Within the dark and gloomy gargantuan forest, deafening gunshots echoed throughout the forest along with their gleaming immediate radiance. *BANG!* *BANG!* *BANG!* It was as if a firefight was currently ongoing within the forest, which was far from the truth.
After all, it wasn't a battle between guns but a duel between the monsters and the newly arrived predators.
*BANG!*
A fat young man was running through the dark forest while holding a rifle tightly under his hand. He kept firing in a certain direction as a shadow covered him from above. He was Dante Regent Astarte, the exiled third son of Astarte.
The most infamous asshole.
Dante was currently hunting one of the Gigantis Kryftis, which he had recently discovered, along with his minion, whom he named Roshan. Roshan was a Gigantis Kryftis, like the one they were hunting. The only difference was his complete subservience to the third son of Astarte.
"Damn, this bastard is a good runner."
He was currently chasing an injured Gigantis Kryftis. They managed to succeed in their ambush, but they underestimated the monster, and it managed to escape. He was regretting not instantly killing it, but oh well.
A lesson was a lesson, and he wouldn't mind such failures.
In any case, their combat operative was simple.
Dante was on the ground while Roshan was the one going through the branches. Gigantis Kryftis were good climbers and were also fast, along with being silent. This might be the reason why they were not so powerful, as they compensated for it with the darkness of the forest.
"Roshan, abandon the combat operative and take it down before we attract more unwanted attention."
He gave an order to his first minion, which it immediately accepted. The shadow above him faded and went along the path of the escaping prey. Seeing such a thing, he sighed to himself as he stopped running.
Dante leaned on one of the giant trunks and took a deep breath. Running and hunting weren't easy jobs to do, especially with his current body. But the rewards of this hunt would give him the things he would need to succeed in the marathon.
He must hunt for the sake of victory.
After a short while, a monster dropped down from the branches and landed right beside Dante. It was pale white in color, with its giant snail-like eyes protruding from its head. The monster was none other than Roshan, and it was holding a corpse under its massive mouth.
"It looks like you got it without that much effort."
"I guess our combat operative have its own problems."
Dante uttered while patting the head of Roshan. He wasn't bothered by the giant snail-like eyes protruding from its body even though it was wiggling beside his hand. Roshan wasn't violent and was a bit timid.
Though, during the ambush, he could tell that Roshan was entirely serious when it came to hunting.
"Gigantis Kryftis have good eyesight and they have complete domination over the dark forest. They can easily escape through the branches meaning that this area can be compared to a playground."
"I am lucky to have one of my own to pursue an injured one. Otherwise, it would be hard for me to even hunt one of them and take their corpse."
He couldn't help but smile as his minion Roshan dropped the corpse from its mouth. He stood before the corpse as a familiar notification window emerged before him. A grin replaced his smile as he quietly muttered to himself.
"I have been waiting for you."
โ<โ>โ
-[๐๐จ๐ฎ ๐ก๐๐ฏ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐ (๐ ๐๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ซ๐ฒ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฌ)โฆ]-
-[๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐จ๐ง๐ช๐ฎ๐๐ซ ๐จ๐ซ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ?]-
โ<โ>โ
'I guess that anything my minion kills count as my kill. Well, it makes sense.'
He nodded upon the conclusion of his thoughts before noticing something important within the notification window. He could conquer it, butโฆ It would need energy, and his spirit attribute must be adequate. Also, there was something he was curious about.
"Is the auto activation already disabled? I wouldn't want my two trials of Absolute Conquer to be wasted for no reason."
Dante uttered with a deadpan expression, and a follow-up notification appeared afterward.
โ<โ>โ
[๐๐๐ฌ๐ข๐ ๐๐ง๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฆ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ญ๐จ๐๐จ๐ฅ.]
[๐๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ญ: ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง]
-[๐๐จ, ๐ข๐ญ ๐ก๐๐ฌ๐ง'๐ญ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐.]
-[๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐๐จ๐ซ ๐ข๐ญ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐?]-
โ<โ>โ
'I guess my suspicion was correct.'
He thought while looking at the follow-up notification. He had previously thought that the auto-activation was already disabled. It looks like he was wrong. The only thing the system did was give a report, nothing more, nothing less.
It needed his command for any tweaks within its settings.
"I was lucky to ask before even picking an option. I don't know what would happen to me if I lose another trial of Absolute Conquer in accident."
Dante remarked in relief as he would have cried if such a thing did happen.
"Please disable the auto activation. I don't want to lose anything important."
