YM778.TV Chapter 117: Into the Core Part
So, he has to do it by himself, unless he wanted to lose his force senselessly by sending them to their death, that is.
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The first thing that came to mind when he enter the area that is part of the core is how lush and vibrant it is. He knew it is likely but with how he had walked into the core from the Dark Forest, he almost forget about such thing.
"Are there reasons why the Dark Forest looked like that? Maybe the bugs there harm the trees, or are there something more to it," the incubus quickly pushed such thought away.
At the current moment, it is imperative for him to search for suitable place for the night. After all, if he does it before dusk, it would be harder to find such place.
"Let\'s explore the area around here. There should be some places that is protected and not likely get visited by monsters,"
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As he scour the area, he quickly find, one of his first huge bug.
"A rhinoceros beetle?!" he exclaimed to himself before pushing such thought away. It might look like a rhinoceros beetle but who knew what it is capable of, aside from turning anything with meat on it into a bloody paste that is.
He tried to look for a way to circle around the hug beetle when he spotted another one, this one glaring, or so he thinks, at the first beetle. It did not take him long to put 2 and 2 together.
"Come on!" he yelled, before quickly running away from there. After all, there is no way he will get involve in a turf fight between two huge beetles that will not even realize if they walk through a demon during the fight.
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As he caught his breath, Alros reassess his plan one more time. Oh, while such danger would make him hesitate slightly about the prospect of exploring the core, the bounties offered in the form of powerful monsters more than enough for him make an exploration.
Of course, this time, he will find a relatively hidden spot and send in his Phantom Wasps, who will be his scouts, and eyes, telling him the danger level of the area he is heading towards.
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Though, he do look at the direction he came from, with a slight look of hesitation. After all, if the two beetles are weakened enough, he can took them down, and either used them for materials or turned them into powerful monsters under his command.
In the end, rationality won as he knew it is hard for two rhinoceros beetles to kill on another, and while it might not be true here, it is not a risk he willing to take with him in the more dangerous area.
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Several Phantom Wasps quickly flew to different directions, with one main order. If they find a huge bug, they must remain out of reach and detection, and observe the bugs. That way, when he connected to them, allowing him to see what they see, he can observe and determine the likely danger level.
Likely, as in, he cannot be sure of the danger they pose unless he fought them first. After sending the bugs, Alros began to use his Mana Sense, while scouring for any hidden spots. After all, while his bugs can search for such spot, they need constant surveillance to be able to search for a suitable place.
So, rather than have them do such a costly endavour, it is better to have them find monsters in the vicinity.
As for the reason he use Mana Sense is both for security and opportunity. The former is for when he use Mana Sense, he can detect the large mana of the huge bugs, and the later is that if he find any sufficiently weak bugs, hiding anywhere, then he can just kill them and used their hiding spot for himself. Cruel but effective.
But, if even his best attempt do not bear fruit, then he has to go back to the inner part, as there is no way he would stay at the core without a hiding place to call temporary home.
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"This should do," Alros said, before throwing the carcass of the centipede impaled by his spear. Aside from the one, there is some 5 more centipedes, each about twice or maybe even thrice the length of a human.
However, they are not much of a challenge, as his spear, the one he bought at Zell City, is more than enough to kill them. Though, he knew it is unlikely for the spear to penetrate the harder carapace of the huge bugs.
"Let\'s cleanse this place first," deciding to not dwell on such thought, Alros summoned some of his Flame Ants, tasked in dismantling the bodies of the centipedes, as well as burning the blood of the bugs. While he is not sure of it, the blood seem poisonous, and there is no way he would place the system crystal here if that is the case, at least until the poison is utterly remove.
Once they done, Alros called upon his goblins to make it somewhat livable. Not like he will sleep there, the system space exist for a reason, but so the goblins that will stand guards would have a proper place to sleep.
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While the goblins busy turning the cave into a dream home for goblins, Alros head outside, calling upon his scouts. In the span of half an hour, 3 return out of 40.
"This, is troubling," he muttered, as aside from them being killed, the other reason why they don\'t come back, is because they have found powerful bugs and remain there, observing the bugs.
He close his eyes as he used the connection between them to see the bugs they have found. Though, he do hope some are killed rather than having all of them stopping because they find a powerful monsters.
Alas, all hopes are dashed when he counted all 37, meaning there are 37 powerful bugs, or more in the area, capable of threatening his existence.