"There is a pack of Ironfang Wolf coming at us." The security guard immediately spoke through the earpiece every security guard had plugged into their ears, passing the information to others.
For some reason, the modern equipment they have doesn't work in the wild and have to rely on ancient close rage walkie-talkies to communicate and the earpiece the guard used was connected to the walkie-talkie that was hidden inside his uniform which Gideon noticed is also a fabric armor.
Even though they had anticipated to fight other monsters which were attracted by their battle sound, they did not expect to encounter a large pack of 50 Ironfang Wolf.
Their hunting group had already fought a few other monsters that were attracted while fighting, but most of the monsters steered away from them after seeing the number of humans in the battlefield.
The captain of the guards, Jaanav immediately took the initiative of coordinating to form a defensive formation to defend against the monsters that were approaching them.
He tactfully did not only coordinated all the adventurers and guards who are uninjured and ready for the fight to be at the front, but also spread them across the open field which made Gideon wonder why he had to stretch their force too wide when they are facing monsters who were the predators in the wild.
Jaanav placed Gideon and the guard who was charged to protect him at the center this time. The guard was still bleeding as the wounds he got were too severe and would need another 4 or 5 minutes to be fully healed by the Tier-1 Medicine syringe he had used.
He looked at the side at which Jaice informed that the wolf pack was coming in from and could see about 30 adventurers and their monster partners in shield wall formation with long range attackers close behind them.
He was surprised to see that they still have the Spirit Energy and stamina to stand and fight after facing 500 Swift Tail Monkeys. Even though the battle lasted for only 15 minutes, they should feel a little tired as these monkeys were known for their notoriousness and agility.
What he didn't know was that most of them had already used one of the two Constitution syringes they were given to gain stamina to stand and fight the monsters that were coming towards them.
He noticed Jaanav has not joined the fight except for fighting the leader of the Swift Tail Monkey troop which was dealt with ease by him which made him raise a question, why?
"Captain will join only when we can't handle ourselves." The security guard charged in protecting him said as if he could hear his thoughts to which he just nodded in understanding.
"I am Max, by the way. It is good to be in charge of your protection, kid." The security guard introduced himself with a smile, speaking for the first time since he was given the job of protecting this newbie who has proved his worth by trying to come for his aid when needed which he had never seen any newbie has done before.
The newbies he had seen till now are kids who would usually cover in fear as soon as they saw the monsters in the wild, let alone, being in the middle of a battle of this scale, they would have ran away already, but he didn't.
He not only stood his ground against the monkeys that came to attack him, but he also tried to assist someone he hadn't seen before today by bringing their shield back to him, which had genuinely given a good impression on this kid which made him start a friendly conversation.
Max initially thought that being at Tier-2, level-3 with a Steel Panda as his partner, protecting a newbie who haven't leveled up even once is a punishment for something he might have done, but later he realized he and his monster partner are the main reason they are standing ready to face the attack of the monsters that are approaching them.
After a few minutes Jaice again gave a warning to Gideon which was immediately conveyed to Jaanav through Max.
It was not just a pack of 50 Ironfang Wolves coming towards them, but there were other monsters who had joined them and they were to face more than a 70 monsters.
What made Gideon to tremble in fear was that most of the monsters in that new group are at Tier-2, a whole tier above him that can kill him easily like brushing dust from the table that wasn't cleaned for a week.
"Don't worry, kid. Any monster that wants to have a feast on you should cross over my dead body." Max said with an assuring smile looking at Gideon's trembling body. His monster partner, Steel Panda came close to him and stood firm, as if saying that it is also going to do the same, which helped him a little to regain his composure.
Gideon looked at Max who was almost healed with only a few scratches that would be healed within a minute, thanks to the Tier-1 Medical syringe he used.
After a few minutes of an eerie silence through the forest with only the sound of the adventurers and guards moving around to strengthen their defences, they started to hear the trembling noise of the monster's footsteps approaching them.
What made Gideon more concerned is that till now Raam hadn't come to check up on him. He did glance at Gideon once or twice, but did not come to him to see if he was fine after they had dealt with the Swift Tail Monkey troop, but was working on helping the people who were unable to move around because of the injuries they had sustained.
AWOOOOO…
Awoo … Awoo … Awo …
They heard a strong howl of Ironfang Wolf first followed by many howls from different monsters that had joined the attack against a common enemy who ventured deep into their territory.
The monsters never join together to attack unless they are forced by higher tier monsters and this is the first time Gideon heard or saw a bunch of monsters like the Ironfang Wolf, Nightshade Cheetah and a few other monsters have joined for an attack without being forced by a superior monster.
There were even a few weak monsters like the Poison Beetle, Steel Coated Mantis, Venomous Wasp and other monsters who are seen among other stronger monsters ready to kill the intrusive force that had entered their land.
Gideon unsheathed his short sword from his back gripping it firmly with both his hands ready to fight even though he was assured by Max that he would be safe as he knows one thing for sure, nothing can be assured in a battle.
CLING ... DING ... SLURCH ... THUD
He could hear the sound of fighting from their front line where the monsters had collided with the hastily built defence and focused around him as many monsters had passed through the defence and entered the center of the battlefield.
He tightened his grip on his sword when he saw 4 monsters rushing towards him ferociously as if they had a vengeance toward him, but were interrupted by Max and the Steel Panda to his dismay.
He was hoping he could get a little more experience fighting new monsters and get to know their attacks and defences in person instead of just reading it from a book or through others who had faced them before.
He looked around to see an Ironfang Wolf coming towards him and prepared to slash his sword at it as soon as it came close to him.
Swoosh … Thwack … Thud .. Clanggg…
But, he heard an arrow piercing the air close to him and the wolf that came almost close to his attack range. He saw the wolf fall with a thud and the arrow getting stuck on a nearby tree.
He looked to the side to see the same female guard lowering her bow that was held towards him with a gentle smile and turned her face towards the other side.
'Come on.. Let me fight the weaker monsters at least.' Gideon begged in his heart, looking around seeing almost everyone fighting except for him with tears threatening to flow from his eyes.
His heart was raging for battle, but he didn't get a chance to fight a monster, even though some came toward him to satiate his battle frenzy.
The second battle came to a close within 10 minutes in which Gideon was left to stand with his sword raised waiting to fight a monster, but he felt like he was standing there like a fool in the middle of the battlefield with no one to fight.
Many monsters came towards him to fight, but were interrupted by Max or the Steel Panda or dropped dead before they could reach him, being pierced by an arrow that came out of nowhere.
Realizing there were only a few monsters that are running away from them, Gideon sheathed his sword with a disappointed sigh, shaking his head as he couldn't come to a decision, should he consider himself unlucky or lucky for not fighting more than 3 Swift Tail Monkeys that he initially fought.