Along with the echoing gunfire was Dante's definite confusion. He narrowed his eyes while gazing in the direction where the echoes came from while slowly preparing his rifle. This was the first time he had met people ever since leaving the first checkpoint.
So he was intensely cautious towards him though a bit intrigued by what they were doing.
He looked at Roshan, who idly stood without that much of a reaction regarding the echoing gunfire. He couldn't help but quietly chuckle to himself as his minion would sometimes act with intellect or act like a robot.
But that wasn't the problem at the moment. Dante needed to assess the situation rather than avoid it. He wasn't someone that was willing to let some lost information go through. It would be better for him to know the situation before arriving at a conclusion.
With such a thought process in mind, he began stretching his body while being surrounded by the serene scenery. The bloody landscape, left behind by whatever destructive monster, faded nearly in an instant under the silver light.
"They must be fighting something over there. Is it a group of recruits fighting against one other or are fighting for lives while battling a monster?"
He couldn't help but silently question himself.
If it had been two groups of recruits fighting against one another, Dante would probably avoid them like the plague. There was nothing but trouble when going into a battle between two groups. But if it was something else, then.
He would be willing to see through it until the end and arrive at the conclusion that gives him the most benefits.
'It seems that I'm becoming more selfish the more I continue living through this world.' He thought to himself with a sly smile plastered on his face. He was becoming aware of the change, though he wasn't bothered by it.
Why should he be bothered by something natural? He was doing nothing but adapting to the circumstances he was facing. In any case, he looked at Roshan once again and gave an order.
"Stay here for a short while and wait for me to call you."
Dante knew the unnatural ability to subjugate a monster. Others might think he was cheating with his family name if a tamed monster emerged alongside him. That would be problematic, and it would become extreme if some of them get greedy.
As the orders of Dante echoed throughout its ears, Roshan calmly nodded and laid down in the same spot it was standing in. Dante thought of it as something cute despite his minion being a gigantic monster with horrifying features.
To be honest, spending time along with Roshan gave him some resistance against scary faces. He didn't know why, but he was getting used to the giant snail-like eyes and massive mouth with sharp point teeth.
"I'll have to go now."
Dante said while taking a deep breath before treading through the thick bushes, walking toward the echoes of gunfire. Even when he was talking to himself and Roshan, the gunfire kept echoing without stopping. It was as if a war was currently ongoing on the other side.
"Even though I'm crawling under the thick bush shrouded in darkness, I still have a bad feeling walking to an active war zone." He mumbled to himself while having a smile on his face.
He kept pushing through the thick bushes of the dark forest, and soon, it didn't take a while for him to see the gleaming light of red crimson flares radiantly illuminating the surroundings.
He arrived at the location where such echoes were located, and what he saw was somewhat surprising.
There were ten recruits fighting against one monster, a gigantic one. It was bigger than Roshan as it stood ten stories high. How the ten recruits manage to hold on while fighting against a monster was a good question in itself.
"How are they holding on against such a giant monster?"
Dante couldn't help but mumble to himself with a questioning gaze while staring at the battle before him.
And such a question got answered during Dante's observation of their circumstances.
There was a young woman amongst the group of recruits fighting against the giant monster. And she was manipulating or controlling giant nails, propelling them onto the monster to either incapacitate it or assist her comrades.
She seems to be proficient in using her ability, though this gave Dante a realization that arcana was something mythical. It was already part of the world despite being rare.
"The ability to control nails and manipulate them into various sizes. That's a good ability to have." Dante muttered, feeling a bit of jealousy swelling deep within his heart.
Some might say, why be jealous when he had the system behind him? Of course, to have a system to aid him was too overpowered. But even then, it makes him wonder. What stories go behind every user of the arcana?
It was a treasure that others would betray one another to get it. So could normal or civilian arcana users continue living in a society gazing at them with intense jealousy? Dante was curious about this, and he obviously knew that this wasn't the time for stories.
"An arcana is a mighty weapon, an unheard weapon that gives a normal one a supernatural ability. It is beyond the control of wealth and authority."
"One could say that it's the item that flips the tides of wars throughout this world."
Dante didn't know why he was uttering such words. Oh well, it's not like anybody would hear him having a loud monologue out of nowhere.
"At any rate, what do I do in this kind of situation? Should I leave them behind and continue on in the marathon test. Or, should I help them? This might also be a test of some sort. There might be training officers observing the situation."
He was deeply pondering on what choice he would pick from the options before him. If the training officers were really observing the situation, then that would be too problematic. They would probably be writing things regarding the recruits within the battle.
If he ran off like a coward, then…
'I can't believe I'm doing this.'
Dante sighed to himself before exiting the thick bush while pointing his rifle at the eyes of such a monster.
*BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!*
The other recruits fighting the giant monster were surprised to see additional gunfire coming out of nowhere. They immediately turn their gaze toward where it came from. The young recruits then saw a slightly fat young man shooting at the giant monster with a cold expression plastered on his face.
"Roshan, buy me time."
Dante ordered as a pale white monster emerged behind him and charged at the gigantic monster. He walked towards the ones fighting the monster while Roshan became the bait and ran off with the monster chasing behind it.
"I never thought that there would be idiots trying to fight a monster beyond their capabilities."
He reprimanded them since the first rule of survival was if one can't kill it, run away from it.
That was as basic as it goes.
Meanwhile, within the screen in the warship above the training grounds of Anfang. The training officers were watching the situation unfolding before their eyes.