Michael and the others left the crime scene quickly.
Meanwhile, the other Hunter Units initiated their first attack as well.
Liopham used his Soultrait, Rage of the Primal, to manifest a Spirit Totem in a bush near the border to the plains. A large group of more than 15 Tier-1 Adventurers and Mercenaries had been harvesting herbs, and sneakily hunting smaller groups of monsters nearby.
With the use of Rage of the Primal’s full potential, a large group of Tier-1 Monsters was attracted towards them. The Monsters lost their rationality sensing the bloody red hue of the Spirit Totem, and they went berserk. More than 60 Tier-1 Monsters charged toward the Spirit Totem that disappeared the moment the Monsters were about to pounce at it.
The Spirit Totem disappeared but the Monsters kept charging through the thicket where they smelled the Adventurer team. Still following their wild instincts, the Monsters changed their target and attacked the Adventurers and Mercenaries.
Simultaneously, Liopham and the group of Archers were close on his heels with their arrows nocked upon their bows and the string pulled back. When the two parties clashed the first time, Liopham and his people joined the battle from far away.
Their aim was precise and deadly. Liopham hit every single intruder, killing one Adventurer after another. Meanwhile, the Archers next to him aimed at their opponents’ vitals, giving the Monsters a chance to taste blood before they were hunted down as well.
In less than ten minutes, the battle ended. None of the Monsters survived and neither did the group of 15 Tier-1 Adventurers and Mercenaries.
Liopham stored all corpses inside his War Rune’s storage space before they cleaned up the bloody battlefield. Afterward, they disappeared to attack their next target.
The youngest Forest Elf went on a hunt with the Forest Walkers – one of Michael’s most recent Summons. They were 2-Star Forest Elf Summons with the potential to turn into great assassins. The youngest Forest Elf led the Forest Walkers through the Untamed Jungle with nimble movements.
After spending several months in the Untamed Jungle, the youngest Forest Elf knew this place like his home. Every nook and cranny was engraved in his mind, providing him with the information he needed to find the best spots to lurk and initiate a deadly attack.
Three groups of Adventurers were located nearby, and the youngest Forest Elf moved close to the border before he waited patiently until the three Adventurer teams began to move.
Two went closer to the Untamed Jungle when they encountered a small group of Frenzy Deers grazing near the border. Meanwhile, the third took a short break to count the herbs they’d collected.
The youngest Forest Elf, Mika Zels, made his move then. He retrieved a Bow Artifact that was much larger than the Woodwoven Bow. It was a longbow with several spots to nock an arrow on. Yet, instead of retrieving several arrows, Mika retrieved only one.
Then, he used his Soultrait for the first time in what felt like an eternity.
[Arrow Duplication] A 4-Star Soultrait.
It wasn’t a low-ranked Soultrait, but the power was simple.
It allowed the duplication of arrows for a short period.
But that was not everything. The duplicated arrows could also change their trajectory. The traces of energy inside the duplicated arrows allowed precise changes in trajectory using origin energy and the mental power of the user.
Mika didn’t like his Soultrait because it required too much mental power under normal circumstances. However, he had to use it now. He created a total of five duplicated arrows, nocked all of them on the unique longbow and pulled the bowstring back.
Then he closed his eyes for a moment and held his breath.
When Mika opened his eyes again he released the arrows and focused on the utility of his Soultrait. The arrows flew through the air in a beautiful arc. They created a whistling noise that attracted the attention of the resting Adventurers, who turned around their heads in surprise.
However, it was already too late.
The moment they saw the incoming arrows, their deaths had been sealed. The arrows’ trajectory changed subtly when the Adventurers moved, and they pierced deep into the necks of their designated targets the next moment.
But Mika was not done after the first batch of arrows reached their target. He used Arrow Duplication for two more batches of arrows to eliminate the remaining Adventurers of the resting team. Meanwhile, the Forest Walkers began to move as well.
Distracted due to the pained groans and fearful screams of the Adventures further behind them, the two teams closer to the Untamed Jungle were confused for a minute. They turned around to figure out what had just happened, only to lose their lives the next moment as a cold metal blade sliced across their throat.
The Forest Walkers had made their move, eliminating their threat with a single strike.
Once the resting Adventurer team was eliminated by the barrage of arrows under Mika’s control, the youngest Forest Elf changed his target. He supported the Forest Walkers from high up in the air. Mika was high up in a tree close to the border. It was hard to locate him as he hid behind the thick canopy of leaves but he was still near his opponents.
