Zero to Peak: Ascension Online

Wanyama and his team had arrived in the northwestern part of the forest through the gate between worlds. The team then broke up. Wanyama and his followers travelled east while Elliot and his crew moved north.

On the western half of the forest, there were three mana pits. On the eastern half, there were two.

Wanyama and his crew successfully dealt with the monsters around three mana pits. The first pit they dealt with was one that lay close to the boundary between the western and eastern halves of the forest, though it was still on the western side. The crew decided to continue moving east to avoid running into Elliot and his cohorts. This decision led them to deal with the problems around all two mana pits on the eastern half of the forest.

Wanyama and his crew never took a break after dealing with the first and second mana pits. They started moving almost instantly after verifying that they had dealt with all the monsters in the vicinity.

Recounting the events of the second operation, Ivan proved to be an indispensable asset to the team. His tremendous agility and speed allowed him to mop up any slip-ups that arose during the operation. However, his valiant effort didn't seem to be enough for one of his teammates.

In the second operation, the number of monsters exceeded one hundred. The increased numbers proved a problem for Wanyama's trap, as he couldn't effectively detonate all the runic 'grenades' he had placed in the trap zone. Also, Ivan was deemed 'not fast enough' to deal with the monsters, despite moving as quickly as he could.

Some monsters who escaped the fury of Wanyama's detonations shifted their aggro to the other team members who were hiding in the trees metres away from the action.

Sarah-Ze- Beauty panicked and reacted, pulling up her powerful ability to unleash an aerial attack that carpet-bombed the area where the monsters prowled. The devastation was so insane that the adventurers barely escaped with their lives. The area was reduced to literal ashes; nothing was spared.

The Stagemaster special character was reprimanded by her teammates for her reckless reaction. Their tense expressions were cut short by the presence of a swarm of wrens that seemed to be ever-present in every corner of the forest. The birds flew carefree to and fro from the ashen area to trees in the distance.

For Elliot and his cohorts, the number of monsters they faced in their second operation didn't change. They effectively dealt with the monsters by applying the same tactics they had used in the previous operation. They finished the mission in the same timeframe they had used for the first mission—a total of fourteen minutes. This time, however, Dazzle didn't use a bottle of fragile oxygen. She threw a Molotov that had a lit wick and a flammable liquid content—a special flammable liquid. The burning liquid dispersed like gas after the glass broke, and it ignited whatever substance it came in contact with.

A zone of furiously flaming trees was the result of Dazzle's Molotov attack. Truly formidable.

Elliot and his team decided to rest after the second operation. Dazzle expressed worry that slacking off would allow the other team to reap more rewards than them. The guys shut her down, using derogatory words as they explained why they thought the other team wouldn't have achieved much. The duo estimated that the other team would still be busy with their first battle.

Dazzle was furious, but she didn't have anywhere else to go at the moment. She swallowed her shame and sat down with them under a tree as they relaxed from their work. They rested for over ten minutes, which was enough for them to regain their flow, but they remained seated.

"Elliot, have you noticed that these wrens seem to be everywhere?" Paulo asked.

Elliot casually replied, "I noticed it too. From what I know, it is not unusual to see them in this gate, but now they appear abundant, as if they are the dominant species in this realm."

A thought crossed Paulo's mind. "Do you think they are eventually going to evolve to become monsters?"

Elliot didn't reply right away, using his silence to consider his reply. "Perhaps. We haven't seen them gather around a mana pit. They seem to be only interested in the trees from what I have observed, and apart from the trees' towering height, there seems to be nothing strange about the trees or even the undergrowth."

Silence befell the trio, but it was short-lived. A series of violent explosions echoed loudly across the forest. The trio rose to their feet, but none of them attempted to venture forward to discover the cause of the disturbance.

"Are those jet engines I hear?" Dazzle asked, surprised to hear the unmistakable rumble of more than one jet engine.

Elliot stood still, trying to get a better read on the sound. From the feedback he got from his auditory nerves, what he heard was surely the sound of multiple jet engines. However, the knowledge he had about the other team didn't support the appearance of jet engines. He quickly came to a conclusion: the forest canopy must be distorting the sound they were hearing.

He didn't bother to climb to the top of the trees to see if jets had flown over the forest. No, his ego and prejudice against the other team didn't let him think in this direction. A smile spread on his face.

"Congratulations to us. It seems like the other team has suffered significant damage, if not total annihilation."

Dazzle and Elliot couldn't understand what Paulo was driving at.

"It seems the half-shit runic giant used his ultimate form to launch a devastating attack in the heat of battle. Judging from the sounds we heard, it must have been a desperate and reckless use of their powers.

"Runic giants have severe limitations to their ultimate forms. If the bastard didn't die right away, he should be in a coma."

"I hope that ugly girl died in the explosions," Dazzle said, gazing east in the direction of the violent disturbance.

Paulo knew who she was talking about. It was Onelight.

"It's a shame. I quite liked her," Paulo said truthfully, aiming to tease his mistress.

Dazzle was triggered. She turned, launching a kick to Paulo's groin. He reacted quickly, catching her right leg with both hands and laughing, amused by her anger.

Elliot didn't mind the scuffle happening close to him. He was all smiles because he thought that Wanyama and his crew had suffered an unfortunate fate.

Wanyama and his crew got to the third mana pit in the southeast region of the forest. They dealt with a similar number of monsters as they did in the previous operation. While they did this, Elliot and his cohorts were still resting somewhere in the forest under a tree.

After completing the third sting, Wanyama decided that the team should have some rest before they continued their journey. This time they were to journey directly west. Their first stop would be at Stone Mountain. According to the map, that was where the Gate Boss resided.

This gate was unique from other gates in that a team could defeat the Gate Boss before destroying all the monsters in the gate. Total victory would then trigger an exit to appear.

Around some point during Wanyama's team's rest, a towering pillar of light shot into the sky. The pillar of light could be seen anywhere in the forest. No physics could explain why anyone anywhere in the forest could see the beacon. It was a distress beacon, a beacon peculiar to Knight special characters.

"What the heck, I can hear that idiot's voice just from looking at the light," Am_I_Me said, utterly shocked that she could hear Elliot's voice.

The other adventurers also experienced the same phenomenon. The message was like a recorded playback.

"Help, we have fallen into a pit. We…are…in…the…south-west."

Elliot's voice continuously played back in the adventurers' thoughts.

The beacon of light eventually vanished after no more than twenty seconds.

"Those guys have gotten themselves in trouble."

Wanyama roared in frustration, "Argh!"

"Why are you worried about them? It's not like this would be the first time we've had teammates die in our raids," Onelight said, showing no emotion about the trio's predicament.

The others were shocked by Onelight's reaction. For them, they felt pity for the trio.

"If you don't know, if they die, their parents are going to come after us. The liberation force won't protect us from them unless they value us highly, which I doubt," Wanyama explained the implications of the deaths of the members of the other team.

"We don't have time to spare. Let's get going." Ivan led the way, breaking into a sprint. He didn't move too quickly, maintaining a pace of 24 km/h. The others followed.

A particular wren had been following Wanyama and his crew since the first operation. The adventurers were ignorant of this. The bird was perched on a branch stub, watching the adventurers go with seemingly strong interest.