Chapter 99

It was May 9th, in the year 3013 of the Tria calendar.

By May, the forests around Doctus were changing from the vivid emerald green of young leaves to a deeper green.

During the winter, I continued to hunt monsters steadily, and my Swordsman level had risen to 26, while my Sword Skill level had reached 30. In terms of magic, my Wind attribute was still the highest at level 30, but due to my role as an assistant to the professor, my Metal attribute had rapidly leveled up to 28.

The steady improvement in my Sword Skill was largely due to the training I received from Gerald, a second-class adventurer I met while hunting black panthers at the beginning of the year. I only received training from him a few times a month, on days when he didn't go monster hunting due to rain or snow, but Gerald was a high-level Swordsman at level 65 and surprisingly good at teaching. Additionally, he used the same bastard sword as me, which helped my Sword Skill improve at a good pace. Recently, Gerald even acknowledged that I was fully capable.

However, he also mentioned that it would become harder to level up once my Skill Level exceeded 30, and that the coming period would be crucial. He added that, in general, it becomes difficult to level up once you surpass level 20.

Today, I am going to the mountains for the first time. Over the past few months, Sharon and I have been hunting ogres, which are equivalent to a 7th-level monster, and we both leveled up to 5th class yesterday. Beatrice, who tends to be overprotective, allowed us to go on this mission to exterminate soldier ants, which have appeared in large numbers at the foot of the Saewum Mountains, because we had both leveled up to 5th class and Gerald had acknowledged our skills.

Soldier ants are insect-type monsters equivalent to a 6th-level monster, but a group of more than 30 is considered equivalent to a 4th-level monster. This mission is being treated as a 4th-level request to exterminate a group. The guild believes that the soldier ants are dividing their nests, and there is a possibility that the queen ant is moving. When the queen ant moves, the soldier ants become more aggressive and move in groups of hundreds, causing other monsters to descend from the mountains and increase the damage to the roads. To minimize the damage, the guild has decided to add a special reward, which has attracted many adventurers.

I chose this mission not only because of the good reward but also for other reasons. When I fought a giant centipede before, it was a tough battle. I want to take revenge on the soldier ants, which have a hard exoskeleton and are likely to be heat-resistant, just like the giant centipede. Last time, I used an air hammer to lift its body and then attacked its underside with fire arrows, but it was still a tough fight. This time, I have a strategy in mind.

It takes about five hours to reach the destination on foot. We will travel about 5 km west from the city of Doctus, then head north through the forest to the foot of the mountain. The round trip will take about ten hours, so we plan to camp. We have already practiced setting up a safe campsite and know the procedures.

At 8:00 AM, we accepted the mission at the guild and immediately headed west on the Aurela Road, which connects the commercial city of Aurela in the west to the adventurer's town of Periclitus in the east. Since this is a relatively large-scale extermination mission, other adventurers are also entering the forest. However, we are not working together as a team, so there is no leader like Gerald was during the black panther hunt.

However, some of the adventurers are sticking together because they know each other. We are also traveling with a party that Beatrice knows, but they seem to look down on us. Both Lidi and Beatrice have noticed this and decided to act separately when the opportunity arises.

When we entered the forest and took a break, one of them said, "That's what happens when you don't have enough stamina, kids." Beatrice was about to say something, but I signaled to her that it was a good opportunity, and she backed down.

When they left, Lidi started complaining to Beatrice.

"What's with them! We would have been better off going alone from the start!"

Beatrice apologized, saying, "I'm sorry. But they used to be nice people."

"Well, it's fine. To be honest, if they were as skilled as Gerald's party, it would be different, but their level is just not good enough. But are they really 4th class?"

We learned that the group that entered the forest with us had recently leveled up to 4th class. They were all in their late 20s, with two Swordsmen, two Spear Users, one Archer, and one Healer. Their Swordsmen levels were not much different from mine. Our party consists of 3rd-class Beatrice, 4th-class Lidi, and 5th-class me and Sharon, but compared to us, they are clearly inferior.

