid-air. It turned its face to Alice, who was losing altitude, and charged at her before she could land.
After balling its right hand into a fist, it launched a punch and sent Alice right to Jay and the others. Dust was kicked up from the impact, and even a tree fell down.
"A-Alice...! Are you alright...?" Jay asked, coughing from the huge amount of dust.
There was no need to worry. When the dust dispersed, Jay saw how Alice was already up, searching for the monster.
"It escaped...!" she grumbled. Blood dripped out from the corners of her mouth, and her elegant clothes were dirtied. Although her body had bruises, with her left forearm potentially fractured from blocking the previous punch, Alice appeared unfazed. She kept looking up at the moon, which was covered by the monster's figure before.
After taking a deep breath, she staggered to the others until Jay lent her a shoulder.
"Let's return..." Alice said, exhausted and disappointed.
It was an option to continue chasing after the mutation, which returned to the depths of the forest, but looking at the current group's state—both physically and mentally—it was better to retreat. Fortunately, they did not encounter any monsters on their way back, but the air around them remained tense as no one exchanged words.
Luna was still haunted by the image of the mutation. Alice did her best to appear composed. Erik tried to regain his composure after losing it earlier. And Jay...
He just wanted to hit the sack. It was a long and tiresome day for him, filled with nothing but surprises. But the one thing that kept crossing his mind was that he felt pathetic.
If the mutation had chosen to attack them instead of Alice, Jay would not be certain if he could have support or protect his friends. On the other hand, he was also not confident in taking it down, hence there was no reply to Alice's previous question to them.
Jay felt pathetically weak.