"Hmm, I still don't have a flying mount. If I go for the Blood Aquila, won't I be able to fly myself as well as use it?" Hao Xuan thought out loud.
"Yes. I was also going to suggest th-"
*Crack*
The sound of a tree branch breaking came from the left side, interrupting Baracus mid-sentence.
Hao Xuan jerked his head and looked at the source of the noise. The pupils shrunk as his vision zoomed in but could only catch a glimpse of something before it disappeared behind a tree.
Hao Xuan sighed, 'Looks like they caught up…'
He jumped down and kicked the tent closest to him, waking up its inhabitant.
"WHAT?! ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?! WHAT'S GOING ON???"
Followed by some ruffling and ripping sounds, a pale masked creature crawled out.
"They found us. Get ready," Hao Xuan replied expressionlessly as he tried his best not to look at the thing. This "Creature" was actually Henrik Biric. The guy had a whole process whenever he went to sleep and used several different types of facial masks, ending up looking like an alien.
Hao Xuan quickly went up to the other five tents and woke them up one by one without making too much extra noise. Nick, Hazel, Mino, Fulke and Guo Min were in the other tents and in less than ten seconds they were all up and ready to move. Only Henrik was still trying to clean himself up.
"God damnit, I was in the middle of a good dream! The beauties were just about to show me their toes!" the chubby Fulke cursed under his breath but everyone still heard him loud and clear. Nick rolled his eyes while Hazel blushed hearing the words.
Fulke, apparently, had a thing for Toes.
It wasn't clear what this 'thing' was because sometimes he would threaten to cut peoples toes off when he got mad and other times he would act like a monkey in heat looking at them.
Guo Min patted Fulke's shoulder and nodded, his somber expression relaying the sincerest of apologies.
*Ruffle*
*Crack*x4
The noises came again, this time from all around them. Hao Xuan's expression turned ugly as he closed his eyes at once and listened.
*Ba-dump*
*Ba-dump*
*Ba-dump*
Faint heartbeats, too faint to even notice under normal circumstances were all around them.
"That was fast. We're surrounded apparently," he said taking out the glaive.
Henrik jumped out of his tent and just stored it away as it was. His shirt was on backward and the pants were missing a leg for some reason.
"These motherf*ckers! This is like the 8th time they interrupted my beauty sleep!" he shouted.
"Alright, let's go," he gestured towards the others and a formation lit up on his palm.
Henrik was studying to be a formation expert which was rather uncommon. The field was in demand but required years of experience and high talent.
He pointed at the ground and a similar formation appeared below their feet. It shrunk from its initial size of 10 meters to 6 before abruptly expanding to more than a hundred meters with him as the center.
"Show yourselves!" he yelled and the entire area within the range of the formation started glowing like the surface of the sun.
*Growl~*
*Kreuuk*
Tens of strange-looking beasts appeared out of the dark. They had the heads of electric eels, the strong upper bodies of Komodo dragons, and the lower halves very similar to those of pythons.
The Shadow Eaters!
It was because of these things that the Wu Clan allowed outsiders to come into their territory and hunt, Wu Jin getting the permission was only a very small part. The Wu Clan wanted them to kill as many of these creatures as they possibly could.
These creatures were like the weeds of the best world. They could reproduce quickly and endlessly, eat almost anything, and survive in most places. They could hide in the shadows becoming almost invisible and would decimate every environment.
Their ruthless and bloodthirsty nature would make them hunt even if they were full. One of the rare beasts that hunted for sport. They had been chasing the group for a full week now no matter where they went.
*Kreuuuuk*
Since they were found out the creatures stopped holding back and finally attacked. They rushed out from all sides.
Henrik was in the center while the others protected him. He was the support and also the weakest in close-ranged combat.
Nick was a Quarterstaff user, Hazel used a longsword, Mino used two small hammers, Fulke held a giant cleaver and Guo Min used a Greataxe. All of them were experts in their own fields and experienced fighters.
Just as they had done so many times before, the plan was to break out from one side. Fulke led the charge with his massive cleaver. He was at the forefront swinging the cleaver left and right, cutting trees and beasts in half.
"DIE YOU TOELESS BASTARDS!" he shouted.
Even when surrounded from all sides he didn't forget to remind the Shadow Eaters of their lack of toes. Maybe this was why he hated them so much…
To his left and right were Hao Xuan and Guo Min respectively with their weapons, killing any Shadow Eater that Fulke missed. Henrik had his head lowered and eyes closed, his left hand was on Hao Xuan's shoulder.
"Move southeast, there's another party coming from the front!" he shouted and the group quickly changed their directions accordingly.
The night was dark and cold but they held their own and kept fighting.
***
Fourth Quadrant of RedBone Galaxy, Myrt solar system, 5th planet from the sun.
A circular, silver ship more than 5,000 kilometers in diameter floated above the planet. Hundreds of thousands of space beasts flew around the ship in circles.
On the planet's surface, a deadly fight was going on between two parties. One of them looked like humans while the others had different tattoos all over their bodies.
"The Obsidian Elephant's Roar!" a tanned man with tusks tattooed on his face yelled before a sound wave came out of his mouth, uprooting everything in front of him and sending it flying away.
