244 Little Tricks

When the representatives of the three countries finished speaking, the three teams distanced themselves from each other.

Each team went to a corner of the pavilion. Then, the demigods gave the participants some last-minute advice.

In Bloed's team, Eve waved her hand, creating a transparent barrier around the ten of them.

"With this, neither the humans nor the elves will be able to hear our words," Eve said.

The lionkin general nodded. He then looked at Bloed's group of six and put on a serious expression.

"You heard our conversation just now, and we already explained the rules of the competition to you. However, there are some things we did not tell you.

"For this [Hunting Spree], each country provided twenty-six monsters, including five A-Rank monsters and one half-step demigod monster. It was done like that for the sake of fairness. However, we played a little trick in the monsters we provided. A trick to help you to catch these monsters easier."

Bloed and the others were stunned.

"… That is cheating, right?" Rana could not help but blurt out.

The lionkin general chuckled softly. "Perhaps. However, I'm sure we are not the ones who did it."

Bloed, Liu Ying, Rana, Aya, Rhone, and Atai were speechless. Was it a kind of tacit understanding between countries?

As though feeling their doubts, the lionkin general chuckled again.

"In fact, it's just a very small trick. So small that it technically doesn't break the rules. After all, the demigods of the other countries are keeping an eye on the situation as well. It will not be good if we are too obvious."

"This little trick… What is it?" Bloed asked.

"… Well, the monsters we provided for the competition share a common feature. They regularly emit strange noises. Normal people are unable to notice anything strange about them, but for a bat, these sounds are noticeable from kilometers of distance." The lionkin general then looked at Rhone.

Bloed and the others' expressions turned strange.

… Certainly, this was not against the rules, but at the same time, it was clearly advantageous for Bloed's team.

But Bloed suddenly thought of something.

If The Great Savannah played this little trick to help them to catch the monsters, then–

"… Don't tell me that there is something special about the half-step demigod monster you provided as well?" Bloed asked half-certain, half-in-doubt.

The lionkin general gave Bloed a look of praise.

"As expected of you, Mr. Norman. To think you already thought of that. You are right, we also chose a very special half-step demigod monster. It's called Phantom Mole. A very powerful monster, blind but able to use sounds to perceive its surroundings. Besides, it burrows in the arena at a very fast speed and in a very stealthy manner.

"Due to that, it's very hard to detect before it attacks, leading to most of its victims dying without knowing what attacked them. And even if you avoid its first attack, it burrows in the ground again and disappears completely, waiting for another opportunity to attack or searching for new prey. That is the reason it's called Phantom Mole."

"… It looks like a pretty dangerous monster for me." Rana said softly.

Bloed nodded before smiling wryly.

"… Let me guess. It has a weakness then. Sound?"

"More accurately, high-frequency sounds." The lionkin general smiled smugly. "High-intensity sounds disorient it and make it unable to show even half of its true strength."

The group looked at Rhone again.

"It looks like I'm the trump card for this competition," Rhone said jokingly.

"You are right. You can be considered our trump card in a certain sense." The lionkin general admitted easily. "However, the six of you should not focus on catching the beast we provided only. The true key in this competition will be in how many of the other countries' monsters you can steal."

Bloed and the others nodded.

Certainly, they had an advantage when catching the monsters provided by The Great Savannah.

But in the same way, the other teams had an advantage when catching the monsters provided by their countries.

Just catching the monsters provided by The Great Savannah was unlikely to bring them to victory.

"Fortunately, we have several people here with excellent detection abilities." The lionkin general then looked at Bloed, Rhone, and Atai.

Bloed could use Oculus and its dragonflies to find the monsters scattered in the mountains. Rhone could use his echolocation to search for monsters in his surroundings, and Atai, as a beastman belonging to an indigenous hunting tribe, was an excellent tracker and hunter able to find the slightest trace left behind by a monster.

"Of course, you should not be overconfident. To be honest, I don't know how you will fare against the other teams. I'm not too worried about the humans, but the elves are known as the children of the forest. I fear they will have several methods to find and track the monsters in the mountains. Just do your best. I trust you will show great results."

Bloed and the others nodded.

"… Finally, there is one last thing I want to remind you." The lionkin general said and put on a grave expression. "Be careful if you meet the other teams. Although on the surface we will not allow any death, the truth is that your safety is not one hundred percent assured."

"What do you mean?" Liu Ying asked.

The lionkin general hesitated briefly before answering.

"You don't need to worry about the elves. Our relationship with them is not bad. In fact, it can be considered friendly. It's just that this time our interests are conflicting. The humans, however, are a completely different story… If I'm not wrong, the participants of the human side have orders to try to kill you if it's possible. And they will not hesitate to follow them. Thus, if you meet the humans, fight to kill them, and don't show mercy! Understood?"

Bloed and the others looked at each other before nodding.

Finally, the lionkin general looked at Bloed.

"Mr. Norman. I have observed you for one week, and during that time, I managed to see you are not someone that cares about races or countries. To be honest, I admire that quality of yours a little. Even I'm not as unbiased towards other races like you. That is the reason I agreed to make you the team leader despite you being human. Don't disappoint us."

Bloed nodded firmly. "Don't worry. I promised Miss Eve I was going to help her with this, so I'll do my best."

Eve looked at Bloed and nodded satisfied with her usual expressionless look.

But contrary to her expressionless look, her fox tail was wagging slightly.

Bloed was not going to admit he found it slightly cute. No with his two girlfriends nearby.

The lionkin general gave Bloed's team a few more instructions before stopping. Then, the group got ready to start the game.

Half an hour later, the Hunting Spree started.

And the three teams departed from the pavilion in three different directions.

...

Hey Guys, Aidka's here!

Last month was not a bad month, but it was not too good either. It was a rather average month.

Here in my country, we are still quarantined. And due to that, I have noticed that my lifestyle has become much lazier than before. I probably gained a few kilos of weight in the last two or three months.

Even so, it's good that there are Netflix and PrimeVideo to distract me, so I don't get bored even when I spend practically 24/7 inside my house.

Anyway, I have a confession to do. This last month I have not read comments even once. Yeah, sorry about that. I usually read most of the comments, but as I said before, I think I'm turning lazier lately. But don't worry, I promise to start reading them again from tomorrow (Reading comments is a good way to know if I'm doing something well or not).

I'm also planning to adjust my schedule, but it's a bit hard. Now that I'm not in college, my schedule is a mess. Some days I fall asleep at fourth or five in the morning, so when I woke up, it's already almost noon, and when I want to finish writing the chapters to post them it's already late at night.

Anyway, nothing too important to say in this announcement. Right, remember to support me on P4TRE0N. I know I said it a lot, but your support in P4TRE0N motivates me to continue writing.

With love, Aidka :p

P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels