Chapter 769

The reason we went through the barrier was to preview the antidemons.

We wanted to get a feel for how strong they were.

Urushi has already hidden himself in the shadows.

「It's just a normal grassland.」

『Yeah.』

It really was ordinary. The grass went as far as the eye can see and insects buzzed around, a scene you would see in any other continent.

This was completely different from the hellish landscape I had imagined before I arrived. Only the barrier we saw behind our backs proved we were on the continent of Gordicia.

「Master, I found some.」

『Yeah, I can see them too.』

After walking for about ten minutes, we finally found our first antidemons. From a distance they looked like goblins or kobolds, but that would be impossible on this continent.

Those are definitely swordsman-types.

We try to get closer. However, they did not seem to notice us, so we were able to observe them for as long as we wanted.

They are mainly colored jet black, but the eyes, fangs, and horn-like parts are dyed in a flashy green. Also the head, a portion of the torso, and the tips of the limbs were covered with a gray shell, which had greenish spikes growing out of it.

Kinda looked like one of those monsters you would see in a certain Sentai Hero TV show. A pretty sleek, cool-looking type of guy. Or maybe you could say he's like a Saib*man wearing black and gray armor?

Anyways, they looked more powerful and resilient than a goblin.

Just my guess, but the black part should be the skin. The gray parts should be a bit more armored than the skin, and the green parts should be the hardest.

They also had weapons, swords and spears with gray handles and green blades. I wonder if those weapons are considered a part of their body? By the way, even though they are called swordsman-types, they were not necessarily equipped with swords.

『Well, let's give it a try.』

「Nn.」

Fran crouched down in the grass to hide.

Her distance from the antidemons was a little over a 100 meters.

Here, I tried to release the concealment of my magic power little by little. After a certain amount of mana was released, I saw the antidemons start to scurry around.

It seems that they are not so good as to notice the slightest hint of mana. Well, they are still quite capable if they can react at such a distance.

Next, I try bringing Urushi out of the shadows.

The antidemons were still scurrying around, but they didn't seem to be able to notice us. I guess both Urushi and I could be active as long as we kept our magic power under control.

Now I try having Fran focus her magic power. Finally, the antidemons seemed to notice us. We can see them running toward the grassy area where we were hiding.

Even the swordsman-type, which was said to have the lowest detection ability, could sense us from more than 100 meters away if we released enough mana.

If we kept on releasing our magical power, the surrounding antidemons would probably come to us in droves.

『Next is their combat power.』

「Nn.」

Fran excitedly pulled me out…… and then she immediately became disappointed.

「They're weak.」

『Well, we just found some random ones.』

She killed them in mere seconds, so they were about as strong as hobgoblins. Their shells were a little tough, but not so tough as to repel swords.

They could be a threat if there were enough of them, but a small pack was no match for Fran.

The Uniques were said to have a threat level of B, but I guess the ordinary small fry antidemons are about this level.

『As we had heard, they disappear when you defeat them.』

「The weapon is gone too.」

『I guess they really are just part of the antidemons.』

They disappeared on the spot as if dissolving into the void, leaving no materials behind. This was characteristic of all antidemons.

It may sound like hunting them would be a waste of time for adventurers, but that's not the case. First of all, experience is gained, so the level of the adventurer rises. In addition, rewards are paid out based on how many contribution points are on your antidemon card.

Unless you were an adventurer that came to train, your goal was that reward money. In other continents, you would have to search out magic beasts to defeat them, but in this continent the antidemons come to you. That makes them more efficient to hunt.

『Fran, how is the antidemon card coming along?』

「One.」

『One point after killing three antidemons, huh……?』

It seems these points are not based on the number of antidemons defeated, but on the strength of them. There might be some strangely impressive technology behind this card.

『Let's hunt some more.』

「Nn!」

Our next target was a group of five swordsmen. We had Urushi deal with them this time.

I was afraid he might get hit a couple times, but in the end, he won the battle unscathed. As I thought, the lower grade antidemons are no match for Fran and Urushi.

「Nom?」

Urushi, who had been chomping on an antidemon, tilted his head. The antidemon must have disappeared while he was chewing on it.

There was no sign of his Predation Absorption activating. They really left nothing behind except for experience.

『Maybe this is not such a great place for me and Urushi.』

「Arf.」

But for ordinary adventurers, who can gain experience and money, it is a good hunting ground with high risk and high reward.

「I'll fight some more.」

『Yeah, I guess so.』

「Woof!」

We spent the next hour or so hunting antidemons, but there were still no strong enemies to be found.

We encountered some other adventurers hunting antidemons too, but most of them were of Rank E or lower.

The fact that they were active in such small numbers probably meant that there were no strong antidemons around the outer perimeter of the barrier, just like we heard.

After killing about 20 antidemons, the antidemon card had 11 points. I believe that with 1 antidemon point, we could stay in the cheapest room in the guild, and the cheapest meal when it comes to quantity was 1 point too.

That means that even if you were to live on 2 meals a day, you would have to hunt about 6 of the lowest level swordsman-types every day.

Moreover, I heard that antidemon points will be split when you are in a party. So if you are in a 5 member group, you would have to hunt 30 a day.

That seems pretty tough for a beginner, but those who can't even earn that much are probably just a liability here.

『Let's go back for today. We'll start going deeper tomorrow.』

「Okay.」