My Unique Adaptation Skill in Another world-Chapter 8 - 7: Intrusion

Leo stayed where he was, making sure nothing revealed his presence, at this point he’d learn to be practically invisible.

Aura seal tightly shut, breathing controlled and shallow, every step blended fully into the environment, like an experienced assassin but the had just been fruits of his adaptation, neither the beings of the forest or the new comers would ever be aware of his presence.

They new hunters came in loud.

Boots crushed undergrowth without hesitation, voices carried freely, bouncing between tree trunks, laughter followed them in, careless and unafraid, cutting through the stillness Leo had grown used to.

Their auras were exposed, bright, layered over one another. Normally this would be somewhat wise as a way of deterring wild attacks, but here it only called attention to them.

They were Mixed races, eight of them, they looked comfortable, like they had intentionally walked into the hell Leo had been surviving.

Leo watched in disbelief, behind some overgrowth.

"Why would anyone knowingly walk in here" he asked himself, puzzled.

They talked casually as they walked.

"...last day already," one of them said. "Most people should be back by now."

"Good, seems like winning is going to be easy."

Another laughed. "One good kill and we’re set. Artifact costs, festival rewards, everything covered."

"You are only just looking forward to the ladies when we win this thing, aren’t you?" Another said to the second one playfully

" What can I say?"

They laughed as they made their way deeper, already counting their winnings.

"So it has just been 3 days..." Leo thought to himself, half amused.

A strange, brittle relief flickered through him.

"...but that means I still have a chance, I don’t need to win."

The thought came unbidden, almost desperate.

"I just need to leave this forsaken side of the forest."

Even something small. Anything he could drag back and throw down as proof, that was enough. He didn’t care about glory anymore, nor did the challenge given by the pale Oni even cross his mind.

He just wanted out.

The group stopped in a clearing not far from where Leo hid. They moved with practiced ease, splitting into pairs. Packs were opened. Objects were taken out; metallic, angular, etched with unfamiliar markings.

These were magical artifacts.

Leo watched with intense curiosity.

They planted the first one into the ground, twisting it until it locked in place, the air around it shuddered faintly, a semi visible ripple could be seen going through the air.

A second followed. Then a third, spaced carefully apart, these were mana destabilizers.

Leo didn’t know the details, but he felt the effects. The mana around them hadn’t weaken though, It stayed thick, thicker than before, instead of dispersing, it seemed to have gathered in place, heavy enough that the pressure was visible

One of the hunters frowned.

"Distance feels off," he said. "This zone’s thick. Might not—"

"We’re fine," another cut in. "It’ll weaken anything that comes through. Same as always."

They buried smaller devices next, mines, by the look of them. Leo felt faint pulses from each one as they were armed.

Leo could feel the disruption it all caused and knew something bad was about to happen, all the more reason to escape as soon as he could.

After they finished planting the last of their devices, the hunters gathered the remaining gear and moved inward, toward the center of the cleared area.

A large tent was raised with practiced speed, reinforced poles driven deep, weighted lines anchored tight.

Leo watched from the brush as they disappeared inside, one by one.

Then voices followed.

Leo circled wide, slow, keeping low. He approached the tent, heart steady, and by the time he reached the rear of the tent, the voices were clear enough to understand.

The leader was speaking.

They would scout in pairs, lay sensor lines beyond the perimeter, anything large enough to trigger them would be marked, tracked, and nudged inward.

The destabilized zone was the kill field. Once the beast crossed into it, its mana output would drop, its reactions slow, its abilities weaken, then they would force it onto the mines, it sounded easy enough.

They talked about timing, spacing, making sure no one stood too close when the charges would go off.

The leader reminded them not to get greedy, not to chase if the first strike didn’t finish it, and to let the tools do the work.

After the kill, take the kill, pack fast, and leave, the wayfinders; the leader held up a metal pole with a strange design and a gem stone on top, would take them straight through the fog.

Those final words came to Leo like a miracle.

Wayfinders.

A way out.

For a moment, he forgot where he was, he let out a small sound in his excitement.

The voices inside stopped.

The leader stepped out.

Leo pressed himself flat against the ground, muscles locked, having swiftly moved away from the tent.

The man didn’t rush. He walked the perimeter once, eyes scanning, aura flaring just enough to feel for disturbances. The pressure rolled over Leo, passed, then faded.

Nothing.

After a long moment, the leader turned back toward the tent.

"Must have been the wind," someone inside muttered.

