"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Crystal, uncertain.

"We have to distract them and reduce the number around the hive before charging in directly. That's the only way. Besides, they don't have any attack power. I just have to be fast enough to prevent too many of them gathering over me. Don't worry. We'll run if we don't succeed." Anom reassured her. They didn't have much time to waste, so this was the fastest way.

Crystal weakly nodded and asked, "Then what will you use to distract them?"

Anom chuckled at the question and looked towards the young Tremor Bear. The beast looked back and bared its teeth, trying to put on a smiling expression.

Crystal was exasperated, "And you said you were not a tamer. Look how you brainwashed the poor beast into agreeing to be the bait. It even looks happy."

Anom almost laughed out loud, "It's happy because it thinks that I'm going to follow the plan it suggested."

"What plan?" Crystal was curious about the plan a young beast could make.

"He said, 'You should use the weak and ugly female by your side as the bait. I will be on the lookout outside the cave. And as you are the strongest human I have ever seen, it's only natural that you enter the hive and steal the syrup.'" He was trying to suppress his laugh. Then Anom sighed, "This beast is amazing. Besides, it's slightly lacking flattering skills, it has all the skills required for being a shady merchant."

"This little rascal!" Crystal gritted her teeth as she stared at the beast, making the latter shiver. She could've understood if she had been called weak, but what did this bastard mean by ugly?

"Don't get distracted now. Let's finish the task at hand first, then you can teach him how to treat girls properly. If he remains okay after getting a massage from those bugs, that is."

Anom acted quickly and, without giving the beast any time to react, he threw it using all his strength. The place he had aimed for was where the entrance to the hive was.

"Graaaaagh!"

The beast screamed in fear as it flew in an arc and landed in the middle of the bugs.

For a second, the bugs all stared at the weird animal that had come inside the cave. Soon it seemed as if the entire cave was erupting as all the bugs started making jarring noises.

As the young bear was in the middle of it all, it almost passed out due to the jarring noise on top of the fear it felt. But it managed to regain its senses as it quickly ran towards the forest.

Anom had to say that the beast was smart. Although it was scared, it still led the insects towards the direction they had discussed before.

Anom also didn't delay. After sending Crystal to hide, he broke into a sprint while he unsheathed his blade and another short sword, one of the two he had plundered.

Just after a few jumps, he was outside the cave. The insects on the outside have almost all gone to chase after the young bear. So it was relatively easier to enter the hive than before.

But he was still noticed by the remaining bugs.

Just as he stepped inside the hive, the remaining bugs, who were the guards directly responsible for the security of the syrup, attacked him.

Well, their attack consisted of swarming their target with their large numbers and targeting them with their sharp mandibles.

Although they were not powerful individually, imagine a whole group of them hovering over you. Their combined force was enough to bring Anom down. Well, that was only possible when the bugs could catch up to him.

Anom used his movement skills and reflexes to the maximum. He dodged the bugs trying to stop him with numbers and used the broad side of his blades to swat them away. Although this didn't deal them ample damage, the slight disorientation caused in their formation was enough for Anom to keep moving forward.

He soon arrived in front of the hive. Many small rocks were bonded together using a mud-like material. The hive was attached to the wall of the cave which was on Anom's right.

He made his way towards the cave while coping with the increasing army of bugs.

Soon, he was in front of the hive. He didn't have to worry about breaking open the whole hive to search for the syrup because as soon as he arrived near the hive, a sweet and delicious smell assaulted his senses. He felt as if his whole body was immersed in honey and his internal energy started moving even more vigorously.

Anom located the source of the smell at the bottom of the hive.

He hacked the surface of the hive at that place with one hand while dealing with the bugs using his other hand.

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As his focus was divided between two tasks, some bugs managed to dodge his blade and land on him, giving him some scratches.

But Anom ignored most of the attacks and only acted when too many bugs were accumulated on him.

The outer surface of the hive was soon dug up. The sweet smell in the air became even denser and Anom could see the source of the smell through the hole he created.

A golden crystal-like surface was in front of him. It was the syrup which had been crystallized at the bottom. Anom used his blade to dig the golden syrup crystals.

The brittle chunk of syrup crystal cracked under the assault of Anom's blade. He continued digging till the crystals at the bottom were all broken into small pieces. Some liquid syrup also started seeping as soon as the crystals on the top layer were removed.

Anom acted quickly and took out the tool he had borrowed from Crystal – her Storage Pouch.

He picked up as many crystals as he could and deposited them all inside the pouch.

The bugs became anxious when they saw the leaking syrup. Some of them stopped assaulting Anom and flew towards the hole and started repairing it. Only then did Anom realize that the substance used to make the hive was soil from this cave which was engulfed in these creatures' saliva.

He didn't have the time to admire their building skills as he finished collecting the crystals. Now both his hands were holding a sword as he started making his way out of the cave.

