CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 137 - SNEAKING OUT

Logan raised his eyebrow as he detected a mana signature in two trees up ahead.

’Two C-rank Pollen Serpents,’ he thought. ’Let’s see how they deal with this.’

He kept his eyes on Adam and the other two Gold Cores, Anthony and Lucie.

"Once we reach the camp, we’ll split into three groups," Adam said, walking backward. "Each team gets one Gold Core."

While Adam rambled on, Anthony and Lucie exchanged glances.

They exchanged a small nod, then dashed towards the trees.

The group stared at them amazed, while Adam turned around with a frown on his face, having been completely unaware.

Lucie vanished into a shadow, reappearing high in the tree a second later.

She stabbed both of her daggers down, plunging them deep into what appeared to be tree bark.

The tree bark suddenly moved, throwing itself down from the tree and revealing its real appearance.

A large brown-colored serpent, twenty-five feet long and six feet thick, appeared, hissing wildly at the tree.

At the same time, Anthony jumped up, his clothes fluttering as the wind shot him through the air.

He held two crescent-shaped chakrams in his hands.

Anthony’s body spun mid-air as he hurled the chakrams at the tree bark.

The twin blades shot through the air, slicing cleanly through the serpent’s thick body.

A burst of greenish pollen exploded in the air as the creature shrieked.

The serpent had two massive gashes on its body with green blood leaking out of it.

It immediately let go of the tree and fell down.

Before it could join its companion, the two new chakrams soared through the air, plunging deep inside its skull.

The serpent let out one final shriek before its body collapsed.

’He’s quite strong,’ Logan thought, his eyes darting back at Lucie.

She had long disappeared from the tree, reappearing in the shadow behind the serpent.

The serpent reacted just in time, releasing a thick green fog around itself.

’Paralytic poison,’ Logan thought, eyes narrowing.

Lucie jumped back as vines shot out of the ground at the same time.

Once she was clear of the fog, she raised her hand and conjured ten sharp metal knives.

’Metal element?’ Logan thought, raising an eyebrow.

The sharp knives spun around her before she pointed at the snake.

A train of knives shot through the sky, disappearing into the green smoke.

The serpent let out a loud hiss as the smoke around it slowly started to disappear.

Knives were buried all over its body, green blood spilling onto the dirt.

The group was left in awe as they stared at both of the dead creatures.

’They just used basic spells,’ Logan thought. ’Seems like these two are a little more cautious than Adam.’

Speaking of Adam, Logan turned to look at him.

He’d raised his hand in the air, attempting to attract everyone’s attention.

"We are now in Pollen Serpent and Grass Wolf territory," he said. "Don’t stray from the group since both of those species are almost always C-ranks."

They walked for another hour, encountering scattered C-rank monsters that were quickly wiped out by the Gold Cores.

Finally, they arrived at a massive glowing river.

"This is the central river that runs through the entire cave," Adam said, spreading his arms wide. "It’s so deep no one knows what’s at the bottom except the blue mana crystals."

He paused, pointing at a small hill up ahead. "And that will be our camp for the coming seventy-two hours."

The group climbed up the hill, whispering excitedly about the terrain and the hunting they were going to do.

"You’d always be safe if you snagged someone like Anthony," Logan heard someone say to a girl nearby, someone he assumed was a friend or classmate. "You should sneak into his tent later."

"Stop messing around, Lucas. How about you try flirting with Lucie first," a girl responded, shaking her head, though her eyes told a different story.

Logan shook his head. At this point, he wasn’t only disgusted by their behavior but outright disappointed.

’So many people die inside dungeons, and these people are just making a joke out of it.’

As they reached the flat area on top of the hill, everyone started setting up tents.

Most had their own tents, while families and couples shared.

’I’m glad Ethan kindly handed over his tent,’ Logan thought, blending in with the others as he set it up. ’Though I won’t be using it.’

He couldn’t wait until he could leave the dungeon again.

’I’ll see how they plan to do everything,’ he thought. ’But I want to sprinkle the bait the minute a majority of the people start sleeping.’

After the camp had been set up, Adam split the entire group into three smaller ones, leaving one group at the camp while the other two were sent out to hunt.

Logan was put inside Lucie’s group and had to stay at camp for the first run.

A few hours later, Adam and Anthony’s teams returned, hauling four large serpent carcasses.

Adam and Anthony’s teams looked flushed with excitement as they dropped the serpent carcasses near the supply corner, boasting loudly about their kills.

Lucie gave them a nod but stayed quiet, her arms crossed as she leaned against a boulder near the tents.

"We killed fourteen Pollen Serpents and twelve Grass Wolves," someone said, wiping sweat from his brow. "At this rate, we’ll clear out the whole area in a day."

"Save some for us," a girl muttered from Logan’s group.

Light chuckles rippled through the camp.

Logan sat quietly outside his tent, silently scanning the others.

’They’re too comfortable,’ he thought. ’Perfect.’

He saw people start yawning and knew it wouldn’t be long anymore.

After the four serpents were roasted and eaten, the two groups that had hunted started heading to their tents.

Lucie’s group was in charge of defending the camp while the others slept for a few hours, creating the perfect situation for Logan.

’I have to be ready,’ he thought, eyes hardening. ’Once I spread the bait, the smell and mana richness will attract creatures, but it will also alert my teammates.’

He waited a few more minutes as the camp around him quieted down.

The only sounds were crackling embers, distant monster roars, and... groaning?

Logan frowned, activating his mana sight.

’Whatever,’ he thought, spotting mana signatures overlapping inside several tents. ’Might even make my task easier.’

He stood up, a vial appearing in his hand out of thin air. The engravings on it pulsed softly as he walked through the camp.

’Let’s get started.’