The Guardian

Chapter 50: Limits

-Backing up-

Aurora, Nicole, and Leslie stepped out of the portal and came to a wooded savanna.

Yellowish grass covered the entire area, but in this spot were several dry trees with a few leaves in their tops.

They were scattered, but many.

“The miombo wooded savannah?” Leslie hesitated as she looked around while holding her gun ready in her hands.

Nicole observed her surroundings, alert to any eventuality and at the same time nodding at Leslie’s words.

The miombo wooded savannah was characterized by the presence of a genus of trees whose species grew in semi-arid regions.

“Yes, in this region we have our search and eliminate mission,” Aurora said with simplicity, and looking at the surroundings, she expounded. “This mission is troublesome, but at the same time easy.”

Pausing to observe the students, she continued.

“Problematic, because we may encounter wild creatures in our search and easy, because we simply have to eliminate a single creature,” Aurora commented and opening her holographic watch, she reported. “Our target is a black-skinned leopard. Or better defined as a ‘black panther’, it is a B-rank magical beast. It attacked a nearby village last night and while there was no loss of life, some local warriors were injured.”

Hiding her smile as she observed that the students were attentive to the mission report, she continued.

“Magical beasts are intelligent and with many of them we have treaties, but once they cause harm in our lands or to our people, they must be eliminated, just as magical beasts do to poachers.” Aurora stated with a severe tone and giving a signal for them to follow her, she ordered. “Leslie activate your sensors and be careful of our surroundings. Don’t forget that we are in a wilderness and magical beasts are not our only enemies.”

Hearing those words, Leslie, wearing her battle suit, checked her sensors again and left it on maximum warning.

Beasts, monsters, or magical creatures were certainly not their only ‘enemies.’

In this area where normal animals such as lions, leopards, hyenas, or jackals were found was also an area that normal humans would not traverse without a professional guide.

These non-magical predators could be defeated with relative ease, but if caught in ambush, they could cause a few injuries.

With Aurora in the lead, the group advanced deeper into the area.

Leslie, through her helmet AI, was being briefed on the status of the mission.

During the attack in the village, the panther fled when it could not hunt its prey, and a drone followed it to this area.

The scout drone had to descend because of the trees and because the creature seemed to have a rare affinity for darkness magic which allowed it to hide, but when it descended far enough, the drone was shot down.

That made several things clear.

That the black panther was intelligent enough to know to take out the drone and that it was an extremely dangerous B-Rank creature because of its darkness magic.

As they walked along, following the path to where the downed drone was located, Aurora raised her hand to stop them.

As she did so, a snake that hid in the green tops of one of the trees jumped towards Aurora.

Leslie and Érica, who saw the snake slither through the air with their quick reflexes, couldn’t help but shiver, but before they could react, Aurora caught it by the head.

“Well, these little guys are our hidden enemies,” Aurora muttered, holding the snake by its head as its tail flailed everywhere, unable to bite its prey.

Showing how it wriggled to the group, she gave a smile.

“Normally a fighter or mechanic can slay a lion, but these little guys with their venom can cause serious problems to B Ranks and be deadly to C Ranks if not treated with care,” Aurora reported, and looking at the grassy green snake, she clarified. “This ‘oriental green mamba’ is not too deadly because of our strong bodies, but for normal humans, it would be a great pain.”

Nicole shivered at those words; she could have reacted just as quickly, but watching the snake flail around while her head was trapped was undoubtedly unpleasant.

Leslie secretly activated her barrier, trying to avoid these quick attacks.

Unlike Nicole, she was not a fighter and had no magical energy, they were ‘mechanical’, and while she had superior strength to those of an average human, she relied on external equipment for performance.

Aurora released the snake far away, and it fled with deft movements.

“The eastern green mamba is not aggressive and is usually fearful, only attacking if threatened,” Aurora reported carefully and, looking around, trying to sense the atmosphere, she murmured. “That means the black panther may be nearby.”

Normal animals were still surviving in this world where magical creatures existed.

Usually, only the monsters or creatures that came out of the dungeon were savage against everyone and killed the non-magical animals.

But in the case of magical beasts, they only hunted normal creatures if they had no other choice and usually ignored them.

The primary reason was that magical beasts enjoyed feeding on anything that had magical energy in them.

It was for that reason that predatory magical beasts hunted other magical beasts.

It was common knowledge that magical beasts became stronger if they absorbed magical energy.

And if a magical beast is in an area of non-magical animals, they would be very much like ‘kings’ in those areas.

Following more attentively than ever, Nicole and Leslie followed Aurora.

Since the portal had left them close, it didn’t take them too long to arrive where the drone was shot down.