"Over the past ten years, they've been steadily completing missions. They can easily defeat 7th-level monsters. Levels go up when you complete a certain number of missions. Since they were dealing with weaker monsters, their levels didn't rise much. I don't know the details, but they are probably around level 30."

The adventurer's class is a measure of the number of missions completed. As Beatrice said, levels go up when you complete a certain number of missions. In Doctus, there is a special rule that allows you to level up even with a post-mission report, so it's possible to become 5th or 4th class even at a low level. In other cities, such as the adventurer's town of Periclitus, you need to be at least level 35 to become 4th class.

"Well, they're just being arrogant because they've leveled up to 4th class. If they get a taste of this mission, they'll probably think twice."

From Beatrice's perspective, their abilities are not at the level required to participate in the soldier ant hunt. I am at a similar level, but Sharon and I can use fire magic, which is effective against insect-type monsters, so we are much more useful.

Around 1:00 PM, we finally emerged from the forest and arrived at a barren area with large rocks scattered around. The slope had been rising from the forest, so technically, we were at the foot of the mountain, but it felt more like we were in the mountains. The landscape in front of us was a grassy plain with rocks scattered around, and the slope leading to the mountain was much steeper than before. In the distance, the rugged ridgeline of the Saewum Mountains was visible, and I felt like a hiker about to start a mountain climb.

The sky was clear after we emerged from the forest, so we decided to have a late lunch.

The lunch Sharon prepared was a sandwich with bacon and soup. Dried meat and vegetables, salt, and spices were ready. We put the ingredients into each cup, used magic to produce water, and heated it with a Peltier effect spell. After heating it to a boil, we soaked the dried bread, which served as croutons, to complete the meal. This was a food that came in handy during the winter in the forest. When I first served it to Beatrice, the experienced adventurer was half impressed and half amazed, saying, "I didn't think we could eat something like this so easily in the forest."

After lunch, we immediately started searching for the soldier ants.

"If we can find the trail of the group, it will be easy, but even without it, we can still find them..."

According to Beatrice, if the ants are moving in a group, they will knock down the grass, making it easy to follow their trail. However, in this vast area at the foot of the mountain, it would be a matter of luck to find a single line.

Another tracking method involves using the habits of the soldier ants. There are scout ants and soldier ants. When the scout ants find food, they return to the nest or the group to inform the soldier ants, leaving a trail of secretions. By following these secretions, you can find the main group.

In the case of a nest division, the scout ants will go out in all directions to find a safe route. This means that if you can find the trail of one of them, you can reach the main group.

I was skeptical about whether the special scent of the ants could be detected by humans.

"You can follow the scent, but can you actually detect it?"

"Well, it's probably impossible for humans. But for us beastmen, it's no problem."

It seems that this is a tracking method that only beastmen with a keen sense of smell can use.

The soldier ants are said to prefer this kind of barren area and move along the foot of the mountain. We headed north through the barren area, searching for traces of the soldier ants.

The soldier ants are about 2 meters long and 1 meter tall, with a hard, black chitin exoskeleton and a jaw that is 50 cm long. They also have a stinger like a bee at the end of their abdomen. The hard exoskeleton deflects arrows, making them a nightmare for archers. Not only that, but they show no fear and continue to attack even if they lose one or two legs. Their appearance is eerie, unlike that of undead creatures.

After searching for about two hours, we found no trace of the soldier ants, despite our best efforts. We had anticipated their movements based on the information from the guild, but it seems we had gone too far. We continued to search for a suitable campsite while looking for traces of the soldier ants.

In the end, we found no trace of the soldier ants that day. We set up camp at a suitable location around 5:00 PM. There was not much to do for the campsite, as we could produce water with magic, so we mainly gathered firewood. We set up camp near the forest, collected firewood, and made a fire with the nearby rocks as a backrest. The fire was easily started with my ignition spell, and it was just the right size for the four of us to gather around.

It felt like a camping trip, but this was a dangerous area with monsters. It was much more dangerous than the forests near the city, and we could not afford to be careless.

We set up two shifts of two people each for watch duty. I was with Lidi, and Beatrice was with Sharon. We planned to start moving at dawn the next morning, so we went to bed soon after dinner.

