Next day...
Like he promised, Muku helped the group of fifteen all reach Peak Rank One. His whole team was present, so it was easier. They even got to the point of helping anyone who was struggling. So by the end of the day, all fifteen were at the peak.
It surprised them how easily they reached the power level they feared just a few days before. Unfortunately, no one realised any of their potential. Not even Elsa managed to realise any.
Which was understandable since she had progressed way too fast in so little time. To the point that her foundation was unstable. While the others could offer her some helpful tips from their experiences, they chose not to.
They felt that the situation was actually good for her, it would maybe ground her a little bit. After which, she’ll possibly come out a lot stronger than she would have been had they helped her.
And so, the little girl had spent the whole morning just fighting PR1 beasts to improve her technique. It also gave her some much-needed experience, which would come in handy in future battles.
"Okay. Now that you are all done, stand aside. It’s our turn to fight. If your comrades back at the base are lucky, maybe some ants for them to kill will survive." Around twelve in the afternoon, Miku called the rookies back as they had already met their target.
"Yey, finally it’s our turn!" Jade exclaimed in happiness. While there were a few Rank 2 beasts they sensed deeper in the area, they had been ignoring them.
After all, such a battle would definitely lead to heavy casualties amongst the ants, especially the unranked ones which were rare in the area. But now that they at least managed to get one group to the peak of Rank One, they had leeway.
Even if all the beasts in the area died from the aftermath, the PR1 women could just help their companions back at the stadium looking for new prey. Which wasn’t an option before.
"Yes, it’s our time. But since there are only a few of them, and they don’t give that much KP, I’ll leave this to you all. I’ll guard the rookies while you all fight" Muku spoke with a little smile on his face.
"O...okay" Jade replied with some suspicion in her voice. While it wasn’t the first time he had stepped back and let them take care of the beasts. She couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong, but since she couldn’t see any problem, she agreed to his words.
"I’ll join you in watching over the rookies. Like you said, there really are only a few beasts after all," Audrey, not wanting him to stand alone, chose to wait with him. She couldn’t possibly improve her strength while her master stood by.
"Okay, If that’s what you want" Muku didn’t refuse, still subtly smiling.
Unlike Audrey, the others didn’t think too deeply. All they thought was that with two fewer people, the more KP they got. While they were nice in every other situation, they were quite selfish when KP came into the picture.
And so, the five girls jumped into the fray. It was like throwing R2 wolves into a flock of R1 sheep. It was a one-sided massacre. The girls ploughed their way through the ants with no resistance at all.
Emily was burning them to ash as she proceeded. Layla was freezing them up and then breaking them into tiny junks of frozen flesh. Jade was brutally punching her way through, one fist’s force killing many. Chloe was striking them down as they came, one bolt killing plenty. Hope’s poison turned them into black puddles of goo on the ground.
To the ants, it likely seemed like the end of days. Which was understandable since the strength difference was just too large. This was why even though the girls were holding back, they were just trying to get further into the nest where the rank twos were. They still killed a lot more ants than they thought they would.
At the same time, none of them noticed the threatening air around them that thickened the more they killed. It was different from their aura which came from their strength. But it was just as threatening to any enemy. That’s right, the girls were developing killing intent.
In fact, they all already had it, it just wasn’t that noticeable yet. But with so many ants around and with how many they were killing. It was understandable that their killing intent would improve at a heightened speed.
"SKRRRR!"
"SKRRRR!"....
Suddenly multiple ant screeches sounded from deep within the nest. Before anyone could react, multiple Rank Two giant ants that were around 12 metres tall came out.
"Well, aren’t they big?" Jade spoke while excitedly cracking her fingers, getting ready for battle. What made her even more excited was how the beasts were all at least MR2.
There were seven MR2 ants and two PR2s that were a bit larger than the others. The ants all released such a strong aura that the little ants around them were all killed.
Their black exoskeleton shone in the sun, looking threatening and strong. On top of that, their two sharp mandibles looked like they were sharp and strong enough to cut adamantium into two if it existed.
"This doesn’t look like it’s going to be easy..." Chloe commented more rationally than Jade as she looked at the beasts that weren’t releasing any elemental aura.
Such beasts were the type to have bullshitly strong defence and strength like the male boar from before. And unlike that time, there wasn’t just one such creature, but nine, with two of them being even stronger.
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"So what’s our plan?" Emily asked the others after they gathered together while facing the gigantic R2 ants. Their strength might be strong, but they weren’t at the peak yet while the ants had two PR2s. Not to mention the difference in number that almost multiplied them by two.
"I suggest that two target one at a time while the rest distract the rest. That way, it will be faster and we’ll change our roles after every kill. With so many of them, everyone will get KP worth their while even if it’s a team battle" Layla proposed a plan right away.
While she would rather fight one on her own. She was certain that getting through their defence wouldn’t be easy. Which would be even more troublesome if she’s constantly interrupted. So she opted for the second-best thing. Which was teaming up with one person for the fight while the rest kept the others at bay.
"Okay, sounds good. What do you all think?" Emily agreed to the plan and then asked the others what they thought.
"While I’d rather fight on my own, I am not at my best right now. So yeah, we can do it like that," Jade, who was self-aware of her situation, reluctantly agreed.
"I also don’t mind doing it like that" Chloe also agreed. Like everyone else, she was sure she could kill an ant on her own. But also like them, she could tell that it wouldn’t be easy or quick, so she agreed to Layla’s plan.
"I really wanted to fight one alone, but I guess you’re right. We’ll do it your way" Hope also agreed. She had been looking forward to soloing a beast since her poison ability improved, but it seemed luck wasn’t on her side.
"Only if he had agreed to join the fight along with Mother. They would have kept the extras busy while we took care of one each" Layla lamented, a bit resentfully too.
"Nuh, this is fine. We get more KP this way" Jade thought in a completely different way from Layla. She knew that things could get tough, but she didn’t mind. It would be more fun then. Plus the bigger reward.
"Yeah... I guess you’re right. Let’s do it then" Layla spoke her last words before the ants arrived in front of them.
As the one who suggested the plan. She couldn’t be the first one to kill something as the others might think she used them. So she immediately ran to distract eight ants with Chloe and Emily while Jade and Hope went to kill the first ant.
For people like Layla, Chloe and Emily, who had wide-range spells as well as the area-of-effect spells. Distracting a few beasts wasn’t hard.
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"So what’s our battle plan?... It’s always hard to work with you. Even more than Emily and her flames." Jade asked Hope how they were going to fight since Hope was attached from a distance with poison while she fought at close range. So she was afraid of getting poisoned while fighting the ant.
"Oh that, don’t worry about it. I can manipulate it to avoid you. In fact, I’ll just target its head to get as much poison into its body as possible while you attack the rest of it. I’m sure we’ll be done in little time that way" Hope explained the game plan while also trying to ease her worries. After all, she could understand why she was so worried. Nobody sane would willingly play around with poison.
"Oh, sounds good. That could work. Though I thought you were going to say something like "I’ll make my poison not harm you" Jade replied, agreeing to the plan. Though with a comment.
"What!? How could such a thing be possible? Even if it was, I’m nowhere close to such a level of manipulation. Anyway, it’s here, let’s do this!" Hope replied exaggeratedly since the idea sounded absurd in her head.
Before Jade could reply, the giant ant reached them and their battle began...