“Can you see anything, Leslie?” Aurora asked curiously.

Leslie, using her suit’s AI analyzed and scanned the surroundings, looking to find a clue to follow the black panther, but in the end, she shook her head.

“I can’t find anything,” Leslie replied with a bitter expression.

Aurora looked at them and noticed that they were sensing that her presence was unnecessary, but just continued as if she had seen nothing.

If she were honest, Aurora didn’t understand what had happened either...

There were no animal footprints, and the only clear thing was that the panther was here, and it was the one who, with its claws, pierced the drone’s frame.

However, there was a solution to this situation.

Aurora used her holographic watch and called a drone from the protection system of the city Zerzura.

Unbeknownst to them, a drone became visible near them... This drone had been on standby to see if the panther would return.

“That drone is state-of-the-art and equipped with advanced stealth equipment. That capability is augmented by magic cloaking charms,” Aurora explained and, with a smile, added. “But much of its equipment is focused on advanced tracking.”

With those words, she had the drone begin scanning the battle.

Its scanner was quite powerful, analyzing every bit of the scene, piece by piece.

As Aurora had shared the drone’s scanner with Leslie and Nicole, they could see that above some rocks, some footprints could be seen, which, after meticulous analysis, matched some sort of large feline.

Those footprints continued deep into the wooded area, but they were so faint that they only left a few broken twigs on the ground.

Only a professional scout could discover such details, and the drone could only replicate such feats, thanks to its advanced technology.

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll activate the drone’s magical energy locator,” Aurora warned, just to start following the footprints and tracks.

Some were on the ground, but other times the panther had jumped in the trees, moving in such a way.

The drone impressed Leslie.

She knew this type of drone was used for homicide investigations, meticulously analyzing the scene with nothing left out, but using it to follow a magical beast never came to mind.

On the trees, there were no claw marks but small fallen barks that were processed at high speed by the drone to verify if a matching scene matched the black panther it had already been analyzing.

The black panther had a great control of its body and a high speed; that was why its steps and marks were light.

It was a magical beast focused on stealth and hunting, that didn’t mean it disappeared completely.

The deeper they went, Leslie and Nicole noticed the environment.

They had seen some animals before; they had even spotted a pride of lions and a group of hyenas and had also seen antelopes, kudu, and even a brown buffalo.

But now, their surroundings felt lonely, with no animals present.

“Believe it or not, magical beasts are few and usually live in areas with high magical density, such as the magical forest, the Amazons, the Swiss Alps or other similar areas. In those places there are other magical beasts, but if they live with normal animals, this happens,” Aurora reported quietly, and with a serious look, she paused and muttered to the group. “From now on, I want you to move quietly and as stealthily as possible.”

Aurora noticed that Leslie, and Nicole trembled at those words...

One was a fighter, and one was an assault mechanic, ‘stealth’ was not among her skills.

Without giving too much importance to that, Aurora pulled out a round artifact and attached it to the drone, creating a barrier that prevented scent, footsteps, or any sound from leaving the area.

The group approached more and more carefully, and before long, they could find a small cave.

Nicole could feel the inhospitable environment of the area and realized how a magical beast affected their surroundings.

Even the annoying mosquitoes that had followed them around during the entire trip were gone.

The spherical drone opened up to reveal a large antenna, and when Aurora signaled for them to see their holographic clocks, the duo noticed.

They could see a blue spot inside the cave in the middle of the wooded area.

That blob was quite bright, and after the drone’s magical analysis, according to magical energy density, a Rank B magical creature with a great strength was left in view.

“In dungeon terms, this creature would be the boss of a Rank B dungeon,” Aurora muttered, and without looking disturbed, she warned. “I’ll back you two up in combat.”

Nicole and Leslie looked at each other.

So far, they had felt useless and felt they hadn’t helped at all.

One could say it was because of their lack of experience, but both Leslie and Nicole realized that they lacked too much to be more experienced.

They both lacked the capabilities to be stealthy, making it impossible for them to control their bodies and footsteps so as not to give warning to their enemies, and even had no external objects to cover such deficiencies.

Leslie had sensors to sense presences but lacked the necessary for exploration.

“Get ready, Leslie. Start with your strongest attack at long range. Nicole covers her when the black panther comes out angry. As for me, I’ll take care of what happens next,” Aurora ordered and then jumped up, creating translucent platforms at her feet.

Aurora activated the cloaking capabilities of her combat suit and could see her surroundings become translucent.

She was sure Nicole and Leslie noticed only a slight disturbance in the air where she stood.

However, Aurora watched from nearby, preparing to watch the pair of students perform.

