“Let’s keep heading forward,” said Max.

They kept moving through the forest, hoping to find a monster target.

The trees began to blend together.

“Should we turn back?” said Casey. “Maybe go another way?”

Max bit his thumb, nervously, and considered their options.

We screwed up big time, Max thought to himself. We weren’t just competing against the clock, we were competing against the other students for the easy monster kills.

Now they’d have to search further away and work that much quicker to get back to the instructor.

“We have only one option,” said Max. “We gotta go deeper into the forest.”

29

Max and Casey ran deeper into the forest.

They rushed by trees and shrubbery.

“How far have we gone?” asked Casey.

Max looked around and saw no monsters.

“Not far enough,” he said.

Something didn’t seem right, thought Max. They’d seen plenty of monsters in the distance when they’d been walking through the forest with the instructor. Where had they all gone to?

They kept running until eventually Max heard a large snort sound.

He turned to Casey.

Her cheeks blushed. “You don’t think I made that sound, do you!?”

Max knew he was about to say something that was offensive to her. He wasn’t sure why it was so offensive, but regardless, he was going to leave it alone.

“There’s a monster nearby,” whispered Casey, standing against a tree to conceal herself.

Max followed suit. He peered around the tree and saw there was a cluster of four monsters.

They were small hairy beasts that were chewing on a plant shrub.

The mule-like creatures were significantly less threatening than the forest boar they’d seen earlier.

The mule-like creature glanced up as if it sensed Casey and Max’s presence.

It then made a strange noise.

Max and Casey looked at each other with quizzical glances.

A horrible smell then filled Max’s nostrils.

He raised his hands to his nose and mouth. So that was what the mule was doing.

It was taking a dump!

Max turned to Casey with a serious expression.

“You’re joking?” she said.

“No, I’m not,” said Max. “There is no better opportunity than right now.”

Casey nodded begrudgingly.

It was time to enact their strategy.

Quietly, Max hurried a few trees over to get into position.

Casey stood where she was and triggered her trait.

She manipulated the wind around the nearby group of forest mules with enough force to irritate them and cause them to move.

The group of mules then started to move away from the area they were residing in.

Casey looked at Max across the forest and nodded her head.

Casey’s trait was part one of their strategy. She would manipulate the air and get the monsters into position. Part two of their strategy now rested in Max’s hands.

Max stretched out his hand and triggered his slice ability.