Chapter 100: Hive Mind...
As they moved silently down the dark tunnel, Night noticed the complete lack of Ice Hoppers once again.
It only excited him that probably, at the end of this tunnel, there would be another cave filled with Ice Hoppers waiting to be farmed.
Though one thing that genuinely puzzled him was that their levels were Level 84. All of them were completely constant
The unknown was always more dangerous than a strong monster you could see.
You simply don’t know what to expect in a fight.
They might be as simple as they look, or they might end up doing something unpredictable in a fight that may spell the end of you.
No doubt even Sara and Blade were deeply puzzled and wary of this anomaly.
While Night didn’t know much about the mechanics of Death Zones, to the experienced Sara and Blade, the Death Zone was both mysterious and incredibly dangerous.
It was not something to be taken lightly, like they were doing right now.
...
Soon enough, they neared another vast clearing, and again this time, the layout was remarkably similar.
Ahead of them was another massive cave, probably filled to the brim with Ice Hoppers.
Looking at each other, Sara said, "After we kill one monster and test it, we will see if they are the same level."
"If they are indeed the same, Night, you will run to the exit of this cave and block it with your flames."
"In case it is different, we will improvise."
To which Blade and Night nodded in understanding.
If the combat situation was exactly the same, it was tactically better to block the exit and securely lock them all in.
Who knew if they might try to escape after seeing it was an hopeless fight?
The monsters definitely looked smart enough, anyways.
Understanding the ambush plan, the three entered the massive cave. Just like before, they walked a little bit inside, and again, Sara used a spell from her tome to light up the cave.
[Illumination]
Suddenly, the darkness was completely swept away from the cave, and the Ice Hoppers became fully visible.
Looking at their sheer numbers, there were a lot more of them than in the previous cave. Probably due to the fact that this specific cave was much larger.
Exactly on cue, Blade silently summoned a white blade and cut one of them down. Then, she frowned.
It was only when the other Ice Hoppers attacked them and died that they realized exactly why she frowned.
[Ding!]
[You have slain a Lvl 85 IceHopper | +850 EXP]
Level 28: (EXP: 1370/29,000)
It was Level 85, and not Level 84.
This matter deeply confused Night at first, but the following rapid string of notifications made him quickly realize something.
Judging from the look on their faces, Sara and Blade realized it too.
[You have slain a Lvl 85 IceHopper | +850 EXP]
[You have slain a Lvl 85 IceHopper | +850 EXP]
[You have slain a Lvl 85 IceHopper | +850 EXP]
[You have slain a Lvl 85 Ice...
All of them are Level 85.
Does that mean that during the time we fought the first swarm, all of them collectively gained exactly one level?!
Where exactly have I seen something like that before? Night thought.
Then he rapidly realized. It is very similar to me! When I level up, my summons aka my friends level up as well!
According to what Sara told me previously, it is a trait of the Summoner Class.
According to her, there were other Classes similar to the Summoner Class, like Necromancer, Beast Tamer, and even some rare Classes like Slaver or Dominator, which were looked down upon.
ll of them followed a similar pattern of bonding with other creatures or beings.
But in all of those other Classes, when the main person leveled up, it didn’t directly affect their summons’ levels.
Their bound summons or pets always leveled up independently through their own.
Which meant there was a chance where the summons or pets were significantly higher leveled than the evolver themselves.
It was like Death.
Though she leveled up, her skeleton army didn’t; they statically stayed the exact same level they were raised at, and currently, many of the skeletons were higher level than her.
Except perhaps for the [Undead Knight] she had received as a reward, but that was a special circumstance.
This inherently means this Ice Hopper colony follows the same pattern! Like my summons, they level up together directly with their..... hmm...Broodmother?
Interestingly, he might have considered attempting to make friends with her if he and his companions hadn’t already slaughtered a bunch of her children and loyal soldiers.
If Night were in the Broodmother’s place, he probably couldn’t wait to butcher him and drink his blood after everything that had just happened.
But Night also knew from his own experience that with just six summons, it was already such a uphill task just to level up once... what about a entity with so many lives directly connected to it?
He felt chills just thinking about exactly how much EXP would be needed for her to just level up once.
And yet... looking directly at them, they had somehow leveled up once while his group was just walking down the tunnel.
Then, Night activated [Wind Overdrive], [Wind Dash], and [Light Flash] in rapid succession, and in mere seconds, he reached the far exit.
Some of the terrified Ice Hoppers had already scrambled and escaped during the sudden combat.
As soon as he reached the exit, he expanded his [Nightmare Fire]. Like this, though he might get significantly fewer kills, at least Sara would benefit from the massacre.
The massive swarm of Ice Hoppers, desperately wanting to escape, became restless upon rapidly realizing their only exit was blocked by the terrifying blackish-purple fire.
