Chapter 174: Chapter 174: Mutated Boar
Silas felt as if his ears were ringing. His expression slowly darkened, and he gritted his teeth before typing back,
"Who is she? And what is she doing around my Ivy?"
The smell of vinegar was so strong that even Patricia, who was far away from Silas, could smell it, let alone Silas’s teammates.
Henry shivered and looked at Silas with a hesitant expression before turning and returning to the makeshift camp where others were residing.
"Captain seems to be in a foul mood."
Aiden just shrugged as he roasted a piece of meat and passed it to Scarlett, who took it gracefully while staring at Silas with a dreamy look in her eyes.
"Sigh... this hottie... why couldn’t I move him?"
Jack, who was sitting opposite Scarlett, chuckled and spoke in a teasing tone, "If you move away your head and say the same line, you can move mountains."
Aiden blushed, while Scarlett rolled her eyes. She knew about Aiden’s feelings, however... her eyes fell now on the tall, handsome young man whose hair color was changing from the roots.
Silas’s current appearance was attractive. His black hair was changing its color from the roots and slowly was turning blonde. On others, this type of half mutation would have looked ugly, but because of Silas’s confident aura and his handsome face, the hair color mutation added charm to him instead.
He was so attractive that all the women in the team had either admired him or had a crush on him.
Chloe had admired Silas’s fighting skills. Amelia once had a small crush on Silas, which faded away when she fell for Henry instead, while Arial admitted that she was indeed attracted to Silas when they first met.
However, this attraction faded fast when Silas started to chase Ivy so openly and subtly.All of them moved on... but she, Scarlett, couldn’t.
Why? It was because she had seen how unworthy Ivy was. She couldn’t even compare to even one-tenth of Silas, and hence she was unwilling to give up.
She hoped that one day, Silas would give up on Ivy completely after realizing the latter’s incompetence, but as the years passed, Scarlett wondered if he was blind or if Ivy was a witch.
A cold wind brushed past Scarlett’s cheeks, causing her to jolt out of her daze, and that was when she noticed Aiden’s stare. The raw intensity made her heart skip a beat, and her cheeks slowly turned a bit hot.
Under the dim moonlight, surrounded by the lush green forest that was showing signs of decay, a pale-skinned man with a chiseled jaw, straight nose, and hunger in his eyes stared at her; who wouldn’t feel their heart skipping a beat?
It was just like a scene out of some romance novel...
’No... I love Silas... it was just an accident.’ Scarlett patted her chest as she consoled herself.
Aiden was disappointed by Scarlett’s action, and his eyes unconsciously looked at Silas with complex emotions. Jealousy, envy, and admiration.
Jealousy and envy because he was loved by Scarlett, and admiration because, even after Ivy rejected Silas so much, he remained firm and never showed any sadness.
"Hey Scarlett, that is not the direction I am talking about. Listen to me and just date Aiden instead, because from what I can see, Silas and Ivy will end up together. Even Henry now admires Ivy as the salt goddess. Sigh... even though I am asking him why he does so, he is refusing to answer! Anyways, Scarlett, be more mature and give up, alright... eh? Why is everyone silent?"
Arial, sensing the tense atmosphere caused by her brother, lifted her hand and punched Jack on the head.
Jack: (ଵ ˛̼ ଵ) Why did you beat me?
Henry was speechless and shook his head. "So there are people in my team who seek death other than me, huh? And Amelia calls me dumb! It is clear that Jack is the dumbass among all of us.’
Rustle. Rustle.
"What’s that sound?" Jack asked with a furrowed brow while taking a defensive stance, and other team members took the fighting stance too.
Roar!
A horrendous animal resembling a boar. Its skin was rotten and covered in green patches, with bloody scars running down its sides. Long, sharp tusks jutted from its mouth, dripping with slime, and its glowing eyes burned with wild hunger.
As it rushed toward the makeshift base camp, the ground trembled due to impact, and a few stones even hopped as if they were alive when, on closer look, it was due to the strength emitted by the boar.
A decaying stench soon permeated, causing Arial to scrunch up her nose. The smell was so strong and oppressive that even the men in the team felt the urge to cover their noses.
"Chloe, Henry, stay on the left. Aiden will cover for Scarlett. Scarlett, you have to minimize its size. Jack, you will stay beside me, and Arial will stay behind me and Jack." Silas’s thunderous voice was laced with authority, calming the tense nerves of the team.
In an instant, all of them took the position. As the boar closed in, Silas lifted his hand, and a bolt of thunder shot up from the clear sky, aiming straight at the boar.
"Roar!" The mutated boar let out an agonized cry, and Scarlett seized the opportunity; she extended her hand in the boar’s direction and focused on shrinking it.
Meanwhile, Arial tried to weave an illusion. Henry coordinated with Jack and splashed the boar with a stream of water, while Jack, who happened to have the thunder superpower too, channeled a weak stream of thunderbolts from his hand and struck the boar.
By the time Arial was about to succeed, the boar had already died. The smile that was going to form on her lips collapsed in an instant, and she stared at the back of her teammates with sadness in her eyes.
’Why am I so useless?’ She questioned but quickly masked her expression when she saw Silas inspecting the boar.