Roderic was busy handling a wild boar with his sword when he heard the whistle.

"That bastard. I told him not to go far." Roderic was very annoyed because he knew for sure where the whistle came from. The whistles of each of them had a small distance tracking feature. The whistle had an indicator to point out the location of the other whistle that had been blown. It was for each of them.

Like Roderic, the other two were made aware and they also heard the noise. They hurriedly left their search and went to save Aric, and it didn't take more than two minutes to arrive. When they did, they found Aric at the top of a thick branch looking at the cave that was many meters away through the thick bushes and foliage.

"Aric..." Lyria shouted, but before she could speak another word, Aric put a finger to his mouth. This made the other two, who had almost arrived on time, straighten up. His one indication was enough to understand that the huge cave he was keeping a watchful eye on had some kind of secrets.

Aric descended softly, knowing the group would demand some answers.

"Sorry... I had to call you. I came here and saw a huge Eclipsian Hyena enter that cave. I didn't see any other hyenas nearby, so I presume this is where the hyena is hiding or the previous ones were protecting..." Aric explained what he had seen as vividly as he could from the images he had received before.

This made the whole group of three alert.

"Lyria, get closer and then tell me the situation. Aric, you have done well, but now you need to step back," Elowen said. This time, it was easy to see that she took over the command. She also directed what needed to be done before they confronted what they thought was an Acolyte.

In normal situations, it would have been suicide, but they came with the mindset that they might have to face an Acolyte-grade Eclipsian Hyena. The Acolyte grades were pretty rare in this part of the city as the mana concentration was very poor.

Thus, before taking up the same mission again, they had taken every kind of precaution and all the required ammunition to take down an Acolyte-grade animal.

In fact, when they decided to take this mission, they had very little hope of encountering an Acolyte-grade Eclipsian Hyena because they were animals that roamed in groups. Having such an animal alone was like praying for rain in a desert. When they took down the hyenas before, they thought they had overestimated and over-calculated their experience.

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But miraculously, it turned out the way they wanted it to. They even found the hyena inside a cave. They couldn't ask for a better ambush position than this. Hearing the command, Aric didn't hesitate at all and decided to step back a few steps.

"I will wait for you. Best of regards," Aric said. Elowen just smiled at him, but it was momentary as she started preparing to set up the ambush as discreetly as possible.

Aric stepped back and went into hiding by climbing a tree and also keeping an eye on the whole situation from above using the drones. He didn't need to put his own life in any kind of danger. Sun was still an hour away from sunset and thus the light was abundant.

Aric could see from the communicator that the three of them put some round objects on the place around the cave. Each of the objects they put on the ground were tired to each and every single one of them. From what he could guess, it was some kind of magical bomb or could even be a mechanical bomb. He had never heard of guns in this place and thus he wasn't sure and was more inclined to be a magical bomb.

These round objects weren't the only things they placed. They distributed a tony of other things around the place which included pointy metals like the shurikens but they were bigger in size and they struck to the ground. Lyria also threw a large pack of some unknown object quite near the cave.

After preparing everything, they stepped back and also put a cloth mask above their nose. Seeing that Aric also prompted his armor to put a mask on his nose. He had a feeling that these people had used some kind of aerosol poison in order to ambush, and Ari wasn't wrong.

From what he saw Lyria was the first to launch arrows at the cave after dipping the arrows in some kind of purple liquid. The first shot didn't bore any kind of reaction, but the second one did. Aric, even from his far off location could hear a cackle from distance and the drones picked them up too.

The cackle echoed through the forest, a sound that sent a shiver down Aric's spine. The dense foliage around the cave rustled violently as the creature made its way towards the entrance, a shadowy figure emerging from the darkness.

Elowen signaled to Lyria and Roderic, each of them taking their positions, ready for the confrontation. The plan was simple: draw the hyena out, weaken it with the poison-tipped arrows, and then use the traps and bombs to finish it off.

The hyena finally stepped into the open, its massive form illuminated by the fading sunlight. Its fur was a deep, unnatural black, with patches of shimmering silver that marked its Acolyte-grade status. Its eyes glowed a malevolent red, and it snarled, baring its razor-sharp teeth.

Lyria released another arrow, this one finding its mark in the hyena's shoulder. The creature howled in pain, but the poison began to work almost immediately, slowing its movements.

"Now!" Elowen commanded.

Roderic activated the bombs with a flick of his wrist. As expected, they were simple devices, filled with volatile magical substances, and they exploded in a brilliant flash of light and sound. The ground shook, and the air was filled with the acrid smell.