It was at this moment of these reflections that the green portal began to ripple, allowing passage to a group of monsters. Stepping back further into the shadows, the princess checked her attributes once again, convinced she would find something called "bad luck" or the like. However, it turned out that she had no such penalty...
Checking that the soldiers were in ambush, she prepared to lead the usual maneuver. All that remained was to wait for the enemies to arrive, busy pursuing the fleeing workers without suspecting the trap that had been set for them.
The monsters were all named "Human Hunters", except for one of these "Human" who was simply called that. Unlike the invaders of previous times, they wore strange armor or loose clothing similar to robes, but adapted to the morphology of their species.
By concentrating, Xicackna could figure out their classes and levels...and that was pretty much the whole point of her skill. She had heard that others could also estimate enemy levels without using skills, which amplified her feeling of uselessness.
There was a level 1 enemy. Weak in appearance, he was the only one in the group to wear clothes similar to those of the first monsters: the workers. He was carrying a huge bag that was recognized by the system as a scannable object. Maybe if her skill upgraded to E rank, she could learn the name of it, but she guessed that it must be a gathering tool. The monsters seemed to hunt the Zcarbbs for food, since they took body parts with them when their expeditions were successful, so it made sense that a worker would accompany the group.
On the other hand, everyone else was clearly a fighter, with levels ranging from 7 to 13.
A shiver ran through her when she realized that the least of them was ranked higher than her. She didn't know if it was fear or disgust, but she was very irritated by it.
Finally, there was a monster whose level she couldn't read. From the research conducted, it seemed that in general skills, other than combat skills, worked more on lower ranks and less on the next higher rank, while they had little effect on ranks beyond.
Her observation skill being of rank F, Xicackna clearly saw the difference between monsters of level 1 to 9 (i.e. those of status F) and those of levels 10 to, here, 13 (status E). She could see the number of F-rank skills, and the nature of them when they were also F-rank, as well as the classes possessed by these monsters. On the other hand, for those with levels placing them in E status, she knew nothing more than said level.
So, this probably meant that the monster whose level she didn't even read was D status, so higher than 19. Knowing that Xyry-Yria was only level 24, this monster was going to be a major threat. In fact, no monster of such power had ever been recorded since the Dungeon appeared.
But the number palliates the level, never a group of twelve monsters (eleven if we except their worker) would succeed in defeating the princess of the zone and her bodyguards. On the other hand, they could wreak significant havoc in the tunnels and leave with their loot without daring to confront her.
Suddenly, as the enemy approached, they stopped for a moment and one of them growled something to the others who shook their heads in return. They then began to continue their journey as before.
Xicackna's heart started racing as she realized something was wrong. Two of the enemies had an “Analysis” skill, a variant of her “Observation” skill which gave more information but at a shorter distance… and it was one of them who had communicated with its people: she was almost certain that the ambush had been discovered and that it would backfire if they attacked... But what could she do? Her talents for observation were refined day by day and she noticed all these details more and more easily, giving her a better picture of the situation. Yet what was the point if she couldn't use this information? Although, like any princess, she could easily organize the logistics of any activity, she had no knowledge of strategies and tactics. If there had been more surviving princes, they would be the ones in her place and, trained all their lives in this work, they would know what to do.
The monsters were approaching. She could clearly see, despite the distance, their hands tightening on their weapons. One of them seemed to be weaving threads of light between its hands, preparing some “magical” attack. Was she going to remain paralyzed by fear, like last time? Was she going to fail again in the defense of the hive? Was she useless?
She bit her arm. The rush of pain helped her to strengthen her concentration, or at least she convinced herself of it. She had to come up with an idea! She wasn't stupid after all. With 20 intelligence points, she was at least four times smarter than a human: she could well find an idea to stop their invasion!
As she concentrated, the battlefield situation appeared clearly to her, like a colorful map. She had around thirty level 8 soldiers, two thirds of which were in ambush in the enemy's path. The rest had the mission of taking the enemy from the rear. Two of them had even developed an incredible skill: “Burrowing”. This allowed them to hide in the ground, even made of rock. The most incredible thing was that, even with her personal skill, she herself struggled to identify the places where they were buried because they left few traces.
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It defied the laws of logic slightly, but any advantage was worth taking. Even if the enemy had spotted their ambushers, they would be surprised by an assault under their feet. The confusion generated by this attack and the numerical superiority of the Zcarbbs would ensure victory!
