"Ummm… Natalia… Are there any strong beasts that can be found in the desert…" Neia nervously asked.
"According to this bestiary, the strongest monster is the Brown Terram Sand Worm which is one of the few B ranks found on this planet. They are Giant worms that are always found under the ground, they jump up onto unsuspecting pray right from beneath them. Their power levels range from 14,000 to 21,000. But, Don't worry they are extremely rare. It would probably be more likely to find an actual unicorn!" Natalia said with a chuckle.
"I hope you didn't jinx it…" Jay replied.
"OOO Boy! I hope you did jinx it! Giant sounds like a lot of fun! Plus, if we beat it, we would definitely be in first place for at least a while!" Travis said enthusiastically.
"Hey! Do you have a screw loose or something? You know this is the real deal right? This is no joke. We can all easily die if we go against something that strong. So, I'd rather not fight it. We can easily get the same amount of points by just killing weaker monsters," Haley said, disgusted and annoyed by Travis's words
'He can't be that stupid, no one is that stupid… He must have an ulterior motive,' Moby thought.
Then, a sudden realization hit him.
'Wait a sec… He is supposed to be our long-range sniper. He doesn't even have to be in the attack range of the monster. He will be able to attack it while it's distracted by us on the front lines. He must not give a shit because he would have the highest survival rate out of all of us! Also, we will all equally split the loot we get from the magical beasts once we all finish. If there are fewer of us means everyone will receive a bigger slice of pie. Also, he wouldn't even get in trouble as he was just doing his job. I bet he can put himself in danger without any repercussions. Then flee to the back lines letting us attack it close range while he stays safely in the back.'
'I think Travis and his motives are a lot darker than he makes them out to be... has to be.'
'This world is too cold and cruel for people like him to last long…'
'At least that's the best theory I could come up with,' Moby thought.
'That's one crazy theory you got there but it might actually be possible…' Avilia said, agreeing with Moby.
"Well, anyway, we should probably get out of the desert and head into the forest. Other than the worm, there are just weak monsters found scarcely around the desert. Usually, there is nothing else to see here but… you know...sand," Natalia said with a chuckle.
Suddenly, a loud ringing noise came out of everyone's watch before the professor's voice could once again be heard as he said in an overly enthusiastic tone.
"Attention all examinees! Your exam has officially started! Good luck! I hope you all make it back safely! See you all in a week!"
"Alright! We can't waste our time here! Let's go get some points!"
"Follow me! I'll go at a pace that allows everyone to catch up!" Natalia said with a smile, dashing towards the forest.
(Click paragraph comment for art!)
Everyone else nodded and immediately followed right behind her.
"Oh! By the way guys, I'll keep the leader boards visible on my watch. If anyone needs to know the rankings just let me know!" Moby said with a smile.
"Sure… you can do that… No one really cares one way or another. I guess I'll just ask you whenever I need to see the leader board," Haley replied to Moby.
"Ya! Moby that would be lovely! You will be in charge of letting us know the rankings when its important or when we ask," Natalia turned around facing Moby with a radiant smile.
'Exactly as planned!'
'Now I can use my full power without anyone noticing!'
'Ahhh! I see what you're doing! That's pretty resourceful of you,' Avilia said.
'I have already Informed Jayden and Abby meaning that they can also use their full powers without anyone noticing as well!'
'If I leave the leaderboards open on my watch, it means that my power level won't be displayed. This means people won't notice the spike in power level that happens when I let out my full power. If I were to do this without letting everyone know, it would look extremely suspicious. But now, It wouldn't be odd in the slightest!'
'Let's just hope everything keeps going like this,' Moby inwardly hoped.
5 minutes later...
"AAAHHH!! WHAT THE FUCK!! Can we not go any faster!" Jay complained.
"I share that sentiment! I want some action! I bet we are already far behind in the rankings" Travis nodded in agreement.
"Well sorry! I can't go any faster than this! Especially with all your shit slowing me down!" Moby snarkily replied.
"Hey! Porter boy. How many points does first place have? and who is in first place?" Haley asked Moby.
"First place is team Abby Ried followed by team Alex Hart in close second. Third place is Team Nags Axel who are pretty far behind first and second. First place has 28 points and second place has 24 points while third place only has 17," Moby replied in a monotone voice.
