Chapter 126 - Points To Harvest

In less than five minutes, fairly attributed to the additional help from the two who found their courage back, the remaining trainees were freed from the snappy hounds.

Only a few of the hyenas were killed because their priority was to rescue. Nonetheless, with additional blades and guns, the difficulty gradually lowered.

By the time the last of the Metadomes was freed, they began their retreat back to the hill.

Irina and Clark took the rear as the former was quite worried for Aldrin while the latter was just there for the sake of protecting his long-time crush.

Before they began their retreat, Irina already checked on him, informing him that they succeeded in rescuing the others. However, when she took a glance at where he's supposed to be, he saw Aldrin running towards the forest, along with four figures in complete Battlesuits while drawing the crowd of hyenas along with the Dreadgnaw behind them as well as the seemingly powerful insect-type Rift Monsters.

Through the private communication channel, Aldrin informed her that help arrived and they're going to lure the hyenas away from the hill.

Irina was puzzled. The helpers that arrived that she recalled weren't in their Metadomes. As a common knowledge about the Dimension, a Metadome was an essential tool for survival. However, given the urgency of the situation and Aldrin's confident tone about following them as soon as they diverted the beasts, she inadvertently accepted words.

Only when they arrived at the foot of the hill did she notice that strange detail. And now, it was too late for her to question him. "That guy… I feel like he's slowly becoming wrapped in a mysterious glow… The incident with him almost dying and now, even he's risking himself for us. Does he have a death wish?"

If Aldrin heard her murmurs, he'd probably laugh at it. Because it's partly true. But there's a better reason why he did that, telling them to retreat and running to the forest was just his way to cover up the existence of the clones and his summons from them.

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In the unexplored area of the Dimension wherein the chase for Carlos had come to an end, Janet and her companions were traversing the path she unknowingly created back to the safer area.

The ten minutes she asked passed and as shameful as it might be, she failed to catch Carlos. The middle-aged man was a desperate cockroach that even after being squarely hit at his back with the last attempt Janet did to catch him, he made use of the momentum of his roll to widen their distance. He's adept at speed and wind-related Concepts, allowing himself to be really good at running away, especially when they left the confines of the sea of trees.

Since she held true to her words, Janet had no choice but to turn around and give up the chase. Moreover, she had a bad feeling upon seeing the Rift Monsters actively seeking prey, especially the normally timid and passive ones.

"What the hell is happening?! These Rift Monsters shouldn't be this aggressive, right?"

"Who knows? We're all confused here. Just focus on sweeping them away and flee. If you slow down…"

"As if I will slow down! I don't want to die here!"

"That idiot who went into the depths will surely die. Even if the Princess failed to catch him, there's no way to survive alone now that every Rift Monster suddenly turned aggressive."

"Wait. If they're aggressive, won't the trainees be in danger? The tasks lined up for them are to hunt those passive ones for the experience."

"Huh? Why are you concerned about them? We're the ones on the verge of dying here! Besides, there are Instructors left behind to look after them and only the second day. They're surely busy putting up their Base Camp."

Discussions like that started to rise as everyone's nerves began to be unhinged as they were, not just once or twice, blocked by the Rift Monsters they passed by.

Some of their Metadomes were now sporting scratches, damages and holes. Because the further they reach the supposed center of the Dimension, the Rift Monsters residing in them were a lot stronger compared to the ones near the edges. Most, if not all, are Extraordinary Rank at minimum.

A few minutes later, they reached the sea of trees again and they entered the visible path where they exited earlier.

"By the way, that trainee. What is his name again? Aldrin? Is he dead?"

"Don't ask me! That fool brought that upon himself. Whistleblower or not, one shouldn't overreach oneself. Who cares if he's promising? That type is the ones to die early."

"Quit your yapping, won't you? You're wasting your energy. Everywhere we passed was like this. Every Rift Monsters are attacking at the first sight of us. That's not normal. Something is wrong with this Dimension…" Janet who was silent throughout their journey back to the explored area suddenly spoke up. Whether it was because of Aldrin's name being brought up or she just wanted to remind them, no one knows.

But the points she raised intrigued everyone who heard it. Something is wrong with the dimension and it's affecting every Rift Monsters residing in it.

With their conversation steered to that topic, Janet couldn't help but recall what Aldrin told her before they entered the Dimension, 'Does he know something?'

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Meanwhile, Aldrin already stopped running and in his place, the Dimensional Clones resumed cutting down the hyenas that followed them.

Although he gauged that he could take the beasts out while still in that clearing with the help of his Dimensional Clones and his summons, he still had to take precautions about their existence from another person's eyes.

Given that none of the Instructors showed up to save them from their predicament, he took a wild guess that no one was observing them or him. And by going further inside the forest, it's another precaution that would impede Irina to follow after him.

At the moment, his eyes focused on the Dreadgnaw that he judged to have a cowardly nature.

It's always retreating to the backlines to be healed by his minions. Too arrogant yet too afraid to be wounded.

By letting his Dimensional Clones and the summons take care of the smaller ones, he's drawing up a plan in his mind to prevent it from escaping.

"It's better to kill it now than let it bring back another horde. Besides, these hyenas are probably just the first ones to arrive. More attacks will happen due to that 'Change'. I'll take these IDLE Points for myself now that I have the chance." He mused.

In less than 30 minutes, he gained close to 10,000 IDLE Points. And after counting the numbers of hyenas left, he's looking at another 10,000.

If not for the Training Camp and the possible risk of venturing further because of the IDLE Database's warning, he'd just go with his clones to raise their efficiency.

Alas, with his current strength and the fact that he had just awakened, he still had to maintain secrecy to what he's capable of. Although he's slowly being entangled with major issues like his discovery of the conspiracy, it's best for him to not stand out too much.. The 'most promising trainee' title was enough for now.