When they returned to the camp, Luciano gave the others a nod before he sat at a corner.
"It's time to set camp and please no fire we don't want to be a beacon for all the beasts in the vicinity..." Blake said to his team.
"…" His teammates stared at him with a blank expression.
[This is infinite realm, not earth.] The system remaindered.
Dimensional tents had a lighting function, so the team was wondering why they would need a campfire.
'Oh!' Blake gave a wry smile when the system told him. Setting a campfire whenever he went camping in the woods had become a habit, it was a reflex action since he was 'babysitting' them, and also there was the threat of being attacked by magic beasts.
Just like him, every member of the team had purchased a dimensional tent and after setting them close to that of each other, they began deciding who was to stand watch. After a few minutes of going back and forth, they finally came to a conclusion.
"The first set to stand watch will be I and Ansgar, while the three of you especially Blake should get some rest before the next shift." Luciano's word received nods from the team members. If it was someone else Ansgar would have made some comments, but it was Luciano that was speaking so he could helplessly nod in agreement.
'I guess it is best for the dumbass to be paired with him because he wouldn't dare to try anything funny.' Blake happily agreed to the arrangement.
Even when the competition would be over, Luciano was still a prince and someone like Ansgar wouldn't dare to offend him. It was certain he couldn't beat him in combat and if he somehow managed to silence him the school was still watching, so he could only quietly obey.
"What a day!" Blake gave out a loud sigh as he wanted to prepared to have a rest before it was his turn to stand watch.
"I normally do so more than this when I am back at school, so why I am this tired?" Blake complained as massaged his temples to help reduce his headache.
[Well you've been on the edge throughout today. From not letting your guards down against both your teammates and beast, to fighting against two tricky magical beast and also escaping other beasts, I will say you were bound to be tired.]
The system's evaluation of the day's work, made him realize that he had actually done a lot. With the help of the system in fights, Blake made everything look so easy, but unknown to most it was very tasking for him.
During fights apart from pushing his senses to their limits, Blake still had to listen and react to the opponent's weak spots displayed by the system and also listen to explanations given to him by the system.
After getting close to 6 hours of sleep it was Layla and Blake's turn to stand watch.
'Guess she isn't much of a talker too.' Blake thought when he saw that Layla had no plans of starting a conversation.
'Well me too.' Blake shrugged as he brought out a magic beast core and began absorbing its energy.
Blake would have loved to use this as an opportunity to hunt for beast cores, but considering he couldn't see in the dark unlike most magical beast, Blake decided to use the time to cultivate.
'Inform me if anything comes within range.' Blake said to the system as he sat in a cross-legged position and began cultivating.
'Is it a good practice to close one's eyes while standing watch?' She felt uncomfortable with Blake's actions, but she was too lazy to speak up.
…
The night was peaceful, they weren't attacked by beasts, giving Blake more time to cultivate.
After taking a quick nap, Blake left the group once again and began hunting for more beast core. This time he didn't get to meet any team, but his harvest was much better than the previous day.
"4 beast cores not bad… I have too said the survival exercise is a blessing in disguise, normally I would have to wait a week to hunt beast cores because of my busy schedule, but now I am at the source it won't be long before I advance to the champion realm." Blake said in a tone brimming with joy.
With the help of the two beast cores he had gotten from the sklades, Blake had filled up the 11th star. Although it took more beast cores to fill up a single star, he didn't worry that much because he could get always hunt for more.
For the rest of the team, the second day wasn't eventful and quite boring. The thought that they still had 5 more days of doing the same, they began considering joining Blake on his adventures.
…
On the morning of the third, the group decided to change move to another area. If they decided to stay in the same area for a long time, it would be easier for the enemy to locate their camp and lay an ambush.
Blake expected some resistance to the notion, but surprisingly they all agreed so easily, that he began wondering if his teammates had been replaced overnight by aliens. Unknown to him his teammates were bored and itching for some action. They even prayed that on their way they would be attacked by beasts so they could have some fun.
Later that day their prayers were answered when the system detected a pack of rok not too far away from them and with their great sense of smell Blake was certain that they would be coming for them.
'I guess it wouldn't hurt to get beast cores on the way.' Blake couldn't help thank lady luck for making things easy for him.
"Prepare for battle, beasts are close." His words made them be on alert. Esmeralda would have liked to know how Blake could sense beasts so far away because this wasn't the first time it was happening, but it wasn't the best of times to do so.
[Be careful, the pack has 5 roks, a beta, and is being led by an alpha.] From their heat and energy circulation, the system was able to identify the power level of the incoming beasts.
The alpha rok was a chief rank magical beast and in terms of power, it was a little bit above the chief morg Blake had faced in the past.
"Let's try not to make much noise..." Blake said as the pack of rok charged them.
Rok's were the mutated version of the Labrador wolves that were way more ferocious. A normal rok was the same height as Blake, while the alpha was a full head taller than him.
The razor-sharp claws and their physical capabilities were balanced. They were as strong as morgs but their flexibility was as limited, they were pretty agile and their speed was greater than those of morgs.
"Leave the alpha to me..." Blake said with a grin as he unsheathed Reaper and activated lightning reinforcement.
No one in the group objected to Blake's request, not even Ansgar because they hadn't gotten used to fighting magical beasts, so if they went against a chief rank beast it would be suicide.
"I'll handle the beta..." Luciano said as he began charging towards the beta rok that was standing at the back of the pack with the alpha rok.
With Blake's speed, it was easy for him to maneuver his way through them and to the back, but before he got close to the alpha a rok lunged at him with its razor-sharp claws.
Blake didn't panic at the sudden attack, he poured more mana into the lightning reinforcer and dodged the attack with ease, before cutting its head off and continued his charge at the alpha.
Seeing the human curb charging for the pack's alpha, the beta wanted to stop him but before it could move an inch, a ball of scorching golden flames was hurling towards it. The beta rok managed to dodge the fireball, but flames of rage erupted in its eyes as it turned to a shameless human curb that tried using underhand tricks.
Having no one else to fight for it, the alpha rok engaged Blake in close quarters combat. It swiped its claws and tried multiple times to tear him up with its fangs, but he couldn't get its hands on him which enraged it.
It went on for sometime before Blake surprise it with a fireball to the face, before giving it a bone-deep cut to its arm reducing it's movement and fighting capabilities.
AWOOOO!
The alpha rok howled in pain, as it pulled back, but Blake wasn't letting it go anywhere. He threw out knives aiming for its eyes and hands. It was quick enough to dodge those heading for its eyes but was slow to dodge the others.