I Have the Sacred Sword?

Alexia's new group was steadily advancing across a vast expanse of snow. The cleared terrain offered a clear view in all directions due to the light snowfall, but the group's mood was at an all-time low.

“Isn't this area amazing? It's impossible not to see if a monster is approaching,” Leo commented optimistically, trying to lighten the mood.

“Yes, and it's also great for monsters to find us more easily. Let's hurry unless you want to be the next dish on the menu,” Alexia replied severely, causing the group to quicken their pace.

7 hours.

7 hours had passed since they started the expedition, and aside from the brief fights they had with some wolves near the camp area, they were starting to get scared by how far they were moving away from the camp, after all…

No matter how much gold Alexia offered them, if they died or got lost here, it was useless.

The tension within the group Alexia had hired had begun to grow, and she was aware that they would soon need to stop to rest due to fatigue and hunger.

‘Damn it… how can a place like this exist?’ Alexia wondered with some disdain, as this path gave her a bad feeling, since they hadn't encountered any other enemies since entering it.

This only meant two things…

Either they were at an hour where the creatures didn't usually prowl…

Or a bigger predator had wiped them all out…

A few minutes passed until they finally saw a long line of trees in the distance. This motivated the group to move even faster, breaking formation.

Alexia was about to scold the knights for not staying in their positions, but decided to encourage those around her to keep up.

As they approached, the details began to become clearer and more surprising.

The trees standing before them were not common. Their trunks were a deep reddish color, as if they were imbued with an essence.

The leaves, on the other hand, were scarlet and glowed with a faint light that contrasted with the snowy landscape.

This natural illumination gave the impression that the trees had a life of their own, emanating a warm energy that pierced the surrounding cold.

“Hurry up girls, look at this!” Leo shouted excitedly as he plucked one of the leaves just like the other knights had done.

“This is… incredible,” Mara murmured, her eyes shining with amazement. “I've never seen anything like this…”

“It's as if the trees themselves were alive,” Selena added as she closely examined one of the glowing leaves Darius had handed her.

“We can't let our guard down,” Alexia interrupted, her ears twitching slightly.

“Something big is approaching,” Alexia said as she removed one of her garments.

“Everyone gather! Mara, prepare the spell to conceal our presence. Everyone drop a garment on the ground and move together in a straight line,” Alexia instructed loudly as everyone was still distracted admiring the beauty of the forest.

Mara, realizing that Alexia was serious, began to chant the spell while the others obeyed Alexia's orders.

In the distance, a large creature, very similar in size to a dragon, began to appear, but this one… was a wolf.

“What the hell did it eat to grow that big?” Darius said quietly as he retreated with everyone in a straight line.

A few seconds later, the wolf was at the forest entrance, sniffing the area where they had been.

Its size was intimidating. Even if they managed to land a surprise attack with magic, they couldn't guarantee a victory, especially without risking the life of one of the knights.

Alexia had explained this plan before, as Mara had said she was good at area spells… because for her, hitting a single target was complicated and annoying.

The distance between them and the giant, intimidating wolf grew larger, and just when they thought it was going to delve deeper into the forest to follow the scent it was sniffing, it turned around.

This made everyone sigh in relief, but when they saw the wolf start to curl up just a few steps from where they had entered…

‘Shit,’ they all thought in unison.

Only when they were considerably far from that enormous beast did Mara undo her spell. Thorne held her up due to how exhausted she was.

While everyone separated to calm down, Aiden signaled Alexia to follow him.

Once they had moved far enough from the group, Aiden asked:

“Did you see the size of that thing?”

“Yes,” Alexia replied immediately.

“This wasn't part of the deal, Alexia. That thing was the size of a mansion! Three times bigger than our tent! Not even the master faced something that size, what exactly are we looking for?”

“I can't tell you,” Alexia replied, indifferent to Aiden's crisis.

She partly understood his reaction, but a deal was a deal.

Aiden, who initially saw this as easy money due to the trust he had built with his group in the hunts near the camp, never, in his worst nightmares, imagined they would encounter a beast of that size.

And what scared him the most… was that before turning around, that creature had stared for several seconds in the direction they were retreating.

What was in this forest that made that creature show such caution?

Just thinking about it sent a chill down his spine.

“We're leaving.”

“What?” Alexia asked, hearing Aiden's declaration.

“This is escalating too much. My group won't go any further to find that damn objective. You can go with your group to find it, but we'll look for a way back.”

Sighing in annoyance, Alexia tried to grab Aiden's shoulder, but he pushed her hand away.

“Don't touch me.”

“Look, both your group and mine are tired from all the walking. How about we eat together before we separate?”

This question made Aiden think.

“Think about it, we'd be more, we'd be safer, and then everyone can go their own way.”

“You're not going back?”

“I'll discuss that with my group,” Alexia replied with a smile.

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