"Still," the leader replied, stepping back in, "keep the sensors tight."

The tent closed.

The voices returned, lighter now, there was talk of food, and how easy the hunt would be, and what they’d do once they were back.

Leo stayed where he was long after they settled. The excitement that had sparked hope in his chest.

Finally there was a way out.

When they had readied to get the hunting going, that’s when something walked into the clearing.

It was a huge lynx, its shoulders rose well above Leo’s head, closer to two and a half meters high, the body easily five to six meters from nose to tail, the claws were longer than Leo’s forearm, slightly curved.

Its shoulders rolled as it moved, muscles shifting under white fur threaded faintly with dark lines. Its steps were measured, deliberate, claws pressing into the soil without sound. Its eyes reflected dim light like glass.

It had come on its own.

The hunters froze for half a heartbeat, then grinned.

"Looks alive boys, it came to us on its own."

Weapons came up, their formations tightened, they were confident and fully focused on the beast.

Leo could feel that things might not go as the hunters had thought it would.

The lynx paused at the edge of the destabilizer’s range. Its body twitched, as if reacting to something unpleasant. Lightning crawled briefly along its fur, then faded, uneven.

"See?" someone said. "Already working."

The hunters acted as planned, now even more confident in their preparation.

That’s when it happened.

The first explosion came earlier and bigger than anticipated.

A mine had detonated with a force that buckled the ground, throwing dirt and fragments of root high into the air.

The blast was wider than it should have been. Mana flared violently, pressure rippling outward.

Shouts followed, then confusion, orders were being given but the formation had been broken.

The lynx moved fast especially for its size, it crossed distance in a blur, faster than the eye could track.

A hunter screamed then, cut off abruptly as claws punched through armor and flesh alike, the lynx had taken damage but was still in pursuit.

Luring it towards another mine, another blast went off, closer this time, throwing bodies aside like debris.

Lightning sparked wildly around the injured beast, unstable, snapping and recoiling as if restrained.

The destabilizer was working but only barely.

Leo watched, heart hammering, as the fight and plan collapsed into chaos. Hunters fell too fast, coordination broke lost, a hunter tried to retreat, lightning caught him mid-step, slamming him into a tree.

Then the pressure changed, the air thickened suddenly, violently, which pricked at Leo’s skin.

Then the lynx reared back and roared, and lightning fell down.

Not a single strike, but a surge. Bolts hammered down from the darkened canopy above, converging in a brutal radius around the beast, the ground lit up white, shockwaves rippled outward.

When Leo’s vision cleared, more than half the hunters were gone, the leader barely survived the blast, shielding himself with dense aura.

Silence followed, broken only by crackling energy and the lynx’s heavy breathing.

But Leo wasn’t going to wait to find out what happened next.

While the beast turned back toward the clearing, still on the offensive against the remaining survivors, especially against the Leader of the group who was the only person able to put up a fight, which wasn’t shocking as he was a three star aura user.

Leo moved low, fast, and careful. He slipped toward the camp, fingers numb, mind racing.

"Just grab something, anything." He told himself.

His hands digging through packs, artifacts, tools, he barely looked at what he took, stuffing whatever felt important into his own pack.

His chest hurt from the anticipation of freedom and the possibility of death, he was about to move towards the direction of the fog, sneakily just like always.

Then the pressure came back, stronger, freezing Leo in place.

He felt it before he saw it; the lynx turning, attention snapping toward him like a blade locking into place. Its eyes met his from across the clearing.

To it, Leo was no different from the others, intruders in it’s territory that it had to get rid off.

Leo straightened slowly, his legs trembled, his body felt hollowed out, scraped raw by days of fear and exhaustion.

But then he started laughing, not out bravery or because he had the strength to really fight, but because he was tired, he had done everything he could to survive, he had tried his best, even if the entire situation seemed over his head, he had really put in the effort, but here was faced with death again, this time with no way out.

"Even if I’m going to die, then I sure as hell I’m not going to make it easy for you" he thought to himself.

His eyes narrowed and sharp, dropped his pack, loosened his aura which flared up violently, like a dam being open, it had grown to that of a three star.

Strength returned to his body, more than before, but his fatigue and hunger had not disappeared, that didn’t matter though.

The lynx lowered itself, muscles coiling, lightning crawling along its frame once more.

They faced each other in the ruined clearing.

And Leo understood, with cold clarity, that if he wanted to live, there was only one way forward.