Leslie pulled a sniper rifle from her space ring and then assembled the small metal box she had on her waist, giving the barrel an increase in size when assembled.

That would increase the power and velocity, but Leslie also used another metal box to modify the magazine of her rifle, leaving only one large caliber shot possible.

Using a long bullet that Aurora couldn’t pinpoint what caliber it was, Leslie prepared to fire, signaling Nicole and giving notice over her holographic watch communication to Aurora.

Giving the green light for them to begin, Aurora turned her attention to the team, watching as Leslie used her skills to reinforce her weapon.

Kneeling down for extra stability, Leslie took a deep breath and aimed at the cave and...

*BANG*

Even though the drone had the cloaking device, the sound could get through, and before Aurora knew it, the bullet hit its target.

*BOOM*

The small cave exploded as the bullet entered through its entrance.

A cloud of dust spread, and even though the cave wasn’t that big, it collapsed under the impact of the bullet.

That was a high-powered attack that resembled the strength of an A-Rank... Aurora couldn’t help but sigh at the strength of a mechanic using external tools.

While it could have been further strengthened with magic charms and magic bullets, it was just fine to start the fight.

*roar*

However, not well enough to take out this B-Rank black panther.

Aurora sensed the feline rising from the rubble, roaring furiously as the wounds on its body bled glaringly.

A dark barrier quickly cracked around the panther, letting it be seen that it sensed the danger and could defend itself before the bullet hit, thanks to its darkness magic.

The magic of a magical beast and a common mage were two very different styles, but those of magical beasts were more lethal.

*roar*

That was showed when the black panther roared and sent two black bolts towards Leslie.

Nicole, who was close to her, stepped forward and reinforcing her body with magical energy, prioritized giving power to her fists to block those bolts.

*Bang*

*Bang*

*Bang* *Bang*

For her part, Leslie put down her rifle, whose barrel was smoking, and unholstering her pistol, she shot in an instant.

The black panther dodged the bullets with agility, delaying its charge for a few seconds, which Leslie took advantage of to fire her electric disks, preventing the panther from advancing towards them.

That was a good tactic; however, her enemy was not a dumb beast and had intelligence leading her to change her tactics.

Leaping up some trees, when it asserted itself, the panther moved through the branches, overcoming Leslie’s discs and reaching Nicole’s position.

“Back off.” Nicole commanded, readying her position to meet the panther’s attack.

The panther, instead of attacking Nicole, whose fighter strength was visible to the naked eye, went for that opponent who had destroyed her home.

Nicole was stunned when she saw how the panther jumped to the other tree to overtake her and attack Leslie; however, her stun was short-lived.

When she realized her enemy’s actions, she charged towards the tree where the panther was jumping and slammed her fist into it.

*Crack*

The tree broke under the force of a B-Rank fighter, and the panther had nowhere to stand and fell close to Nicole, but it only waved its claws to push away the fighter that wanted to get closer.

Nicole stopped her attack when she saw that the panther’s claws were covered by a layer of dark energy.

It was using darkness magic to empower its claws, and those claws could be a serious threat, even to the defense of a fighter like her.

She braced herself for any attack, and as the duo looked at each other with the black panther eyeing its prey, Nicole saw a figure fall to the ground and then...

*BOOM*

An explosion echoed as if a meteorite fell from the sky, and as a cloud of dust rose up, an electric wave that made Nicole’s hair curl frizzed spread around the surroundings.

A shriek of pain echoed, and Aurora was left in full view, striking the black panther whose skin had been badly burned.

The black panther had already tragically died from the powerful blow from Aurora, who had used the force of gravity to increase the impact of its fall.

Looking at the dead beast so tragically, Nicole couldn’t help but feel pity.

“It’s okay to empathize, but you have to learn limits,” Aurora warned in a judicious tone.

Magical beasts usually had high intelligence, and some of them reached or surpassed human intelligence, regardless of whether they were Rank A or a lower rank.

The thundering gorillas that could understand human speech were one of these beasts, and wondering about which beast was okay to be killed or which was not was a big problem.

Doubts about killing an intelligent magical beast or not were, for some people, all too frequent.

Aurora herself had such problems of doubt when confronted with magical beasts capable of reasoning like humans but following their animal instincts.

However, there was a clear limit.

“Any being that harms innocent civilians is considered an enemy,” Aurora reported without changing her expression.

That was her limit, and she wasn’t imposing it, just making it known.

Unlike other people, she didn’t hunt magical beasts for their resources, but simply out of her eagerness to protect the innocent from any creature.

Wondering too much on the subject could become a burden that would be difficult to overcome and, at crucial moments, could lead them to doubt.

Such moments could result in the loss of innocent lives.

 

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