The three tried using their mana essence in probing what creature it was however they turned up empty. "This is our chance, what if it's a tier three beast!"
Garson mused with excitement at the thought. They would have the numbers and the intellect thus he was safe in making such an advance.
"I don't think that we should investigate it given that I can't sense anything. It could be a tier four beasts and with out tie three ranking, it'll be difficult to take it down without considering the injuries we would face."
Mariel posed, wary of what was awaiting them. She had a bad premonition about it. "I doubt that a tier four beast would be alive considering that we haven't encountered even a single tier three beast. We can't let this chance slip away."
Turel darted off into the darkness to which Garson followed suit leaving Mariel alone at the camp. "Are you not coming?" Garson asked before his figure dissipated into the darkness.
A shake from Mariel was his response thus he didn't bother wasting his time on her. Mariel glanced at the dying fire, wondering whether she had made a mistake.
Just as she was about to turn in for the night, she heard something that washed all of the drowsiness she had in her head.
"Argghh!!!"
'Those can't be the screams of beasts but rather humans. Did those two plunge themselves into their demise?' She couldn't help but think as she waited for the two, readying herself for what would be tailing the two.
The exclamations of the pair got closer and closer till their figures were exposed to Mariel who was jarred. Garson was missing an arm with his bone marrow exposed, his clothes ripped from his neck to his lower torso.
As for Turel, he wasn't in a better shape as a deep gnash could be seen on his head. If left unattended, he would pass out of bleed loss and die. Coupled with the dying fire, the image was more scary and uncanny than it needed to be.
"What happened?!?" She asked as she brought out ointments and herbs to nurse the two who crashed onto the ground. "Just leave us here. Head back to the district and warn Tavian about the beast!"
In between his breathes, Garson spoke as his eyes were locked from where he came. "Beast? What kind of beast is it?!" Mariel's curiousity surged as soon as she heard this.
'What kind of creature would be able to inflict such damage like this? Not to mention how was it able to avoid detection from the top five as well. Did they intentionally leave it because it was too dangerous or?'
Her mind was filled with a flurry of questions to which she lacked the answers to. "Look Mariel!! We don't have a lot of time! Just-"
Mariel who was nursing Turel was shocked why Garson fell silent before realizing that his eyes were locked onto a specific direction. Her back was facing said direction thus as she turned around, a sight that she wasn't ready was greeting her.
A nightmarish beast, hollow and uncanny lacking any tier ranking. Sharp jaws that seemed to engulf whatever it came across which was made worse with it's pitch white eyes.
A Felir stood as it gazes upon it's prey. 'What in god's name is that monstrosity?!!' She had never sighted such an alien and bizzare creature in her life or read about one either. "Just run!!!!" Was what crossed through her ears bringing her back from the trance she was in.
Her figure darted out of the campsite, heading towards Bramblewood. It wasn't long before she was assaulted with the screams of the duo she had left behind.
"Aaahhh!!!!!!" As the screams persisted, a tinge of guilt and helplessness over came her. She felt that she should have done more but given her position, she knew that she would make their sacrifice go to waste.
Luckily they hadn't gone that far off from Bramblewood thus she could see it far off into the distance but in order to find unexplored places, the distance that they had covered was substantial.
'It would be better if I first make a stop at another camp and warn them about that beast!' She mused as she saw a faint source of light not far from where she was and in a matter of minutes, she drew closer and closer.
But looking behind her, she could see two pitch white pupils staring at her as they drew closer as well. The rest of it's body was hard to see in the darkness but with a little bit of willpower that she had left, she arrived at the camp.
The faces that she saw were rather baffled with her presence. "Who are you and what do you want?" One of them spoke coldly as they thought that it was a ploy to steal the mana disc cores that they had accumulated.
Barely on her feet, Mariel was able to catch her breath. "Hah! My name is Mariel and I bring you no harm. I'm here to warn you all of the beast that lurks within these woods. I don't know what it is but it highly dangerous!"
The group of four were yet to buy her story as they thought that it was a ruse. "Nice try but I fail to think that such a powerful beast wouldn't be this close to Bramblewood and given those geniuses we have to compete against, they wouldn't leave a beast alive."
Hearing such a remark was a slap in the face as to that was what she had thought as well. "Regardless it's coming here and once it arrives, you'll see that I'm not lying." She ignored the group as she kept on making her way towards Bramblewood.
'They could buy me some time for me to get to Bramblewood.' She mused as her pace slowed slightly in comparison to before. Knowing that she had a little time to spare, she decided to take it slow and recuperate her energy.
