Unorthodox (Part 2)

"FIRE BURST!!" Finn bellowed with as much majesty as Vold*mort cursing H*rry P*tter.

The circle shone blindingly as it congregated atmospheric mana in a fiery attack.

Deon crouched low; eyes shut tight as he braced himself from the spell malfunction.

However, his fears did not come to fruition.

The mana circle enlarged and shrunk just like how it should. Only, its output was far stronger than normal!

A great fire erupted from the circle, ejecting a pillar of raging fire like a flamethrower.

Then, as if the power wasn't nearly enough, a gust of wind fed the flames, further extending the range of the attack.

The flames howled like a roaring beast as it traveled the length of the tunnel, scorching anything in its path to tinders—be it walls, ground, or monster.

The Killer ants did not even have time to escape.

The fire devoured them. Grilled their flesh. Charred their tough armor. Until every drop of liquid in their bodies evaporated to near-nothingness.

Mikael covered his ears as the Killer ants collectively screeched.

"kiee…eeh!!! Kiiiiihh!! It… bu..rrns!! kie..eh!!"

They writhed on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames… but it was all for naught.

Mikael eyed their pitiful figures.

Somehow, he felt bad for the monsters. He sympathized with them in that their fates seemed far too cruel. He remembered his outstanding punishment in Tartarus—an Eternity of toiling away in hellfire. Although these were monsters, burning them to death just didn't sit well with Mikael.

On the other hand, Deon looked like he short-circuited. His jaw hung open at the sight and, like a fish out of water, his mouth soundlessly opened and closed. His wide eyes stared at Finn as if he was a monster, but beneath it was the unmistakable awe.

Finn recognized this and haughtily smiled, flashing a row of perfectly white teeth.

"How was it? I'm amazing, right?"

Deon slowly nodded.

No. 'Amazing' was an understatement.

Finn was undoubtedly a genius among geniuses.

To think that his Tier-1 spell would be three times more powerful than the one they saw in the Midden...

"It's not a fluke, right?" Deon asked just to be sure, "Please tell me it's not a fluke…"

"Ermm…" but Finn awkwardly looked away.

"WHAT!? Don't tell me… Were you experimenting in the middle of a fight!?" Gone was Deon's respectful gaze. In its place was an expression of absolute disbelief.

"Uhh... no? not really?" Finn vaguely answered.

But Deon pressed for an answer, "What do you mean by that, Sir Finn?!"

Finn sighed.

"Well… I've known that the spell would work since I've tried it before but…" he sheepishly looked at Deon, "to be honest, the success rate is still at 70 percent."

Deon was speechless.

He had known that Combat Almagi are a bunch of people crazy about their field of study. So much that they are willing to drain their blood for the sake of 'science', but he did not expect that Finn was an extreme case who would sacrifice even him—Deon. A person he just met the day before and a prince of this kingdom.

"That's why I was extra careful in drawing the circle!" Finn hurriedly defended.

'Ahh… so that's why he took too long to cast the spell…' Mikael, who was watching them from the side, warily looked at Finn, 'He's too dangerous. He might put Deon at risk.'

To Mikael, Deon's safety was the top priority. He could not allow Deon to die before he collected enough good karma. Thus, he decided that after escaping from this dungeon, He and his royal partner would have nothing to do with Finn.

'Too bad… I really liked him. He could've been a great friend and ally.' Mikael thought in regret.

But then Mikael noticed the corners of Finn's lips twitching creepily. At first, he assumed that Finn's face was red due to shame but now…

'THIS GUY! IS HE ENJOYING THIS?!' Mikael shivered in disgust after remembering Finn's morally masochistic tendencies.

"Anyway, there's still work to be done!" Finn schooled his expression as he diverted the topic, "The monsters won't die from that attack. You see, killer ants are a tenacious lot."

Deon gave Finn the stink eye.

He vowed not to drop the subject, but for now, he still had a job to finish.

The night before, Finn told Deon what to do…

'As with any other living being, destroying the heart is the best way to kill the monsters.' Finn explained.

'But the killer ant yesterday was too fast!'

'Right. That's why I will incapacitate them with a long-range attack then, you'll take their hearts when they're down.'

'I understand, Sir Finn. By the way, where is an ant's heart?'

Deon, with the help of Mikael, butchered the struggling ants' abdomen.

Finn told them that an Ant's heart was located not on its thorax but its gaster* and that instead of a plump organ, theirs was a tube heart.

They cut out the monsters' hearts, instantly killing them.

Since Mikael and Deon were the ones to land the final blow, all the experience points went to them.

Ping!

<Player 'Mikael Lee' has levelled up!>

Ping!

<Co-Player 'Deon Hensworth' has leveled up!>

Ping!

<Co-Player 'Deon Hensworth' has leveled up!>

In the end, Mikael only leveled up once while Deon, twice.

'Is this like pok*mon? where the experience points needed to level up increases at higher levels?'

Mikael thought it was likely the case.

'Nevertheless, hunting with Finn is so efficient.'

He thought how hard it was with just Deon to fight against a single Killer ant.

"Come to think of it… aren't these monsters too weak compared to the ones before?" he murmured in contemplation.

Unbeknownst to him, Deon was also wondering about it. He was certain that this group was far weaker and less agile than the first ant.

"Sir Finn, don't you think they were not as strong as the previous one?"

"Ahh… that's because these guys are just minor worker ants." Finn readily answered, "See their heads? Those with bigger heads are soldier ants while the ones with smaller heads are worker ants."

"Much like people, the ant colony has a very strict caste system. Most of them are minor workers, some are major workers like soldiers, then there's the strongest guy, the super major worker and lastly, the queen…" His icy blue eyes sparkled with unbridled curiosity, "Well, that's what the books say. I can't say I'm an expert in this field, but I think there are many more things left to discover about them."

'So, in short, we just defeated mobs.' Mikael bitterly thought.

--Chapter end--

____________________________________________________________________________________________

*Gaster is part of an ant's abdomen.