However, if the enemy had spotted some of the soldiers, the ambush could fail: the enemies could attack the camouflaged troops from a distance without being close enough to the trap. It was therefore necessary to give the enemy confidence to advance that far, and to do so sacrifice a few troops.
Xicackna ordered three of the soldiers, those she considered less well camouflaged, to attack. As expected, the monsters massacred them in no time. As expected, this easy victory seemed to ease their tension and they seemed to relax as they marched to their doom...
A detail suddenly disrupted her certainty of victory. She saw the human worker communicating with the most powerful hunter and she couldn't help but have a bad feeling. Strangely, it did not seem to be the leader of the group despite its power. She supposed he lacked the appearance of strength to be recognized by its peers. It was also one of the two users of the “Analysis” skill, the one who had previously spotted the presence of the soldiers.
By observing her own class skill more carefully, she had discovered some hidden properties, or at least not explained in the basic summary. She could thus protect her own data against another “Observation” skill of a similar or lower level. It was likely that the “Analysis” skill had a similar property.
The icon for the “Sixth Sense” skill flashed annoyingly, confirming her certainty that this encounter was going to end in her disfavor. Ah, if only she could read the thoughts of these creatures, it would be so much easier. And understand their primitive language, of course.
Suddenly, the D status hunter got ahead of the group, to the surprised grunts of its peers, and planted its sword in the ground. It burst the stone in a spray of fluid as the first burrower's skull exploded. Without waiting, the monster planted its sword in the second location discreetly indicated to it by the worker. The other monsters, realizing that they had managed a narrow escape, wailed with joy as they thanked the killer.
With an annoyed clicking of her mandibles, the princess ordered the attack. There was still a chance to win through numbers. As her soldiers rushed forward in the face of an enemy fully prepared to receive them, she ordered those attacking from the rear to wait until the fight was engaged before advancing as discreetly as possible.
Despite their small size compared to the imposing soldiers, the nasty beasts defended themselves fearsomely. They even won! As if it guessed that an attack would inevitably come from behind, the worker raised the alarm even before the soldiers arrived from the rear.
With each second that passed, Xicackna felt the number of soldiers dwindle across the hive mind. Panic took hold of her thoughts and she fell, shaking, to the rocky ground.
Suddenly, she saw four soldiers arrive in front of her, seriously injured. She could feel the fight continuing in the distance: what was happening? Why didn't they fight to the death? Sensing her silent question, they replied[1]:
"Princess, the fight is lost. Those of us who are still able-bodied try to inflict at least one loss on the enemy. But we are too injured to be useful and it’s out of the question that we will give experience to the invaders by our death!"
"Ex… experience? For what?"
"It is very likely that the enemy will also benefit from the System. So, it's reasonable to think that, like us, they get better by killing creatures."
Xicackna bit her mouth. Yes: it was indeed obvious. Why would a soldier, inferior even to humans in terms of intelligence, come to such an obvious conclusion while she herself remained blind to it?
Without realizing it, she had transmitted her thoughts to the soldier who explained to her:
"It’s not a question of intelligence, princess. It is about experience, in the original sense of the term. You find yourself faced with situations for which you are not ready. Panic also disrupts your thinking. You must learn, survive and emerge stronger. Take."
The soldier handed her a war knife. She mechanically took the weapon which seemed as large as a sword from her point of view. The soldier pointed to a damaged spot on its neck:
"Hit here."
The others did the same, pointing out different weak spots where their armor had been damaged. Xicackna opened her mouth, surprised.
"Kill us quickly," ordered the soldier, "if you wait too long the enemy will follow in our footsteps and surprise you! Kill us and take our XP!"
"Ah… Uh… Are you sure?"
"We have already tested the question: it is totally possible to gain experience by killing our fellow beings. The only problem is that it is not profitable since the XP given at death are little compared to the XP accumulated. But in this case, it is of great interest. Hurry up and then run away!"
With trembling hands, the princess raised the knife, aiming at the indicated weak point. She knew the soldier's analysis was logical. It was a joy for them to die for the hive and she felt their satisfaction in depriving the enemy of the XP they give her. However, she could not remove from her thoughts the impression of doing wrong by killing another Zcarbb with her own hands.
Overriding her own thoughts, she thrust the sharpened blade with all her might. She quickly understood that her three points of strength did not amount to much and she had to try several times before the blade finally penetrated deeply and she received 80 experience points. Keeping her momentum, she moved on to the next soldier, tears in her eyes.
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[1] Zcarbb nobles automatically translate information given by commoners into more complex sentences.