Ray decided to do a little bit of both. Green glitter led grass to grow on the cracks, as yellow glitter lit it up, all while Ray did not show his face. The beasts died in hordes, falling prey to his attack.
The System hadn’t responded yet, so they must still be dying, but Ray had to admit, he felt a little unease at the situation. The cracks were still widening, and it seemed like the tunnel had more exploding to do.
The entire thing felt like a disaster waiting to happen. So Ray ran. Jumping from tree to tree, Ray ran away from the disaster.
The trees around him were noticeably devoid of beasts, but not of humans. The explosion had attracted a variety of other hunters, wearing the clothes of the Army, the Mage-Warriors Order, but not the College. Ray’s worry increased. The situation had further solidified his assumption.
The beasts would rush towards the explosion if there wasn’t something off. After all, there was a lot of blood and mana to be had. But they’d run away instead. And that implied the presence of a bigger predator.
Tier 1 mongoose x 33: 10x 33= 330
TIer 2 warrior mongoose x 31= 60 × 31= 1860
Tier 3 captain mongoose x 11= 105x 11=1155
Tier 6 (6283/6400)
Ray’s face paled as he raised the predicament he was in. The mongoose were hierarchical. And that meant that there were higher ranks. A lot of higher ranks. Just what nest had he poked this time? And where were the College students?
Ray rushed around, switching targets, he had to warn everyone at once.
‘Ooh, mongoose! A nice feast of ingredients. The kids have escaped, they are currently surviving a very unsuccessful ambush by the Mage-Warrior …well they were. The attackers are dead now. Oh, and this is the only time I will be contacting you.
A little thank you for giving me all these ingredients, mongoose kings are rare, baby mongoose kings are very rare. Ooh, is that a mongoose emperor? A Tier 15 emperor mongoose, just where was this sweetie hiding… Ah, the tunnels are from another zone! What a nice little mangoose empire extending its outpost with some help… Well, I don’t think anyone will mind if I teleport these to me.’ the Dean said.
The connection cut off before Ray could give an answer. What the heck? The mongoose tunnels were an extension of some kind of mongoose empire? And it had a Tier 15 emperor? Did mongoose turn sapient?
The Class system is reinitialized, please choose your new class.
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Ariana
Ariana looked at the mess of a zone with boredom. The thing was so contrite that she would bet a hundred mana coins that the mage Academy’s old fogie had planned it. The zone borders were not something some mongoose could dig through. The zone wasn’t Tier 5, it was Tier 7. The College’s Dean had predictably carted off the rest of the mongoose, though she was sure they would never have interfered in the hunt even if he hadn’t done so.
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The trick was an old one, say the hunt was of a particular level, the kids were sent at that level, and then let some higher Tier beasts in to make it a challenge. The trick was apparently so old that the other colleges hadn’t even bothered to act surprised. Or complain about the matter.
The lot of them had instead sent kids with hidden auras in. The Corriss kid, for instance, a Tier 8. A nice challenge for Ray if he was Tier 5. Now close to Tier 6, the kid was just going to end up as mana fodder. Ariana had hoped that Ray would get some challenge from this exercise, perhaps unlock some rare element? The possibility was gone now.
An explosion wrecked the wood as the Tier 7 mongoose went on another rampage, the thing was getting close to Tier 8, things would get interesting when it did. Huh, it was having a hard time against that kid. A Mage-Warrior’s order one. The kid had been gaining mana fast, from Tier 5 to Tier 6 in the few hours he was here. Ray’s speed wasn’t easy to match.
A person to look out for, perhaps she could steal him. The kid's armor did look weak, a vast difference from Corriss’ brand new, dwarven made full coverage armor that could withstand blows up to Tier 9.
The kid exchanged blows with the beast, injuring it. The mongoose pivoted around him, slashing at him with his claws. The kid stood there calmly, waiting for it to come close before shining bright golden light into its eyes.
A smart move, the mongoose was still nocturnal, it would have a hard time against the light. The kid raised his hand, ready to finish him off, when he found himself shoved off by Corriss. The mongoose recovered a little, striking randomly. Corriss just used his shield for defense while shooting fire at it. The technique disgusted Ariana. Fire was supposed to spread, not be directed in a ray like this.
The mongoose, of course, couldn’t take the attack as injured as it was. The poor thing died too early, as Corriss took all of the mana. The kid from before tried to approach him, but was met with Corris throwing fire at him. Ariana couldn’t see clearly as high up as she was, but she was pretty sure the poor kid was getting mocked.
Ah, some people never learn. Corriss should have been kicked out after the College fiasco, but instead he’d been given enough mana to get to Tier 8. An overly proud culture strutting like a peacock. But Ariana was more interested in the kid.
Erkland was right there looking all irritated. The man was clever, Ariana would give him that. The fact that the Order was still around was a testament to his cunning. A pity he had such a useless kid.
“So, who’s the kid?” Ariana asked, walking towards him with fire surrounding her, flaunting her power.
“I presume you mean my son, Corriss? Yes, he is quite a genius.” Erkland said, but even he couldn’t keep a straight face when saying it.
“No, I meant the actual genius, not the fake one.” Ariana said, making sure her tone was informative instead of mocking. The fact that it was true would hurt far more than any mockery on her part. What could she say, she held grudges. And she held them for a long time.
“Yes, that one. A coward, as you can see. The kid had such potential when he came, just sending that useless son of yours on that errand. But then he had some sort of bout of cowardice. Just look at him, walking away from cowardice.” Erkland said.
Torrin. The professor's kid. Ariana wondered what had happened to him, probably some bullying. A surprising amount of bullies felt guilty after getting bullied. And Torrin hadn’t even been one of the violent ones.
“I suppose you wouldn’t mind me poaching him, then?” she asked.
“Oh? Well, I would certainly be supportive of you wasting money. A million mana coins, what do you say?” Erkland said, presuming she wouldn’t take him up on it.
“So cheap? What a disappointment, I was willing to pay so much more for him. But a deal is a deal.” Ariana said. Torrin could have gone three paths, either he was bullied out of his talent, he rebelled against the Mage-Warrior’s guild but still wasn’t a friend of Ray’s. Or he became an agent of the Order.
Ariana did not like the odds, so she changed them. A genius was always worth more than a million mana coins. A genius on the opposite side? Ariana would find no price too much. Torrin was a threat, now he was a threat that depended on her and had to spend inordinate amounts of time in her company.
And she could be very convincing. Erkland’s face twisted into irritation, but he didn’t back out. The man clearly thought that Torrin wasn’t worth a million mana coins. Or he really needed the money. A bit of both, perhaps. Ariana was fine either way, as long as she got what she wanted.