Perhaps the food they brought was too enticing, or perhaps they had ventured too deep into the forest. As the group rested under the shade of a tree, a series of snorting and grunting sounds came from the bushes in the distance, growing steadily closer.

Such undisguised movement noises were naturally detected by the five of them. They stood up and quickly discovered that what had emerged from the woods was a grayish-brown wild boar.

"Probably around 400 jin," Mick licked his lips, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

"I'll handle it," he said, stopping Karen and Sylutia who were preparing to shoot their arrows.

"Alright," Sylutia lowered her longbow.

Having received permission and approval, Mick gripped his sword and crept out low to the ground, careful not to startle the boar prematurely.

Soon, under the watchful eyes of the group, Mick approached the wild boar. He then suddenly leaped into the air, using several tree trunks as stepping points to propel himself forward. He avoided the complex, rugged stones and branches below and lunged straight at the boar with his sword.

Startled, the wild boar panicked and tried to turn around to flee, but its legs slipped, preventing an immediate adjustment. Instead, it stumbled on the ground, losing its balance.

Seizing this perfect opportunity, Mick thrust his sword diagonally into the side of the boar's neck, piercing directly through its windpipe.

"It won't get far," Mick said, quickly giving chase, with the others following closely behind.

The group followed this tenaciously resilient wild boar, weaving through the forest. By the time it finally collapsed from exhaustion, over ten minutes had passed.

"Whew, this guy is finally dead," Komea expressed that hunting was just too tiring.

"Such a large wild boar, how are we going to get it back?" Sylutia lightly pressed her finger to her chin, finding it a tricky problem.

"Looks like Mick and Ray will have to drag it," Karen thought for a moment.

"Probably need to pad something underneath to reduce friction," she added, now having learned quite a bit of basic physics knowledge.

The group walked towards the dead boar, preparing to process their prey.

"Wait," Sylutia suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong, Tia?" Komea asked, puzzled.

"The situation isn't good," the girl in the black hunting miniskirt gripped her longbow, her gaze fixed on one side of the forest.

Sure enough, not long after she spoke, the sound of heavy running footsteps came, accompanied by the noise of trees being crushed and broken.

"What is that?" Karen also noticed the abnormality.

"Let's go!" Sylutia urged everyone to leave quickly.

Everyone knew the situation was bad and began to evacuate. Unfortunately, before they could run far, a giant wild boar burst out of the woods, appearing in their line of sight.

This enormous wild boar had coarse, dense bristles and stood as tall as an elephant in Sylutia's memory, probably weighing several tons. It had two long tusks protruding, covered in mud and grass debris. With simple shakes of its head, it snapped trees along its path and overturned stones.

Upon discovering the dead 'small' wild boar in the forest, the giant boar's eyes turned red. It let out a low roar, and billowing hot air overflowed from its mouth, like a steam whistle.

"Oh no, that boar we killed earlier might have been its baby," Komea said with a sob in her voice.

"A 400 jin baby is indeed quite small," Mick quipped.

"It's useless to say that now. I killed the boar, I'll lure it away. You all run quickly."

"Don't! It's too dangerous for you alone. This is a fanged beast with a condensed Aspect," Karen stopped him.

Fanged Beast; if a wild beast condenses a First-Tier Aspect, it is called a fanged beast. This is because such beasts often possess powerful tusks or fangs.

——

Species: Wild Boar (Mutated)

Status: Healthy (Enraged)

Talents:

-Thick Hide [Good Grade]: Tough, thick hide that can be coated with pine resin or mud to further enhance defense. A common talent among porcine creatures.

Fate Card: [Giant Wild Boar] (First Tier · Beast Fang)

'A beast of the mountains, under an unexpected opportunity, awakens the power of the Aspect within its body, growing bit by bit until it completely transforms, becoming a fanged beast.'

-Effect [Burly Physique Lv.2]: The Aspect power of 'Beast Fang' awakens within the body, comprehensively enhancing bone strength and muscle power, allowing it to support a powerful physique. This brute strength is the lingering radiance of the former overlords of the earth.

Ability Cards:

-[Long Tusks Lv.3] (Beast Fang): Possesses powerful long tusks far surpassing those of ordinary beasts, capable of snapping trees and rivaling giant rocks. They can spontaneously harden and recover. (Most beast-type creatures acquire abilities related to teeth/horns/claws, stemming from the innate 'Beast Fang' Aspect instinct flowing in their bloodline.)

-[Bristle Thick Hide Lv.3] (Beast Fang): An instinct awakened from the porcine bloodline, greatly enhancing the toughness and defensive power of the epidermis, making it sufficient to withstand crossbow bolts and fear no slashes from ordinary swords.

——

Although both this creature and the Red Wolf Sylutia had seen before were First Tier beasts, she clearly felt that this giant wild boar before her was much more terrifying, especially its mountain-like figure. When this boar started running, the ground beneath her feet trembled and shook.

This is troublesome, the girl murmured inwardly. She had wanted to find an opponent to practice against, but this boar was clearly beyond the syllabus. She suspected the short sword at her waist simply couldn't pierce its defense and would be easily snapped by this boar like a matchstick.

"*Snort Grunt—*"

The giant boar exerted force. Its front hooves, thicker than Sylutia's entire body, dug into the ground as it advanced like a towering mountain, crashing through various obstructing trees along the way.

The five had no choice but to hastily evade, getting out of its charge path and running back the way they came.

The good news was that they were indeed faster than the boar. The bad news was, not by much.

Its relentless boar charge gave the group no chance to catch their breath or rest.

Sylutia, now also holding her longbow, nimbly weaved through the forest, constantly thinking of countermeasures in her mind.

To be honest, they currently had no power to confront this giant boar head-on. Their options were either to find an opportunity to completely escape, or to continuously seek openings and weaknesses to injure the boar.

Its thick hide could deflect the vast majority of attacks. Their only chance was the giant boar's eyes, but hitting the boar's eyes while it was moving rapidly wouldn't be easy. Furthermore, ordinary arrows might not necessarily kill it.

Perhaps sensing that continuing to run like this would lead to disaster sooner or later, Mick suddenly broke away mid-run. He threw some loose stones he had at hand, trying to lure the giant boar in another direction.

"Get out of here, now!" Among the group, Komea was almost unable to run anymore, currently relying entirely on Karen pulling her along to not fall behind.

Karen had no time to thank him for this. She nodded at Mick as he passed by, then pulled Komea along and struggled to get away.

On the other side, Ray was also having an exceptionally difficult time running. His large build and considerable weight naturally made him less agile than the girls, especially on complex mountain paths. If Mick hadn't diverted the giant boar's attention now, he might have been the first one attacked by the boar – for no other reason than his large size making him too conspicuous.

Gasping for breath, Ray knew staying behind wouldn't accomplish anything, so he could only snort and grunt as he ran forward.

Finally, the only one with any energy left to assist Mick was Sylutia. She no longer concealed her ability to use the Breathing Technique. Her feet lightly leaped over stones, the rhythm flowing through her blood, an invisible power surging throughout her body, granting her strength and speed far beyond her usual capabilities.

Then, this young girl kicked off a tree trunk to leap up, landed on an airborne branch, and jumped a second time, until her light body reached the upper canopy.

This height was sufficient to avoid the giant boar's attacks. Now she finally had the opportunity to draw her bow and shoot.