Her mana disc core was already spent with her run thus this was the only means that she could afford to take. As if on cue barely making it a couple of meters away from the campsite, the sounds of screams could be heard.
'At this rate, other camps will be aware if what is going on. It's a shame that I lack a communication artifact or else this wouldn't be so hard.' She gruntled as she kept on going with her journey. Looking back, the same Felir that she had thought would take a considerable time with the party was stalking her.
'I thought that those imbeciles would be able to fend it off for me to lose this thing!' She sighed at her situation as she increased her pace once more to which so did the Felir. Regardless of how fast she went, the Felir was able to not only keep up but also close the distance between the two.
She had been able to recuperate some mana however given that she had already spent it, she was back to running. To her surprise, the Felir also slowed down as well but still closing the distance.
'Why is this thing still stalking me? Is it toying with me?!' Her demeanor a mess as she couldn't understand why this creature was treating her in such a manner.
She had already experienced that it kills with no remorse so for it to portray such actions came off as a surprise to her. 'Most of the camps are now behind me so I'll just have to rush and make it to Bramblewood.'
She sighed as she realized that she had no more sacrifices she could make. To safeguard her own life, she wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice others to make it happen but when cornered, it was a different story altogether.
"Hey!!! Help me!!!!" She could now see the lights of Bramblewood not that far off to where she was. Guards that were on patrol were baffled to see one of the contestants back so soon.
"Did she already quit or what?!" A resounding laughter followed as they saw Mariel's figure getting closer and closer. The more they looked at her, the more shook up they realized she was.
"Open the gates! There is a beast trailing me!!" The sight of contestants quiting was something that wasn't new. Some of them were simply not cut out for it and it was a normal result however that didn't mean that they would get to brush it off.
Such people would usually be humiliated and shamed thus those participating would give it their all. At times they were warned before the test that it would be better in fame than suffer shame.
The veil and hedonism of nature. But for Mariel, she didn't care about fane when her life was hanging at the balance. The laughter and ridicule of the guards came to a halt as they saw a strange creature not that far off behind her.
They hastily got to their positions as they opened the gates. 'Finally! I'll actually be able to survive such a beast!' An exclamation of joy washed upon her face.
*Stab*
A cold and hollow tinge ran through her neck all the way to her spine before the sound of ripping flesh reverberated through her ears.
And just like that, her vision of the world seemed to fall as she collapsed hard onto the cold hard ground. With one of her eyes deep into the ground as it was filled with dirt mixed with blood and the other looking at the source of her pain.
Her lips despite the pain that coursed through her body didn't cry out for help but rather fell silent against her will.
*Rip*
The sight of her own spine being ripped out of her back as the Felir stared deep into her soul before opening it's gaping maw opened up revealing nightmarish tentacles that probed all over her body. They were warm and comforting as she could feel her life coming to an end.
Despite all that, she seemed at peace which was a stark contrast to the others that fell into. The Felir holstered her corpse into the air before devouring it whole as it expanded it's jaw wide seemingly with no end.
And with a ear piercing crush, Mariel's body was crushed before the Felir's attention was shifted elsewhere. Looking at the gates which were now closed and the walls now well lit up.
Indescribable roars and screams could be heard reverberating through the cold night air, alerting a good chunk of the district. The Felir however did not waste it's time as it quickly fled into the darkness of the forest.
"It was right over there!!" Lights could be seen flashing all over the entrance to the forest however the only evidence there was of it's existence was the rivulets of blood that were all over the ground.
...
Still suspended in her own world, Vivienne decided to emerge out and before her was the calm and refreshing breeze of a morning fresh air. In her world, it seemed that she didn't need to sleep nit to mention with such a method, she could move around traceless.
'I want to have a thousand points by the time the day is over.' She mused as she looked around, her figure on top of a tree which overlooked a huge part of the forest.
With her spatial talent, she was able to detect even the faintest movements as they would give off a fluctuations which she used to track her prey and avoid other contestants as well.
'It seems that there is a way for me to detect the tier of a beast. Considering that they emit some form of pressure with their presence, I can use the readings of the spatial fluctuations and gauging the amount of space displaced instead of using this artifact.'
She clutched onto an artifact that she had been using. It required mana thus she carried some mana stones to accommodate it however she knew that it would run out before the test was over.
'I've already encountered a tier four beasts thus I can tell the magnitude of one. From there using it as my base I can tell the difference of the tier ranking.'
An idea she formulated when she was contemplating in her spatial world. However similar to her, most of the contestants were oblivious to what had occurred at Bramblewood.