Chapter 46: Facing the Beasts Head-on

One down, seventeen left.

My team was not hanging around idly too. Previously, immediately after I'd leaped into the sky, Jessica had stomped on the ground, commanding some vines to wrap against one of the lions, before letting out a cry, "Enchanted vines!"

The vines succeeded in holding down the lion, temporarily. Xueyi who had flanked over to her side started making poison cannon balls and shooting it at the bound lion. It was so quick that the lion could not immediately react with its own blazing flames from its mouth. After shooting out about thirty of those poison flames, the Blazing Overload Lion began to tremble, and its skin began to take on a purple form before its blazing fur turned off, and it fell to the ground, wrenching in pain, before breathing its last.

Jessica looked at Xueyi and nodded with a slight smile. It was at that moment that they looked at me, with Jessica making a thumbs up.

Sixteen left.

Meanwhile...

When Lingxi had earlier charged out with her sword swiping at the claws of her target lion, Xuan'er had charged after her, after hearing my instruction.

"Freeze!" she commanded, with the voice of an archangel.

Blocks of ice shackled the lion on all fours. Although she was surprised, Lingxi adapted quickly. She took the advantage of the ice shackle and pierced her glacier sword into the beast's eyes. The eyes were naturally vulnerable, so the lion's fate was sealed thus. Ice and fire were never friends, so the lion was immediately blinded by the quick, successive thrusts. Still, it didn't give up. It immediately sent a breath of fire at the duo, but their reactions were instinctively quick. Instead of dodging, Lingxi used her large sword as a shade, while Xuan'er hid behind Lingxi, using her frost to increase the defensive ability and the yin energy of Lingxi's glacier sword!

Soon after, the lion's head was sneaded off with little effort. Both girls smiled and high fived.

Fifteen left.

I smiled. To think we were actually doing this... as a team!

Just then, my heart skipped. Even without turning, I felt the heat of a lion about to pounce on me from behind. How could I totally have forgotten about the backup cry the former lion had given, earlier?! A chill went down my spine.

As I was just about to turn around and retaliate, I saw a silver light flash from my peripheral vision and reach for me, taking me to the side of Lingxi and Xuan'er who were already battling with a few approaching lions who just realised that they'd been outsmarted.

"This..."

Before my eyes, was none other than Mingming! She had speed! That was her ability.

Seeing the surprise in my eyes, she muttered, "Silver Lining Speed, that's my Gift."

I nodded, then mouthed "thank you".

Meanwhile...

Immediately after Mingming had taken me off harm's way, the lion that had planned on giving me a surprise attack crashed into the spot where I'd been standing a second ago. It stood up in rage and shook its fur like a dog drying itself, causing tiny specs of harmless flames to fly into the air in all directions.

Ruby suddenly appeared beside us and held Lingxi. Together they appeared by the lion that Mingming had just saved me from. Using her Spacial Retreat as a surprise attack, this time. Understanding Ruby's line of thoughts, Lingxi immediately slashed her sword through the neck of the beast, positioning it to its deathbed.

"We've fourteen left!" I cried out as I jumped into the air. I quickly pointed at some Meditation realm beasts I could spot, while my comrades below began to act simultaneously under every direction I pointed at.

Lingxi was with Xuan'er. Mingming decided to work with me, after quick thoughts. Jessica was with Xueyi. Ruby stood on a tree, watching out for instances where her Spacial Retreat Gift would be useful. She didn't have to worry about me, since I had Xueyi's speed to support me against the stronger beasts that were infuriated about our evading skills.

* * *

Thirty minutes later...

Our faces were covered in sweat and everyone was panting heavily. We'd already taken down a total of eleven beasts out of eighteen. But, everyone failed to realised that Teacher Haggz's voice had not been heard all through.

"Cannonball!" we heard a masculine's voice ring in the air, as a very large, black cannonball fell from the sky and landed on one of the beasts we've been struggling tooth and nail to avoid, the only lion in the Ethereal Opening realm, which is the realm above Meditation realm.

'Squash!' The Ethereal Opening realm beast was squashed into paste, just like that, revealing a boy unwrapping himself from what we thought was a cannonball.

"Blackie!" Jessica gasped.

He chuckled. "Mind if we join the ride?"

All the girls looked at me, inquiringly, giving me the creeps. Seven other boys joined Blackie from behind. They were as swift as hares.

"We're supposed to be enemies," I muttered, as though unsure about my own words.

One of the boys stepped forward, assuming the position of leader. It was Zhangkong.

"I know a lot about this world, and believe me, you do not want to die here. You'll suffer a mental breakdown for a complete week, in the real world. You've already done a fine work taking down all those beasts, it's our turn!"

Jaded nodded in complete agreement.

As Zhangkong completed his last words, one of the beasts made the mistake of giving him a surprise attack...

Yes, it was a mistake.

He immediate caught the lion's forearm without turning around and slammed it unto the ground, leaving a series of breaking sounds. What surprised everyone was that, this beast was in the realm immediate after the Ethereal Opening realm, making it two realms after the Meditation realm; the Ethereal Ascension realm!

Before their arrival, we'd already taken down eleven Meditation realm beasts, leaving us with three Meditation realm beasts, one in Ethereal Opening, and three in Ethereal Ascension realm.

Now, we had three already running (away from us) beasts in the Meditation realm and two in the Ethereal Ascension realm.

Toby, Tang and Chang immediately chased after the fleeing Meditation realm beasts, with one of them shouting, "Hey, wait for us! We barely just arrived!" A few of the girls chuckled and grinned, some were stone cold and others, just curious.

Toby shouted, "The land is muddy, watch out!"

The beast he was chasing immediately fell into a porthole that'd appeared from nowhere. "Seems like its getting more solid."

The mud began to solidify the beast in place, while Toby went off and squatted beside it. "You're so stubborn, I told you to watch out!" He snapped the head of the beast, effortlessly.

"Will you stop acting innocently before the animals," Chang chuckled as he passed Toby, towards the beast he was after.

"Life is like a fine wine. Drink, tremble and fall!"

Our mouths fell ajar. He was actually using a thaumaturgy spell. The beast began to loose its sense of direction, as though it was confused, or as though it was drunk. Immediately after, it fell into Chang's already available arms, and had it's head lopped off.

"Ruthless as always!" Tang grinned as he passed his comrades.

"I can be one, two or three, it depends on your taste!" he chanted, awaking his Gift, as replicas of himself appeared on both sides of him. Unlike the cool skill we were expecting to see, the next thing we heard was, "Pummel that dude to death!"

All three Tangs pounced on the beast and gave it the beating of its life, until the beast was forced to end its life by itself.

Jeez... no wonder he grinned when he saw Chang being ruthless. Now this was what ruthlessness is!

In that short span of fifteen seconds, all three Meditation realm beasts were killed.