"Something is not right…" Blake said as he scrunched his brows.
"Yeah, I noticed." Damon said. "Just like you guys said, we have not been attacked for a while and the only reasonable explanation is that we just entered the territory of a strong beast."
"That means we are on the right track to getting more points." Ansgar said with a smirk.
"No idiot! It means we are walking into danger." Beyoni couldn't help but smack his forehead at Ansgar's stupidity.
"Since you can't understand then let me spell it out for you." Damon said.
"We have walked so far without seeing a single beast and even with our sensory abilities, we can't detect a single thing. The territory is way too large for a solitary beast meaning it is most likely a very strong group of beasts." Damon explained but this was Blake's cue to warn them.
"I highly doubt this is the doing of a group of beasts. This area of the forest is infested with insects and there is no way a group of beasts will be able to kill or chase away every insect-type beast in the area." Blake said.
"Are you saying this is the work of another insect?" Beyoni instinctively touched the area where he had been stung.
"Exactly." Blake nodded.
"If what you are saying is that it might be a large hive of insects, then why haven't we seen anything so far?" Ansgar said pointing at their environment.
Blake shook his head before saying. "You are looking above but from what I know some of the most dangerous insect colonies live underground."
"…" This line of thought stunned everyone in the group.
"That explains why we haven't seen any beast. It's because we are standing above them." Damon was impressed by how fast Blake had thought of it.
'The more time I spend with him the more I realize how hard it would have been to set him up' Sach thought.
His team had discovered their location and the danger that laid there but that wouldn't be a problem because he always had a backup plan.
"Now that we know where we are what do you guys think we should do. Go back from where we came from or farm a lot of elite rank insects?" Sach was looking at Ansgar as he said the last part.
"I say we should stay. Insect colonies could contain more than a thousand members, this is a mine of points just sitting and waiting for us." Ansgar said.
'Just like I thought.' Sach made an inner smirk as Ansgar played right into his script.
"That is one way to look at it, but have you considered if we get overrun by a thousand insects?" Damon said.
"It just means we have to play it safe because the greatest rewards come with risks." Ansgar countered.
"I have to agree with Ansgar on this one. Staying is a lot of points and even if we end up getting overrun we will end up getting saved by the professors." Sach gave a tempting reason that the team couldn't refuse.
If they chose to go back they were not sure of finding a knight rank beast or a hunting ground as good as this. Also, the more time they spent searching the more the gap between the other teams would widen.
After looking at the other 3 and seeing they had agreed to stay, Blake spoke up. "What we are planning on doing is very dangerous and that is why I would want to take leadership for this operation."
The entire team looked at him first before turning to Sach.
Sach was surprised because this was something he hadn't expected but he soon composed himself. "I agree."
'That went smoothly…' Just like every other person on the team, Blake was surprised.
He had planned on the different scenarios that may have occurred and even planned on threatening to leave, but this had happened.
"Okay. The first thing we have to address is our current location and where will take shelter for the night." Blake said to the team.
If not they had found a cave to sleep in, the normal practice was for geomancers to construct underground spaces where they could sleep.
This time there was no cave to sleep and making an underground cave close to the hive burrowing insects was as good as playing Russian roulette but with the cylinder filled with ammunition.
"Second, before we start hunting we have to have a sufficient idea of the entrances and how far their tunnels go. To avoid being surrounded."
"Lastly, if we eventually start farming everyone should obey orders try not to get greedy because that can get us wiped out." Blake said looking at Ansgar.
"I don't see any problem with the points you stated, but if we are not to make underground spaces or stay in the open where else are we going to take shelter?" Beyoni couldn't help but ask.
Replying to his question Blake simply pointed up.
"The trees?" Beyoni asked with a raised brow.
"Exactly, but before we begin constructing what I have in mind. We need to check for the nearest tunnel entrance from above." Blake said.
They didn't know what he had planned so they decided to follow him as they began moving through the treetops in search of a tunnel entrance.
Just after 10 minutes of searching, the team finally found a hole the size of a full-grown man, and moving in and out of it were ants that were 3 and a half feet tall.
"Out of all the insects we could meet, it had to be ants!" Damon cursed his bad luck.
Unlike the ants on Earth that couldn't pose much of a threat to human lives, that of Infinite realm was more than 10 times dangerous.
'Just a random thought. Why are insect-type beasts not much around the forests of Calton city and why haven't I seen ants before?' Blake asked.
[The answer to your second question is very simple. The moment you see a fully operational ant colony close to a city, know the city is as good as destroyed.] The system said.