76 The Dynamic Duo!

Sophie ran frantically away from the beast without any thought of hesitation or regret. The echoing screams of the students killed by the monster eventually faded into the distance.

Leaves stuck on to her bodysuit as she hopped from one tree to another while the wind whipped her hair gently.

There might have been a chance to engage the creature if she broke into the third stage of the qi spirit realm, but it would be suicide to attempt it now.

She glanced at the parchment every couple of minutes to determine the direction of the cave and headed back to her base.

The journey was roughly forty minutes and Sophie was utterly exhausted by the time she arrived.

It was time to take a good night sleep!

(Day 2)

Harsh rays of sunlight streamed through the mouth of the cave and fell onto Sophie's face. She gave a small yawn and stretched out her arms lazily.

The other students probably would have had sleepless nights in this strange environment, but Sophie had the ability to just fall asleep once her head lay down on a surface.

The downside was that it was quite difficult to wake up once she went to sleep.

"Alright time to get to work," Sophie whispered to motivate herself before beginning her tasks for the day.

Not every day would be filled with fights, excitement, and duels as the majority of the competitors were simply spread too far apart in the initial stages to encounter one another.

Sophie picked up the empty water bag and strapped one pistol against her hip before heading towards the nearby stream to fill up her water supply for the day.

She had been a bit busy the day before, so it was now time to build a toilet in the wilderness.

Sophie was not too enthusiastic about this duty but…. there were no other freaking options!

The location chosen was some distance away from the base and the stream to prevent any sort of contamination.

Wilderness toilets were built by digging a small hole with a rough depth of about three meters and lining the outside with soft leaves.

She used her strength to tear a few strips of bark from the trees nearby to construct a wall to obscure the view from passerbys, but Sophie was not the greatest woodworker.

The wall was barely standing straight, and it seems as though a strong breeze would be enough to topple it over.

The construction did not take too long but the experience was truly dreadful. Sophie was constantly looking at her surroundings to make sure that no one was nearby.

Afterwards Sophie returned to the cave and sat down while trying to comprehend the secrets behind the Rsychosis martial art.

She could form a somewhat blurry clone of herself but that was far from enough.

(Day 4)

The nutrient vials were running dangerously low, so Sophie took the day off to go hunting for more food supplies.

It was important to maintain absolute quiet when trying to hunt down prey, so Sophie lightly tapped her feet while leaping from branch to branch.

Her eyes stayed their golden colour, but her fangs were growing slightly at the mere thought of consuming some meat.

"Screech!!!!!!"

A loud cry bellowed through the forest and Sophie spotted an injured bird laying on the ground while facing off against another creature.

She scrambled higher up into the tree and watched the two beasts with an expression of a hunter gazing at prey.

The bird was the size of an average man with a gorgeous plumage of feathers that shifted colours mesmerizingly in the sunlight.

It's opponent was a cat-like beast with green fur and two horns that jutted out of the sides of its head.

The battle between these two beasts had reached the climax and the bird shot feather after feather at the feline who dodged with ease.

Rip!

It did not take long for the feline to dash straight through the barrage and swipe its claws confidently against the bird's throat.

Blood spurted into the air as the bird died in agony. The feline roared with pride before a plasma shot entered its brain and killed it instantly.

Sophie was the master of the art of kill stealing!

Cough cough…. kill securing was the better term to use.

Both carcasses were quite heavy, but Sophie dragged their bodies towards the cave before skinning their outer layers and getting some firewood to roast the meat.

Sophie smoked the meat and stored the excess supply in the cave as future snacks until the next day.

There were no spices or seasoning provided to the contestants, so the meat was cooked thoroughly but it tasted pretty flavourless.

(Day 8)

Sophie had followed the same routine of searching for prey, getting water, and reinforcing the base for the last couple of days and it was beginning to get a bit boring.

She had yet to see another student as the cave was located in a hidden area and therefore it wasn't very accessible.

Today Sophie decided to expand her hunting zone as the prey had recently become quite scarce due to overhunting.

Suddenly her ears perked up as an unfamiliar presence was travelling at high speeds above her location.

Enemy nearby!

Sophie's eyes shot upwards, but the attack had arrived before she could even react.

A dark shadow flashed overhead before Sophie felt an enormous weight drop down on her body with a frightful thud.

She crashed down to the ground from the tree she was standing on while the mysterious figure loomed menacingly above her body.

"Sophie!" came a joyfully cry.

Astrid tightly hugged Sophie with a broad smile on her face and gave her a small lick of affection on the side of her cheek.

"Hey Astrid," Sophie laughed.

It was a welcome surprise to find that her Mendolesa roommate had found her so quickly before the zone was shrunk.

Astrid stood tall with an intimidating aura and Sophie could see numerous scars that ran down the sides of her body.

She had clearly engaged in a high number of fights with other students but none of the injuries seemed to be serious.

"Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?" Astrid fired off question after question while wagging her tail furiously.

Sophie smiled indulgently at her concerned friend and explained what she had been through the past couple of days.

From the surprise attack at the stream to the encounter with the ferocious snake-like beast at the waterfall.

Astrid attentively listened before regaling Sophie with tales of her valor. Apparently, she had eliminated every other participant at the clearing she had been placed in.

She did not have any supplies as the loot in the center of the meadow had burnt up mysteriously.

Sophie glanced at Astrid with a suspicious look when hearing about this matter but the Mendolesa girl pretended not to see it.

Then Astrid spent the past couple of days roaming around the exoplanet and defeating any strong enemies that popped up.

Astrid even managed to get a lucky encounter and her cultivation was now at stage four of the qi spirit stage!

Only a handful could match her cultivation level amongst the younger generation of the Earth Federation.

"Do you think anyone has grabbed that treasure yet?" Astrid asked suddenly.

Sophie paused for a moment before stopping to contemplate, "Hmm…I don't believe anyone has defeated the snake yet."

Astrid's eyes gleamed with an eager air and her competitive nature seemed to inflect Sophie with a spark of excitement.

With Astrid's cultivation level…it would not be totally impossible to defeat the snake-like beast.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Say no more wolf girl!" came a confident reply.

The duo turned into blurry shadows and shot towards the location of the waterfall with newfound determination in their hearts.

They would scout the beast first and then come up with a plan to defeat it.

Astrid glanced at the hybrid girl who was swinging from vine to vine like she was born in the jungle when a small detail caught her attention.

"By the way…" Astrid spoke hesitantly.

"Is something wrong?" Sophie asked.

"Do you need some eye drops? Your eyes are super red!"