Ducking under a lunge, Hans slammed his claw into a monster, sending it flying before a stone spike erupted out of the world, impaling it.

You have slain [Rockhead Lizard - Lv. 8]!

Slews of spikes formed out of the ground, skewering dozens of monsters alive. With the rate at which they were killing monsters, Hans didn't know if he was even needed here. His question was answered when a scuta lumbered forward, earth spikes slammed against it, shattering on impact. Guess that was a job for him thought Hans as he rushed forward, his arm reared back.

Other weaker monsters tried to impede his path but were blocked off by stone walls emerging from the ground, creating a straight path toward the scuta as he threw his claw forward, bringing it down on its head. It took the punch with some trouble, shaking its head before readying itself to tackle him, only to be met with an uppercut that left the turtle stunned.

Not wasting time to take advantage of this, Hans threw a flurry of punches, before grabbing its head and slamming into one of the stone walls, shattering them. The scuta growls, recovering from the blows, and lunges forward, intent on crushing Hans. He simply dodged with a dash as it slammed into an acid spitter, turning into a smear on the ground, shattering the other stone wall.

Stabbing a rodent through the head, before flinging it at an eyeless bat, ducking a scorpion's attempt at jabbing its stinger at him before it was skewered by a wave of spikes appearing out of the ground, taking out a whole horde of monsters with it.

"Huh."

Hans! Behind you!

"On it."

Hans leaped to the side as the scuta barrelled past him, giving him the side-eye as it did so, then he dashed away as a splot of acid landed where he previously was, melting away the ground. He took a glance at the culprit, it was an evolved acid spitter, one he had already fought. What was it called again? Eh, probably not worth remembering, it was an acid spitter after all.

This was going to be interesting.

Dodging blots of acid being sent his way, he dashed his way toward the snake, quickly covering the distance as he did so, his claw reared back for a punch. As he was just about to slam his claw into the evolved acid spitter, the scuta rocketed into him, sending him flying into the wall, leaving an imprint of himself behind.

"Hey, Em," He said, shaking his as he got up. "I hope you don't mind giving me some help here. Would make this a whole lot faster if you do so. Unless there's something preventing you from doing so."

Static noises could heard from Em's end of the link before they replied, 'It would be my pleasure to █ help.'

Hans nods before giving his appreciation, "Thanks." He then his attention back toward the scuta and evolved spitter, clicking his claws, and his stinger swaying as it glint dangerously.

He launches himself with a dash, dodging the scuta coming his way, acid being shot at him, before reaching the evolved acid spitter. His stinger shot forward, only to be deflected by a whip of its tail before it ready a shot of acid to be sent his way. Thankfully, a stone wall emerges from the ground, taking the shot for him.

Mentally giving his thanks to Em, Hans with warnings from Asger, ducks under a bite from the scuta, grabs a fanged rat mid-lunge before slamming the scuta with the lunging rat. Outraged, the scuta snapped open its jaw and chomped down on the unconscious rodent, tearing its head off.

You have slain [Fanged Rat - Lv. 10]!

Dropping the headless corpse, Hans landed a punch to the side of the scuta's head which the monster took with ease before snapping its jaws at him. He leaps back, dodging the bite, before dashing to avoid a glob of acid. The scuta growling, launches itself at him, tucking itself in its shell before spinning at a high velocity.

A stone wall slammed into the scuta, throwing off its trajectory, and sending it flying inches past him. As it does so, a devious thought occurs to Hans, causing him to grin, and Asger to start cackling once he realizes what Hans was thinking about.

Time slows down for Hans as the previously speeding turtle slows down to a crawl. He slammed both of his claws into it, sending it once again flying in another direction.

This time, in the direction of the evolved acid spitter. The snake, to its credit, reacted quickly and flattened itself as much as possible, causing the flying turtle to zoom past its head. Unfortunately for it, the snake was met with a grinning scorpion, and drove it into the ground with a punch. It bounces off the ground, blood and spit flying out of its mouth.

Hans grabbed the serpent before it could even make contact with the ground and began laying on the punches with his free claw, shattering its jaw and causing specks of blood to fly everywhere. By the time he let up on the attack, the snake was long dead, its head now a meaty pulp, and bits of its fangs and jaw on the bloodied ground around him.

[You have slain Serrated-Tailed Spitter - Lv. 20]!

You Have Leveled Up! [Sandstream Scorpion - Lv. 15 —> Lv. 16 —> Lv. 17]!

[Crushing Blows - Lv. 6] Leveled Up!

The scuta having finally pulled itself out of the wall that it had embedded itself in, narrowed its eyes when it saw Hans standing over the corpse of its ally. It growls angrily, however, it doesn't immediately rush toward him, now eyeing the ground around it with caution.

Well, if it wasn't going to come to him, then he was going to come toward it. Hans launched himself toward the scuta, who was nonplussed, and proceeded to slam its feet against the ground and let out a bellowing roar which made the monsters nearby also begin letting out their own cries and roar and begin throwing themselves at Hans.

