Chapter 79: The Kill Stealers
There were sounds coming from every part of the forest.
Team Soup moved through the undergrowth in a tight formation. Emric took point with his shield raised, scanning left and right. Renna covered the rear, her bow ready. Lyra and Holden flanked the middle, watching for threats from above and the sides.
They’d been tracking the Iron-Horned Rhino for twenty minutes.
"Fresh tracks," Emric whispered, crouching near a patch of torn earth. "The depth of the holes suggests the beast weighs about eight hundred pounds. From the look of its stride, it was moving at a full charge. We’re closing the gap."
Renna peeked over his shoulder. "Those tracks are huge. Is that normal for an Iron-Horned Rhino?"
"Iron-Horned Rhinos at nine stars typically weigh between seven and nine hundred pounds," Emric confirmed. "This specimen appears to be at the upper range."
"Great. A big one."
"More points," Lyra said calmly. "Stay focused."
They followed the tracks through a dense section of forest, pushing through thick bushes and stepping over rotting logs.
Holden held up a fist. Everyone stopped.
He pointed through a gap in the foliage.
There it was.
The Iron-Horned Rhino stood in a small clearing, grazing on thick bushes. It was a massive creature, easily the size of a small truck. Its hide was a dark grey-brown, tough and leathery. Its most noticeable part was the horn on its nose. It was a huge spike of bone, gleaming like polished metal.
"Rank 1, nine-star," Lyra confirmed quietly. "Excellent specimen."
"Same plan as the quarry," Holden murmured. "Emric takes the charge. Lyra locks the legs. Renna, flash-arrow to the eyes. I finish it."
"Got it," Renna whispered, already reaching for a flash-arrow.
"Ready," Emric said, adjusting his shield angle.
"Prepared," Lyra agreed.
Holden counted down with his fingers.
Three.
Two.
One.
"NOW!"
Emric burst from the trees, shield forward, screaming as loud as he could. The rhino looked up immediately, Its eyes locked on the charging human. It lowered its horn and charged.
The ground shook.
Emric braced. The rhino hit his shield like a freight train.
Thwack!
The kinetic-absorption runes blazed blue. The impact force vanished into the shield’s matrix. Emric didn’t budge an inch.
"Freeze!" Lyra called out.
Frost raced across the ground and locked the rhino’s front legs in solid ice. The creature stumbled, its legs stuck to the ground.
"Flash!"
Renna fired a perfect shot. The arrow exploded right on the rhino’s face, making a blinding flash of light. The beast roared, thrashing blindly, its horn slashing through the air without direction.
Holden moved.
With a thought, his Star-forged sword appeared in his grip. He stepped inside the thrashing range, found the gap between the horn and the thick neck, and struck.
Swish.
The blade cut deep. The rhino froze mid-thrash. Then it crashed forward, dead before it hit the ground.
Thud!
Then Renna screamed.
"YES! That was perfect! Did you see that? Emric didn’t even move when it hit him! And my arrow hit exactly where I aimed! And Lyra’s ice was so fast it didn’t even have time to react! And Holden just..."
She was bouncing, unable to finish the sentence.
Emric lowered his shield, breathing slightly harder than usual but grinning. "The absorption efficiency exceeded my projections. I felt less than ten percent of the impact force. This shield is remarkable."
Lyra walked over to the carcass, examining the kill. " That was a clean kill. There’s almost no damage to the core cavity. Maeve will be pleased."
Holden wiped his blade clean. "Nice work, everyone. Let’s harvest the..."
"Stop right there."
A voice cut through the forest from the treeline.
Five figures stepped out of the bushes. Freshmen, all of them. They wore expensive gear, clearly purchased with family money rather than earned through combat. Their leader was a thin boy with sharp features and an expression of permanent superiority.
"That rhino belongs to us," the boy announced. "We’ve been tracking it for over an hour."
Holden looked at the dead rhino. Then at the boy. Then back at the rhino.
"Pretty sure it belongs to us. We killed it."
"You killed it after we drove it into this area." The boy stepped forward, flanked by his squad. "My name is Henry Vance. I suggest you step aside and hand over the core. Unless you’d like to fight for it."
Renna’s jaw dropped. "Are you serious right now? We literally just killed it! You watched us kill it!"
Henry didn’t look at her. His eyes stayed on Holden. "I don’t talk to commoners. This is between me and your leader."
Holden dismissed his sword, and it disappeared into his inventory.
He walked over to the dead rhino and casually leaned against its massive side. He looked Henry up and down slowly, taking in the shiny armor, the polished weapon, the perfectly styled hair.
"Henry Vance," he said. "Interesting. Did your mommy polish that armor for you, or did you pay someone to make it that shiny?"
Henry’s face flushed red. "What did you say?"
"I’m genuinely curious. Because the armor looks brand new. No scratches. No dents. No signs of actual combat." Holden tilted his head. "Which means you’ve been out here for hours and haven’t fought anything. You’ve just been walking around looking for someone else’s kill to steal."
"We tracked that rhino!"
"Sure you did. That’s why you were hiding in bushes watching instead of fighting."
Henry’s hand dropped to his sword. "You dare insult House Vance? I’ll have you..."
"You’ll have me what?" Holden’s smile didn’t waver. "Fight you? In front of witnesses? After you just admitted to trying to steal a kill from another team? The instructors would love that report."
The other four members of Henry’s squad shifted uncomfortably. This wasn’t going how their leader had promised.
Holden pushed off the rhino and took one step forward.
The smile vanished.
He released just a small burst of his aura, but it felt lethal. The air between them seemed to sharpen. The forest went quiet. Even the insects stopped making noise.
Henry’s hand froze on his sword hilt.
His face went from red to white in half a second. Every nerve in his body was telling him the same thing.
If you take one more step, you will die.
"I... we were just leaving," Henry stammered.
"Good idea."
The Vance squad retreated backward, eyes locked on Holden. They kept moving until they hit the treeline, then turned and ran. Crashing sounds faded into the distance.
Renna let out a breath she’d been holding. "That was incredible. The way you just... he was so scared!"
"His instincts are better than his judgment," Holden said, the smile returning. "He knew he couldn’t win."
Lyra raised an eyebrow. "That aura you used. That wasn’t Rank 1."
Holden shrugged. "Must have been the excitement."
She didn’t push it.
Emric crouched beside the rhino and began the careful process of extracting the core. "The core appears to be in excellent condition. Approximately nine-star quality. This should provide substantial survival points."
[Ding!]
[Rank 1 (9-Star) Iron-Horned Rhino Defeated!]
[Base Reward: 100 KP]
[2x KP Booster Applied!]
[Total: +200 KP]
[Current Balance: 33,790 KP]
Holden dismissed the notification and knelt to help Emric with the extraction.
"First kill of the expedition," he said. "Not bad for day one."