Kale was alerted.
The range of this equipment was higher than ‹Life Sense›, moreover, it can stay active at low cost all the time, and even change the range depending on the input mana, he was activating it continuously in short intervals after entering the dungeon and just earlier he heard disoriented footsteps that made him frown.
He told the duo to hide, by the time he did that, Kale was already in action, he showed his rock climbing skills and immediately climbed up to a rocky terrain about six meters above the ground.
When he turned to look, he saw that Kallus and Vaella were also climbing behind him. He thought for a moment before extending his hands and helping them climb up.
"What happened?" Kallus asked after he helped Vaella get up, thought his question was soon answered before Kale spoke.
The ground below them slightly trembled, Kallus raised his head to look at the right and saw a small dust cloud in the distance, in a few moments, he was able to see the three komodo dragons like creatures madly charging in front without carrying about any obstacle that came in their way.
"Poison Swamp Lizards?" Vaella muttered under her breath, Kallus continued after her "They are monsters mostly found on the third floor, why are they on the second floor?"
Poison Swamp Lizard are Tier 3 Uncommon-Grade, as their name says their habitat is the swamp, they come in the category of lazy monsters that spend most of their time sleeping and digesting their food.
Usually, all monster beasts have their fixed territories, if they enter someone else's territory they treat them as enemies, especially inside a dungeon, as dungeon corrodes their thinking process and make them completely dependent on it, as a result, they can't disobey it.
Because of that, unless something unexpected happens, monsters inside the dungeon doesn't step into other territories.
"The reason for that is following them from behind," Kale said while pointing at a humanoid silhouette chasing them from behind.
Kallus traced the direction he was pointing and saw a man clad in green armour holding a one-handed sword in his hand chasing them from behind. Kallus frowned.
Kale observed his expression then the man chasing the three lizards, the green armour on him was giving off a light green radiance and the sword in his hand didn't look normal either, it had an attractive azure magic crystal at its hilt, the man was loaded with precious gear.
Kale soon discovered a beautiful woman with a slim figure following him from behind, she was wearing a blue robe that was separated from the sides revealing her long legs as she ran, she had a long silver staff having an oval white crystal tangled in silver wires on top of it, in her hands. A robust man with short brown hair was also running side by side with her but he was carrying two big bags on his back so his speed more or less matched the woman, this much info was more than enough for Kale to figure out the outline of the story.
'Monsters have stronger bodies and raw power but they lack wisdom, the man himself might not be stronger but his gear is without a doubt not cheap coupled with his team it shouldn't be impossible for him to corner and scare the three lizards.
But he either overestimates his abilities or purposely let them escape through the canal leading to upper floors, his actions can threaten the life of other adventurers on upper floors, if he is complained…' Kale thought but then he glanced at the dark expression of Kallus and denied this thought.
To him, it didn't seem like this was so easy to deal with, or else Kallus wouldn't react like that. The man must have some strong backing, and in most kingdoms of this world, strong backing was, directly and indirectly, related to aristocrats.
Adventurer's Guild doesn't indulge itself in minor business like justice or punishment, these things are mostly dealt are left to the Town Lord and indirectly the Noble governing them.
'It's better to ignore,' Kale chose to step back, he had no intention to waste his precious time in aristocratic politics and corruption again.
At this time, the woman following behind the man raised her staff and cast a spell.
'Rain Of Lightening'
Several small magic circles appeared above the escaping lizards, lightning strikes shot out from them and landed around the lizards, missing their targets.
The woman's beautiful face turned ugly, she bit her lower lip and gave a light snort,
'Tier 3 Lightning Spell? The woman is actually a Tier 3 mage,' Kale was slightly surprised. From the way she cast the spell, he could guess she was a Tier 3 mage, although the expensive staff also played a role, it also had its limitations, he didn't consider that she was a Tier 4 mage because if she was, then the lizards likely won't be able to escape for so long.
"It's alright, let me handle it, Miss. Vivie," The man consoled her from afar, the woman ignored him but it didn't discourage him, he stopped then raised his sword, the azure magic crystal at the sword hilt shined, the blade of the sword gave off a bright light as he slashed it down at the fleeing lizards.
'Earth Splitting Blade'
An enormous illusory arch appeared from the shining edge of the blade and shot towards the lizard at the centre, the arch grew bigger as it moved, the lizard couldn't see the situation behind its back, by the time it noticed something amiss, a long cut starting from its shoulder to the tail appeared on its body and ripped apart its flesh.
Its blood spurted out and dyed the ground around it in red. The other two lizards sniffed the rusty iron like blood smell and ran in a frenzy, a hint of craziness was present in their eyes.
'Money is indeed a supernatural ability, even an idiotic movement can conjure such power,' Kale touched his chin as he pondered about it.
"Staying here will only lead to trouble, let's go to a safer place for our hunt," Kallus said.
He knew nothing good will come if they are found out as eyewitnesses. Kale didn't say anything which meant he too had no intention of making a ruckus, it would only be a problem if they were discovered and later the news gets leaked, they would only attract free hatred.
