I silently trailed behind the party that had gathered together back at the hall.
The reason was simple. It's because I wanted to see how these 20 members actually hunted.
Pardon me for doing this, but with this black cloak and skull mask I'm wearing, they'll find me as a suspicious person. It won't be funny for me if I were to be surrounded by 20 warriors from all sides.
Even so, I really wanted to see. I wanted to observe their teamwork, how they enhanced their power through it and how they complemented for each other's weaknesses. In my case, even though I'm alone, I'm pretty sure their tactics will still benefit me.
This will also serve as the training Greed had mentioned earlier. I had to test if I could stand my ground without losing to my urge, even if there were monsters right in front of me.
This feeling was close to a dog who as been placed with bait right in front of it. Moreover, it also knew that it's not the only one who's after the bait. Under this kind of condition, I'm quite worried that the [Gluttony] skill would go berserk. Well, it's still in semi-starvation state so I could manage it somewhat.
The clouds started to cover the sky, and the warriors I've been following kept moving without light under the darkness of the night.
U~n, I don't think all of these 20 men had acquired a night vision skill. Then why are they doing thisâŠ
Greed then told me the reason via ăMind Readingă .
ăI'd a.s.sume they have magic tool similar to your skull maskăThe monster we are hunting is a nocturnal typeăMagic tools that allow them to see in the dark is a must in order to able to hunt properlyăSince it was ma.s.s-produced in Gallia, magic tools with a night vision skill should be sold in markets around the world. However, since the creation method is lost now, it's a luxury item that not everyone can buy.ă
[I see. I don't have much trouble since my number of skills keeps increasing over time, but ordinary people will have to prepare various kind of equipmentăThere seems to be no end to that no matter how much money one has.]
In contrast, my equipment only consisted of Black Sword Greed. The skull mask is only used when I want to conceal my ident.i.ty.
[Should I also procure more equipmentïŒ]
ăHahahahaăyou don't need to do such tiresome thingăYou have the [Gluttony] skillăYour stats and skills will only keep increasingăOthers can't do that so they have to rely on tools.ă
According to Greed, buying equipment and tools will be redundant. I could easily solve the problem by devouring monsters with useful skills. That's about right.
But even so. It seemed fun to have various magic tools. I snorted at that thought.
ăHaăwhy do you even bother bringing unnecessary trash on your journey? It'll be just a nuisanceăAll you'll ever need is meïŒă
Magic tools are rubbish. Greed really wanted to stress that to me.
Well, it'll be wasteful if I were to lose Greed now that I have unlocked his second form. But if I tell him that, he'll definitely turn c.o.c.ky. So I won't say itâŠ.never.
I only had this one magic toolăŒăŒthe skull mask. I'll definitely cherish this one.
Because I intended to hide my real ident.i.ty and act as the Mukuro the warrior for quite a while. Especially since I couldn't meet Roxy as Fate, so I'll have to don this mask at almost all times after I arrive in Gallia.
Once there, it'll be inevitableâŠ.but I'm going to devour a lot of monsters. I don't want her to see me as that monstrosity. If she were to reject me, I'll end up regretting this whole journey. I don't think I could fight in that circ.u.mstance. So I'll be needing the mask to conceal myself.
ăOi, FateăYou'll eventually lose sight of your own self if you keep using that mask, and that will create a gap in your heart that the [Gluttony] Skill can take advantage ofăIf you do that, just discard meïŒă
[I understand thatăI understand of what you saidâŠâŠI'll be counting on you]
ăHahahaaăwell saidăYou can prepare yourself to become a big shotă
I won't be easily muddled by that.. It's because Greed has a bad habit of talking big.
He said that I'd be able cut anything once I unlocked the second rank, but when I did, there's still this limitation attached to it. Well, even then it's still really strongâŠ
Then again, it's irritating having to sweet talk Greed from time to time.
While having a headache from hearing Greed's laughter, I maintained my distance and kept track of the warriors in front of me. Gradually, the scenery changed from gra.s.slandâŠ.to that of the desert.
[It seems really wideăAs if the desert stretches beyond the horizon]
ăThis is the sandmen's workăthey've been expanding the desert for a while nowăIf this goeas onăin ïŒïŒïŒïŒ years this region will completely sink under the desertă
1000 yearsâŠ.is such a distant time. I don't think I'll even live that long to see all that to happen.
When I was still in my excitement for visiting my first desert, the warriors had started to fight.
ăIt has begună
[YeahăI can see that]
After I watched the fight for a while, I realized that this party was magic-based group.
5 magicians hurling fire magics acted as the base, decimating the sandmans. 10 acted as barricade to hold the sandman at bay. 5 of the warriors unexpectedly served to lure the sandmen and grouped them upâŠ.. And so on.
