The food chain (Part 1)

Two hundred fifty participants stood in attention at the large open field.

A royal knight strode forward and addressed the participants "We are now at the foot of Wesnar mountain. Before you proceed, I will explain the geography of the location." He waved his hand to the lower region of the two-thousander** mountain, "the first three hundred meters is home to low danger level beasts. They range from F-class to D-class monsters."

Gesturing higher, the royal knight continued, "going up from three hundred meters to seven hundred meters, you will encounter C-class to B-class beasts while further up to a thousand meters are B-class to A-class monsters. To put it simply, the higher you go, the more dangerous the monsters you will meet."

He turned to the group with a grave expression, "Though I doubt that anyone would be willing to go higher than that, I must warn you that from the one-thousandth meter mark, no explorer ever came back alive. As such we have no information about the creatures that live on the upper half of the Wesnar mountain."

Having finished his explanation, the royal knight stood back and let a male organizer take his position.

"After three days, you are to come back to this very field with your hunt. Then, we will have the awarding ceremony and banquet to celebrate the end of the competition." the organizer announced through the sound-amplifying artifact.

"A word of advice: Do not eat more than you can chew! When you hunt, make sure that you put your own life before anything else! Money can be earned but life, once lost, cannot be regained!" The organizer paused as if to let the competitors digest his words,

"From here onwards, you are on your own. Good Hunting!"

"GOOD HUNTING!" the participants cheered, full of vigor and determination to prove themselves.

Deon chanted with them, however, his voice sounded forced.

'This is it. I can't back out now.' He thought in misery.

As if sensing his unease, Mikael spoke from inside the Medium, "Don't worry. You have me. I won't let you die."

Deon was relieved to hear that his partner got his back.

As they entered the hunting ground, Deon walked with a little more confidence.

Ten minutes in, the other participants went in their own ways, leaving Deon alone in the middle of nowhere.

Deon craned his neck as he gawked at the tall trees that grew at the mountain base. From afar, these trees looked like skeletal hands jutting out of the grave as they had large white trunks and widely spaced branches tipped with sparse lime-green leaves.

Like a child going out on his first field trip, Deon slowly turned in place as he drank in the mysterious scenery. Then, as if to entice the prince further, glittery dust fell like snow.

Deon breathed deeply, relishing the magical sight. Even Mikael thought the view was beautiful—until Deon stiffened.

'huh? I can't… move?' Deon's eyes widened in panic as he lost control of his body.

Fwoosh!

A white 'thing' melted from a nearby tree bark and flew toward Deon!

It was an E-class Giant Ermine moth!

The white moth had a plump body, a thick, fluffy mane, and a pair of milky white wings dotted with black spots—an excellent camouflage with the trees as its background.

Its wings, spanning over two meters, powerfully flapped as it released glittery dust into the air.

The giant moth loomed over him, but Deon just stood frozen in place.

'No way… a paralyzing dust?!' Deon thought in disbelief as the monster swiftly snatched him from the ground.

Feeling the Moth's coarse leg hair touch his body, an indescribable disgust overwhelmed Deon. So much that goosebumps erupted on his skin.

'SIR MIKAEL!' he strongly thought.

Mikael was shocked by the sudden development. He had not expected a monster to ambush them so soon and so close to the entrance!

'F*CK!' Mikael cursed his complacency.

When he saw the moth take off the ground, the first thing that came to his mind was 'Hell'.

It was not his partner's safety but the fear of going back to Hell that shook him to his core.

'I need that weapon.' He swooped to retrieve the spear that fell out of Deon's grasp as the moth carried him away.

< Skill: Psychokinesis Lvl. 2 is activated.>

He controlled the spear and went after the moth.

But the moth was too fast!

Every beat of its wing propelled it so far up that Mikael's speed could not keep up,

"STAY STILL, YOU SON OF A B*TCH!"

<Skill: Reverse Clairvoyance Lvl. 2 (option 1) is activated.>

The giant moth flinched.

Its antennae twitched and sent a message to Mikael, 'Who?'

Mikael took the moth's confusion as an opportunity to launch his attack.

Like a javelin thrower doing a run-up, Mikael flew beside the spear to give it the maximum power before releasing the weapon.

Distanced 20 meters away from his target, Mikael sent the spear flying toward the monster's head.

"RAAAHH!!" a guttural cry escaped from Mikael's lips as he threw the spear.

The spear drew an arc, but a distance of 20 meters was not to be taken lightly.

The moth recovered from its initial confusion and fluttered its wings, sending a powerful gale that reduced the spear's momentum.

The spear missed its target.

Instead of skewering the monster's head, it only managed to tear the moth's lower left wing.

The moth continued to fly higher.

'SH*T! WHAT DO I DO?!' Mikael was torn between chasing after the moth and retrieving the fallen weapon.

The royal knight's words flashed in his mind, 'the higher up you go, the more dangerous the monsters you will meet.'

Mikael determined that chasing the giant moth without a weapon was counter-productive so, he chose to go after the weapon.

'I can't let it take Deon higher!' Mikael nervously eyed the flying moth as he struggled to reach the weapon faster.

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

FASTER!

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

As soon as the weapon entered his 5-meter-radius skill range, Mikael extended his hand toward the spear, firmly grasping it in his psychological control.

He turned toward the monster. It had gone too far.

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

<Skill: Teleportation Lvl. 1 is activated.>

Mikael teleported consecutively in his rush to save his partner.

In an instant, Mikael crossed 15 meters—Only to witness the moth get attacked from the side.

--Chapter end--

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**Two-thousander = mountains that have a height of at least 2000 (but less than 3000m) meters above sea level.