"Screeeeeeeeee!"

Anom was halfway to the exit when a screeching sound was heard from inside the hive. A fierce aura was emitted along with the ear-piercing noise. Anom had to utilize his internal energy to prevent his body from being affected by the pressure.

'Is that the queen?' guessed Anom as he once again started walking out.

As though they were ordered, all the bugs who were on the outside started coming towards the direction of the hive.

Anom was sure that the queen or whatever was inside the hive had summoned back all the bugs to deal with the intruder, him.

He didn't waste any more time as he focused more on dodging and running forward instead of getting tangles with the bugs.

As soon as he exited the cave, he started running in the direction he had decided on before.

The bugs followed him closely but the trees made it easier for Anom to hide from their attacks.

Soon, he was far from the cave.

A shadow rushed out from the front and glared at Anom. It was the young Tremor Bear.

Anom ignored its resentful gaze and continued running. The bear also saw the bugs coming behind Anom and became horrified. The poor bear who was harassed by these bugs once again started running from them.

Although it was fast, it still couldn't catch up to Anom. The bugs also detected it, making it scream in fear.

Just as the bear thought that these bugs would kill him, another screech was heard. And just like last time, all the bugs acted as if an order was given and started leaving, ignoring the young bear who was lying on the ground, paralyzed in fear.

Anom also stopped running as he turned to look in the cave's direction. He then looked at the bear who acted as if its soul had left its body and spoke, "Hey, if you want your reward, then stand up!"

The bear stood up hurriedly and ran towards Anom, afraid that he would keep all the crystals for himself.

"You're back."

Soon they both arrived near a large tree. Crystal was resting under the tree, waiting for their arrival.

Anom nodded and showed her the storage pouch. He grinned, "I told you it'd be fine. Besides, we had a great bait to lure away most of the bugs." Anom looked towards the young bear and chuckled. Crystal also laughed as she was happy that they had succeeded. And that the little rascally bear had learnt its lesson.

The young bear growled angrily when it saw the humans laughing. Although the beast didn't understand what they were saying, it was smart enough to realize that there was something about it.

But soon it forgot all its resentments because Anom had taken out all the crystals from the storage pouch.

Seeing the shiny golden crystals and smelling their sweet scent made the bear forget about everything else. It ran forwards and grabbed at a small crystal with its teeth. Soon it started crunching and licking the pieces.

Crystal was also entranced by their sweet smell and the beautiful golden colour.

She picked one of the smaller crystals and took a bite. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sweet flavour.

Anom had also picked one piece. He tasted some and admitted that this thing deserved to be sold at auction even if it was only for its taste. Not to mention the surging energy he felt inside his body after eating a fist-sized piece.

Although the energy in this fist-sized piece was not even one-tenth of the energy fruit he had eaten before, it was gentler in nature. Plus, he had plenty of these crystals with him.

Crystal, who was enjoying the syrup crystals, frowned when she looked at Anom. Although he was not injured, small cuts made by the bugs were covering his whole body.

She walked forward and took the storage pouch from Anom. Then she took out the medicine she had used before and gave it to him, "Eat it. You look fine but these cuts can be harmful if not treated quickly."

Anom looked at her and nodded, taking the medicine. After it entered his stomach, he felt the medicine emitting a gentle energy which mixed easily with his internal energy. He made his energy circulate and focused it on the injured areas. He felt better immediately.

Anom nodded at Crystal. Then he looked at the bear who was gathering the crystals like crazy. He walked forward and gave the bear's little butt a kick. "You can take as many crystals as you can carry. Hurry up, I'll take the remaining crystals back."

The bear acted quickly and started gathering many large crystal pieces. Soon it had gathered almost a third of what Anom brought back. Anom looked at the greedy bear speechlessly but didn't stop the bear.

Soon, the bear frowned. Though it had gathered the crystals, it didn't have any means to carry them.

It became anxious as it began looking everywhere, but its little brain seemed to have used up all the juice for the day. Finally, the beast looked at Anom with a pitiful expression.

Anom shook his hand as he took out a piece of cloth from his bag. He wrapped all the pieces the bear had selected with the cloth. Then he put the tied end of the cloth parcel around the bear's neck.

The bear tried to move and was happy to find out that it was easier to carry the crystals now. It let out a low roar to express its happiness.

Anom nodded and said, "Alright! Go back home before any other beast smells the crystals and tries to snatch them."

The beast looked at Anom and Crystal and let out a roar to greet them. Then its small frame disappeared among the trees while carrying a bag as large as its own size.

Anom then turned towards Crystal, "We should also leave."

Crystal nodded and placed the storage pouch back on her waist. She told Anom that she could help him sell these at a good price. Anom didn't have any problem with the arrangement, nor did he know anything about the city in the first place, so he agreed.

They both started walking as Crystal munched on the crystal piece to recover her energy. After all, it was the main reason he obtained them.