Kale nodded in agreement. Vaella was already his usual team member so her decision was the same.
***
A few hours later…
Open ground, lush green grassland.
A rabbit with fluffy white fur and big red eyes was digging out the carrot-like plant from the ground, the rabbit had a particularly sharp-pointed horn on its head, the horn was small and harmless in appearance just like the rabbit but it was in fact, very poisonous. On a successfully hit, the horn was capable of temporarily stunning its target in an instant.
There was only one reason why Poison Horn Rabbits weren't considered that dangerous even after having such a weapon at their disposal, it was because they were fearful and coward, even if they stunned their enemy they would still run away in fear if the enemy was stronger than them or had higher lifeform level, there were even cases of Poison Horned Rabbits dying of a heart attack due to getting scared of their enemy, though if they are sure that the enemy is dead they won't hesitate to take a few bites to fill their belly. Overall, compared to other monsters, they weren't much of a threat as long as the adventurers are careful enough and are working as a team.
The rabbit was quickly digging out the plant while its long ears stood erect and his eyes kept scanning its surroundings, the rabbit was fully vigilant and prepared to run in case something unexpected happens.
Suddenly, its ears twitched, it switched its actions and jumped in front-right to escape, but the second it jumped, it entered the trajectory of a flying knife and its head was pierced, destroying its brain, killing the rabbit on the spot.
Far away, on the near-top of a big mound covered in green grass and bushes, Kale came out the hiding "That makes it six,"
"Good aim," Kallus praised, he was really in admiration towards his knife skills that never missed its target even for one, during the three times he aimed.
"How? They are extremely vigilant and their movements are quick, how did you succeed from so far," Vaella couldn't keep it in and asked.
Kale looked at her, this was without a doubt, the longest sentence she spoke during this time.
He thought about it before speaking "Prediction,"
"Prediction?" Kallus raised his eyebrow, he was also intrigued by Kale's method. Compared to their previous style where they had to set traps and lure or corner the rabbits, this was much more efficient.
Kale nodded "Yes prediction, earlier when you tried to cast ‹Slow› spell on the rabbit, you aimed for the spot they were sitting, they noticed it at the last movement and were able to dodge due to their instincts, but their deeply rooted instincts are also their fatal weakness.
If you carefully observe, the direction their horn is pointing at, the angle their front legs are separated at, the position of their hind legs, it isn't impossible to predict in which direction they would jump once they feel their life threatened, I aimed for the position they would jump at instead of where they were present.
Furthermore, your‹Fast› spell on me also did its trick, or the rabbit would still have a 50% chance to escape with its speed,"
Vaella was dazed for a moment before nodding.
Kallus was similarly confused.
Seeing it was one thing while doing it was another.
Even if they could see him do what he said, they couldn't replicate it, and this was exactly why Kale told them all this so wholeheartedly.
The duo believed him quite easily, they thought of him as a Level 10+ like them so he was bound to have his own speciality. For example, he might possess a Martial Spirit or Battle Spirit that helps him in sharpening his own senses or aiming ability.
Next, Kallus immediately collected the rabbit's body, after skillfully digging out the monster core and its horn, he buried the rest of the rabbit's body into the ground to not attract more monsters from the smell of the blood.
The flesh of the rabbit was a little poisonous, eating it can result in problems like diarrhoea so it wasn't a good choice to try and eat it, although they could use antidotes to purify it, which was costly, hunting food outside the dungeon was a better idea.
While he was processing the rabbit's body, Kale inspected the grass and flowers in the vicinity, then dug out a few and placed them in his bag, Vaella warned him about them being poisonous, but Kale just made an excuse that a trannie pharmacist friend asked him to collect a few samples.
She nodded and didn't bother him again, many poisonous herbs are used to make antidotes of the same poison because of that his excuse didn't sound fake.
"Eh? Get ready, a big one is heading this way," Kale said out of nowhere.
Just as he said, a thick purple furred rabbit with the size of a full-grown dog, followed by several small rabbits came running in their direction, the big rabbit had three horn in a triangular formation on its forehead, its red ruby-like eyes carried intense anger instead of hearing, the purple fur on its body was intertwined with each other and covered its whole body like armour, its paws had sharp curved nails. The rabbit had the aura of a predator around it, it stared at Kale with a furious expression when meeting his gaze.
The rabbits around the leading rabbit still had some fear in their eyes but after looking at the purple furred rabbit they can't help and only dispel the thought of retreating.
'Tri Horned Rabbit King? Is it fortune or misfortune?' Kallus thought.
Tri Horned Rabbit King was a Tier 2 Rare-Grade, it was like a born leader for the normal Poisoned Horned Rabbits, even when they were scared and unwilling they had to follow him or else they would either get killed or expelled from their group. Poisoned Horned Rabbits prefers to live in a group, a life of solitude will only kill them slowly.
Tri Horned Rabbit King was a rare spirit beast many adventurers wouldn't meet one in years but meeting it wasn't always good, as unlike normal rabbits, they weren't cowards, they had strong battle intent and would fight till the last breath.
Kallus glanced at Vaella then at Kale "Fight or Retreat?"