"We have some interesting kids this year," Professor Gareth muttered as he observed everything taking place inside the Mistral Weave Forest using his ability, Overlord’s Gaze.
With his omniscience, he had locked onto a handful of individuals. But so far, the one who caught his fancy best was none other than Charles Lambert.
’Is he a Summoner?’ Professor Gareth wondered. ’But this kind of summoning requires a lot of mana. Based on his body’s mana flow, it doesn’t seem like he has a lot of magic power."
At the start, Charles had only summoned Rank 1 Weaver Ants. Although their ranks were low, it was impressive that the young man had summoned over fifty of them at once, attracting Professor Gareth’s notice.
This was no small feat even by the standards of Third and Fourth Year summoners. In fact, the majority of them could only summon about ten at a time.
But it didn’t end there.
What perplexed the Professor was the fact that Charles now had over a hundred ants scuttling in the forest. Ten of them were even Rank 2 Soldier Weaver Ants.
Ten or more Weaver Ants formed a squad, and each squad was led by a Soldier Ant to hunt bigger and stronger prey.
Their tactic was rather simple. The Soldier Ant would engage an opponent and keep it distracted while the Weaver Ants unleashed silk threads to bind it, rendering it immobile.
The Soldier Ant would then grab the enemy’s badge and hand it over to one of the Weaver Ants, who would immediately leave to deliver it to their master, Charles.
Since the silk threads didn’t last long, the trapped monsters could usually break free within five minutes.
By then, the small team of ants would already be looking for their next prey, ready to repeat the process over and over again.
The Professor then shifted his attention to the Dwarf girl, who was also collecting badges at a steady pace.
’She’s that prodigy the Headmaster has personally invited to the academy.’ Professor Gareth narrowed his eyes. ’Well, I guess she has the skill to back it up.’
Of course, the one he was looking at was none other than Fran.
Standing below five feet, the Dwarven Berserker was able to make short work of the monsters that she encountered along the way.
Some of them even submitted to her before the battle began.
Because of Fran’s Subclass.
Her Subclass was Beast Tamer, granting her a strong empathy with beasts and monsters alike.
’Only an hour remains before this hunt ends.’ Professor Gareth sighed. Things were just starting to get interesting, but the game of hunter and the hunted was already halfway done.
Suddenly, he caught another subtle change deeper in the forest. The corner of his mouth lifted ever so slightly.
’... This kid and that small white creature are interesting too.’ As he observed the situation Alex and Dim Dim had found themselves in, Professor Gareth didn’t know if he should laugh or cry. ’How did they manage to befriend those mischievous kids?’
Somewhere in the Mistral Weave Forest...
"Bastards! Whose side are you on?!"
"I’ll complain to Gareth later! You won’t get away with this, you stupid monkeys!"
Dim Dim hummed as a refreshing breeze washed over its body.
Currently, it was perched on top of the head of one of its new friends, a Crimson-Furred Throwing Monkey.
Over thirty monkeys were doing a sweep in the forest, targeting the other monsters who were supposed to be their "comrades" in this game of Hunter and the Hunted.
After Alex had soundly defeated the six monkeys, Dim Dim had started chatting with them. It even praised them for their throwing skills.
The little bun and the monkeys hit it off right away, and soon, they became bosom buddies!
When Alex and Dim Dim left to hunt the other monsters to gain some badges, the six monkeys followed them.
In the end, they decided to help Alex in his fights, earning them insults from the other indignant monkeys.
But the monkeys didn’t care.
For them, this was the funniest thing ever.
It was not like they had ever gotten along with every inhabitant of Mistral Weave Forest. And since Dim Dim was now their friend, they decided to help it!
Also, it was fun throwing fruits at the other monsters whom they didn’t like anyway!
Dim Dim was very happy that its new friends came to help it and Alex..
The six monkeys even invited other monkeys to join the fun. These new monkeys were more than happy to meet another throwing fanatic like Dim Dim.
Just like the first six monkeys, the other monkeys hit it off with the little bun right away.
Now, over thirty Crimson-Furred Throwing Monkeys followed Alex. They even helped him find other badge-carrying monsters.
Alex knew that he was being carried by Dim Dim and its new friends. Of course, he wasn’t stupid, so he naturally had no complaints.
Right now, he was accumulating badges without even needing to fight. His monkey allies would just snatch the badges from the other monsters and pass them to Alex for free.
’This is so easy.’ Alex chuckled as he accepted another badge that a monkey was handing over to him. ’I guess Hell Mode has been turned off for this event.’
But just as the monkeys were about to look for their next target, a loud roar shook the forest, alarming both the students and the monsters participating in the game.
Alex blinked once, then twice, and coughed lightly.
"I didn’t just set up a death flag, right?" Alex muttered as he, Dim Dim, and the monkeys ran toward the source of the roar.
Outside the Forest...
Professor Gareth’s face turned solemn when he realized what had happened.
’These kids!’ Professor Gareth left his desk and charged straight into the forest. ’I hope Grumpy doesn’t forget he can’t kill my students!’
While he hadn’t originally planned on intervening, this was an exception.
It was one thing for students to get injured, but dying was quite another.
Although they had signed Death Waivers, the Professor had no intention of letting anyone die under his watch.
Grumpy was one of the handful of Rank 5 Monsters that the Professor had asked to participate in the game of Hunter and Hunted.
However, its eyes were now gleaming with a crimson light, indicating that it had—for some reason—entered a berserk state of mind.
As the Professor hurried to the scene, Bob, Grint, and Jorven were also running. To be more specific, they were running away.
Hot on their heels was a Red Ape that stood over three meters tall.
Around its neck hung a violet badge, which was something that only the bravest—or the stupidest—of students would try to get.
Seeing how the three were running desperately for their lives, they might have done something to trigger Grumpy’s berserk mode, which left it unable to determine friend from foe.
Charles, who was nearby, saw through the eyes of the ants that his three acquaintances were being chased by a Rank 5 Monster.
The teenage boy hesitated for the briefest of moments before ordering his Ant Army to rally to him as he charged ahead to catch up to the Rank 5 Monster that seemed to be out for blood.