Genesis Code: The Genetic Awakening-Chapter 141: Bounty Hunters (2)

The Frost Forest, as the name suggests, was a forest with most of its terrain covered in snow and ice. Though classified as a forest, more than half of the land was a mountainous range that bordered the next kingdom.

However, because of the intense wind and cold, it was not suitable for living. Even then, it was home to some of the most dangerous magical beasts and a few dungeons.

Adventurers had a higher tolerance to extreme environmental conditions than normal folks with little mana flowing in their stream; as such, they had no problem venturing into the forest and staying for hours.

It took the bounty hunters less than an hour to reach the entrance of the forest. Temperatures had plummeted a bit, and cold steam escaped the lips of the adventurers gathered. Everyone was in their cold adventuring gear, as it was better to be prepared than sorry.

"Which direction?"

The leader, Orien Windrider, shook the adventurer on his shoulder. Orien was a tall man with short dark hair, brown eyes and stubble. He stood at an impressive height of 1.8 meters and was a Platinum-ranked.

The members of his party did not know much about him; only that he was under the service of one of the nobles who wanted Jess and Caleb captured – dead or alive.

"T-That way..." The adventurer looked around for a bit and pointed in a certain direction. Without hesitation, Orien charged forward, and others followed.

As the group of adventurers numbering in the fifties bolted through the snow-covered ground and tall trees, they silently made their preparations.

"Remember the plan!" Orien suddenly said over his shoulder. "We don’t exactly know how strong they are; you do what you have to do, and I’ll do my part. Got it!" frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

"Yes!"

The others roared, acknowledging the words of the boss. No one had a death wish as they only joined in this party for the rewards it offered. And the plan was a solid one too. There was no need to play hero.

OOWWWH...!

The sudden cry of some magical beasts that spotted them drew everyone’s attention to the left. There, they saw a pack of Frost Wolves, the size of horses, blazing past the trees to cut them off ahead.

’Tsk! We don’t have time for this!’ Orien thought and looked behind. "Kael, you deal with those creatures!"

The one known as Kael nodded and split from the group, going after the pack that intended to hunt them. He alone was enough to handle a few magical creatures that didn’t know their place.

As Kael rushed to take care of the Frost Wolves, the others continued with their run, whizzing past trees and boulders in a flash.

Each adventurer was at the very least capable of tackling a Tier 1 dungeon alone. Clearing it, on the other hand, was a different story.

Sometime later, Orien and the others saw the mountain range that went all the way into the clouds and a dark monolith of a dungeon in the distance.

BOOM...!

A distant explosion in the direction of the dungeon caught their attention, making everyone focus ahead. Orien narrowed his eyes as a subtle grin graced his features. ’Looks like the pissant was right.’

Without hesitation, he tossed the adventurer on his shoulder aside and said: "You’ll be safe here...!" His actions were rude and careless, however, very few people blinked an eye.

Most of them were strangers who only came together to get the reward for the mission – nothing more, nothing less.

"You know what to do!"

Orien exclaimed once more and channelled more mana into his body and bolted ahead of everyone. He was the strongest, thus the fastest among the group.

While there were speed specialists, that would take a lot of their mana, rendering them useless when they were really needed.

Crusher narrowed his eyes and looked around the surroundings. He had no intention of fighting Caleb and Jess. Moreover, there were many of them for what needed to be done.

’I have to find an opening to slip away...’ He thought silently, snapping his head back ahead when another loud explosion rang from ahead. ’Preferably with those two with me...’

He began to slow down and moved towards the edges of the group. Once he found a suitable spot, he continued ahead like nothing had changed.

Ahead of the party, Orien spotted the familiar grey mist he had read about in the reports. He knew the characteristics of the mist and also prepared a counter for it; as such, he dashed forward without fear.

Closing in on the monolith, he saw three figures passed out and bleeding from the injuries they sustained in their encounter. Evidently, they were the party members the adventurer referred to.

’Why would such weaklings engage dangerous individuals in the first place...?’ This didn’t make sense to him. He shook his head with a sigh, not bothering to give it any more thought.

A short distance of 110 meters separated him from the edges of the grey mist. Orien deployed his prepared spell, conjuring a golden ward around his body with a radius of 15 meters.

His eyes darted around while his senses scanned the surroundings for anything out of place.

’The two must be inside the mist. It’s either that or the woman is protecting the dungeon from intruders while the man ventures inside...’

The second theory made more sense to him and was probably the reason those adventurers ended up in the state they were.

As fugitives on the run, it wasn’t far-fetched that they would seek resources to continue growing strong. Anyone would want to increase their strength to better stand the chance of surviving.

’A smart move to shake off most bounty hunters.’ Orien mused with a sharp glint in his eyes. ’Not many people like the cold regions or are willing to venture all the way from other domains.’

The conjured ward around his body finally reached the edges, and the moment a portion disappeared inside without him losing his senses, a victorious grin graced his features.

’It worked!’ Orien couldn’t help but feel excited. ’It’s finally time to hunt!’ With a wide grin on his face, he rushed inside the grey mist.