Is this really a Game?!

The chaos began to escalate as the previously agitated animals were acting in a frenzy. Reign and the others, already stretched to their limits, were doing everything they could to contain the situation and minimize the damage. The pigs, who had smashed through their pen, which had been reinforced previously.

Even with the reinforcement present, the pigs were able to easily smash through the pen, acting as if nothing was there, and were now running wild, knocking over anything they touched. The chickens, on the other hand, were still darting around like small missiles, sometimes colliding with one another and sending feathers flying in all directions.

It was the start of pandemonium, and judging from how the other animals were behaving after looking at the chicken and pigs, slowly shifting around, seemingly turning uncomfortable and nervous, they might start doing the same as well, which would be very bad news for Reign and the others.

"Dammit, the pigs will wreck everything apart, we gotta stop them!" Beast shouted as he attempted to corral the pigs back into their pens, but it was to no avail. Jin, Laura and Aelrinder came over, rushing to assist him, using their powers to try and control the animals.

Aelrinder and Beast started using their wind, pushing the animals back to the pen by creating powerful walls of wind while Laura allowed her demonic energy to seep out of her body, causing the animals to become afraid of her and the evil aura that was coming from her.

The aura, as well as the pressure that Laura was exhibiting, enveloped the pigs, causing them to slightly panic and slow down, fear evident in their eyes.

"Good, we can get them inside easily like this, using our auras seems to be the best way of doing this!" Beast said with a smile before Aelrinder shook his head.

"That one is still not faltering, I'll stop it."

In an instant, Aelrinder disappeared and appeared in front of the 'mutant' of the group, a pig whose body was purple and was larger than the rest. It was charging at Laura, seemingly unbothered by the wall of wind in front of it.

"Sorry, but I can't let you hurt yourself," Aelrinder said as he moved, appearing next to the pig and placing the blunt end of the spear on the ground, tripping the pig that fell on the ground before quickly grabbing the back legs and spinning, throwing it to where the pen was.

"Won't that hurt it even more?!" Beast asked with a shocked expression as Aelrinder shook his head.

"They're tough animals, that much shouldn't harm it at all."

"Quickly get them in, the other animals are getting riled up from the aura," Jin told the two, his eyes moving around as he observed the rest of the animals, some of which were fidgeting, moving around nervously as the aura coming from Laura was unnerving them.

"Hey, the pigs, they're … quite calm now." Aelrinder suddenly said, staring at the animals with slight confusion.

"The mutant!" Jin said as his eyes widened.

"Of course, the mutants of the groups are the leaders, they are the volatile ones, and with them present, the other animals seem to exhibit the same emotions. If we remove them from the group, like Aelrinder just did, the other animals calm down."

"So what, we grab all the mutants and place them somewhere else?" Beast asked as Jin started contemplating, only for a notification to ring out.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

[ All the animals must be together with their respective group until the 72 hours pass.]

"Of course they have to be," Jin said with a sigh as he shook his head, a smile present on his face.

"At least now we know what makes the animals go berserk, we just need to look over the mutated ones and we should be able to stop that from happening."

Meanwhile, Shadow, swiftly moving between the darting chickens, managed to corner one of the mutated ones, a rooster that was twice the size of a normal one. The chickens were a bit different from most animals as they had a total of 3 among them who were mutated, the rooster, as well as 2 hens.

Shadow narrowed his eyes as he circled the mutated rooster, its crimson feathers glowing faintly, giving it an ominous presence. The bird was easily twice the size of a normal rooster, its movements sharp and quick despite its bulky appearance. It eyed Shadow with a predatory gleam, its talons scraping against the dirt as if daring him to make the first move.

"These things just keep getting weirder," Shadow muttered under his breath.

The rooster let out a piercing cry, the sound so loud that it reverberated throughout the ranch. Almost instantly, the other two mutated hens darted around, their enhanced speed making them nearly invisible blurs as they zipped through the yard.

"Damn it! These birds are moving faster than some of the enemies we've fought," Shadow said, quickly teleporting a few feet to the side as one of the hens shot past him like a bullet.

Mia, who had been controlling the chaos with her ice magic, quickly created a circular barrier of frost, trapping one of the hens inside. The hen crashed into the icy walls, but Mia reinforced them with her magic before it could break through.

Even then, the strong beak of the hen had managed to pierce through most of the icy wall, causing some cracks to appear.

"To think they would be this strong!" she shouted, her eyes wide in shock as she poured some mana, reinforcing the wall further and causing the cracks to disappear.

"I got this one, but we need to contain the others before they start causing more chaos."

"On it!" Shadow responded, disappearing in a blur of darkness, using his teleportation abilities to quickly maneuver around the ranch. He appeared behind the mutated rooster just as it lunged at him, its talons aiming straight for his face. He sidestepped at the last second, using his daggers to divert its attack and sending it crashing into the ground.

"Got you!" Shadow said as he quickly grabbed the rooster by the wings before the latter could recover. The rooster's strength, however, surprised even Shadow, who actually had to grit his teeth and use quite some strength to keep the rooster down, to make it so that the latter wouldn't be able to escape.

Mia, watching from a distance, continued reinforcing her ice barriers around the other two mutated hens, ensuring they wouldn't escape. "This isn't just about patience. The system really wants us to work for this. We're basically dealing with enhanced beasts disguised as farm animals."

"I guess the system figured that a simple farm trial would be too easy for us," Beast said, his voice strained as he wrestled one of the pigs back into its pen. "Who knew tending animals would be harder than fighting giants?"

As Beast and Aelrinder finally managed to corral the pigs, Tank and Greenie worked on reinforcing the pens with the heavy wooden planks they'd discovered earlier. Even though the animals had already shown they could break through the fences, the team hoped the reinforced structure would hold for a little longer.

"We need to make sure these pens stay intact," Tank said, hammering in the planks with more force than necessary. "I don't want to spend the next two days chasing these animals around."

"Agreed," Greenie grunted, securing another post. "But what happens if they break through again? The pigs are stronger than we expected, and if they get riled up…"

"We'll handle it," Reign interrupted, stepping into the conversation. "We have to stay ahead of this. We know the mutant animals are the problem—if we keep an eye on them, we can keep the rest under control. Mia's ice barriers and our strength should be enough to corral them."

As the day progressed, they fell into a routine. Each group monitored different areas of the ranch, rotating between guarding the animals, reinforcing the structures, and taking short breaks. While the situation seemed relatively stable, they knew that this fragile peace could shatter at any moment.

Nightfall came quickly, and the ranch was bathed in the soft glow of moonlight. The animals, finally calmer, seemed to settle for the night. The team gathered inside the farmhouse for a quick meeting, taking stock of the situation.

"So far, so good," Reign said, scanning the faces of his comrades. "But we still have two days to go. We need to stay vigilant."

"The mutated animals are the key," Jin said, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall. "If we can keep them calm, we'll avoid most of the chaos. But there's something off about this trial. The system wouldn't just give us animals to watch over. There's got to be more to it."

"Agreed," Laura said, her voice thoughtful. "The system doesn't seem like the type to let us relax. We need to expect something more, whether it's an attack or the animals themselves mutating further."

Wolf, who had been unusually quiet since his encounter with the goat, spoke up. "We can handle whatever comes. These animals are tough, sure, but we've faced worse."

Reign nodded. "You're right. We just need to keep our heads on straight. Everyone, get some rest. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight."

The group settled into their rotations, each person taking a few hours to watch over the animals while the others slept. The night passed quietly, though the tension in the air was palpable. Everyone knew that the calm wouldn't last.