The group of ten stepped outside, breathing in the damp air.

The group was wet, as rain had fallen all through yesterday.

There were no dangerous creatures around, as Leon and his squad had eradicated anything in the perimeter.

Still, they moved cautiously towards the east.

There was a cool silence permeating the atmosphere between them, and they were comfortable with it.

However, when they reached the area Leon’s squad had scouted days ago, the silence turned unnerving.

"Everyone be alert."

Selene’s voice cut through the silence as they stepped onto the narrow road.

On both sides, the forest seemed to breathe slowly, the lush green leaves swaying without any sound.

"This silence is really unbearable." Samson complained with a frown, looking around cautiously.

"Wait a moment." Marie suddenly spoke, causing the group to pause.

Everyone turned to her, wondering why she had asked them to stop.

She looked at them all with a confused expression and said.

"Don’t you all feel the vibration?"

Reymond’s lips curled into a frown. "A vibra—"

His eyes went wide, just like the others when they sensed the ground trembling.

Leon, Selene and Marie reacted the fastest. They unsheathed their weapons and turned to their left, just in time to see a large buffalo jump out of the forest.

"Scatter!"

They immediately divided into two groups, letting the mutated buffalo land in their midst with a powerful thud.

Boom!

The group beneath them quaked from the impact, making a few of them scared of this beast.

Unlike a normal buffalo, this one had patches of red fur ob its hide, and it was even taller than a human while on all fours.

The large horns glistened with a metallic sheen, a promise of undeniable sharpness.

Selene attacked as soon as the mutated buffalo regained its balance.

Thick ice spears shot at it, stabbing into the thick hide, but barely dealing any injuries.

The mutated buffalo stomped its foot on the ground, causing the ice spears to crack and shatter uselessly.

Selene’s gaze hardened as she realized her efficiency in the battle would be very low.

"Haap!"

Samson gasped as he ran past her, jumping high in the air with his axe raised.

The mutated buffalo turned slightly, causing him to miss. Instead, his axe hit its strong metallic horns.

Clang!

His arms trembled and he was thrown back, almost losing the grip of his weapon.

On Leon’s side, Marie tried to step forward, but a single glance from Leon was enough to make her step down.

’They definitely can’t handle this thing. It must be at Level 20 or above.’

Knowing this, he grabbed his large black blade and charged at the mutated beast.

At the same time, Gwen shot three arrows that struck the buffalo’s hide. The arrows dealt no damage, but the pale green flames they carried were deadly.

MOOOOO-!

The mutated buffalo mooed in pain, feeling a burning pain in its soul.

Leon didn’t miss that opportunity where it was distracted. He ran straight at it, then swung his sword at the neck.

Just like he expected, the blade tore through the beast’s hide easily, leaving a large cut that dripped with blood.

The mutated buffalo was stunned and angered, immediately turning its head to look at Leon.

Seeing the sharp horn coming his way, Leon immediately raised his sword to block.

Clang!

He was pushed back by several steps, only skidding to a stop when he came close to his group.

While the mutated buffalo was distracted by Leon, Reymond closed the gap between them and cut at its throat too.

His lightning-coated blade couldn’t deal as much damage as Leon’s sword, but it still left a thin wound on its body, with the lightning element stinging the flesh with its current.

The mutated buffalo mooed in anger and swung its horns at him

Reymond immediately panicked and ducked, by he was still hit by its iron-like head.

Bang!

The hit was heavy, and he felt blood flow into his mouth as he was thrown backwards.

Samson caught him before he could fall in an unsightly manner.

MOOOOO-!

The buffalo stomped its hooves on the ground and charged at Selene’s group.

"Ice Wall!"

The ice girl immediately constructed a thick large wall of ice to protect her teammates.

The buffalo snorted indifferently and crashed into the ice wall. The wall stopped its charge, but only for a few seconds.

Crack... Crack... Crack... Shatter!

The ice wall shattered, and the large body of the buffalo loomed over them.

Selene’s eyes widened as she hastily tried to create another ice wall, but the beast was already too close.

Suddenly, a figure appeared above the buffalo, welding a large blade that seemed to carry the weight of the world.

"Die!"

Leon spun midair, digging his blade onto the neck of the buffalo and making a large cut at the back of the neck as he twisted.

The buffalo’s charge was forced to stop, and he landed on its back.

MOOOOO-!

His black eyes shone with vicious glee as he hacked his sword at the mangled neck, deepening the injuries and causing the beast to stumble in pain.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The buffalo tried to shake him off and escape his mad, relentless hits, but it was to no avail.

Leon straddled its back, and after seeing bone, he swung his the black greatsword with all his strength.

In one great cleave, the buffalo’s head was separated from its neck, and dropped to the ground. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

The remaining body stiffened under Leon, then collapsed just as he jumped off it.

[You have slain a Level 24 Red Mutated Buffalo! +7 mana points gained!]

Leon received that message, then looked at the others. It seemed only Gwen, Selene, and Reymond got the same message.

’Their rewards will be different though.’

"I... I leveled up!"

Gwen squealed excitedly, causing everyone to turn to her. Her smile froze when she realized she was the only one who had leveled up from the fight.

Leon gave her a congratulatory nod, then looked at the rewards that dropped beside the corpse of the buffalo.

"Oh? Interesting."