Sebastian listened obediently. He ran around the forest area, searching for the source of the strange disturbance.

To him, the appearance of fire lions in the northern forest made no sense.

They were supposed to live in forests near dungeons, since dungeons were their natural habitat.

Not only that, but the type of forest they lived in was completely different.

The northern forest was a wet tropical forest, which did not suit fire lions because of the high humidity.

They preferred dry, barren forests that matched their natural characteristics.

That was the simple reason why Edmund told Sebastian not to act recklessly.

Edmund was worried that the sudden appearance of fire lions would be followed by the emergence of even more dangerous monsters.

"Fire lions? But how are they here?" Nicole asked.

"No idea. But it looks like a dark mage opened a portal inside the forest and let dungeon monsters come here," Sera replied.

The instructors moved and formed a circular formation, with Leonor and the others standing in the center. That way, they could protect the children properly.

The five fire lions roared loudly, shaking the sky along with blasts of fire. Sera slammed her staff against the ground, chanted a spell, and green rune light appeared beneath her.

Huge roots burst out in massive numbers, gathering and twisting together to form a giant dome of roots that protected Leonor and the others.

With the root dome shielding them, the fire blasts from the lions would not be able to kill them.

Inside the dome, Nicole and the others looked terrified. Only Denise and Leonor did not.

Denise had already seen monsters destroy her village and home, killing both of her parents right in front of her eyes.

That experience changed Denise’s feelings from fear into hatred. When she saw the fire lion monsters, the ambition in her heart flared up with the determination to kill them using her own strength.

"What should we do, Leonor?" Denise asked as she turned toward her.

"The root dome was activated by Teacher Sera. Looks like we don’t have any choice except to wait for them."

Denise gripped her sword tightly. "If only I were stronger... I could definitely fight those monsters."

Leonor glanced to the side, her heart understanding what Denise was feeling. But her eyes suddenly widened when her mana sensed another familiar mana aura.

The demonic power she had previously given to Edmund could now be felt in that place. It was so close, as if Edmund was really there.

"You don’t need to worry. Sir Edmund is here," Leonor replied, immediately making them happy.

"Sir Edmund? But how can you tell? Are you sure it’s him?" Denise asked.

Leonor smiled and nodded. It was a little difficult to explain the mechanism, but she tried to answer in simple words.

"Because I’m a mage, the mana in my body is more sensitive compared to other classes."

"I can tell because I’m familiar with Sir Edmund’s mana aura," Leonor explained.

Her explanation was easy for them to understand. Their fear turned into optimism, and they became convinced that Edmund and the teachers could defeat the fire lion monsters.

Outside the root dome, Edmund watched as Sera and the others struggled.

Among them, only Sera possessed truly outstanding strength. Natalie and the others only had average qualifications.

That forced Sera to work even harder to deal with the situation.

Edmund could not just stand still. He sprinted out from the forest and emerged from his stealth skill. Sera looked at him with shock on her face.

"Edmund?" Sera asked.

The man drew his sword and swung it sideways, killing the fire lion monster that was about to attack Sera from behind.

A white slash attack shot forward and wounded the fire lion monster, sending its body flying backward.

Edmund stood firmly back to back with Sera. "I didn’t expect you all to attack fire lions right away."

"I didn’t know they would appear either. This is strange!"

Natalie and the others saw Edmund arrive. They immediately walked toward him and asked him to lead the attack against the monster pack.

"Go and use your stealth ability to map out the number of fire lions, Luna."

"Understood," Luna replied.

"Rosie and Lyla. Stay in the back line. Support us with attribute enhancement skills."

Rosie and Lyla nodded in understanding. Edmund turned toward Sera and asked her to stay with them and continue long-range attacks.

As for fighting the fire lions up close, that role would fall to Edmund and Natalie.

"Be careful, Edmund."

"Relax. Fire lions like these are easy to kill."

Edmund stepped forward and faced the five fire lions standing before him. His hand tightened around his iron sword as immense power radiated from it.

"Don’t fall behind, Natalie."

"You’re joking, right? I can kill them better than you can!" Natalie shot back.

The two of them charged forward and leaped powerfully. Edmund landed alongside a violent burst of wind energy. His arm swung to the side before spinning, activating his sword skill.

[Sword Skill: Cyclone Wind Splitter!] 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

A tornado appeared along with shadowy wind-shaped sword slashes. The fire lion monsters were pushed backward, their bodies wounded and unable to regenerate properly.

Edmund swung his sword again and dispersed the tornado. Lyla and Sera had not seen Edmund fight in a real battle for a long time.

Whenever he fought, Edmund’s charisma and handsome appearance seemed to rise dramatically.

Sera especially liked moments when Edmund charged forward fearlessly, with bravery but almost no recklessness.

"I’m not losing to your little breeze, Edmund!" Natalie declared.

The woman moved gracefully and fluidly like water. Edmund jumped backward to avoid their fire blasts. However, Natalie rushed in and immediately used her sword skill.

She swung her sword upward from below, creating a massive wave that surged forward and extinguished the lions’ fire attacks.

An explosion erupted, injuring all five fire lion monsters and sending their weakened bodies flying backward.

"You can finish them, Sera," Edmund said casually.

"I know."

She pointed her staff forward, chanted a spell, and green magic runes appeared beneath the feet of the five fire lion monsters.

In an instant, sharp roots burst from the ground and pierced through the fire monsters’ bodies.

Red blood splattered everywhere, while medium-grade monster cores and other loot dropped onto the ground.

The battle ended faster than Edmund had predicted. Sebastian and Luna arrived and deactivated their stealth skills, appearing right in front of Edmund.

"How did it go, Sebastian?"

"Luna and I searched every corner of the forest. But we didn’t find anything suspicious."

"No portal. No traces of dark mage mana," Luna added.

"This is strange," Edmund said.

Sera turned around and pointed her staff toward the root dome. Within seconds, the roots forming the dome retreated back into the ground. Leonor and the others were free again.

"Sir Edmund?" Leonor called out enthusiastically.

Edmund crouched while sheathing his sword again. "How did your hunt go today?"

"We got a lot of monster cores. Can I eat one?" Leonor asked.

The man quickly stopped her while smiling. "Later. You’ll get something even better once we get home."

"Alright."

Edmund stood upright and looked toward Sera. "The mission is finished. You should take them back now."

"Of course," Sera replied. "What about you?"

Edmund looked deeper into the forest, his eyes narrowing sharply with curiosity.

"Sebastian and I still want to investigate those fire lions."

"You don’t need to worry. I’ll be fine."