Within the dark and gloomy gargantuan forest, deafening gunshots echoed throughout the forest along with their gleaming immediate radiance. *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* It was as if a firefight was currently ongoing within the forest, which was far from the truth.
After all, it wasn't a battle between guns but a duel between the monsters and the newly arrived predators.
*BANG!*
A fat young man was running through the dark forest while holding a rifle tightly under his hand. He kept firing in a certain direction as a shadow covered him from above. He was Dante Regent Astarte, the exiled third son of Astarte.
The most infamous asshole.
Dante was currently hunting one of the Gigantis Kryftis, which he had recently discovered, along with his minion, whom he named Roshan. Roshan was a Gigantis Kryftis, like the one they were hunting. The only difference was his complete subservience to the third son of Astarte.
"Damn, this bastard is a good runner."
He was currently chasing an injured Gigantis Kryftis. They managed to succeed in their ambush, but they underestimated the monster, and it managed to escape. He was regretting not instantly killing it, but oh well.
A lesson was a lesson, and he wouldn't mind such failures.
In any case, their combat operative was simple.
Dante was on the ground while Roshan was the one going through the branches. Gigantis Kryftis were good climbers and were also fast, along with being silent. This might be the reason why they were not so powerful, as they compensated for it with the darkness of the forest.
"Roshan, abandon the combat operative and take it down before we attract more unwanted attention."
He gave an order to his first minion, which it immediately accepted. The shadow above him faded and went along the path of the escaping prey. Seeing such a thing, he sighed to himself as he stopped running.
Dante leaned on one of the giant trunks and took a deep breath. Running and hunting weren't easy jobs to do, especially with his current body. But the rewards of this hunt would give him the things he would need to succeed in the marathon.
He must hunt for the sake of victory.
After a short while, a monster dropped down from the branches and landed right beside Dante. It was pale white in color, with its giant snail-like eyes protruding from its head. The monster was none other than Roshan, and it was holding a corpse under its massive mouth.
"It looks like you got it without that much effort."
"I guess our combat operative have its own problems."
Dante uttered while patting the head of Roshan. He wasn't bothered by the giant snail-like eyes protruding from its body even though it was wiggling beside his hand. Roshan wasn't violent and was a bit timid.
Though, during the ambush, he could tell that Roshan was entirely serious when it came to hunting.
"Gigantis Kryftis have good eyesight and they have complete domination over the dark forest. They can easily escape through the branches meaning that this area can be compared to a playground."
"I am lucky to have one of my own to pursue an injured one. Otherwise, it would be hard for me to even hunt one of them and take their corpse."
He couldn't help but smile as his minion Roshan dropped the corpse from its mouth. He stood before the corpse as a familiar notification window emerged before him. A grin replaced his smile as he quietly muttered to himself.
"I have been waiting for you."
―<●>―
-[𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 (𝟏 𝐆𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐫𝐲𝐟𝐭𝐢𝐬)…]-
-[𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫?]-
―<●>―
'I guess that anything my minion kills count as my kill. Well, it makes sense.'
He nodded upon the conclusion of his thoughts before noticing something important within the notification window. He could conquer it, but… It would need energy, and his spirit attribute must be adequate. Also, there was something he was curious about.
"Is the auto activation already disabled? I wouldn't want my two trials of Absolute Conquer to be wasted for no reason."
Dante uttered with a deadpan expression, and a follow-up notification appeared afterward.
―<●>―
[𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥.]
[𝐂𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭: 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧]
-[𝐍𝐨, 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐬𝐞.]
-[𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝?]-
―<●>―
'I guess my suspicion was correct.'
He thought while looking at the follow-up notification. He had previously thought that the auto-activation was already disabled. It looks like he was wrong. The only thing the system did was give a report, nothing more, nothing less.
It needed his command for any tweaks within its settings.
"I was lucky to ask before even picking an option. I don't know what would happen to me if I lose another trial of Absolute Conquer in accident."
Dante remarked in relief as he would have cried if such a thing did happen.
"Please disable the auto activation. I don't want to lose anything important."
―<●>―
-[𝐎𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐝!]-
-[𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧...]-
-[𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐝!]-
―<●>―
After giving an order, a notification popped up giving a report regarding his words. The auto-activation was instantly disabled, and it was time for him to continue with what he was about to do.
Dante turned his gaze towards the corpse and crouched before it. The dead Gigantis Kryftis was smaller than Roshan, but I guess this was for the better. It would be better for them to hunt the smaller ones before fighting against adult and bigger monsters.
'The devour option gives me experience and biomass.'
'They are required and important to my growth and Roshan's growth.'
"Looks like I should pick the second option."
"I choose (Devour)."
―<●>―
-[𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧.]-
-[𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.]-
-[𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧...]-
―<●>―
Like the conquer option, the devour option also made the corpse of the monster gleam with the radiance of the silver light. Dante looked at it with expectations in his mind while Roshan stood right beside him, steadily looking at the monster.
It was wondering whether its monsters would turn the corpse into another subordinate.
Fortunately for Roshan, he was wrong.
His master was eating the corpse for the growth of the two of them.
Dante patiently waited for the silver light to start dimming. And when it did, the gleaming radiance faded, followed by a new notification.
―<●>―
-[𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐝.]-
-[𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝...]-
-[𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐩𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝.]-
-[𝟏𝟎 𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝟕 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬]-
―<●>―
He peered at the notification message and raised an eyebrow. The rewards he was given were larger than he expected. Though, he didn't know how much 10 and 7 imply within the currency of the system. It might be small.
'Well, that doesn't matter.'
'I gain a lot from killing one Gigantis Kryftis smaller than Roshan. What would happen if I hunt a lot of them in the dark forest?' Dante thought to himself as a sly smile formed on his face. His expression was somewhat evil-looking, though it made sense with his current thoughts.
Nothing stops him from hunting them, all right? There wasn't a rule that stopped him from doing that. Meaning that he could hunt them all until nothing and no one was left within the dark forest.
With this thought process, Dante began chuckling to himself.
He was chasing at a rather fast pace, and there were many reasons for his fast chance. Either he was good at adapting, or it was something else. Maybe a third-party influence?
In the end, though, that doesn't matter since Dante will still have to farm the experience and biomass within the dark forest.
―<●>―
-[𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧?]-
―<●>―
'Status screen?'
'Wait I forgot about that. Shouldn't there be status screens with systems? I can't believe I forgot such a simple and important fact.' He shook his head in disappointment and gave an answer.
"Status!"
As Dante stated such words, a large digital screen emerged before him.
―――<●>―――
[𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞]
-[𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲: 𝟏𝟎𝟎/𝟏𝟎𝟎]-
-[𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥: 𝟎(𝟎/𝟏𝟎)]-
-[𝐄𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞(𝐬): 𝟏𝟎]-
-[𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬(𝐬): 𝟕]-
-[𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞(𝐬): 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞]-
[𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭]
-[𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡: 𝟏.𝟏]●[𝐄𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: 𝟏.𝟑]-
-[𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝: 𝟎.𝟕]●[𝐀𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲: 𝟎.𝟓]-
-[𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭: 𝟏]●[𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭: 𝟎.𝟑]-
-[𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭: 𝟏]●[𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦: 𝟎.𝟐]-
[𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐱]
●[𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡(𝐬): 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞/𝟓]
●[𝐀𝐫𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐚(𝐬): 𝐍𝐨𝐧𝐞/𝟏]
―――<●>―――