Chapter 104: The Distress Signal

Looking at the flock of birds fighting among themselves, Chris smiled and pointed at them.

"Azreon, your turn!"

*ROAR!*

Azreon quickly flapped his wings and charged toward the flock. He opened his mouth and released a concentrated stream of fire in their direction.

Screeching sounds echoed through the surroundings. The birds were too busy fighting among themselves to even notice the incoming danger.

Wherever the stream of fire passed, only ashes remained, which were quickly scattered by the wind. In less than a few minutes, there wasn’t a single bird left alive.

"Now that’s what I call easy prey!" Chris exclaimed in surprise before looking at Amara. "You have some very useful abilities."

"Hmph." Amara simply turned her head to the side, but Chris could still see a small smile at the corner of her lips.

He smiled and shook his head, wondering if this woman actually had some kind of problem with her personality.

However, before he could think any further, he suddenly felt something soft enveloping him from both sides, catching him off guard.

’What the...’

Looking around, he finally realized what was happening. Astra and Stella had hugged him tightly from both sides, making him feel a strange yet soft sensation.

"What in the world are you two doing?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Big bad man! We did it!" Astra yelled excitedly.

"Yes! Yes!" Stella added.

"You did what?" He didn’t understand.

"We leveled up!" Astra yelled into his ear, making him squint.

"Yesss! We reached our evolution!" Stella yelled into his other ear.

A vein bulged on Chris’s forehead before he spread his arms wide.

In the next moment, he brought his hands down directly onto their asses.

*Slap!* *Slap!*

"AAAAH!" Astra yelled in pain as she jumped back.

"UGHH!" Stella did the same, angrily looking at Chris. "Big bad man! What was that for?!"

"That was for yelling into my ears!" Chris replied with annoyance before taking a step toward them and raising his hands.

"W-w-what do you want?! I’m warning you, we’re stronger now!" Astra hugged Stella in fright as she looked at the approaching Chris.

"S-stay away, big bad man!" Stella hugged Astra back, equally frightened.

They both squinted their eyes, not daring to look at him.

Chris smiled wryly as he gently patted their heads, stunning them.

"Congratulations on your progress." He smiled gently. "I’m proud of you."

Their eyes widened as they looked at him, unable to react. They weren’t used to him being so gentle.

"You’re proud of us?" Astra smiled excitedly, but then her expression changed. "Proud?" she muttered to herself.

Stella’s expression also became strange. "Hmm... Proud? Like an elder or a father?"

They looked at each other, their eyes widening as if they had just realized something.

In the next moment, they both grabbed Chris’s hands and pulled them away from their heads.

"No! You’re not allowed to be proud of us!" Astra yelled.

"Never! Impossible!" Stella shook her head repeatedly.

"What are you two even talking about?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"When someone says they’re proud of someone, it’s usually an elder praising their younger ones or parents praising their children," Astra explained. "Don’t you ever expect to be our elder!"

Stella nodded along repeatedly.

"Have your brains completely melted? A friend can also be proud of you! What’s so wrong about that?"

"Really?" Astra widened her eyes.

"Yes." Chris nodded. "Actually, whatever. I can’t be bothered..."

He was about to turn around, but the twins suddenly caught both of his hands and placed them back on their heads.

"What the..." He hadn’t expected that at all.

"Hehehe. Big bad man, it’s okay... We’ll allow you to be proud of us!" Stella said, giggling happily.

"Yes, yes!" Astra added.

Chris felt like his brain cells were dying rapidly every time he interacted with the twins.

In the end, he could only sigh. There wasn’t much he could do about it anyway.

They continued their hunt through the forest. Each time they came across a strong pack of beasts, Chris would directly command Azreon to attack them, much to the twins’ displeasure.

They wanted to train, fight more beasts, and receive more praise, but Chris no longer allowed them to do so.

Their experience boost wouldn’t last forever, and it was best not to waste time while it was still active.

Over the next few hours, their hunt proved quite rewarding, as everyone managed to increase their levels.

...

*Buzzzz!* *Buzzzz!*

A buzzing noise suddenly sounded, and Amara pulled her tracking device out of her pocket to examine it.

Chris was just about to ask what was wrong when he felt his own device vibrating in his pocket.

Raising an eyebrow, he took it out and looked at the screen.

Another red dot had appeared on the radar map, pulsing repeatedly.

"What’s this?" Chris asked as he looked at Amara.

"It’s a distress signal. Someone is in danger," she said with a serious expression.

"Distress signal? These devices have such a feature?" He was surprised.

"Usually, they don’t." Amara shook her head. "After what happened in Narta, we started making plans to keep the youngsters safe. All the veteran soldiers in the dungeon have devices that allow them to see distress signals so they can assist whenever someone is in danger."

Chris nodded in understanding before examining the tracking device again. The signal was coming from quite a distance away.

After determining its direction, he pointed ahead.

"Azreon, that way!"

*ROAR!*

Azreon quickly increased his speed until the forest below them started to blur.

...

Some time earlier, a great distance away from Chris.

"Shit, shit, shit!" A young man yelled as he held his sword tightly, staring at the lizard beasts in front of him.

"Marc! You idiot! Why did you have to anger them?! How are we supposed to deal with this?" A girl beside him yelled angrily while releasing an arrow from her bow.

"I... I didn’t know, Sophie! Who would have expected there to be so many of them nearby?" the man yelled back in frustration.