Buzzz! Buzzz! Buzzz!
Their only tactical strength seemed to be their sheer numbers, but in this completely enclosed space, it was the exact thing that ended up entirely dooming them.
Since Night and Sara desperately needed EXP, this densely packed swarm up made for excellent grinding spot.
In frustration, the trapped Ice Hoppers flew to the other side of the cave, only to be met by an even more deadly Blade, who stood there calmly with her arms casually crossed.
Her six white blades hovered rapidly in the cold air, slaying any monster that stupidly came too close.
Sara had, at some point, teleported directly to the middle of the cave and started raining firebolts down with abandon.
Watching this one-sided massacre, Night also fired some [Nightmare Fire] shots into the crowd.
And in practically no time at all, the fight was over.
Still, he was lucky enough to level up twice from the volume of kills.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! You have reached Lvl. 30]
Level 30: (EXP: 320/131,000)
But the astronomical EXP required for the very level-up almost gave him a heart attack.
Well... almost.
Seriously! My poor, small heart cannot handle this! Night signed in despair, looking closely at the massive bump in the EXP requirement.
Fortunately, Sara and Blade generously let him devour all of the remaining corpses and even happily helped him pile them up into a massive mountain.
It was a very thing his heartbroken face was covered up behind the [Nightmare Fire], or they might have been worried about his mental health.
[Energy Value (EV): 537,957 EV]
For some weird reason, this entire week his [Natural Calamity Physique] hadn’t caused much trouble for him at all.
Or, looking closely at the completely clean cave devoid of any living Ice Hoppers...
Maybe these poor monsters have something else to say about that, Night joked to himself.
Maybe he was their calamity, and the way they were completely helpless matched what [Dream] had told him about.
"When a Calamity strikes, it leaves one helpless," she had said cryptically.
And he was rapidly starting to understand what she meant.
Sara said with a radiant smile, "I reached Level 75!"
What?! Night screamed internally in injustice.
Her leveling speed is absurd!
How incredibly unfair this world is...
Blade nodded calmly, as if she had already expected as much.
"I haven’t made much progress. These guys are five levels below my actual baseline, but still, I have managed to make some small progress," Blade stated.
Sara smiled. "Don’t worry, Blade! Soon I’ll catch up, and we will enter some truly high-level dungeons together!"
Blade simply waved her hand, as if she was not fundamentally bothered by her own slow progression.
Night, in a low mood, checked his remaining system notifications.
[Ding!]
[Skill has been upgraded.]
[Ice Armor (Rare) (Lvl. 15 -> 20)]
[Ice Spike (Common) (Lvl. 17 -> 25)]
[Ice Bullets (Common) (Lvl. 14 -> 24)]
[Ice Spear (Common) (Lvl. 16 -> 27)]
[Ice Slash (Common) (Lvl. 15 -> 25)]
[Light Flash (Rare) (Lvl. 13 -> 20)]
He was curious to see some of them completely break the Level 20 and Level 25 thresholds, while his Rare skills finally reached the Level 20 range.
He decided to check on their descriptions after going through all the remaining notifications.
[Ding!]
[You have received a skill.]
[Hive Mind (Epic) (Lvl. 1)]
[Allows the user to manipulate their own mental energies and form complex mental patterns.
Note: Hive Mind is typically exclusively used by the Matriarchs of the insect kingdom to control, guide, and nurture their hive.
Warning: Splitting the mental mind too much can have unknown consequences. Use with caution.]
Hmmm... why exactly does this skill give me a feeling it is a lot stronger than my Legendary skill? Night wondered.
[Dream] answered, "You are not wrong. If it is actively used correctly, that is."
Night asked hopefully, "Do you know how to use it?"
He chose not to ignore the warning part.
Ignoring it sounded like the perfect way to organically turn himself into a lunatic.
[Dream] sighed softly. "I can guide you on some of the basics. But since it is natively a racial skill of the insect kingdom, it is better to seek direct advice on it from an actual Matriarch. "
"So, it is unavoidable now that at some point, you might have to learn directly from them to properly utilize it to its true potential."
"That is, if you truly want to master this skill."
Night didn’t expect [Dream] to ever say such a thing.
In his mind, she was unfathomable and knew everything about the anything.
Still, it was comforting to know she didn’t just blindly care about maintaining her face, and frankly told him about her lack of expertise in this specific subject.
In a way, it showed she genuinely cared for his well-being.
Knowing she could read his thoughts, he hurriedly spoke up, trying not to create a embarrassing situation for himself.
Night changed the subject. "I see. So what basics are we talking about?"
[Dream] chuckled knowingly and said, "We can start with basic Telepathy."
Night’s pupilless eyes instantly brightened at that.
He had always been envious of Lucy for her being able to use telepathy so effortlessly.
Finally, it was his time to learn it too!