A Failure's hopeful Journey

The group into training gear, You Xi Wang was forced to wear a battle suit by Ushijima Yuki. He carried his sword on his waist, his bow and quiver hung over his back and he carried a long spear in his hand. His battle suit was black in color with white lines on the edges. He looked very handsome in the battle suit; it stuck to his body and highlighted some of his muscles. He looked like War God.

Fenny gala wore a thunder blue battle suit, she carried a handgun strapped on her waist; she looked slick and gone was that adorable girl. She had some kind of utility belts strapped on both of her thighs. Her hair was in a ponytail, she was battle-ready.

Neo Paul was also in a battle suit, golden red in color. It was sticking to his body and showed all his muscles. He carried a halberd on his back and grenades on a belt that formed an X on his chest. He was very intimidating.

Allan Ignis was wearing a crimson red battle suit, he was carrying a big backpack that carried medicines and food. None of them were carrying storage devices right now. The reason was that they wanted to experience hardships and survive for 18 days in the forest on their own capabilities. It will tamper their wills and senses.

Yuki was wearing a white battle suit, which showcased her curves very well. She carried a samurai Katana, and her hair was done in a high ponytail. She looked exquisite but the kunai blades strapped on her suit served as a warning. She was like a rose with thorns.

The group set off; it took them fifteen minutes to reach the borders, this was where their camp will begin. They exchanged glances and with a nod, they all simultaneously moved forward. They formed a formation with Allan and Fenny being in the center while Neo Paul took the rear. You Xi Wang was the vanguard along with Yuki.

Their movement was fast yet steady. In half an hour, they have moved to the midsection of the first layer of whispering woods. The forest was grayish and spooky aura emitted from it, the trees here were also gray, they were called, Hollow Wood trees, the wood was hollow yet the tree was known for its rigidity, there were pores on the surface of the tree which allowed air to pass through it and give off the sound of whispers, hence the name whispering woods, the further inside the forest you are the more whispers you will hear. It was said that prolonged exposure to these whispers can cause you to go mad and insane.

Fenny Salah spoke when the group stopped to take a breather, "I will deploy drones for surveillance but they will give us only limited time support, we will have to rely on our own after that. What do you think?"

You Xi Wang was the strategist of the team so everyone looked at him, he pondered for a bit and said, "We have more day time left, we hunt solo in the daytime and stay together at night, in the evening before sunset Allan will set traps and alarms near our camp, also Fenny put some stun beads near the traps and alarms, use the drones only for video and set them up on some tree branches, that will save the battery also, use infrared vision cam. Some beast might hide temperature in this spooky forest. Any suggestions?"

His last question was like a surprise they all knew that he will always have back up plans and never asked for their advice before, despite being a good guy he was, Allan suggested, "How about we move towards some high vantage point If we can't find a water source?"

You Xi Wang shook his head and said, "How about we look for both. If we find a water source we camp and sleep on trees near the banks, we won't be using fires at night to avoid beasts. How about it?"

Everyone nodded, and the group moved again while maintaining formation. After an hour they found paw prints as big as a human foot, they stooped. Neo Paul made a quick analysis and said in a low voice, "Wolf type beast, capable of shadow warping."

You Xi Wang asked the others to gather and spoke in a whisper, "According to the books in Codex Hall, all the beasts in this forest can use dark elements. The forest has three layers, every layer has three sections, outer section, midsection, and inner section, we are in the midsection of the first layer. The beasts here are said to be as strong as peak spirit formation. Neo is this the only set of paw prints you found or was it a pack?"

Neo Paul replied, "Single set, which is weird. Wolves hunt in a pack."

This was true, wolves lived in a pack, one wolf wandering around in the forest was very rare. You Xi Wang said, "It is a species which prefers being lonely or it has been exiled from its pack. There is only one species in this forest which can be called lone wolf, The Night Hound."

His words shook the team, Ushijima Yuki asked him with a worried voice, "Xi Wang, you mean that it might be The Night Hound, that beast is spirit formation-level beast at birth, it can achieve Primal soul realm. That Night Hound?" the team became more serious after this, You Xi Wang shook his head.

"This Night Hound is not that strong or it would have been inside the second layer. It is weak at this moment, that is why it is in this section. Also if it was a primal soul cultivator or core formation beast, it would not have left its paw prints behind."

Thye all thought and nodded. They knew that all Core Formation beasts don't leave behind traces, their spirit energy erases them unconsciously.

Allan asked, "So do we get this wolf or we leave it alone?"

Neo spoke, "How about we track it and then observe it. We can decide later what to do."

Everyone nodded and Fenny said in awe, "Finally kitty boy used his dead brain instead of muscles."

They let out a chuckle and the whole team again set out to track the beast. The system was also discussing with You Xi Wang about how to capture this beast. The team drifted and steadily, just before sunset, they reached a lake and from a distance, they could see a wolf, so dark that it was visible as an outline which was brighter than the night sky itself.

Black fur and black eyes with other line or color visible, it looked like it was darkness incarnated. The team watched every movement of the wolf while they lay in wait to see whether they can hunt it down or not.