Damp leaves clung to the soles of Krai's boots and made the muddy ground slick and treacherous.
Every step required a ridiculous amount of effort just to keep his oversized trousers from dropping straight to his ankles. He clamped his left hand tightly over the bunched-up fabric at his waist, using his free arm to push aside thorny branches.
Up ahead, the five children moved through the dense, shadowy underbrush with practiced ease. Krai wheezed. He was falling further behind the silent march with every passing minute.
Suddenly, Lushi thrust her right arm straight up into the air. Her hand snapped into a tight fist, and then two fingers chopped sharply toward a patch of tall grass on their left. The entire group froze instantly.
Through the thicket, a faint rustle broke the quiet woods.
"It's a Wind-step deer," Lize whispered.
This particular beast was notorious. The creature possessed an explosive agility that allowed it to dodge falling debris in mid-air.
Even mid-level hunters struggle catching it.
Lize crouched low to the dirt and keept her eyes fixed on the rustling leaves. She turned her head toward the redhead. "Ruke, let's go."
"Yosh," Ruke muttered. He tightened his grip on a heavy, splintered wooden club.
Dirt kicked up in a sudden cloud. The two of them sprinted forward, vanishing into the foliage in the blink of an eye.
Watching the settling dust, Krai blinked slowly. They were incredibly fast. It was just like young Liz and young Luke back in the day. Liz always held the raw edge in a pure sprint, but Luke never actually fell behind her chaotic pace.
Lushi lowered her arm. "Let's go. We should head that way."
Turning away from the deer path, Lushi led Anz and Siti down a steep, muddy embankment. Krai stumbled after them, nearly twisting his ankle on a rotting root.
They eventually reached a shallow, stagnant pool of water thick with green. Several dozen fat, warty frogs croaked along the muddy banks.
Siti and Anz silently crept to the far side and unfurled a ragged mesh net between them.
From the high ground, Lushi held out both hands. Frost crackled across her fingertips and chilled the damp air. Jagged shards of ice shot forward, slamming violently into the mud just inches behind the frogs.
She was deliberately missing. Panicked by the freezing impacts, the swarm of amphibians bounded frantically away from the cold. They leaped straight into the waiting net.
Siti giggled, quickly scooping up the squirming, slimy mass.
Krai was done. He dragged his feet through the muck, putting ten meters of distance between his exhausted body and the splashing group at the pond's edge. A thick, rough-barked tree offered a place to hide. He leaned his weight against the trunk and slid down until he hit the dirt. His lungs burned.
From this distance, he watched them work. He remembered those type of frogs. Their eyeballs were a prime ingredient in cheap medicinal salves.
He looked over at Siti. She was flashing a massive, disturbing smile at the trapped creatures.
A cold shiver ran up Krai's spine. The word 'eyeball' echoed loudly in his head, bringing back the terrifying memory of her earlier demand to swap eyes.
Sliding down the rough bark, Krai hit the dirt and pulled his knees to his chest. He held up his left hand. Heavy silver rings slid loosely down his shrunken fingers.
He pulled them off one by one, tossing them into the canvas bag strapped tightly against his right thigh. None of his expensive defensive gear fit his childish frame anymore.
Only a single ring remained firmly attached to his index finger.
The 'system' relic. It sat perfectly snug on his tiny hand, seemingly having shrunk down to match his new body. He refused to look closely at the jagged, blocky symbols carved into the metal. Messing with it again seemed like a terrible idea.
A loud splash echoed from the water's edge. One large frog had managed to slip through a torn hole in the mesh.
Siti gasped. Her wide eyes tracked the escaped amphibian as it leaped into the bushes.
The slippery creature bounded frantically up the muddy hill, launching itself right at the base of the tree. Krai reflexively shot his hands out and grabbed the wet, squishy lump right out of the air.
Lushi wiped a speck of frost from her cheek and sighed. "Good work, newbie. It's luck that you were sitting there."
"Ehh...?"