Killian let Jane and Kia move in front, to take in the environment since the preliminary exam was more for them than for him.

The forest was too quiet so footsteps were easily heard. He could keep tracks of the girls ahead by their steps and heavy breathing.

Tall mangroves stretched above them, and the roots of these trees twisted into the damp ground like a giant claw. It was almost fascinating, if it didn’t feel like a sequel to a bad movie.

Killian looked towards Jane and Kia again, keeping his quick walking pace. Light barely reached beneath the canopy of the trees, leaving the area dim despite it being afternoon.

’Or does time work differently here?’

Killian passed an odd-looking tree, his eyes lingering on it for only a second before looking away. It was just like the others he had seen.

"Eat it."

He kept walking, then slowed down and returned his eyes to the tree. He looked forward to Jane and Kia and they had passed a cluster of trees and would soon be hidden from his view.

"Is this one of your jokes?"

The Void stayed silent.

"That is a whole tree." Killian added flatly, emphasizing the last two words in case it wasn’t obvious enough. "How would I even do such a thing and for what reason?"

He tried not to imagine his tendrils crawling up a tree just scraping its bark and starving animals.

"Vegetables are healthy."

Killian sighed. "So it was a joke? This isn’t the time."

Ever since he went looking for the Void after it disappeared, its personality had somehow gotten worse, and he still had no idea what he did to unlock the Void’s funny bone.

The jokes felt less playful and more like punishments.

"It is a trove of ambient mana greater than twenty B-tier monsters. Rare to find."

Killian froze. Then snapped head towards the tree. Why didn’t the Void just state that incredible piece of information first?

These types of things, Sound Bead and ambient treasures, were mostly luck-based finds. Missing one could be stupid.

Ahead, he heard Kia calling out a skill. ’They have already been spotted.’ He immediately broke into a run towards the girls, a ball of fire gathering in his hands.

"Trees don’t move so I’d come back for it."

There was an uncertain feeling he had after he said that, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.

’There is no way trees can move. Ambient mana or not.’

A growl snapped his thoughts back to the present and he relaxed the fireball without locking his eyes on the animal.

"Shit," he watched the attack hit the ground, sending dust to the air.

Kia’s mist had covered their surroundings, and unlike before, he couldn’t feel their presence nor hear any sound within the Mist.

He lit up his fingers with flames that could act as a beam for the girls to move closer to him. Something marched out from the Mist.

The beast came to view, black sleek frame with pulsing muscles underneath, and weighing twice Killian’s bodyweight.

It was a regular-sized black panther but there was something more primal in its eyes, and the pressure was very different than the tree-climbing ones from his region.

Its bright emerald green eyes locked on him, and it bared its teeth. Killian narrowed his eyes at it, taking notes of how its feet tapped the ground softly as it walked.

Either it wasn’t in a hurry, or it was a biological advantage for its food-hunting. The beast was clearly built to hunt things stronger than itself.

’Well, I am not about to be food for panthers.’

Killian looked around the mist-covered area. "Hiding behind the mist won’t kill the beast. This is your training, you know?"

"B-But... that is a sacred beast?"

Killian blinked once, before angling his head upwards. He found Jane and Kia, wearing their red professional Warden uniforms, hugging slender trees with a pale expressions.

He would’ve laughed if it didn’t look so ridiculous.

"Sacred beasts are animals from your region. This one is just a beast from a—"

The panther lunged at him.

Killian clicked his tongue and slammed his leg into its face hard enough to leave his shoe print behind.

Flames exploded around his leg immediately, spreading over the beast’s fur and blasting it away.

The panther was smart and rolled across the ground, before rolling itself violently against the dirt to put out the fire.

Then it disappeared back into the mist. Its movement was hard to notice, and even the sounds from an agonizing beast were unheard.

"I-I should undo my skill." Kia said, sliding down the tree. "It hides all sounds and smells so this would be even harder—"

Jane suddenly jumped down the tree, not landing properly. She pushed Kia away just in time. "Blast away!"

The sound wave narrowly shot the panther forward, crashing it on a rock. It recovered easily but hurried away from the girls when Killian closed the distance.

Kia said some words and the mist rushed back into her body. She offered her shoulders to Jane who rested on her. The two girls turned to Killian with pleading expressions.

He sighed. "This is your training," he repeated as if it would change their faces.

"But I will make sure none of you get hurt. Let’s aim to kill at least one."

He was here to have the rest of the kill, and then make time for the unplanned consumption of the tree.

Jane stood on her own, after placing a healing strip on her leg and feeling relief. "You cover, then I attack," she told Kia.

Killian nodded. "Then I handle any of your miscalculations," He clapped once and agility returned to the girls. They dispersed, chasing after the retreating beast. "Be focused. It might not be alone, understood?"

"Seq!" they answered in unison.

Killian raised a brow, but shook it off. ’Seq, it is.’

Another beast lunged from a large boulder by their side, above the area covered by Kia’s Mist. While Killian stopped, keeping a ball of fire ready in his palms.

Jane noticed it first, and her feet slid to a stop.