The sound of the crackling firewood and the wind blowing through the forest mixed with the distant roars of monsters. This area was home to many large monsters like orcs and trolls, so we could not be careless. We had not found any traces of large monsters in the area we had traveled that day, but according to Beatrice, we would not encounter any dangerous monsters that we could not handle.

Beatrice and Sharon were on watch first, and we would take over when the date changed. Time passed without incident, and the sky in the east began to lighten. We woke up Beatrice and the others, had a simple breakfast, and resumed our search.

After walking for about an hour to the west, we found footprints that were not ours. It seemed to be another party that had accepted the mission to exterminate the soldier ants. Their footprints were heading north, but we ignored them and continued west.

Suddenly, Beatrice, who was leading the way, stopped. She said, "These are the traces of soldier ants," and showed us a transparent liquid on the grass. It had a faint, sweet scent like honey, but it would have been impossible for me to detect it with my sense of smell. Beatrice determined the direction and headed north.

She stopped several times to confirm the traces, and we followed her cautiously.

Suddenly, Beatrice crouched down. We did the same, and she signaled that she had spotted the enemy. Looking closely, we could see a group of soldier ants about 100 meters ahead, shining black in the morning sun. From our position, we could only see part of the group, but there were nearly ten giant ants visible.

I asked Lidi and Beatrice, "There are a lot of them. What do we do?"

Lidi replied, "If it's the main group, it's impossible. But if they're just carrying food, I think we can take them down," and Beatrice nodded in agreement.

Beatrice then said, "I'll go scout. Wait here," and silently parted the grass.

Seeing her in this form, I was reminded that she was a tiger beastman. She moved just like a wild tiger approaching its prey, as I had seen on TV.

After about ten minutes, Beatrice returned.

"They're just carrying food. There are twelve of them. What do we do?"

I nodded silently and drew my sword from my back. Lidi and Beatrice nodded in agreement, and Sharon nodded with a flushed face.

"We'll launch a surprise attack. We'll approach quietly and use Zack and Sharon's magic to take down as many as possible. Lidi will use the air hammer to blow away the ants that get close. I'll use my spear to take down the ones that get through. Is that okay?"

We nodded silently and approached the soldier ants.

The ants were carrying the meat of a humanoid monster that looked like an orc in their jaws, moving in a line to the west.

Since a surprise attack was possible, I decided to execute the strategy I had been thinking about.

The twelve ants were in a line about 30 meters long. Our position was about 30 meters south of the line. From this position, we would simultaneously cast Fire Storm, moving the two fire whirlwinds close together to increase the firepower and slowly moving them from the front to the back of the line to burn the ants.

Fire Storm is a spell that creates a whirlwind of fire about 10 meters in diameter at the target location. A normal Fire Storm is fixed at the target location and burns for several dozen seconds. Therefore, it cannot be moved, and it cannot damage enemies outside its range. However, Sharon and I can move the Fire Storm with our will. According to Professor Raspede, our imagination and magic control are genius-level. In fact, even Professor Raspede cannot move storm-type spells, let alone Lidi.

To get back on track, by moving the Fire Storm, we can damage the entire group. Our magic lasts about 30 seconds, so the fire whirlwinds will burn the ants at a speed of one meter per second. To increase the firepower, we will halve the diameter and use two in parallel. This width should allow us to deal significant damage even if they try to escape sideways.

Sharon and I crouched in the grass, had a quick discussion, and quietly began casting the spell.

"O god of fire, I seek the fierce dance of your fiery spirits. I offer the power of my life to you. Burn my enemies to ashes! Fire Storm!"

With the activation of the spell, two fire whirlwinds appeared at the front of the line of soldier ants. The ants moved their legs in a panic but did not let go of the monster meat, making their movements slow. The two whirlwinds slowly passed over the ants. The smell of burning grass and monster meat mixed together, and the sound of crackling flames could be heard, but there were no screams, so we could not tell what was happening to the soldier ants.

When the 30-second duration of the spell was over, the sound of burning undergrowth and the rustling of the soldier ants' legs moving through the grass could be heard. I thought the firepower might have been insufficient, but Beatrice, who stood up first, said, "As usual,