"You should have investigated first!"

"Guys, there’s no use arguing right now. Let’s deal with this first," another girl said from the side, holding a magic staff and casting spells to slow down the beasts.

"Minerva, don’t try to protect this annoying guy!" Sophie yelled at her. "He’s the reason we’re in such a mess!"

"I’m not protecting him! I’m only telling you to focus on the fight! We can argue later!" Minerva yelled as she cast another spell.

"Ben! Do something about this!" Marc turned toward the shorter young man standing beside them. "You’re a beast tamer, aren’t you?! Can’t you talk to the beasts or something?"

"W-w-what do you expect me to do? I can only tame weak, non-aggressive beasts," the timid young man replied in fright.

"Tsk... You beast tamers are useless!" Marc yelled as he slashed his sword at an incoming lizard. "And where is our protector? Shouldn’t he be protecting us?"

"The protectors will only intervene if our lives are in danger! Don’t you know that?" Sophie yelled back angrily as she released another arrow, killing a lizard.

Suddenly, something on the side caught Marc’s attention. He quickly looked over and saw another lizard descending from a tree right next to him, while one more was rushing toward him from the front.

"Fuck this!"

Marc quickly turned around, grabbed the timid young man, Ben, who was standing beside him, and threw him directly at the lizard rushing toward him.

He then turned to the side and slashed at the lizard descending from the tree.

"AAAAAH!" Ben yelled in fear as the lizard jumped on him.

"Marc?! How could you do that?!" Sophie yelled as she drew an arrow, intending to defend Ben, but her expression quickly changed. She knew she was too late.

Just as the lizard was about to bite down on Ben, a blurry figure appeared between them.

*Slash!*

The lizard’s body was instantly cut in two.

They all looked up to see an armed soldier in uniform standing next to Ben.

"Fucking finally!" Marc yelled. "Where were you earlier?" He angrily glared at the soldier.

The soldier looked at him without showing any expression. "Do you realize that what you just did was a crime?"

Marc displayed an annoyed expression as he chuckled. "Crime? What crime? I’m a member of a noble family in the capital, while this stupid guy is just a poor nobody. Not to mention, he’s just a useless beast tamer. I might as well put him out of his misery."

"Marc! Are you out of your mind?!" Sophie was visibly angered by his words and actions, but before she could say anything else—

"You’re annoying!" Marc yelled at her, cutting her off. "Do you know that just one word from me to my father would be enough to have all your family’s business cut off?"

Sophie’s eyes widened for a moment before she became even more enraged. "You actually dare to threaten me with that?"

She drew another arrow and pointed it at Marc. "Fine! Let’s see how you handle this!"

Marc’s eyes widened in rage, but before he could say anything, the soldier suddenly appeared beside Sophie and grabbed her arm.

"Attacking your own allies in the dungeon is strictly forbidden. If you do this, you’ll have to suffer the consequences," he said.

"But he already attacked his ally just now! Didn’t you see?!" Sophie yelled at him, filled with resentment.

"I saw." The soldier nodded. "And I will report it to the higher-ups. Now, don’t make the same mistake he did."

"Report me?" Marc smirked. "Go ahead and do that. Let’s see what happens. Just one word from my father and everything will be fine."

"Uhm... guys... I think we have bigger problems to deal with," Minerva suddenly said as she looked toward the forest ahead.

They all turned toward her before following her gaze. In the next moment, their eyes widened.

What they saw were dozens of lizards scattered across the ground and even among the trees.

The soldier quickly pulled a device out of his pocket before tapping on it. "I sent a signal. We must endure until the backup arrives."

"E-endure?! How are we supposed to endure this?" Sophie yelled.

*Woosh!* *Woosh!* *Woosh!* *Woosh!*

Suddenly, four more figures appeared in front of them, all wearing military uniforms.

Their eyes instantly lit up at the sight.

Sophie released a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

One of the soldiers turned toward their guardian. "You’re quite lucky. We came across you by chance, even before you sent the distress signal."

Their guardian nodded. "That’s good. I don’t think we would have made it if we had to wait any longer."

"This is not good." However, one of the soldiers suddenly spoke up, drawing everyone’s attention. His eyes were shining with a strange light.

"What’s the problem?"

"There are hundreds of them... Everywhere around us. We’re completely surrounded."

"What did you say?! Hundreds?"

"Many are hiding in the trees. There’s no doubt that there are hundreds." He nodded with a serious expression.

"Red alert! Quickly, send a signal!"

The soldier who had discovered the beasts using his eye technique pulled a device out of his pocket and tapped on it.

"It’s done. We can only wait for now."

"Wait?!" Marc suddenly yelled from behind. "Even if more soldiers come, what’s the use? How can we possibly fight hundreds of them?"

"Stay silent, boy!" Their guardian suddenly turned toward him, making him flinch.

"Here they come!" The soldier at the front yelled, raising his sword.

The lizards had already started running toward them.

Dozens of lizards attacked at the same time from the front.

One of the soldiers rushed forward and swung his sword horizontally, splitting multiple lizards with a single slash.

Another raised a staff and sent lightning strikes toward the beasts, killing several with each strike.

"Behind us!" the one with glowing eyes suddenly yelled.

The other two soldiers quickly jumped back to shield the group just as another wave of lizards rushed toward them.

"There is no end to them!" Sophie stared in disbelief as more and more lizards came rushing out from the surrounding trees.