As soon as Moby finished reciting the rankings, He Natalia biting her lips along with a large, ugly visible scowl, that appeared on her face. However, It was only visible for a split second before going back to her regular smile not allowing anyone else to notice.
"Let's pick up the pace just a bit! We can't fall too far behind the other groups now can we!" Natalia said with a smile, now going a little faster than before.
"I'm sorry about this Moby, I know that it will be tough to keep up. But, I know you can do it! I believe in you!" Natalia added with a small blush on her face.
'What the hell! She's crazy! No way I was the only one that saw that! I'm having second thoughts on making her into a servant. Hopefully, she is the fanatically loyal type like Abby and not the crazy, controlling, overprotective type.'
'That would be a nightmare,' Moby inwardly shuddered just thinking about it.
Moby just nodded back
While they were running, Moby was happy to notice a flurry of notifications that appeared telling him that his servants killed a beast. He noticed that the amount of XP he gained was lower than when he killed humans of the same power level. Also, every monster gave a different amount of XP even when they fall under the same rank. Moby thought was either that it was due to the intelligence of humans or demons somehow steal a person's soul when they die and that is what the XP gain from killing someone represents.
Moby only gained a total of 1000 XP from all those kills.
'There must be a reason why demons get stronger after killing or defeating someone. This is real life. Not a game.' was Moby's thought process.
According to his theory, this means that monster/magical beast souls are a lot weaker than that of humans resulting in a lower amount of XP gained.
When Moby tried to ask Avilia in order to confirm his theory, she always replied with very vague and sarcastic answers.
Moby felt like she would be lowkey sweating if she had a physical body.
This led to Moby believing his own theory for now. However, he was still not 100% certain.
Suddenly a huge earthquake along with a large rumbling sound came from the sand under them. The sand began to sink everyone inside like it was quicksand. All the sand was being sucked into a huge hole in the middle.
"FUCK!! IT'S THE WORM!! IT'S RIGHT UNDER US!! EVERYONE GET OUT!!!" Natalia frantically screamed.
"Fuck! You really did jinx it!" Jay cursed, using a pillar of earth to boost him away from the sandpit.
"Yay! Fun! Finally!" Travis said, jumping out of the sandpit using his high agility.
"Fuck! I can't get out! I can't die here! I am too young and beautiful to die! This would bring great dishonour to my family! SOMEONE SAVE ME!! Haley screamed a high pitch screech like a steaming kettle.
'Shit! I can easily get out of this. But, if I did, It would raise a lot of questions. I'll just try my best to demon flash out when no one is paying attention. Then I'll…' Moby thought before being expectedly unexpectedly interrupted.
Natalia had blinked towards him, carrying him in one hand. Then, she immediately blinked towards Haley, picking her up with her other hand.
'I should have expected this… No way Natalia would let me die. Also, that blink ability is really something… She can cover many meters of distance in an instant. I'm not sure how it fully works, But, I'm sure I'll find out eventually,' Moby thought.
"Thank you so much team leader Natalia! I am now greatly indebted to you!" Haley said with tear-filled eyes.
"Ya, thanks a lot!" Moby said with an awkward smile, trying his best to pretend like he was scared.
"Your welcome guys! Natalia said with a bright smile, taking them back onto land and away from the worm's quicksand.
"Hey! Why did you save him instead of the enhancer girl! At least she could be useful!" Jay complained.
"Moby has all our equipment! Would you be okay with losing all your belongings to the worm?" Natalia replied in a cold tone.
"Ummm… No I guess not…" Jay said, cursing his big mouth.
Moby looked over at the quicksand area and noticed the crying Neia. Her Body was already over halfway under the sand.
"Please… Someone… Save me…Don't leave me… Please…." Moby heard Neia mutter.
"Hey, Natalia, can't you use your blink ability to save her?" Moby asked.
'Fuck! I can't let her die! She is the only decent person in this team! Her ability is also really good and would definitely be useful in the future!' Moby thought.
"HELP PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU!" Neia screamed in horror, a waterfall of tears falling down her face.
After hearing Niea's horror-filled screams, a small malevolent smirk became visible on Natalia's face.
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NO MORE EXCUSES! I'm already really far behind! I will try my best to get out 3 chapters today! This is the first of 3! If I don't get 3 then sue me and uncollect this novel!
Update on the new cover! I hired an actual artist to draw it! proggress pictures and updates can be found on the discord!
I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! <3
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