(From MC's perspective)
Ruins section area -2,
Night,
After exploration, everyone used this wide spacious hall to set up a tent. Seven different tents were arranged circularly.
Inside one of the tents,
Garrett Marsh pondered deeply.
"This building used to be a storage house. But it's a pity, I came across nothing except the gold sacks," he grumbled.
Should I give him or not? He became hesitant. Earlier he thought no one would find anything about this building. But as usual, the leader came up with a result.
Then he thought about observing the gold stone. In curiosity, he takes out a few gold stones from the gold sacks and places them on the ground.
The stone is not completely bright. The gold stone faded over time and now it looked like some kind of rock. But he believes that it is similar to modern-day gems.
While he was observing something sinister taking place outside.
Outside of the building,
The ground began to crack. As time went on, the cracks enlarged. Right after, a huge head has risen from the ground.
Boom!
A mutated class-4 worm monster began to rise from the ground. It's happening right in front of the abandoned building. So the huge commotion immediately alarmed everyone.
"What's happening?" I widened my eyes in surprise. Under instinct, I used my perception ability to scan the surroundings.
The next moment, my expression changes drastically. "How come monsters appeared here?" I grumbled.
I remember Elder Compton saying mutated monsters avoid these ruins like a plague. So what changed now? A lot of doubts appeared in my heart.
But I know this is not the time for seeking answers. First, we need to deal with the situation in front of us. Then I walked out of the tent to meet others.
On the other hand, the rest of the team is already standing together to attack the monster.
Seeing them, I walked up to them.
"This is trouble. It's a worm monster," Garrett Marsh uttered in disbelief.
Everyone looked at the monster with solemn gazes.
"Has it found us?" Eric Loyd asked.
Because no one knows why the monster popped up all of a sudden.
A quick glint flashed in Compton's eyes. He should have expected this before coming here. Because the mysterious energy inside the mutated forest is unusually high.
On top of it, the sudden appearance of a monster here. It only tells us something caused this to happen. And why is it? Compton looked in the direction of section area 3.
Section area 3 is a completely brand-new and unexplored site. So the changes happening here are also related to that area.
After realizing this, he said, "Hold on, I'm going to solve this monster."
After saying that he disappeared from the spot and appeared outside on top of the giant head of the worm monster.
Looking at the ugly head and shark-like teeth. Compton's eyes revealed a cold glint. This worm monster is unusual compared to other similar species.
Because the monster looked somewhat intelligent. It already sensed the arrival of a strong enemy yet it didn't attack the enemy casually.
Which caused Compton to raise his eyebrow. Compton knows this one is a mutated monster. And the level of mutation is extremely high. So he made up his mind to decimate the monster in one move.
The next moment, he released a giant fireball at the monster's giant head. Right after the appearance of the fireball, the entire place was illuminated with bright light.
Which also made everyone see the mutated monster.
There is no difference between the corpse and the mutated monster. The mutated monster's body was riddled with holes and green colored liquids were dripping from the holes.
"Vaaak," Kara Robles controlled her vomiting.
"Ewww," Valerie Lyons feels disgusted. This is the first time she has seen something like this.
The rest of the member's faces were also not good.
On the other hand, I continued to monitor the situation. Unlike others, I used my perception to scan further areas. I sensed another worm monster not far away from here.
My heart skips a beat for a moment. Before I could warn them, the giant fireball outside landed on the monster.
Boom!
A terrible sound resonated in the area. This sound was enough to attract other mutated monsters around the vicinity.
The fireball attack caused severe damage to the monster. Half of the head was completely burnt up by a fireball. The worm monster wailed in pain.
Seeing that, Compton released two more consecutive fireballs like a giant son on top of the monster.
Boom! Boom!
One by one the attack landed on the monster's head. When the flames come in contact with the skin of the monster. It completely turned them into ashes.
A few minutes later, after the complete bombing of the fireballs. Not a scum left on the ground.
