Looking at so many beasts, Eldric didn't waste time and rushed towards the nearest bull.
He was already fast before but with the addition of the newly gained three points in agility, his figure was like a blur.
Even the bulls in the distance who could sense his presence before didn't feel anything until Eldric was already standing in front of them.
"MOOOOO..."
Startled by the intruder their first response this time wasn't to fight back but run away. It seemed that the beasts could somehow distinguish between weak and strong.
Arriving in front of one of the bulls, Eldric didn't use his skill but just threw a normal punch to its head. He wanted to see how powerful he was now with the increased strength attributes.
"DUMMM..."
There was no loud explosion or instant kill that he had imagined. Instead, the bull fell to the ground with a loud thud while its body twitched.
"Huh!?" Eldric was surprised his normal punch couldn't kill it in a single blow. He thought that after doubling his strength, he would be able to one-shot it. But it seemed this wasn't the case. However, this didn't stop him from punching it a few more times, ultimately killing it.
"It's still not as efficient as killing them with the skills." Furrowing his brows, Eldric thought about how effortlessly he was able to kill them previously. In the end, he made up his mind to use his skill Surging Leap to kill as many Bulls as possible. After all, he had limited time and energy, so he was going to focus on earning as many tokens as possible instead of testing out the power of his regular punches.
So, for the next few hours, Eldric would always hunt in the area where there were no people present. He would just use his skill Surging Leap constantly to jump from one bull to another while breaking their necks. And with every leap, he would gain an additional burst of speed for a few seconds, making him even faster than before.
At first, it was rather easy because the small-sized group of bulls were scattered all across the land. But with his speed of hunting, it didn't take long before the small groups were wiped out one by one.
...
By the time he was done, there were already three hundred and three horns inside his inventory. Counting carefully, Eldric realized that he had killed one hundred fifty bulls. The additional three horns were from the previous mission.
"And if I add three horns from the auction, I will have three hundred six." Thinking about how the horns were still there in the auction, he could only let out a helpless sigh. After all, he wasn't the only one selling the Green Bull Horns in the auction. In the end, he decided to hunt two more bulls to make it an even number.
Though it took him some time, he was able to complete it.
Withdrawing the remaining three horns from the auction, he looked at the three hundred ten horns in his inventory with a satisfied expression. With this many horns, he could earn three hundred and ten tokens.
Taking a deep breath in the fresh air of the meadows, Eldric was already feeling tired after hunting for so long. With a yawn, just when he was about to head back to the exit, he paused in his footsteps and looked behind him.
"Is there something that you need?" Looking at five men gathered behind him, all wearing different masks and robes while carrying various weapons, Eldric narrowed his eyes.
"....." The other party didn't reply but one of the men took out a small scroll, opened it, and tore it apart.
Eldric didn't know what this meant, but there was one absolutely clear thing... And that was; these men weren't here to make friends with him. So, the moment the other party tore the scroll, he took a step back, ready to run away in case something happened.
But contrary to his expectations, the scroll turned into ashes and then turned into five yellow lights and one white light.
"It's an ordinary profession." It was now that someone from the group finally spoke in a hoarse voice. And from their way of speaking, they purposely seemed to be talking this way.
"Use it." As soon as the man in the middle of the group spoke another man took out a similar scroll like before and tore it apart.
However this time, it didn't turn into ash but bloomed in brilliance. Eldric was already feeling uneasy after they pointed out his profession's grade. So, the moment they took out another scroll, he turned around, used his skill, and jumped into the distance. Within moments, his figure disappeared from their sight.
But even with this, the people in the group didn't seem surprised. On the contrary, they just let out a hoarse chuckle. The light bloomed for a while before disappearing completely along with the group of people.
"Damn it... All kinds of weirdos are out here in this world." Eldric didn't know who those people were or what they just did. He just knew that the other party seemed to be malicious to him. As for why... He didn't have a clue. Perhaps it was because of how fast he was killing the bulls, or perhaps they wanted to rob him. But whatever the truth was, it wasn't far from these two.
Rushing towards the exit, he could already see the numerous groups of people hunting the bulls and a portal in the distance, leading outside the domain. But before he could even sigh in relief, he suddenly felt the world around him blur before he found himself standing in an empty white space.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Anyone would be surprised after arriving in such a space without any knowledge, much less Eldric who was having flashbacks of his time at the trial.
Turning around, he saw the group of six people standing there while looking at him.
"Are they responsible for this?" These were the only ones beside him in this place. And remembering the white blooming light from before... it wasn't hard to put two and two together.
