Became a Hatchling of the Grand Duke of the North - Became a Hatchling of the Grand Duke of the North chapter 74

74 – Practice, Dungeon Exploration (3)

[Kiyi.]

[Kieek!]

Giant Ant.

Monsters made up of a class system consisting of worker ants, soldier ants, and queen ants, where each class performs its own role.

Dozens or even hundreds of them gathered to form one huge army, and these were one of the colony biomes.

When they encounter a threatening creature, they attack like a swarm of bees and cover the opponent like a wave.

For that reason.

The strength of each one is not a big deal, but it was one of the hardest corps to defeat due to its unique numerical aspect.

[By the way…]

Yone asked as he watched the ants move away while hiding in the bush.

[Why are we hiding here? Shouldn’t we usually be hunting those guys around here?]

Most of the monsters are hostile to humans.

Some of them eat meat as their staple food, and for that reason, they attack humans spread across the continent.

Therefore, the concept of the enemy of humans was basically a valid opponent.

Among the people here, there was no opponent who could be afraid of monsters.

As cadets of the academy, they each had outstanding talents.

[Whoops, Yoneya.]

At that sound, Princess Rachel let out a low laugh.

[There is little benefit from killing monsters blindly. Even if it’s only those guys right now, their physique is not normal, so fighting is only going to make them weaker. In this case, it is best to wait quietly.]

The environment around them is an unknown forest.

Moreover, the environment is hot and sweaty even if you are still, so it was an obvious fact that even if you move a little, you will quickly lose your strength.

Moreover, those guys were as big as humans.

Even at a glance, it was obvious that the shell was hard.

[At times like this, it’s best to follow the wisest method without exerting any effort.]

[Uh… What is that?]

[If you follow those guys, won’t the ant’s nest come out? Let’s watch it for now.]

That’s a smart idea.

‘As expected, Rachel seems to be thinking deeply about this.’

Even from Han’s point of view, it was clear that they had already finished hunting and were returning.

The direction they are headed this way, carrying their prey, is probably the direction of their nest.

In other words, if you leave it alone, it will guide you on its own.

Dungeon exploration, the first practical evaluation they encountered this time.

However, the main evaluation factor of this expedition was not the battle with them.

The party’s goal was simple.

It is to return to the academy safely after taking the ant eggs from the nest they laid.

Of course, it is better to avoid battles that can be avoided.

I lost my strength, and I had no purpose to fight.

The space inside the dungeon was an unknown and unknown territory.

If there was a fuss caused by useless battles in a place like this, I didn’t know when and where other threatening monsters would pop out after hearing the sound.

So it’s better to continue exploring the dungeon as wisely as possible.

[Kiik.]

[Now. It’s slowly drifting away. Let us also stop waking up.]

At the sight of the Giant Ants quickly moving away, they stood up from their seats.

It was time to chase after those guys.

* * * *

After moving for a while, they finally came to what appeared to be an ant nest.

[Wow… It’s full.]

[Not one or two. How many are there?]

Thousands of ants were guarding the front of the ant nest.

There were literally a lot of them.

Most of them seemed to be worker ants, but here and there I saw the large soldier ants carrying the prey we saw earlier.

Looking like he got goosebumps for some reason, Yone shuddered.

[Ugh, ugh. Somehow I don’t even want to get close. It’s like a black wave.]

If it was one or two, it was possible to have enough opponents.

Perhaps it would have been possible with four or five.

No matter what, they were already as talented as possible to derive mana from the beginning.

But I don’t know if I’ll be able to score a victory against so many ants.

[It’s impossible to fight against that number…]

It is best to avoid danger.

It was a natural reason.

Not to mention the guys you see now.

If there were that many ants guarding the front of the house right now, I could see them from time to time gathering and leaving, carrying prey on their backs, going in and out of the house.

Then it was the same as saying that there were far more ants crawling in there than can be seen now.

If you dared to fight, you would soon be covered by the legions of countless ants.

[…]

She carefully examined her surroundings before opening her mouth.

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[It must be a bit difficult to enter this way. Are there more than you think? I’d rather give up here and go the other way-.]

There is not one entrance to an ant nest. There were many.

I have heard that there are multiple entrances because it is difficult if there is only one entrance but the entrance is blocked due to an unexpected situation.

She Lucia turned her attention to the guardian dragon, Han.

[Guardian Dragon, could you look around?]

[Ki.]

Of course.

For Lucia, she can do as much as she wants.

Han nodded happily, spread his wings and soared up into the sky.

The surrounding magical energy pushes him upward as if pushing him.

He flew up to dozens of meters in no time and began to look around.

He sees the vast tropical jungle that stretches endlessly.

He continued to flap his wings while staring at the green forest area for a while.

Wheeae liquid -.

Han was flying rapidly in the sky, facing the headwind of the highlands.

He continued his flight, examining the ground far below.

After flying up for such a long time and examining the surroundings, he returned to his original position and quickly settled down.

Seeing his return, Lucia asked.

[Did you see anything else nearby?]

[Kiii.]

Han shook his head.

He didn’t see anything in particular nearby.

That’s the only entrance that exists around here.

[Um…]

[What should I do?]

I continued to think about it, but no clear answer came out.

They looked up at the sunlight that was about to set.

The setting sun was sinking red.

[I think we should prepare for camping before the sun goes down.]

* * * *

They settled down some distance from the anthill.

[For now, I’ll put a magic spell that blocks monsters from approaching.]

Yone started laying the pebbles he had picked up from nearby.

[Um…]

Princess Rachel’s eyes narrowed.

She watched it silently, her eyes somehow discrediting her.

[Yone. Can you really repel the approach of monsters with just a few pebbles?]

[Of course. Arcana-sama guaranteed it, so I’m sure.]

‘That person?’

For a moment, Han, the guardian dragon, felt absurd.

He felt even more distrustful when he said that he was a guarantee.

Out of the blue, that bouncy human smile comes to mind.

‘It looked like it would float upright even if it fell into the water.’

However, Han could feel some magical energy from the pebbles Yone had laid.

However, the energy was not so great.

‘I feel a strange sense of heterogeneity, as if there is some kind of fog…’

This seemed to be incantation, not magic.

It didn’t seem like it would have much of an effect, even from Han’s point of view.

At most, it was subtle, like a small skein of thread unraveled.

He thought that if magic had to be effective, it would have to contain that kind of energy.

However, this time Yone expressed his own strong argument.

[Still, it blocks monsters around you. It’s a fog-type magic that blurs the surroundings. It doesn’t work against highly intelligent opponents like goblins, but I heard that it works well against insect-type monsters, ogres, and trolls.]

Does it even cover the opponent?

A magic that works for ogres and trolls, but doesn’t work for goblins.

Of course, these guys I’m talking about were known as monsters with simple intelligence among other monsters.

Because it was a creature that almost only followed its instincts.

[Kieek.]

It was then.

From the other side of the bush where they were hiding, a couple of giant ants started approaching.

Suddenly, Yone pokes one of the pebbles at those ants! He practiced throwing.

[…?]

But for some reason they are.

Even when he faced such a pebble, he tilted his head and just turned around and walked past it.

It was a strange reaction.