Without a pause, Hans wildly slashed and sliced the monsters into bloody chunks with his tail, spikes, and stone walls courtesy of Em blocking off the rest and giving him a clear path toward the scuta.

You have slain [Fanged Rat - Lv. 9]!

You have slain [Jackalope - Lv. 10]!

You have slain [Screecher Mice - Lv. 9]!

You have slain [Crouching Spider - Lv. 12]!

You have slain [Sand Scorpion - Lv. 14]!

[Venom Slash - Lv. 3] Leveled Up!

You have gained the skill [Wild Slashes - Lv. 1]!

The monster grunts, preparing itself as it opens its jaw wide open and begins charging up a beam of energy.

That new, Hans noted. However, that didn't matter as he howled with laughter, Asger letting out his excitement as he shared in their senses.

All that mattered was that they were having fun.

How annoying.

Em 'threw' up another row of spikes only for their intended target to maneuver through them with unnatural grace. Most of the remaining monsters' attention was on Hans and Asger with all of the noises they were making, leaving only this one monster stubbornly trying to reach them behind their line of defense.

At first glance, the creature looked harmless and weak, with its small size, weak claws and teeth, and benign appearance, but it was anything but that. Immense speed, intelligence, and the ability to use magic. A skill that was rare amongst the denizens of the desert. Most of the skills that they had, while unnatural, were biological in nature.

Acid Spitters' body as an example which contained a sack of their deadly acid for them to use.

To be able to use magic means a certain degree of intelligence or talent as it requires an understanding of the ethereal forces of the world and the know-how to manipulate it and use it for your own benefit. It wasn't something some random beast could pick up by accident.

Which was what made this monster so dangerous. Along with its relentless in trying to get to them no matter how difficult they made it and it seemed to be able to track where they were even when they moved. Adding the unmistakable feeling of hunger and greed that lingers from its mind…

It was trying to eat them in order to boost their magic abilities.

And they can't have that happening.

Walls shot out of the ground trying to encase the monster, the beast merely conjured up some winds that launched it forward escaping the encasement, and rendering their efforts useless. They slammed part of the ceiling down on it which it avoided, along with the multiples of spikes sent their way.

A ball of fire crashed against their defenses, cracking and shattering a few of them before they went and put up more walls and reinforced the existing ones while trying to cut off the monster's path and kill it.

The cavern then rumbled and shook as a beam of energy shot forward, plowing through toward any obstacles, tearing down his defenses as collateral, and the beam was so powerful that while it didn't touch them, just being close to it that cracks began to appear on their crystal that contained their core before dissipating.

The magic-using monster didn't gotten away unscathed either. Their spark had gotten dim, flickering in and out and they weren't moving as much. However, that wasn't what they were focused on, what they were focused on was where the beam came from. Where Hans and Asger was.

It took them a moment, but they managed to track down Hans and Asger, but were unable to contact them due to the fact that they were out of their range. However, they were able to track the two down, with their spark being slightly dimmer than before but overall still as bright as ever. That was good, for it meant they were still healthy and alive, and they still had a lot of questions for the two.

Their attention snapped back toward the beast, their spark having gotten brighter, not a whole, but still noticeable. Not letting it heal up, they slammed the wall and ceiling on it. Stone pillars erupt from the cavern, moving at the speed of a falcon, if they made contact, then the beast would be dead here and there.

If they made contact. Which they never did.

A large explosion of magical power erupted from the beast, rendering the pillars to dust. Their 'eye' widen at what had happened before narrowing as they focus in on the state of the beast. Its spark now illuminates the caver, burning as fire as a wildfire, however, it would seem that this also hurting it.

For its spark wasn't stable at all. Once it could be a roaring wildfire and then the next was a smoldering cinder, switching between rapidly. It was unstable and was causing the beast's body to begin to break as it used itself as fuel for this power. That didn't mean the thing was out of the picture just yet, this increase in power could allow it to power through their defenses and kill them before its time was up.

How annoying.

"I'm starting to hate this place more and more."

"I know, Paring." Sales said. "But it's not like we can do anything about it. We're already neck deep in this desert, anyway." The massive walls that they pass through was nothing but a blip in the distance. It still astonished him that they were apparently not even halfway there at their destination. Right now they were currently setting up camp to rest as the sun was settling.

He had help with building the wall around the camp and was currently resting. Paring was sitting next to him, cleaning her knives as she glanced around nervously. His sister was never the type to like taking risks, much less being in a place surrounded by potential dangers with only two she could fully trust.

"I don't exactly like this place either, Paring," He admitted before elaborating further. "I don't know how to explain but this place just...feels unnatural. The spirits seem to notice this too, they've been warning me to get out of here as quick as possible, and I have to spend much of my time calming them down."

"...Great another reason, I hate this."

Sales laugh.