He still didn't know their identity or purpose, so he just kept looking at them, waiting for them to make a move. And while he was looking at the other party, a small window popped up in front of him.
[A challenge has been initiated.]
[The loser will lose their entire inventory.]
It was just two rows of text, but it was enough to shock Eldric. This was the first time he saw something like this. Before this, he didn't even know that one can challenge others for their entire inventory. Thinking about the three hundred and ten horns in his possession, Eldric's gaze turned cold while looking at the people in front of him.
Till now, he had a tiny sliver of hope that they might want to team up with him. After all, no matter how carefully he hunts the beasts, there will always be someone with prying eyes. It was only a matter of time before someone would have discovered his speed of killing beasts. That's why he wore the mask in the first place.
But looking at the people in front of him... He didn't expect that these vultures would arrive first instead of people who wanted to make friends.
"How about we talk instead." Without knowing their strength, Eldric didn't want to make a move, so he thought of a solution.
But the opponent didn't seem interested in talking. Waving his hand, the man in the middle signaled others to start.
One of the masked men waved his hand and a small fireball formed above his hand. The other man suddenly thrust himself back, increasing the distance between him and Eldric, and aimed with his bow. In an instant, his eyes which were behind the mask began to glow blue.
One of the men kneeled on the ground while raising his hand in the air as if praying for something. Of the two last men who were rushing towards Eldric, one of them suddenly disappeared while the other took out a rapier which glowed red.
All of this takes time to explain but happened in the blink of an eye. While Eldric was still hesitating on his next move, they had already attacked first with a clear goal.
"Damn it." Looking at them, Eldric cursed in a low voice and took a step back before activating his skill and looking at his opponents. He crossed out the guy with fireball, and rapier as it was too risky. The one with the bow and arrow was too far away and one of the guys had disappeared.
So, the only one he could attack was the one kneeling on the ground.
Without any hesitation, Eldric jumped in the air and thrust towards him, intending to take him out first.
But the moment Eldric arrived near him and before he could even touch him, the boy was engulfed in a white light.
"...."
It was as if they were expecting this move of his.
There was no scene of Eldric knocking him out or doing any damage. He collided with the white barrier and was bounced back.
This sudden turn of events stunned him, but before he could think any further, Eldric felt a sense of crisis.
Unknowingly, the temperature behind him had increased to an unimaginable degree.
Eldric didn't need anyone to tell him that this was because of the guy throwing a fireball at him.
He was sure that if that fireball hit him, it would be game over. So, while still in the air, Eldric activated his skill Surging Leap once again and just raised his left leg and kicked towards the incoming fireball.
This was the first time he activated his skill mid-air and used it like this. But fortunately, the result did not disappoint him.
This kick of his without any momentum or force shattered the fireball into countless small specks of light.
The opponents were stunned by this action of his, but their surprise didn't last long. After all, they were veterans in their fields.
It only took a moment for them to gain back their composure and the moment Eldric landed on the ground, he felt the hair on his back rising, screaming out danger.
The moment his foot touched the ground, he activated his skill-surging leap again and narrowly escaped the incoming arrow aiming at his heart.
Before Eldric could touch the ground once again, the man holding the rapier rushed at him, intending to finish him off.
"....." Eldric didn't say a word but his ever-increasing dark expression was enough to tell his mood at the moment.
Landing on the ground, he clenched his fist, looked at the man rushing towards him with the rapier, and was about to activate his skill Thunderous Barrage, but felt the tingling sensation at the back of his neck.
Everything happened within a span of a few seconds. From Eldric jumping towards the guy kneeling on the ground to getting attacked by a fireball in mid-air and then being shot at the moment he touched the ground, forcing him to jump again. And when he was finally back on the ground, he was distracted by the man in the front with the rapier. It was at this very moment the last remaining guy who had disappeared from the beginning, silently appeared behind him, aiming to cut off his head.
Every move was carefully planned and executed. If Eldric didn't know any better, he would have thought these were the people he used to train with.
Feeling the sensation of a knife touching his skin, Eldric made a split-second decision to bend forward a bit and then sit on the ground. And with the Agility of five, coupled with the speed boost from his skill Surging Leap, it wasn't an impossible task.
However, no matter how careful he was, in the end, he too couldn't doge the last rapier attack.
With his head that was facing the ground and the man already in front of him thrusting his rapier, Eldric could only twist his body a bit, letting the rapier hit his right arm instead of his chest.
"FUCK."
Feeling the piercing pain, Eldric wanted to kick him away, but the man had already stepped back, making some distance between the two of them.
Raising his rapier above his head, he then swiped it in the air, throwing away the blood it had on the ground.