Hero or Villain, Both

When morning came, our plan was to head around again and see if we could find another trace of the evolved monster.

But in the end, that plan never came to fruition.

It wasn't that we didn't find a trace of the evolved monster, it was that there was something else that found us first.

"Help! Please save us!"

It was the exact same situation as yesterday.

After exchanging a glance, there was no hesitation at all as we headed off in the direction that this cry for help came from.

When we arrived though, we couldn't help hesitating.

"What is that?" Nimue and Rania couldn't help asking when they saw the monster that was attacking this group.

It was a monster that was different from the one that we encountered previously. It was a monster that was even different from the one that we encountered when we saved the other group.

In fact, this was a creature that really suited the word monster.

This was a creature that seemed to be an amalgamation between two different animals.

One seemed to be a deer and the other seemed to be a bear.

It was like some kind of strange bulky deer that was much more muscular than it should have been and also had the ability to stand up on two feet when needed.

This kind of creature really was a terrifying sight to behold.

But after coming back to our senses, I said, "Let's do the same thing as yesterday."

Though Nimue and Rania had their doubts, they still followed the orders that I gave.

The monsters immediately turned their attention to us when the wall of flames came up, but they were held back by the water tendrils that came out of the ground in the end.

Though judging by the look on Rania's face, it was clear that this was hard for her.

I didn't waste any time in seeing this and shot arrows at the heads of the monsters that she was holding back.

"Pop!"

"Thud!"

A bitter smile appeared on my face when I saw this before I couldn't help shaking my head.

Once the two monsters dropped to the ground, they suddenly turned into green shards just like before. Only the green shards were twice as big as the ones from the evolved monsters yesterday.

With a cough, I turned to the classmates that had been at the mercy of this monster and asked, "Are you alright?"

They looked at me with a strange look, but they gave nods as if they were in a daze.

Seeing this, I said, "How about coming down from the tree so we can take a closer look at you to make sure that you're fine?"

They nodded again before slowly coming down from the trees, but they still looked at me with a strange look after they came down.

It wasn't just them that were looking at me like this, Nimue and Rania were also looking at me with similar looks.

It was clear that they couldn't believe that I had killed that monster with just a single arrow each.

The more unbelievable thing was how I had even popped their heads with my arrows.

Seeing that they didn't say anything, I changed the topic by saying, "If you're fine, then you should head back to the main camp. After all, there's no telling what will happen if you remain here."

When I reminded them of this, they finally snapped out of their daze and looked around with terrified looks.

It seemed that the monster had left quite the deep impression on these elves.

It was to the point where it seemed like some kind of nightmare that was lurking around the corner for them.

They would most likely suffer from nightmares for a bit after returning from this field trip.

But there wasn't anything that I could do to help them, they just had to get over this on their own.

The way that they looked at us made it clear that they were asking us to escort them back to the main camp. I was someone that had popped the head of that monster with a single arrow, so there was no doubt that I would be able to keep them safe.

"There might be more of them out there, so I'm going to take a closer look. You should leave while you still can."

They seemed to jolt in fear when they heard this, so they didn't waste any time in heading off in the direction of the main camp.

But instead of letting Nimue go forward this time, I said, "Let me take the lead."

Nimue and Rania slowly nodded in agreement after hearing this.

When they finally came back to their senses, Nimue couldn't help saying, "It seems like the green shards have had a greater effect on you then they've had on us."

Rania just nodded in agreement.

It wasn't as if the green shards didn't have an effect on them.

If it wasn't for the boost from the green shards, then they wouldn't have been strong enough to hold back the monster. It was just that even with the boost, they wouldn't have been able to take out the monster that easily.

I just said with a faint smile, "I guess so."

Instead of telling the truth, it was easier if they just thought this.

After following the trail of these monsters for a bit, we came to a dead end just like before.

Only this time, I didn't treat it as simply as I did yesterday.

That was because I recognized the monster that I just faced.

This monster was special because it wasn't supposed to come out until the very end of this field trip.

That monster was considered the boss of this forest, which meant that it was supposed to be the final monster to come out and was meant to test the best of the best among the students.

For it to come out now…

It was clear that there was something wrong with this place.