After he had successfully kept the wolf looking beast busy, Corvus had advanced deeper into the forest with ease. And when he was just several meters away from where the hamster looking beasts were estimated to appear, the Devi on his arm vibrated.
"It's time!" He chuckled as his grip on his Hunter's Blades tightened.
Then, he dashed towards a black tree and sliced it into half. He did this several more times, to the point that the area was started to be illuminated by the light coming from the nearest star.
He did not waste any time and hid behind a tree, where he could safely observe if the hamster looking beast would be baited towards the stump of the black trees. Afterward, he turned off all his electrically charged or related equipment and gadgets, including his Devi.
This way, the hamster looking beasts would only be attracted to the only electrical energy source available, which was the tree stumps that were bursting with an electric current. This, in turn, made his heart pound heavily whilst beads of sweat started to fall from his face.
With no other detection capability other than his five senses, the threat posed towards him by planet Tordha had increased to another level as he won't be able to detect or record any potential threats that would slip from his mind.
'Patience...' He thought as minutes passed by, and there were still no signs of the hamster looking beasts.
At that moment, he heard several explosions coming from the direction where the other teams were located. These explosions kept moving forward, indicating that the other teams were slowly but surely moving forward, even against the threat of the hamster looking beasts.
That said, his wait was not for naught. Somehow, injured hamster looking beasts had arrived and approached the tree stumps that Corvus prepared for them as bait. On top of that, the injured hamster looking beasts had lost their glow whilst the electric current enveloping their body had dissipated and were replaced by weak sparks--contrary to how they look in the videos displayed during the briefing session.
"A chance!" Corvus murmured as he grabbed the Beam Pistol that was holstered under his armpit.
Then, he aimed it towards the hamster looking beasts with one hand and started firing. Despite it was his first time shooting a Beam Gun, holes punched through the hamster looking beasts--Killing them on the spot.
The moment he started firing towards the hamster looking beasts, hidding was of no use. Hence, he re-activated Devi and his other electrical related equipment as he approached their dead bodies.
Minutes later, the amount of injured hamster looking beast that he encountered had diminished. At the same time, the explosions made by other teams had started to dissipate, not because there were no beasts that they encountered but, because they were already so far ahead from Corvus, for him to hear the explosions.
He knelt down and started dissecting the dead bodies of the hamster looking beasts. Truth be told, he had no knowledge about dissection, even its basics. That said, he simply opened the dead bodies with his Hunter's Blade, carefully, and allowed his Devi to record the data and information.
"Ehk!" He cried after he almost vomited when he saw the innards of the hamster looking beast.
In explorations, gathering as much data as possible was essential. Hence, he knew that dissection was a part of it. But... Like the typical men of his age, it is one of the tasks that they would gladly pass to other people even if it cost them money.
It was only at this point that he had no choice but to do it because he was on his own. At the same time, he thought that it would be better to start learning dissection in this simulation rather than in actual scenarios. This way, he could obtain techniques and strategies that he may use in the future.
It may also help him devise or improve the way he strikes, stabs, or shoot enemies, to lessen the damage to the dead bodies of beasts, which would consequently increase its trade value to the market.
Later on, he became accustomed to it, while at the same time, his dissection ability had improved thanks to the guidance of his Devi. After checking the last dead body, he took a deep breath and headed forward towards the mountain.
Fortunately, the other teams had seemingly attracted and annihilated the other beasts, consequently leaving his path empty, and making his advance smooth and easy. Soon, he encountered a cliff that was around twenty feet high.
It would have posed him a big problem if he needed to climb it in order to catch up to the other teams who had progressed deeper into the mountain. But... Fortunately, a gigantic ancient-looking gate was embedded in the wall made of rock.
"This..." Corvus stared at the ancient-looking gate with disbelief.
Then, his hands had unconsciously tapped a button on his Devi that had seemingly rung the Devi of the other members of the Exploration group. And in the next second, a holographic screen popped out from his Devi, displaying everyone, including Guild Leader Jini and Officer Kal Bos, and seemed like it was a video call.
"Young Lad, you know what that button is for, right?" Guild Leader Jini said, coldly, whilst wearing a menacing look.
On the other hand, Officer Kal Bos simply stood, waiting for his response. It was only after a few seconds that Corvus was able to return himself, and shifted the focus of his Devi from him towards the ancient-looking gate.
"Y-Yes, Senior!" He said, "I am just not sure if this is a... a Dungeon!"
For some reason, Guild Leader Jini burst into laughter--that was contrary to her previous demeanor. Then, she asked, coldly, "Young man, stand by! I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Y-Yes, Senior!" Corvus said as the scenario paused and a huge 'Congratulations!' remark was displayed, holographically, right before the ancient-looking gate.
[Congratulations!]
[Objective... Complete!]
[You have completed the orientation!]
[Computing score for your overall performance!]
[Test Difficulty... A-rated]
[Test Duration... 4 Hours 10 Minutes 32 Seconds]
[Number of Deaths... 0]
[Number of Uses of Emergency Button... 1]
[Number of killed Beasts... 35]
[Hidden Task Completed... 7]
[...]
[Computation Complete!]
[Orientation Newbie Hunter Rating... A tier]
[Rewards would be given by the PHO Staff!]
[Orientation Complete! Do you want to try again? Yes or No?]
[Please note that doing the orientation again, invalidate both the rating and the rewards you are supposed to get from this trial.]
"A tier?" Corvus uttered in astonishment. Then, he gasped and said, "No! I got an A tier rating and I am contented with it! Besides... I obtained all the information I need."
Slowly, his vision faded. And after a few minutes, he woke up and went out of the capsule. He took his bags and checked twice if he had dropped or forgotten something inside the capsule. Assured that everything was alright, he left the orientation room to look for the staff that guided him earlier.
"What could be my reward?" He murmured as he brimmed with excitement.