Chapter 59: Hunting begins

We couldn't decide which monster to hunt alone as myself and Kathy are in the low-level private stage only. Tanip City is surrounded by many strong monsters and most of them can kill us with ease. We have to be careful and lucky to hunt and come back alive if only two of us go hunting.

"I will join you guys and help you in a dangerous fight. With me by your side, it will be easy for you guys to hunt Allen" said Joe when we planned tomorrow's hunt. It was a good idea, but it will not allow us to face life-and-death situations which will help us better to level up.

"You will help us only at the last minute if we can't defend ourselves against the monsters. If you do that often when we are not in trouble, the deal is off" I said to Joe after a long discussion with him and Kathy.

Joe and Aisha agreed to it as it will allow Joe to be with us and save us from monsters that are above our level. We decided to start our hunt with the lowest private-stage monsters that are easy for us to kill and help us to coordinate our attack 'fire ants'.

My job would be to keep the fire ants away from Kathy while she will use her skills to kill them as quickly as possible. The only drawback would be if the fire ants are in greater numbers than expected for us to handle. But Joe will be with us in case that happens.

The night went quietly as we need to take the well-needed rest so that we will be at our peak strength to handle the ants as effectively as possible. The situation will be quality against quantity and we will need to bring out our best to come out of it victorious.

The next day, we had our breakfast earlier than we used to and boarded the cab to reach the city wall soon. We will have to reach the fire ants' nest on foot. We also got our lunch packed as we wanted to stay there and continue our hunt till sunset as it will be a good experience for us.

Kathy would love to know about the effect of her lightning attacks as it is the first time she will be hunting after her integration with Daisy. Daisy and Jack were playing in the cab and also while we were walking toward our destination. They always like to fight with each other playfully, but would be careful so they will not injure each other.

We reached our destination after trekking for two hours. We have already devised a plan to attack the nest when we were discussing about the hunt yesterday. We took 15 minutes to rest before starting the hunt.

After 15 minutes, I activated my shield and took a defensive stance 30 feet away from the fire ants' nest. Kathy was standing 10 feet behind me ready to attack the nest at Joe's command.

Joe was standing next to Kathy so he can reinforce me if needed and protect her in case of any danger. Daisy stood next to me with her body crackling with lightning and eager to start the hunt. I sent Jack to survey the perimeter just to make sure we will be warned earlier in case any monsters are attracted to our fighting sound.

There were already a few fire ants going about their way in and out of the nest to gather food and other things for their nest. I and Daisy had to kill a few fire ants already as they tried to attack us for food.

Since the fire ants were 1 meter tall, it was easy for me to defend against their attacks. Daisy was also faring well as it just used its raw strength to punch the ants that came near it.

The fight started to get tense as more and more fire ants started to attack them from the nest after getting to know about the attack on their nest.

We continued to defend Kathy from the fire ants even though we are fighting 4 on 1 now. Suddenly an arrow with a yellow tip flew a few inches away from my head and pierced the ant that was in front of me and blew it to smithereens.

The force of the blast made me take two steps back. Daisy stood her ground due to being heavier than me and the ants we were fighting scattered in all directions.

Few fire ants ran into their nest. We got a little respite after the small skirmish. I and Daisy did not get any injuries, so we were ready for round two within a minute. Jack was circling the perimeter to make sure we are not attacked by other monsters.

We didn't have to wait too long for the fire ants to come out of their nest. We saw more than 20 fire ants coming out of the nest toward us. I prepared myself to attack and defend using my sword and shield. Since I already participated in a horde to defend the city, it is not tough for me to fight continuously.

But Kathy, Daisy, and Jack were not used to fight continuously as they did not join the army also to train for a continuous fight. So they have to rest for some time after continuous fighting. Daisy is already a bit exhausted and heavily breathing after fighting for just a few minutes.

Kathy started attacking the fire ants that came close to us using her now. It took two to three arrows to kill one target if she doesn't use her lighting skills. But her aim was precise and didn't miss their targets even at a great distance.

I started hacking the ants which came close to me. I wanted to use my new attack 'pure strike' but controlled myself as it is an attack that would drain nearly one-fifth of my mana in an instant. I had to save it for emergencies or it will be a drawback when the time comes.

I continued killing the fire ants for more than 3 hours when Daisy and Kathy had to take a few breaks to refresh themselves before continuing their attacks. We fought the fire ants for the whole day and started back home just before sunset.

Nothing interesting happened the whole day except for Kathy as it was her first time to see me in action against the monsters. She couldn't stop praising my fighting style and for holding the fire ants at bay when Daisy retreated to get some rest.