Hunting beasts during the night proved an odd experience. Some species gathered together, creating large herds where the majority slept under the watchful eyes of a selected few, while others either used some innate abilities or different tricks to obtain a modicum of safety for their rest.

However, that did not mean the plains were dead-silent. There were new kinds of monsters prowling through the tall grass and hounding any stragglers or those that seemed to be easy prey—the nighttime predators. They were mostly solitary creatures with good stealth capabilities and very powerful opening attacks, forcing John to pay extra attention to any unexpected movement around him.

Noticing something a hundred meters in front of him made him squint his eyes at the odd blotch of darkness moving through the grass in his direction.

Huh?

It took him a few more seconds to finally make out the outline of a snake as thick as his thigh.

[Midnight Constrictor {E⋆}]

Damn, it must have some kind of passive camouflage. Probably something similar to the card I gave to my Wisp, he thought as he tried to pin its precise location. Despite his efforts, his eyes kept sliding over its incoming form.

Deeming it too dangerous, he willed for all his minions to engage and even though his minions suffered similar difficulties, his stiletto ended up slipping into its body. Using the creature's momentum against it, John willed for his flying weapon to stop mid-air and let the creature open itself up like a burst sausage.

It hissed in pain and tried to lash out at its unseen attacker, which opened its vulnerable body to John's stab that got it killed.

Lacking support from the pack, John immediately backed away and crouched down fifty meters behind it.

Let's see if I can use its corpse as bait.

It turned out that he could, and he spent the next couple of hours moving fresh carcasses around the open area and killing any beasts that got lured in.

His latest big score, a D-grade rodent-like creature, worked marvelously and was enticing the predators from all directions for the last thirty minutes. Unfortunately, it seemed that his luck was about to run out.

He noticed something off when every beast in the distance began running to the sides in desperate panic, and a mere minute later a knee-high wave of black liquid flowed over the grass toward the rodent's remains.

Uhh.

Focusing on its formless body, he successfully pulled its name.

[Rotblood Nightmare {D★}]

Nope! I am not messing with that one.

As he was backing even further, he saw the dark liquid rise, form into a massive maw, and collapse on top of the D-grade corpse. After that, the tide slowly receded into the distance, leaving behind only a barren dead ground.

Damn, John shivered and remained crouched in the grass until he calmed down. That monster… he knew, if he had garnered its attention, he would have died.

Looking up into the sky, its deep indigo was transforming into the soft blue of a new dawn, and the top side of the mountain before him was already colored by the golden rays of the rising sun.

Happy with his overnight gains, he headed back to the nest where the pack of his favorite beasts rested.

Huh, are those groups of people?

The daybreak once again revealed the entire plain and John was able to spot three pockets of movement staying in the safety of the massive wall.

Their position must have been deliberate, because one was in the left corner, the other, barely visible in the distance, in the right corner, and the third in the middle between them.

By his rough estimate, each group consisted of over twenty survivors, posing a potential risk to his current situation.

Time to get on the move.

"Hey there, little guys," John spoke in a soothing voice, making the pack of Shimmerfangs perk up. "Are you ready for another adventure?"

A chorus of yips made him chuckle and a moment later, their whole group was on their way.

Using the trail of dead grass, they were able to easily move half a mile, however after that, the surrounding monsters began returning to their previous locations.

A pack of Flatjaws was closing from the left, but upon seeing the lazy snarl of the Suntouched Shimmerfang, the whole pack turned around and hopped somewhere else.

Oh right, he is now a D-grade.

Using the beast's presence as a deterrent, John was able to increase his speed and only engage with E-grades that deemed the situation worth the risk or one of the lone D-grades that populated the second half of the plain.

They are going to catch up soon, he thought after his latest glance over his shoulder.

Despite their late start, the groups of survivors were now pushing through the beasts with great momentum and using their numbers to overwhelm all but the most dangerous opposition.

"Let's take a look at that blue multi-headed beast over there," he pointed at the chest-high monster with a bulbous body and small hateful eyes.

[Azure Dehydrator {D⋆}]

What a dumb name.

