Nathan Lockwood ordered in a low voice, "Don't move."
Even without him saying anything, Zoe Pierce wasn't going to move.
Her spiritual power had already sensed them. Xenobeasts were closing in from all sides, and there was more than one.
And right now, the only Alpha beside her was Nathan Lockwood.
Soon, the Xenobeasts hiding behind the trees swarmed out. They looked like monkeys, but they had horns on their heads, blood-red eyes, and bared fangs. Their long arms could span three to four meters. There were four of them in total, and they were surrounding them.
These were B-level Viridian Fiend-Apes. Individually, they weren't strong, but they were pack animals with a degree of intelligence, and they were carnivorous.
This was all information Zoe Pierce had memorized while reviewing her studies these past few days. It was fresh in her mind, ready to be applied.
The image of the Viridian Fiend-Apes from the Intelligent Brain was identical to what she was seeing now. But this was her first time seeing an Alpha use spiritual power to attack a Xenobeast. Before the pack of Viridian Fiend-Apes could even get close, they were already screaming under the pressure of his spiritual power.
The spiritual power distorted the air, making it increasingly difficult for one of the Viridian Fiend-Apes to breathe. It clawed at the air in front of it until its face turned a dark, purplish-black, and it collapsed to the ground, no longer breathing.
The other Viridian Fiend-Apes, which had been baring their fangs and preparing to approach, immediately shrieked in alarm and scrambled back.
They weren't stupid. Seeing their companion die, they instantly knew the person before them was not to be trifled with.
The entire process took less than ten seconds. If not for the Viridian Fiend-Ape's horrifyingly painful struggle before its death, Zoe Pierce might not have even realized what Nathan Lockwood had done.
He was too calm, merely staring fixedly at the pack of monkeys.
As if noticing Zoe Pierce's gaze, Nathan Lockwood glanced at her and said, "Let's go."
A dead Viridian Fiend-Ape wouldn't award any points before they reached a checkpoint, and even if they carried it all the way there, it wouldn't be worth much.
Zoe Pierce pressed her lips together and hummed in agreement, following beside Nathan Lockwood. She glanced back and saw that the pack of monkeys that had surrounded them was now picking up the corpse they had left behind. One of the monkeys was already baring its sharp teeth. She quickly turned her head away.
Viridian Fiend-Apes ate their own kind.
She knew that, of course, but seeing the scene unfold so suddenly right in front of her was still a little hard to stomach.
A faint smell of blood hung in the air, mixed with the unique scent of forest trees and earth.
The specially made clothes protected Zoe Pierce's skin well as the two continued toward the checkpoint.
She had thought that encountering the Viridian Fiend-Apes would be the worst of it, but unexpectedly, it seemed the two of them were having a serious run of bad luck.
Not only did they run into hornets and scorpions, but they also encountered another type of Xenobeast: a Red Sand Beast.
The Red Sand Beast, an A-level Xenobeast. It was a herbivore with an extremely strong sense of territory. If any humans appeared, they would be targeted unless they either killed it or immediately retreated from its territory.
Unlike the Viridian Fiend-Apes, the Red Sand Beast was as large as an ox, with skin as red as cinnabar, and it possessed extreme explosive power.
It usually ate in a slow, methodical manner, but if truly provoked, it would instantly unleash a powerful charge capable of sending an object weighing several hundred pounds flying. It even had some resistance to spiritual power.
"Zoe Pierce, back up and get out of its line of sight," Nathan Lockwood said to her after spotting the Red Sand Beast.
It looked like he was going to handle it himself.
Zoe Pierce didn't comment, simply backing away until she was out of the Red Sand Beast's sight and waiting by a tree.
'No wonder they say the joint examination isn't simple. Hunting Xenobeasts is one of the challenges, but it's not something we're supposed to be doing right now.'
The first test was to quickly gather all your teammates within the specified time. This process would inevitably involve hunting some Xenobeasts.
The second test was to team up with your squad to "hunt" other teams from the same academy. Once only 50 teams remained, you were considered to have advanced.
After those 50 teams advanced, they could begin truly hunting Xenobeasts, with levels ranging from S to D, all specially selected by the academies. Only then would points for Xenobeasts be counted normally. Before that, a 10-point Xenobeast was only worth 1 point, and a 5-point Xenobeast was worth only 0.5 points.
Basically, no one would bother.
Whichever side, the Federal Military Academy or the First Military Academy, was first to accumulate 500 points would get to initiate the Pillage Battle.
The Pillage Battle allowed you to directly steal the opposing side's accumulated points. The duration would be from the start of the battle until the end of the joint examination. In other words, the earlier it was initiated, the more severe and complex the entire examination would become.
Zoe Pierce had to admire the academies for coming up with such a complicated examination method.
'No wonder Alphas need Omegas to soothe them. With a process like this, the drain on their spiritual power must be immense.'
And after several such rounds of culling, a large number of the Xenobeasts would surely be dead, making the subsequent conflicts even more intense.
As she was lost in thought, she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps crushing leaves.
She looked up to see Nathan Lockwood returning.
She glanced at the time; it had taken him longer than before. There were also noticeable traces of dust on Nathan Lockwood's clothes.
"Go."
Nathan Lockwood called to her with a frown. They had already been delayed for too long.
Zoe Pierce hurried after him. When she re-entered the Red Sand Beast's territory, she wasn't surprised to see it had already fallen. This time, however, there were visible wounds on its body, and a pool of thick, pungent, bright red blood had stained the grass where it lay.
But as it turned out, sometimes bad luck doesn't just strike once; it strikes many times.
To a degree that even Zoe Pierce found exasperating, they encountered yet another A-level Xenobeast.
By the time the two of them successfully activated the checkpoint, they were already delayed by at least ten minutes compared to their initial estimate.
This meant it was highly likely that Miles Sherman and the others would be dropped at a location even farther from them.
At the checkpoint was a large supply crate and a small, babbling creek.
Nathan Lockwood went to wash his hands first, then sat down and leaned against a tree. His refined eyes appraised Zoe Pierce, who was standing by the supply crate, and he said, "Go wash your hands."
Zoe Pierce found this a bit baffling. She hadn't touched anything the entire way.
But with the creek right there, she didn't overthink it. She dipped her hands into the clear water and washed them gently. Afterward, she flicked her fair, clean hands in the air, sending a few droplets flying.
After she finished and had taken just two steps, she heard Nathan Lockwood's voice again. "Come here and soothe me."
His calm voice carried a hint of agitation.
Zoe Pierce: "..."
'No wonder he insisted I wash my hands. He wanted me to soothe him.'
As everyone knows, soothing requires skin-to-skin contact.
'He thinks I'm dirty.'
Just a short while ago, back in the vehicle, he had told her to be cautious with her words and actions, to know her place. But how much time had passed? And now, they were about to perform their first soothing.
The man had already extended his hand. A few drops of water trickled from his large, well-defined hand down his wrist and disappeared into his cuff. His aloof, handsome face betrayed a sense of irritation, and his ink-black eyes were watching her intently.