โ<โ>โ
-[๐๐ซ๐๐๐ซ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐!]-
-[๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง...]-
-[๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐!]-
โ<โ>โ
After giving an order, a notification popped up giving a report regarding his words. The auto-activation was instantly disabled, and it was time for him to continue with what he was about to do.
Dante turned his gaze towards the corpse and crouched before it. The dead Gigantis Kryftis was smaller than Roshan, but I guess this was for the better. It would be better for them to hunt the smaller ones before fighting against adult and bigger monsters.
'The devour option gives me experience and biomass.'
'They are required and important to my growth and Roshan's growth.'
"Looks like I should pick the second option."
"I choose (Devour)."
โ<โ>โ
-[๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ง.]-
-[๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐๐๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐๐ง ๐จ๐ฉ๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง.]-
-[๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ ๐๐๐ ๐ข๐ง...]-
โ<โ>โ
Like the conquer option, the devour option also made the corpse of the monster gleam with the radiance of the silver light. Dante looked at it with expectations in his mind while Roshan stood right beside him, steadily looking at the monster.
It was wondering whether its monsters would turn the corpse into another subordinate.
Fortunately for Roshan, he was wrong.
His master was eating the corpse for the growth of the two of them.
Dante patiently waited for the silver light to start dimming. And when it did, the gleaming radiance faded, followed by a new notification.
โ<โ>โ
-[๐๐จ๐ง๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐จ๐๐๐ฌ๐ฌ ๐ก๐๐ฌ ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐ฅ๐ฎ๐๐๐.]-
-[๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฒ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐...]-
-[๐๐จ๐ซ๐ฉ๐ฌ๐ ๐ฒ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ญ๐๐, ๐๐ง๐ ๐ซ๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐๐ฌ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐จ๐ซ๐ญ๐๐.]-
-[๐๐ ๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ]-
โ<โ>โ
He peered at the notification message and raised an eyebrow. The rewards he was given were larger than he expected. Though, he didn't know how much 10 and 7 imply within the currency of the system. It might be small.
'Well, that doesn't matter.'
'I gain a lot from killing one Gigantis Kryftis smaller than Roshan. What would happen if I hunt a lot of them in the dark forest?' Dante thought to himself as a sly smile formed on his face. His expression was somewhat evil-looking, though it made sense with his current thoughts.
Nothing stops him from hunting them, all right? There wasn't a rule that stopped him from doing that. Meaning that he could hunt them all until nothing and no one was left within the dark forest.
With this thought process, Dante began chuckling to himself.
He was chasing at a rather fast pace, and there were many reasons for his fast chance. Either he was good at adapting, or it was something else. Maybe a third-party influence?
In the end, though, that doesn't matter since Dante will still have to farm the experience and biomass within the dark forest.
โ<โ>โ
-[๐๐จ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ก๐จ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฌ๐ก ๐ญ๐จ ๐ฌ๐๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง?]-
โ<โ>โ
'Status screen?'
'Wait I forgot about that. Shouldn't there be status screens with systems? I can't believe I forgot such a simple and important fact.' He shook his head in disappointment and gave an answer.
"Status!"
As Dante stated such words, a large digital screen emerged before him.
โโโ<โ>โโโ
[๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ญ ๐๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ซ๐ญ๐]
-[๐๐ง๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฒ: ๐๐๐/๐๐๐]-
-[๐๐๐ฏ๐๐ฅ: ๐(๐/๐๐)]-
-[๐๐ฑ๐ฉ๐๐ซ๐ข๐๐ง๐๐(๐ฌ): ๐๐]-
-[๐๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ(๐ฌ): ๐]-
-[๐๐ข๐ญ๐ฅ๐(๐ฌ): ๐๐จ๐ง๐]-
[๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ซ๐ข๐๐ฎ๐ญ๐ ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐๐ง๐ญ]
-[๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก: ๐.๐]โ[๐๐ง๐๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐ง๐๐: ๐.๐]-
-[๐๐ฉ๐๐๐: ๐.๐]โ[๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ: ๐.๐]-
-[๐๐ง๐ญ๐๐ฅ๐ฅ๐๐๐ญ: ๐]โ[๐๐ง๐ฌ๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐๐ญ: ๐.๐]-
-[๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ซ๐ข๐ญ: ๐]โ[๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ฆ: ๐.๐]-
[๐๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฑ]
โ[๐๐๐๐ซ๐ญ๐ก(๐ฌ): ๐๐จ๐ง๐/๐]
โ[๐๐ซ๐๐๐ง๐(๐ฌ): ๐๐จ๐ง๐/๐]
โโโ<โ>โโโ