Everyone played a solid role, gathering the sandmen in one place. And then, the fire magic would finish the job. From distance, it seemed like an a.s.sembly-line work that was easy to do.
There was no wasted moves as far as I could tell. Those moves were the work of warriors experienced in sandman hunting.
I was in awe while watching it, but meanwhile, Greed was yawning.
ăSuch a boring huntăDoing the same thing over and over againătotally boringă
[If that soăwhat do you consider as a good huntïŒ]
ăKill all sandman by levelling the entire areaăthat's what I consider a good huntă
Are you stupidâŠcouldn't you recall the time we destroyed the valley back at Heart's territory? If I do that again, the aftermath will be troublesome.
Other than that, I had to test myself on enduring the semi-starving state.
[If I fight too fastăI'll end up satisfying [Gluttony] skill tooăWho said that I need to endure in this stateïŒ]
ăWhat's in the pastăis in the pastăTake this for exampleăI didn't say that you have to do that nowăComeăFateïŒ We'll start our sandman hunting soonïŒă
Greed then suggested that I shouldn't do it like the way I handled the goblins back then, but instead opt to kill 1 at a time.
Fight the sandman while enduring the urge from the [Gluttony ] Skill for a while. Kill it, then move on the next.
Now that you mentioned itâŠ..seemed like the urge coming from the [Gluttony] skill had become quite ridiculous.
After all, some time had pa.s.sed due to me watching the group hunting, so I guess it's for me to start as well.
I stopped hiding, and walked away from the group of men.
After several sand hills, I finally encountered 1 sandman.
The ăAppraisală skill quickly activated.
ă»Sandman Lv30
Durability: 1760
Strength: 890
Magic: 1330
Spirit: 1760
Agility: 100
Ability: Magic Strengthening (Medium)
The power level was similar to that of a Noir Gargoyle. But it moved so slowly due to its low agility. So as long as I didn't make a big mistake, it shouldn't be able to catch me.
Okay then, how should I fight it? The magicians with the huge party back then fought it using fire magic. Perhaps it's weak to fire.
It's about time for the fire magic I had obtained from the Noir Gargoyle to see some use.
I thought the distance was still a bit too far, but let's try it anyways. I pointed my left hand toward the sandman, then quietly invoked ăFlame Bullet Magică .
Un, it takes time to activate a magic skill. Finished forming the flame bullet, I aimed at the sandman, then released it.
ăHahahaăFateăYou areâŠâŠsillyăThere is nothing in thereă
Not only the flame bullet I created didn't even reach the sandman, it also actually flew to another direction.
Sand flared up grandly. The sandman noticed it and began moving slowly. There's considerable s.p.a.ce before it can get close to me.
ăPuâŠâŠwhat was thatăAre you becoming clumsy due to the effect of the [Gluttony] skillïŒă
[Laugh as you likeăIt's my first ever use of magic, so that's normalăNext timeâŠâŠ]
Greed then stopped laughing and told me.
ăCan't be helpedăI'll a.s.sist you a littleăChange me into the bow formă
As told, I changed him into the bow form and aimed to the sandman.
[This timeăare you gonna shoot magic arrow as usualïŒ]
ăNot exactlyăInvoke the flame bullet magic before while shooting the magic arrow.ă
I pull the bow string, and the black arrow will be formed from my magic power. And usually, I shoot right after.
There was something more to add this time, according to Greed.
I tried to invoke the ăFlame Bullet Magică while aiming. At that moment, the black arrow began to flash red.
[This isâŠâŠthe arrow is infused with burning fire, isn't it?]
ăHow is that? With My magic bowăyou can infuse the arrow with magic skillăIn other wordsăthe elements used will vary with Fate's skill repertoire ă
Moreover, it was much faster than preparing a magic. A normal magician won't be able to do the same thing, but this make it possible for me to release multiple magic in a short time.
Go! The flame magic arrow flew at staggering speed, and directly hit the sandman's head.
ăFeeling goodïŒă
[Yeahăthe bestïŒ It was a bull's eye]
Seeing the sandman in blaze, I decided to not use normal magic anymore. I'll just use the black bow in the future. Suited me better.
ăGluttony Skill Activatedă
ăDurability+1760ăStrength+890ăMagic+1330ăSpirit+1760ăAgility+100 will be added to your statsă
ă Magic Strengthening (Medium) will be added to your skillă
As I devour the sandman's soul, I closed my eyes, feeling slightly filled.
Now it's time to take a break from the hunt to endure the urge. By repeating this, I wondered if it'd be possible to suppress the starvation state beyond the semi-starving level. I could only believe in Greed's words for now.