After releasing his Soultrait a few more times to eliminate the remaining opponents, Mika ended up utterly exhausted. His mental power was drained and so was the origin energy inside his body.
“This Soultrait is such a drainer,” He grumbled loudly as he climbed down the tree in a few swift movements. He collected the corpses of the adventurers and mercenaries inside his War Rune’s storage and disappeared into the Untamed Jungle with his people.
In addition to Mika and Liopham, the two remaining members of the EmeraldLeaf Adventurer team didn’t hesitate to eliminate their opponents either. They finished them off in the blink of an eye and vanished into the Untamed Jungle as if they’d never been there in the first place.
Once all Adventurer- and Mercenary teams had been eliminated, Michael and the others took a second glance at the battlefields. All the traces of battle had been wiped out thoroughly, leaving no indication that blood had ever been spilled on that land.
Afterward, they returned to the Untamed Jungle where Blaire and more than a hundred Forest Elf summons were busy running around. They rushed alongside the border to the plains of the Zentika Empire to find more Adventurer teams.
With more than 60,000 Adventurers and Mercenaries sitting idle in Xiltra, it was only obvious that many had grown bored over the course of close to two months. So some of them decided to hunt on their own instead of waiting for the Senator’s orders.
That was also how Blaire and the Forest Elf Summons found a bunch of teams, which Michael and the others began to hunt.
They continued the hunting tactic for three more days until the overall danger around them lessened and the situation was favorable once again. No more Adventurers and Mercenaries dared approach the Untamed Jungle.
Tiara and everyone else presumed that the authorities in Xiltra took note of the missing Adventurers and Mercenaries.
It was not long after the Adventurers and Mercenaries disappeared when Icarus sighted a bunch of scouts evenly spread out across the border to the Untamed Jungle.
The scouts were vigilant and didn’t dare to come too close to the Untamed Jungle. Nonetheless, they used their abilities and Soultraits to scout their surroundings. Thus, Michael and his people chose to retreat for the time being.
Back in the territory, Michael used Extraction on the Adventurers and Mercenaries they’d hunted.
Most Mercenaries were Natives of the Origin Expanse. They were former Summons and didn’t have a War Rune. Unfortunately, that also meant the Mercenaries wouldn’t drop SoulStar Fragments.
That made a big difference in the number of SoulStar Fragments Michael extracted. Nonetheless, the final result was impressive.
He extracted a total of 2310 SoulStar Fragments from more than 180 Adventurers. Extracting a Tier-1 Adventurer provided him with an average of 5 SoulStar Fragments. Meanwhile, a Tier-2 Adventurer was much stronger. The lowest number of SoulStar Fragments extracted from Tier-2 Adventurers was 7. The highest was 19.
Of course, Michael also extracted a few Soultrait Symbols. Three fully intact Soultrait Symbols had been extracted as well. However, instead of fusing them, Michael used Extraction on the Soultrait Symbols to disintegrate the Soultrait Symbols into SoulStar Fragments.
The Soultrait Symbols were bound to give him Soultraits of a low star rating given his experience with Soultraits, but that was not the sole reason he disintegrated the Soultrait Symbols.
He was certain that it was better to have more SoulStar Fragments to upgrade his existing Soultraits than fusing with more Soultraits since he didn’t have enough time to study new Soultraits and get more accustomed to them.
Using Soultraits he had never practiced before was a little bit difficult. It would be impossible to use them precisely in combination with his other Soultraits for quite a while. That required lots of practice.
He already had a few Soultraits for combat, and his experience in using them together was pretty high as well. It would be better to upgrade them to increase his combat prowess rather than experimenting.
Extracting the three Soultrait Symbols provided him with an additional 351 SoulStar Fragments. Adding them to the 2310 he’d extracted just now, and the remaining 96 inside his consciousness, Michael was now in possession of 2757 SoulStar Fragments.
That was most definitely enough to upgrade Extraction to a 5-Star Soultrait.
But was that really what Michael wanted?
Right now, Michael had five Soultraits. With 2757 SoulStar Fragments, any of them could be upgraded to a 5-Star Soultrait. But which one should Michael upgrade? Which Soultrait would provide the most benefits against the masses of the Jungle Expedition?
“Should I upgrade all Soultraits to 4-Star, and distribute the remaining SoulStar Fragments evenly?”