In the forest, as the night sky lingered above, Xaidon walked with anxiety. He had been to the forest many times, even at night, and knew it well. But it was his own knowledge of the forest that made him nervous. Currently, he was in the territory of a powerful beast. Honestly, the entire forest was its territory, but this was where it usually stayed. The beast was rumored to be a rank 4 beast. His master had said he would handle the beast in his free time. Of course, that never happened because he was too busy or lazy.
"That sorry excuse of a Master." Xaidon cursed. He continued to walk deeper into the forest, and after almost an hour, he hadn't encountered anything. He frowned and carefully checked his surroundings. He knew there wouldn't be any beasts here except for the rank 4, but this was lunacy. He sighed slightly and pulled out a small bag from his side. He opened it and pulled out a large amount of yellow dirt. He waited for a bit before hearing a sound. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bear the size of a modern house jumped and landed.
The bear had brown fur, scarred with horror. Its claws were the size of half an average-sized human's. They looked like they could cut a tree in half with a single swipe. Its blood-red eyes looked mad. It let out a low growl that shook the earth beneath it. As it drew closer, it approached a small pile of yellow dust on the ground. The dust smelled like honey. Trying to taste it, he realized it had no flavor.
Taking a few steps back, the bear felt light on its feet. It moved around a little before shaking its head. With a low growl, it stood on its hind legs with an angry look. It had been poisoned. Looking around, he saw no one and began to sniff the air.
Xaidon ran for his life as far as he could. He didn't even wait to see the creature before running. He wasn't going to gamble with his life today. All his Qi was focused on his legs, ensuring he would get as far as possible. For a moment, he thought he had gotten far enough and could slow down, but then a tree crashed beside him — that idea vanished. He didn't have to guess what caused the tree.
A roar shook the entire forest, and the ground trembled. The bear was close behind him, having caught up. It wouldn't let this human escape. It had been poisoned by a human. Even though the poison had little effect on it, it was still annoying and insulting. Today, it would have a taste of human flesh.
Skylar stood at the top of the gate in their base. She looked ready for battle, with many others around her. Many were nervous because they knew death was a real possibility in this fight. A middle-aged man approached her. He was fully armored and had scars all over his face and neck. He was an elite rank and an old veteran of the base. He stood beside her, staring into the forest.
"Do you think today is the day?" the man asked.
"It has been two weeks since the incident. Nothing like that has happened since." Skylar replied with a straight face.
The man looked at her briefly before turning back to the forest. It had been two months since these three elites became the base's leaders. Nothing changed much, so he wasn't too bothered. They were also nice to talk to, and they occasionally asked him for advice. He was quite grateful. Plus, he gained numerous advantages from them. As he looked into the forest, his heart grew cold. Two weeks ago, an incident happened. Every new group sent into the forest was killed, including the elites leading those groups. They believed a creature was responsible, as the bodies were never found. With that in mind, Xaidon, Peter, and Skylar decided to send a new group each night, with one of them leading. After a while, nothing happened, and today, it was Xaidon's turn.
They remained watching the forest, hoping nothing horrific would emerge. As time moved on and night slowly passed, some started to relax. But then, a figure ran for its life from the forest. A second later, a large bear the size of a house burst out of the trees, chasing after the man with crazed eyes.
"Lock the gates!" Skylar yelled at the gate guards and jumped down. The man beside her followed. Just before the gates closed, Xaidon leaped through; the bear struck the gate with its claws, leaving a large dent.
Xaidon joined Skylar, and the man finally caught his breath. "What happened?" he asked.
Xaidon looked at him with a frown. "What do you think!" he snapped.
Skylar stepped between them. "It doesn't matter what happened. We need to gather our men and kill that thing."
"Are you out of your mind?" the man exclaimed in panic. "That's a rank 4! We're dead!"
"Hey!" Xaidon said, grabbing the man. "We don't have a choice. Get your head in the game and move. You're in charge of the grounded men. I'll round up some on the other side and come help you."
"This is crazy!" the man replied, looking at the nearly destroyed gate. "There are just eight elites... wait, where's Pet..."
Before he finished, Skylar slapped him. "Will you be a man and move!"
The man, with nothing more to say, left. Xaidon and Skylar exchanged glances and parted ways. The gates came off their hinges, and the beast, the bear, stared at its new prey.
Five minutes later, the entire base was wiped out. Everyone and everything was destroyed. No one survived even a single exchange with the beast. All the elites, the warriors at the awakened rank, even the maids and servants, dead. Fire spread across the base, burning everything to ash.
The elite warrior who had been with Skylar at the start lay on the ground. His left leg was torn off, both arms broken and dislocated. Deep wounds covered his body. He was bleeding out and would die soon. The beast, the bear, was long gone, having had its fill. The man stared at the night sky as darkness replaced the stars and the sun began to rise. He thought about how he knew this was a bad idea—that they, or he, should have run as soon as they saw the beast. As his eyes slowly closed, he couldn't help but wonder, 'Where did this fire come from?'
Not far from the destroyed base, a man in a hoodie carried a large bag on his back. The bag would need at least five men to carry, but for someone who knew how to use Qi to strengthen his body, he was enough. As he walked through the forest, taking turns and avoiding danger, he reached a dark cave. He hesitated inside for a moment until he heard a voice. "You took your sweet time."
Walking out of the cave was one person—and then two. A man and a woman, both in armor. Xaidon and Skylar looked at the man with the bag for a moment before Skylar asked, "Did you get everything?"
The man raised his head, revealing himself as Peter. With a smile, he dropped the bag and sighed. "Sorry, I just had to erase a base off the map."