Seeing that team members sighed in relief.
At the same time, I took this opportunity to warn others.
"Elder, there is one more monster hiding in the dark," He said out loud.
Compton's eyes lit up with surprise. He released his elite sense to scan the surroundings. Soon he found another worm monster.
Right after he disappeared from the spot to attack it.
On the other hand, seeing him disappearing. I exhaled in relief. I'm still far away from dealing with level 4. Especially if it's a mutated class.
Suddenly, I realized everyone was staring at me.
Eric Loyd asked, "How did you know?" His gaze penetrated people's hearts.
But I smiled in response. Which caused his mood to worsen further.
Valerie Lyons feels a headache when it comes to situations between these two.
"Zack, I'm curious about this. How did you find out?" Valerie Lyons inquired.
Hearing that Eric Loyd's mood eases down a little.
"Hmmm," I raised my eyebrows in surprise. I can't deny the vice-leader's question. So I replied, "It's easy. Earlier, I heard two different sounds. So I knew there must be two monsters nearby."
"So that's how it is," Kara Robles widened her eyes in surprise.
"Harumph," Eric Loyd gave a cold snort before turning towards Garrett Marsh.
Seeing everyone's reactions, I shrugged it off.
A couple of seconds later, we heard another booming sound. I knew the second monster was over.
A few seconds later, Elder Compton appeared in front of us. But I found that Elder's face is not good looking.
I asked, "Elder, what happened?"
Hearing that, everyone realized something was wrong.
Compton said with a dejected face, "I suspect the ruin is now filled with monsters."
"What more is there more?" Terrell Boyd uttered in surprise. This was the same thought in everyone else's mind.
The more troublesome thing is that they can't handle class 4 and above monsters. If there were more class-4 monsters, then they were completely cornered at this point.
Feeling everyone's mood, Compton said, "Don't worry. Right now as long as we don't step outside everything will be fine. Then we will think of something tomorrow morning."
Hearing that everyone nodded in relief. But on the other hand, I have a feeling that the Elder is hiding something. Things were not as simple as it looks.
What if? These monsters are targeting us. A terrible thought comes to mind. But I quickly suppressed it. This forest is many times more dangerous than the black forest.
I wonder whether Elder Thornton is aware of these recent changes. Then like everyone, I choose to hide inside the tent.
On the other hand, Eric Loyd saw the back of Garrett Marsh. He found Garrett to be less talkative ever since they arrived here. Then he followed back to his tent.
Seeing that everyone was out, Compton disappeared from the spot and went outside to chase some monster out. He knows his team members will be helpless when it comes to a class monster.
So he made up his mind to clear as many obstacles as possible for tomorrow's exploration.
Inside Garrett's tent,
"Damn, this cursed place," Garrett Marsh said to himself. For a moment he thought this place was cursed.
"Yeah, this ruin is the cursed site," A voice sounded from behind.
Hearing that Garrett Marsh turned around to see Eric Loyd entering inside.
Fortunately, he hid his gold sacks in storage space before coming outside.
Seeing him, Garrett Marsh asked, "What are you doing here?"
Eric Loyd sneered, "What? I'm not allowed to see my good friend."
Garrett Marsh commented, "If you are here for that kid then I'm sorry. Now everyone in the group knows the animosity between you and that kid Zack."
"So I'm not going to help," he added further.
A cold glint flashed in Eric's eyes when he heard Zack's name. He was not surprised by Garrett's change in heart.
The leader openly warned him before others. So it is not surprising for everyone to know. But right now he is not here for that kid.
If he wants to remove that kid, he can do it even without the help of others. This time his purpose is different.
Eric wants to know what happened with Garrett Marsh. Garrett's behavior is a little bit suspicious.
So looking at Garrett, Eric asked, "Garrett, are you hiding something from me?"
Hearing that Garrett Marsh's heart skips a beat. He refuted this by saying," What are you babbling about?"