[Suppression Tomb]
The party entered with their highest guard on. The moment they stepped into the portal, they were transported to a different world.
They arrived at a dark cave. The only source of light was mesmerizing blue crystals that were embedded all throughout the cave walls. They could see various sharpened stalagmites throughout the cave.
The first group that arrived was the strongest group. Winter unsheathed his sword the moment he stepped into the cave. He could hear sounds of creatures moving in the cave.
Thomp! Thomp!
The cave shook from the footsteps of a beast. Winter signaled to a light ability user and a small ball of light was summoned, illuminating the area around them further.
The first group did not move anywhere as they waited for the rest of the party to emerge from the portal.
There was no sound when the entire party gathered. Everyone was on their highest guard. They could hear the constant sounds of creatures moving in the background.
Kiteb stepped forward and called for the attention of the crowd. Like many others within this group, he was a leader of his own group. His specialty was his high sensory abilities. Everyone who was present recognized this and let him do his thing.
"There appears to only be minotaurs in this radius. There's a hole if we go south that may lead us somewhere else," Kiteb said after using his ability.
"Can we clear out this area?" Winter asked.
"That should not be an issue,"
"Very good. Men! We'll be moving as a team. Let's go," Winter led the party to the nearest minotaur according to Kiteb's instructions.
When a team of almost a hundred people moved together to exterminate a single minotaur, it was practically overkill. At this same time, this method allowed them to fight without racking up injuries.
A dozen men ganged up on a helpless minotaur and easily killed it in under a minute.
"Someone disperse the smell of blood," Winter ordered.
A man stepped up and used his ability to disperse the smell. Winter had a clear plan in mind for this mission. He knew that there was the risk of blood attracting monsters so he removed the risk before it became a possibility.
"Anymore around us?" Winter asked.
"About six more," Kiteb answered.
"Let's get rid of them first," Winter said, "Someone carry the corpse with us,"
Winter's commands were followed without an objection. There was no room for error in this unknown place. These people realized the unknown danger that was present. If there was a conflict that was to come up, they would die without evening knowing why.
Under Winter's guidance, they easily hunted down the rest of the minotaurs in the area. By the time the rest of the minotaurs were killed, everyone who took part in the battles was exhausted.
They took a rest and the minotaur meat was distributed. The corpses of seven minotaurs were plenty to feed a group of a hundred people. Everyone present brought their own food but the minotaur meat was better in that it increased their strength if they consumed enough. A single piece would not be enough to make them stronger but as long as they kept eating more, at least one of their stats would increase.
After everyone finished resting up, they proceeded to kill more minotaurs. It was a simple process. Locate and kill. This was done for two reasons. Number one, these minotaurs would go outside through the portal eventually and attack the city. Number two, it was for their own peace of mind. The fewer monsters there were around in this cave, the safer it would be.
And just like that, the first day passed by. The following days, they continued the same process and cleared the way for the hole that Kiteb located. As they continued to clear the cave of monsters, they came to a startling observation.
"These minotaurs come out of thin air?" Winter was shocked at this discovery.
He had seen with his own two eyes. A tornado of mana gathered and finally condensed into a minotaur.
It was like a process of surplus and deficit. The more they killed the minotaurs, the bigger the deficit they would create in the cave. As a result, mana would come surging in and create more minotaurs as a surplus.
The extermination party had a grim expression. Fortunately, the killing of these minotaurs was not for nothing. At least they were able to become stronger with every minotaur they were able to consume. On top of that, the process of replenishing was not a rapid process. It would take a long time before dozens of minotaurs would be replenished.
"This should lead to the next level," Kiteb said with a serious expression. "I can't see beyond this."
Winter sighed and asked the man next to him. "We'll rest before moving on. Can you take a look at our equipment?"
Dam nodded and said, "Am I getting paid for this?"
"Of course," Winter replied with a smile.
Dam was the man he was trying to recruit into his party. He had the most ordinary appearance ever. Unkempt black hair, eyes that were dead like a fish hidden behind a pair of glasses. Looking at him would give one the impression of a cockroach. However, his ability [Artifact Creation] was amazing to say the least. No one dared to harm such a man.
Dam took a look at Winter's sword that he created. With just a thought, the sword became as malleable as a whip. He manipulated this free form of a sword effortlessly and in less than a minute, the sword became as good as new. All the chips and scratches from use were gone.
He also repaired Winter's lightweight armor. As he did with the sword, he repaired all the scratches in the blink of an eye and this was merely the tip of the iceberg for his ability.
"The enchantment is still there so I won't need to do anything for that," Dam touched Winter's gently.
Dam followed the same process with every [User] in the group. By the time he finished, he was exhausted. His eyes that looked like those of a dead fish's now looked like ones that belonged to a corpse.
He laid on like a starfish before getting picked up by Rocklet.
"Let's go," Winter said loudly. He was the first to jump into the seemingly bottomless hole.