"Oink... Bring the prey."
Honyopi ordered, and his subordinates came dragging nearly two hundred cages saturated with Goblins and Kobolds just outside the village walls.
Standing by his shoulder was Charymos and they stood before the five decadons who looked to be eagerly awaiting the hunt to begin so they could prove themselves to their Master.
Or perhaps their expressions could be read as excitement for finally leaving the pungent terror of the village?
It was, in truth, both.
"Please, free us!"
"Or just kill us already! We can't live like this anymore argh!"
The Kobolds who still maintained enough sanity to mould and utter a few words, screamed at the top of their lungs.
They had endured unspeakable atrocities at the hands of the two creatures standing beside one another, so it was only natural that they would desire death.
"Now, now~ be patient my cute little labrats, who knows? Today might just be your lucky day."
Charymos winked at the ones who were just pleading with him and turned his attention to the Homonculi of the twentieth generation, his finest specimens.
[Labrats he called them?]
[... I pity them, I wonder what this lunatic put them through.]
Kaelen narrowed his eyes at the multiple creatures in cages, and at first glance, they mostly appeared to have stab wounds.
But Kaelen instinctively knew that those were wounds from Charymos's needles.
"Listen up, children!"
"There are a total of three thousand of these lower lifeform creatures who are about to become your prey!"
"But of course, it would not be considered a hunt if they are to remain in these cages, therefore..."
Charymos glanced at Honyopi.
"Oink..."
The High Orc raised his snout and his subordinates immediately removed the locks on the cages.
"Aaah! We're free!"
"Kriik! Kraka! "
An instantaneous stampede of monsters occured and they ran as fast as they could, dispersing into the vast forest before them at incredible speed.
"My children, my pride and joy..."
He whispered, but his words were audible enough for all of them to hear.
"I will give you a week to hunt them all."
"And the rules are but simple, the Decadon that brings me the most heads will be the victors."
"And naturally, there's a very special gift for that special Decadon~ Fufu."
The Kraken Spawn hugged his shoulders and swayed back and forth, his leather onesie glimmering under the light of the second floor.
[I see, he wants us to get stronger by hunting and leveling up.]
[That's actually perfect for me, I need to grind some levels, I doubt it'll be as easy as its been to increase my level.]
[Although, I'm a bit anxious about the prize, should I lose on purpose? I don't trust this madman.]
[Second place shouldn't be too bad... Right?]
[No... I might miss out on something incredible.]
Kaelen mused as he grappled with indecisiveness, his blank, cherry-pink eyes reflecting the numerous silhouettes drowning into the sea of lush greenery.
"Now remember children, just because they are your prey does not mean that it is not possible for you to just as easily become theirs."
"They know the terrain more than you do, and they are driven by the primal desire to survive."
"They are no different from rabid animals hahaha!"
He covered his mouth as he chuckled.
"Ah... Wait, I saw a few who actually seemed to be rabid so be careful not to get bitten."
"That's all, I'll see you in a week my loves~"
Charymos blew another kiss at them and shook his hips as he walked away with Honyopi.
"Chiek..."
The bipedal Roach appeared as soon as they left and stood atop one of the cages.
"Do not go yet, wait for my signal."
His antennae picked up the distant rustling of bushes as the stampede continued increasing the distance.
"Remember... Your lives are on the line, do not be conceited and think that you are special."
"I am sure you have figured out what happens to those of you that die."
"So... Be careful not to be careless."
"That includes you, named ones."
The Roach spoke in a soft tone as he adjusted his tie.
[Has he grown so attached to us that he would worry?]
[...]
[... Of course not, this is a Major Tower, no one here is that kind-hearted.]
[So he's probably just trying his best to keep his Lord's assets alive.]
[Since there is a shortage of monsters at the Basement Floor, Charymos probably had no other choice but to come to an agreement with Honyopi.]
[... He's gambling basically.]
[All so that we can hunt and become stronger...]
Kaelen glanced up at the Roach who was essentially looming over them.
"... Now, you may go!"
The Roach's antennae twitched as he shouted, seemingly satisfied with the distance.
Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!
Lead by their captains, the decadons rushed into the forest and spread out, each heading in a different direction to monopolize a hunting field.
Except...
"Chiek? "
Kaelen had not moved a single muscle, and naturally, his decadon would dare not move without his orders, despite their personal feelings.
"Fuu..."
After about two minutes or so, Kaelen finished gathering his thoughts and took a deep breath, only to slowly walk toward the forest a second later, the decadon following closely behind him in a straight line.
"Veylith."
He broke the line and commanded that they walk beside him.
"Yes, Captain?"
The crimson-eyed girl whose tips of hair looked like they'd been dipped in a pool of blood responded.
Kaelen pointed at the sky and spoke:
"Send me up there, I want to —"
Clasp!
[... Eh?]
Veylith clasped his wrist tightly and rapidly performed a single rotation before she unleashed Kaelen, sending him tearing through the air at a frighting speed.
[Aaaah!!! At least wait for me to finish!]
He screamed inwardly so as to not lose his dignity as Captain.
Fwoooooosh!!
Kaelen, still tearing through the air, corrected his posture and his gaze fell below.
[Alright, let's do this!]
■■ Creator's Eye: Blueprint Creation.■■
He immediately cast that spell and an intricate, top-view map of as far as his eye could see was ingrained into his mind as he scanned the area.
[We'll be able to move around a bit easier with this, I'd hate to get lost!]
[... I was hoping to see where they would mostly cluster, but I can't see anything because of the trees.]
[Then I'll just...]
■■ Creator's Eye: Insight. ■■
With that spell, he was able to see the detailed information of everything his gaze fell upon, including the Goblins and the Kobolds concealed by the treetops.
[Their levels range between 4 and 10... This should be doable.]
Fwish...
He reached his highest point, about 220 meters above ground and gravity claimed his frame.
[...Oh?]
[Yeah, I figured there'd be smart ones like you, it honestly wasn't a bad plan to hide near the village since most people wouldn't think to find you there...]
Directly below the trajectory of his fall, he saw the information of half a dozen "prey" hiding in the thick undergrowth.
<□ Goblin — LV. 5
Class: Ranger LV. 4 □>
<□ Kobold — LV. 7
Class: Assasin LV. 7□>
<□ Kobold — LV. 9
Class: Archer LV. 5 □>
<□ Kobold— LV. 4
Class: Farmer LV. 4 □>
<□ Goblin — LV. 6
Class: Swordsmith LV. 2□>
<□ Kobold — LV. 4
Class: Mage LV. 1□>
[... Too bad, you can't hide from these eyes!]
The dendritic fibonnacci spiral in his eyes seemed to spin as he rapidly plummeted and he reached into his pocket dimension for his spear.
"... I'll take the initiative!"
Crackle!!
He drew his Mana and enveloped his entire frame with it, seemingly magnifying the acceleration of his fall.
"How much Exp will I gain if I can take them all out at once?"
He grinned excitedly and drew even more Mana, until his spear began chiming as though it would explode.
And just as he was about to crash into the bushes...
"Growl? "
They noticed him, but it was too late.
■■ Mana Burst! ■■
BOOOOOOM!
The tip of his spear sank into the earth and a vibrant explosion of pink flames blossomed, destroying the nearby trees that were caught within its blast radius.
Four of the prey were instantly scorched to char.
"Let's begin the grind!"
He grinned broadly, his eyes piercing through the smoke, his shoulders and temple becoming decorated by the slowly falling ash.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!