Chapter 324

Morning arrived, and with it came a new day for the group to continue their travels across the Bone Ridge.

Cleaning up their faces with a single bottle shared among themselves, they waited as the sound of the skeletons falling like an avalanche echoed all around them.

The moment the last bone hit the ground, the group bolted out of the cave and, unhesitatingly, began sprinting across the terrain with astonishing speed and pace.

Aside from the slight hunger they felt, they were full of energy and ready to travel, hoping to cover more than a quarter of the land today.

Five days had passed so far since they set out to traverse the entire Bone Ridge region, and today was the sixth.

They hoped that they would reach the end of this territory and cross over to the next safely.

But even with their progress, they were still worried about one thing they had discussed before setting off on this journey.

The alleged guardian of this region.

"I just hope the others are safe though," Chloe muttered as she managed to keep up with the others.

"You are saying it like there are ten people in the other region, whereas it’s just Caster and Felix," Van chuckled amidst heavy pants as he tried his hardest to match the group’s pace.

"Save your breath, the both of you. We need all of it so you don’t easily tire out," Kai scolded from the forefront.

Trisha hadn’t said a single word since morning.

She was unusually quiet.

Well, the girl was usually quiet like a mime, barely saying anything, but today seemed completely unnatural.

Usually, she would have spoken at least a single word by now, but since morning, she had remained entirely mute.

Not like the others could do anything about it, though.

So, they just continued on their journey, hoping to cover more ground before nighttime.

"Man... if only the Olympics of the past were still ongoing. We would have won all the running categories by now," Kai chuckled at his own words.

They were sprinting with such rapid momentum that if an outsider looked at them, it would seem like a blur.

But the truth was that if Ray decided to run at full power, nobody would be able to keep up with him.

’The more ground we cover, the more I feel uneasy. It seems we are almost out of this region. But why do I feel so worried?’ Ray thought.

"I wonder how many days have passed back in our world," Chloe suddenly uttered.

"Hm. Yeah, that’s right. Time moves differently in a beast world compared to that of a human world. We have spent close to three weeks here. Back there, it might not be more than three days though. Who knows," Kai replied as he kept his gaze locked ahead.

"Or maybe three hours have barely passed," Ray silently mused.

After Van’s speech the previous night, everybody had silently gone to sleep to be left alone with their thoughts.

After they woke up, it was like they unanimously decided not to say anything about it.

They acted as if the events of the previous night didn’t even happen to begin with, ensuring things between them wouldn’t become awkward.

And so far, it seemed to be working as Chloe was slowly trying to act like her previous self, but it seemed like Trisha’s words had hurt her more than she was letting on.

For the past few months they had been moving with one another; even though they had been roommates back in the Corps, they barely interacted.

After the whole Aberrant incident, she tried her best to get close to the girl, but it was all for naught.

She had been patient, and after she signed up for the Combat class, they began walking to class together, and from there, it looked like she had made it into Trisha’s inner circle.

They went to the canteen together, went everywhere together, and in her mind, she thought they were friends.

But who knew that Trisha never thought of her like that?

It was so funny, painful, and hurtful at the same time.

But she tried her best to hide the hurt and put on a brave face while staring at the girl’s back out front.

Trisha was also deep in thought, which was why she had barely said anything as her gaze remained fixed on the journey ahead.

They had been running for a few hours now, and so far, she hadn’t uttered a single word.

’Hm. How do I explain this to them?’

She looked behind her briefly to see Chloe and Van trying to catch up, while Ray was already out front and Kai was just slightly behind him.

Leaping over small bone hills, they continued their sprint as the sun hung high above their heads, causing sweat beads to slowly form over their temples.

But they refused to stop or pause.

They were already used to this and weren’t about to let it deter them at all as they pushed harder with all their might.

.....

So far, ten hours had already passed, and they had covered twice the normal ground, yet they were barely out of breath.

It seemed like the physical training at the Corps, coupled with five days of constantly sprinting across the Bone Ridge, had tempered their bodies and endurance beyond imagination.

Straight ahead, Ray could be seen focused on the journey when his brows furrowed immediately as he caught sight of the edge of the region coming up.

"We-We-We are almost there?!" he muttered as he rapidly approached the boundary.

Looking over his shoulders, he shouted,

"Guys! We are almost at the end of this region!"

His words seemed to give the group the boost they needed as they put in all their might, beginning to push beyond their limits to catch up.

The edge was just a few meters away from Ray now when he suddenly began slowing down.

"That-that-that doesn’t look like the ed—"

His words were immediately cut off as a bone spear whistled through the air like an arrow, speeding toward the Tribrid.