It looked like a blue ball on three bulky legs from which extended five long necks with insectoid-shaped heads. Each head had a foot-long sucker which it was currently using to pull moisture from the ground and leaving only dried yellow grass.

Surprisingly enough, his Feral intuition was strongly hinting at a large vulnerability to toxic substances.

Hmm, perhaps I could test out the toxicity of my blood.

Guiding the stiletto to his left forearm, he let the tip stab into his skin and open a small cut.

It's not bleeding…

His body immediately responded to the injury and began closing its wound right before his eyes.

Woah, the difference in self-healing capabilities is incredible.

Unfortunately, it was not what he currently needed so he made another cut and used his right arm to squeeze a few drops of the viscous liquid on the blade.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Next, he spread it out like warm butter on a piece of bread and then repeated the same process with both his javelin and his spear.

Good, now let's see what happens.

At first, it seemed like the creature ignored their advance, but when he crossed a thirty-meter distance, it suddenly reoriented all five heads in his direction and emitted an ugly bubbling roar.

Now! He willed for all of his minions to engage, and tossed the javelin directly into its path. The creature completely ignored all of his minions and using its tripod legs ran forward and right into John's weapon. The javelin punctured only half a foot deep and then got pushed out by the gushing water that started leaking out from the wound.

Does it bleed water!?

His stiletto stabbed into its side, and John willed for it to remain stuck and deliver all the toxin into its misshapen body.

Surprisingly, the effects started to show before it even made it halfway to him. The water coming out from the front lost its azure sheen and was instead a murky grey. At the same time, the slick skin around his stiletto blackened and parts of it were beginning to slouch off.

It must have realized that something was wrong because it stopped running and bit into the golden handle with one of its heads, desperately trying to pull the offending object out.

"That's a wrong move," John mumbled under his breath and rushed forward.

The Dehydrator reacted to his approach with an odd pulse, but John gritted his teeth and with his spear in his hands dived through the effect.

"Ugh," he wheezed upon entering the two-meter zone formed around it.

It turned out, it wasn't a pulse but a field that violently sucked all liquids from everything inside its domain. Luckily, he was able to stay on course and deliver a powerful stab right into the wound left behind by the javelin.

The disharmonious screech it emitted with all five heads made him wince. The monster further intensified the suction around it, tearing sweat off his body, drying up his skin, and opening up the deeper cut on his forearm.

That proved its undoing, because as it pulled small clumps of the dark liquid into its suckers, all five heads began to blacken and fall apart.

The field cut off and a couple of seconds later the creature's body burst apart, releasing tens of thousands of liters of murky grey water in all directions.

"Yes, finally!" John whooped in glee, ignoring the rushing water, as a shining ball of yellow ash collided with his chest.

Quickly opening his deck, he stared at the first yellow card he obtained inside this trial.

[Weakening strikes (R)

Can be linked with any ability bearing a melee or projectile tag to enhance each successful attack with a short affliction that saps the target's endurance]

Huh… That could be useful.

He linked it with his Storm Wisp and nodded in satisfaction.

Throwing a glance over his shoulder, he noticed the leftmost group heading his way on the cleared path that he left behind him.

Roughly half a mile away, should be at least six minutes before they get here… good.

The pack had chosen the strongest of the unevolved Shimmerfangs to gorge on the Dehydrator's remains and it was now undergoing an evolution. Its previously prismatic scales were changing color to a bright blue, its form was becoming a little wider, and its thin legs bulged out and formed thick cords of muscles.

The process continued for the next three minutes until finally, it stopped. What stood there was a bulky reptile with a bulging stomach and azure scales that gleamed under the golden rays of the sun.

[Thirstfiend Shimmerfang {D}]

"Damn, look at you," John gawked at its large form. Where the Suntouched evolution emphasized agility and a lean figure, the Thirstfiend brought power and mass. It was almost twice as long from snout to tail, and more than thrice as thick around the chest.

It seems that it requires them to consume a small-star elite to trigger the evolution.

The whole situation was kind of insane. Yesterday, the pack had a single adult and a bunch of juveniles, and now there were three Adolescents, the Thirstfiend, and the Suntouched who earned his small star after consuming all the normal D-grade enemies that they had killed today.

