Chapter 139: Scapegoat

Shane's tactic was somewhat suicidal but it was the best he could think of without being forced to communicate with each other immediately after they established their team, while he would also be able to figure out the two girls' combat prowess which was important in order to refine his plan.

Fighting against the elite stage centipedes was less of a problem, but the real problem would be the awakened stage beasts because their combat prowess varied from being extremely weak to turning into an indestructible beast in the basic primordial dimensions.

Mankind was well aware of the fact that they couldn't defeat some beasts at the awakened stage as they just couldn't defeat a beast whose defenses were too strong to break through, even after investing several tens of thousand gold coins in all kinds of attack measures.

When Shane had initially heard about this, he had labeled it as a fairytale, only to realize that it was the truth, when he encountered the bloodlust thunder wolf that was similar to the described beast if one were to only look at its strength.

As such, he could only think that it was an awakened beast with an extremely high quality, allowing its combat prowess to heighten similar to other races' mana purity and body refining.

It was obvious that someone with a perfectly refined physique would be stronger than someone with a flawed physique, while the same could be said for mana purity.

The higher one's mana purity was, the stronger he/she became which would in return increase one's combat prowess.

Getting to know Aimy and Olivia's exact combat prowess was important for Shane so that he had a fair idea of what beasts they could defeat and when they should retreat.

In the end, it was useless to fight against a beast if he knew for sure that it could tear them apart within seconds.

Before Shane had only observed their personality and behavior during dangerous situations which gave them huge minus points in Shane's evaluation, yet they were able to regain their composure relatively fast.

This was a good thing and Shane hoped that they could fight more freely against the next batch of centipedes in order to see how strong the two girls truly were.

It was not long after he thought about this, that the earth around them began to vibrate slightly, signaling everyone to stay alert.

Stones and soil fell from the ceiling as a huge batch of several dozen-meter-long centipedes emerged out of the ground below them.

There were also several awakened stage elemental subterra centipedes with a length of more than 100 meters, which caused Aimy and Olivia to shriek in disgust before they were able to get a grip on themselves again.

Seeing their reaction, Shane smiled lightly, thinking that he shouldn't be too harsh on them, as they were only normal girls and not descendants and heirs of prestigious families and clans, that would force them to maintain a certain image.

Now, it was time to start working on one of the most important tasks that were essential for them.

The four groups they had formed had to divide the batch of centipedes among themselves without being a hindrance to each other, and at the same time, maintain a balance to prevent multiple strong beasts from attacking the weaker groups.

But this was not something Shane did, as he was one of the weakest youths among the students and instead, it was Leon's group who started to divide the batch of centipedes into four groups, while at the same time killing a few on their way.

Not even half a minute had passed before Shane, Aimy and Olivia found themselves standing opposite seven elite stage elemental subterra centipedes that charged at the small group.

Setting their plan in action, Shane jumped to the front, while Olivia suppressed her mana fluctuations as she started to surround the centipedes.

This was only possible because Shane revealed his whole cultivation rank at the 3rd Apprentice stage while releasing his killing intent.

Being the scapegoat was a simple tactic, but it was also the best way for him to figure out how strong Aimy and Olivia really were, as the seven elemental subterra centipedes charged at him, without noticing Olivia who stood more than a few dozen meters away from him.

Aimy stood several meters behind Shane, gathering mana in her wand, as she gulped in fright when she heard the loud screeching of the seven centipedes that charged at Shane right in front of her.

In the end, Shane found it strange that killing intent attracted certain beasts, whether it was due to their pride that was damaged through it or simply because some beasts thought that someone who released killing intent had to be stronger.

Nevertheless, it was definitely something advantageous right now, even if he found it extremely unpleasant to see multiple several dozen meters long centipedes in front of him.

Shane retreated several steps, while Olivia stepped forward, as the centipedes already passed her when Aimy manifested a two-meter wall of water in front of Shane.

Retracing his killing intent, he began to circulate mana through his body and retreated further until he stood next to Aimy who shot multiple water jets at the seven centipedes that were about to arrive in front of them.

Her water elemental attacks were neither extremely strong nor weak and could be used to distract the centipedes, as a bow appeared in Shane's hand.

With an arrow emerging in his other hand, he nocked the arrow on the bowstring, before he pulled it back.

Shane shot at the closest elemental subterra centipede, and the beasts retaliated with their own elemental attacks as dozens of wind blades and fireballs were shot by them.

Another wall of water emerged in front of them, slowing down the other elemental attacks. They weren't able to completely deflect them, giving Shane and Aimy the opportunity to jump to the side.

Even if Aimy's elemental attacks and defenses were not extraordinary, Shane estimated that she could deflect a large number of elemental attacks which told him that Aimy focused more on quantity than quality which was good in their current circumstances yet bad if they were to encounter awakened beasts with stronger elemental attacks.

If he were to assume her element's strength, he could only say that the wall of water was strong enough to slow down several low-awakened elemental attacks and hundreds of elite stages.

Right now, Shane was certainly the weakest among their small group if one were to solely monitor everyone's combat strength and cultivation stage, yet his mental strength was extraordinary and he passively supported Aimy by maintaining a certain calmness.

Olivia, who was already behind the centipedes, exerted her movement technique and occupation skills in order to appear behind the first centipede, as she simply punched through its carapace with her brute force, without even trying to hold back or attack a weak spot.

Seeing this, Shane couldn't help but feel weird, which was mostly because her fighting style seemed to work properly, as she already eliminated the first elemental subterra centipede before it could even react with a counterattack.

Olivia jumped straight on the centipede's head, as her first glowed in a golden hue when she landed a punch on the beast's head.

The centipede's head exploded, splattering Olivia's face with blood and brain mass, causing her to retch in disgust.

Suddenly she halted and didn't move, as she was too focused on wiping away the brain mass from her face. The remaining five elemental subterra centipedes averted their attention from Shane and Aimy and instead focussed on Olivia who was closer to them.

Opening her eyes, Olivia suddenly saw five several dozen meter long centipedes glaring at her in fury, as she said

"Helloo, sorry to bother y'all."

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