The hours passed and night fell.

Lucius watched intently as the Bald Rabbit in front of them moved through the undergrowth and trees, hopping repeatedly without rest.

Its body was covered in flowers, as it was planting them in another area.

Bald Rabbits are very peculiar in that regard. They are constantly creating enormous flower gardens, which is what makes the atmosphere in a forest with Bald Rabbits so beautiful and pleasant. However, that is also their greatest enemy, since their main predator, the Three-Step Jaguar, loves flowers.

"This one is huge," said Clara.

Lucius agreed. "All the better. The bigger it is, the more tempted the Jaguar will be to chase it. Come on, let’s take it to an open area."

"Why an open area? We might attract the attention of other beasts..."

"It’s better to face two beasts in an open field than a Three-Step Jaguar in confined spaces. I’m not exactly suicidal, if you ask me," Lucius replied sarcastically.

"Tsk, you and your sarcasm," she grumbled from behind.

"Huh? What did you say?" Lucius turned to look at her just as she suddenly ran off.

Clara couldn’t even answer, since he wouldn’t hear her unless she screamed—and screaming in a forest full of beasts isn’t the best option.

Lucius suddenly appeared beside the Bald Rabbit. They stared intently into each other’s eyes.

The Rabbit felt a chill run through his body when he realized a predator had found him. Although he trembled, he turned and began running in the opposite direction as if his life depended on it.

Lucius smiled. It had run exactly in the direction he wanted, so without a second thought he began to chase it, moving nimbly through the tree branches, occasionally picking up the pace and slowing down when he saw the Rabbit doing the same.

He didn’t want to kill it himself, so he made sure it didn’t feel cornered, lest it take its own life.

In a short while, the two of them managed to corner him from a distance, leading him to an open field near the Honey Orchids. In the middle of the open field was a rock, where the Bald Rabbit hid to avoid being seen by his pursuers.

Lucius stopped when he saw that it was no longer running and waited for Clara to come closer to him.

"You’ll stay here and make sure it doesn’t escape this way," he said.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

"I’ll stand on the other side so it doesn’t run that way. It has to stay in this open field no matter what. Eventually, the Jaguar will catch its scent and come." He replied.

Clara nodded. "All right. But I’ll remind you that I’m a Ice-element Mage. If it escapes, it won’t be my fault."

Lucius’s eyes widened. "You’re a mage who specializes in a single element?"

"You didn’t know?" Clara was stunned. More shocked than Lucius himself.

"I had no idea," he confirmed.

"Wait, if you had no idea, why did you make me come with you? I thought you were planning to use my Ice attribute for something specific. I don’t know. Maybe I could make the Jaguar slip and..."

"No. That’s not why I did it." Lucius interrupted. "I just needed someone to block the Bald Rabbit’s path, and since you’re the only one I know, I decided to bring you."

Clara’s mouth fell open in a wide "O." She felt used, but she couldn’t even protest, because Lucius had decided to go carry out his mission and had left her with just one instruction: "Do it right. Ice is a good attribute."

In the end, they both stood at opposite ends of the field. While one watched the Rabbit trying to survey its surroundings in search of predators, the other stared at a rock.

So the Rabbit kept circling that rock for a while, until it confirmed there was no one around. Then, finally, it moved...

However, just at that moment, Lucius looked up, sensing a powerful presence...

’Several presences.’ He quickly distinguished which ones were of interest to him and which were not. After doing so, the Three-Step Jaguar appeared with a strange, irregular movement that marked one step, two steps, and finally, three steps, to stand face to face with the Bald Rabbit.

When that happened, Lucius knew his work in the Jaguar’s domain was done. But what were those new presences?

"Jaguar hunters? Would it be a good idea to go out now?" he wondered.

He didn’t want to get caught up in a war of attrition with several beasts at once, because it wouldn’t end well for him.

"Maybe I just have to wait and see," he thought.

Just then, he jerked his head back, and something flew past his eyes, embedding itself in the tree where he was hiding. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The blade of an assassin’s dagger flashed before his eyes.

’Assassin humans!’ He immediately realized who the others approaching were.

This was bad.

Lucius quickly leaped to the side and caught a glimpse of three figures running toward him through the shadows of the forest.

He had to get out into the open.

The problem was Clara; she was on the other side and unprotected.

"Shit. I didn’t think my decision to bring her along to fulfill her role in the mission would backfire." He couldn’t leave her alone because she would surely die at the hands of assassins.

He didn’t know who they were, but his habit was always to assume that anyone trying to kill him was a professional. It’s the best approach when you know nothing about your enemy.

He began running quickly through the woods, circling around again to signal to Clara that he was waiting for a sign to move.

Lucius dodged the attacks they launched at him; it wasn’t too much trouble for him. However, they fell into the open field...

’Shit, no!’ Lucius sensed those guys’ intentions... but he sensed them too late.

The Three-Step Jaguar was alerted.

The Jaguar spun abruptly around after killing its prey and fixed its eyes on Lucius.

"This is bad. If he goes into the woods, I’m done for." Lucius knew he didn’t have time to get to Clara, and he realized that Clara had caught on to the emergency—or at least part of it.

That was enough.

"Stop him! Don’t let him go into the woods!" Lucius roared.

Clara froze for a moment. "How the hell do I stop him?!" she roared in response.

"I don’t know, but do it!"

Clara was even more confused, but suddenly, her eyes glowed with a faint bluish hue. In the center of her eyes, Lucius’s figure shone, especially the area where his core was located.

Clara’s spell: [Thermal Link] activated without warning and informed her that her ally’s core, ten meters away from her, was running too hot.

It was burning!

Without a second thought, she shifted her focus to another of her spells.

[Mana Crystallization]

And she connected it to Lucius in the distance.

Lucius suddenly felt an icy chill wash over his body and concentrate in his abdominal area. Suddenly, the pain in his core subsided, and mana flowed more efficiently than before.

He froze for a brief moment as a sudden flash of understanding struck him.

But then, the roar of a Jaguar jolted him awake.

"ROAR!"

In front of him, the Jaguar leaped at him. The power of a fully unleashed E+ Rank beast sent shivers down Lucius’s spine.

And behind him, the assassins closed in to stab him.