Remembering the unfortunate situation from yesterday, he vowed to try his best to avoid something similar happening again. Especially if he considered how dangerous the pack became.

Leaving them to admire their freshly-evolved mate, John headed toward the large group of people.

"Hey," he offered a friendly wave as he saw them slow down roughly a hundred meters away.

"You are here alone?" Shouted back a deep masculine voice with a thick African accent.

"Not exactly," John yelled back. "I have befriended a pack of beasts and we are working together to pass through the plain."

"Do you mind if we come closer?"

"I don't, but please, be very careful around the pack of Shimmerfangs behind me. They are very defensive and will attack if you ignore their warnings."

"What is that?" Asked a feminine voice with an Asian accent coming from somewhere behind their group.

"I don't see anything?"

"Wha' is wha'?"

The people were squinting their eyes at something above, making John look into the sky and frown.

What are they talking about? I don't see anythi… Ohh! It took him a moment to realize what they were alluding to.

"Ohh, that is one of my abilities, see?" He willed for his Wisp to zip in circles high above his head. "I've had it for so long I barely even realize it's there… Until I need it," He added with a chuckle.

She must have a crazy good perception to notice its blurry form, he noted for himself to remember.

As they shifted, he spotted the most probable candidate, an Asian woman whom he remembered resisting the compulsive speech before the trial.

Interesting.

After a couple of hushed words among them, the majority of them split up, keeping a respectable distance away from the pack and continuing further ahead, leaving only three people before him. A big black guy with a bald head that glinted under the sun, a man with a majestic mustache and a thick well-kept beard, and the Asian woman that he remembered from before.

"Thank you for keeping the guys alone," John gestured with his head behind him. "I am John," he introduced himself with an offered arm.

With confidence and a warm smile, the bulky man accepted his proffered hand. "Greetings, my name is Jabari. It is a pleasure to meet you."

Jabari… Firm grip, and a friendly demeanor, and I have a good feeling about him. I think this is someone I can trust.

Next came the guy whose most striking feature was his beard. His expression was more guarded, but he did not seem unfriendly. "Hey there, I am Harrison."

His voice seemed a little rough on the edges, but otherwise friendly enough.

The Asian woman respectfully bowed instead, "I am Ishikawa. It's a pleasure to meet you, John." Her tone was polite and composed, indicating a certain cultural upbringing and despite her athletic build, she carried herself with grace and elegance.

Hmm, Ishikawa. She is… How odd… I don't feel any particular way about her.

"Do you want to continue forward with us… or… do you prefer to remain with them?" Jabari nodded toward the pack that was currently standing much closer to John and each one of them was carefully observing the new people before them. "To be frank, I don't want to risk their presence intermixed among the rest of us. I am certain that you are aware of how dangerous they are, correct?"

"I understand. For now, I will remain with them. Besides, we are almost there, so I am sure we will see each other again soon."

"Very well. If not, I am from Nairobi, so if we miss each other here, maybe we will have a…" Noticing John missing the clue, Jabari clarified, "Apologies, what I meant was I am from Kenya's capital city."

"Ohh. Yeah, I am sorry, geographical knowledge is not my strong suit. I am from Czechia, currently in the city of Brno."

"That is in the middle of Europe, isn't it?" Jabari asked with a cheeky smile on his face.

"That it is. Well, good luck guys and let's hope we will see each other soon."

Ishikawa whispered something to Jabaris's ear which made him raise one eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" He asked, but seeing her nod he shrugged and both he and Harrison got on their way.

"I would like to go with you, John. If you don't mind?" She asked, carefully eyeing the row of beasts behind him.

"Huh, and why would you?"

"I…" she lifted her finger in a 'give me a moment' sign, and remained silent for a while longer.

What is she doing?

"Ehh… This is getting awkward," John stated in a confused tone of voice, but after noticing her brief glance toward the pair that was moving away at a brisk pace he figured it out.

She remained silent for the next thirty seconds and spoke only after they were way out of any reasonable eavesdropping distance.

"John, are you the Sparrow?"