Jareth woke up feeling cold.
Looking down, he saw himself in a half-filled tub.
'Did I fall asleep?'
Massaging his neck, he stretched to loosen his stiff joints, which felt sore from his earlier sleeping position.
He rinsed his body and went out, seeing the sun was already up.
"Hunting time."
He changed into his tough pants and boots.
"Hmm… should I go shirtless? Nope."
Searching through his wardrobe, he settled on a fitted black t-shirt before saying one final silent prayer not to get caught by any tree octopus.
Then he opened the door.
Sensing the empty house, he muttered, "Why do I feel like the lazy one in this house? They'd all left for their stuff before I even woke up. But… I'm more surprised that Liana didn't come to wake me."
This time, he took a cab to the gate. Leaving the safety of the walls behind, he headed toward the dreadwood forest, retrieving his blade as he planned his hunt.
'I've got five days until I have to pay Annie back. Today, I'll hunt Rank 1 beasts until I ascend from Awakened to Elite Arcanist. I'll need about twenty-five Rank 1 cores. Then tomorrow, I'll hunt Rank 2 beasts to pay my debt. Maybe by then, I'll skip Rank 2 armor and buy Rank 3 armor. An Exquisite one. But why haven't Liana and the others ascended yet?'
He soon entered the forest, suppressing his internal monologue as he observed his surroundings with heightened vigilance before beginning his search for beasts.
As he had predicted, an hour of searching yielded no results.
'To the ruined estate, then.'
That was what he had in mind. Knowing there were many arcanists hunting in the ruined estate from what he had observed last time, it eased his fears—unlike before, when he'd been too scared to even approach the vicinity, he could hunt there now.
Jareth walked toward the ruined estate, his eyes and ears sharply attentive to his surroundings.
Fortunately, he reached the ruined estate without a hitch.
Looking at the wrecked buildings with no beasts in sight—only distant roars and shrieks—Jareth mused, 'Should I use Quagmire? No. I won't be lucky every day.'
Seeing a team of three arcanists sauntering out of the estate, he eyed them as they trudged past without a word, though they gave him strange looks.
He knew perfectly well why. Who wore a t-shirt instead of armor to go hunting?
He patted his face to wake himself up. 'That spell is linked to oblivium. I still haven't found out what happens to people like that, and I don't think I want to know through experience.'
Puffing softly, Jareth dashed silently into the ruined site.
He slowly made his way toward a wrecked two-story building, using narrow tracks.
Upon reaching it, Jareth peeked around the side of the dilapidated door. The interior was empty, surfaces coated in thick dust.
Jareth walked in vigilantly and used the stairs, his eyes roaming, but he reached the top floor and entered the room at the edge without encountering anything but dust.
Peering through the window, Jareth scanned the estate from above. To his surprise, all he saw were ruined structures, with a few arcanists wandering near the boundary between the inner and outer estate.
'They cleared this area too?!'
Not believing it, he moved to other rooms to view different sides of the estate, but it was just as empty.
'These arcanists are pests! They wiped out all the beasts. Justice for beasts!'
Huffing angrily, Jareth jumped from the window and dashed toward the inner estate, knowing there was nothing in his way.
Slowing down and growing more vigilant as he neared the inner estate, he used buildings as cover while observing the area.
He spotted several groups of arcanists lying in wait, watching the beasts in the inner estate.
'So the beasts migrated and packed themselves into the inner estate? Then why were there some in the outer area before… that snake.'
Jareth didn't rush in recklessly. Instead, he drew closer to an empty building taller than the rest and scaled it, lying flat on the collapsed roof as he peered from the vantage point.
From there, he observed other arcanists' movements.
Most of the arcanists tried to stealthily lure some beasts to the outer estate.
It was difficult—the beasts mostly snarled and ignored them. But those who succeeded quickly killed their target and escaped as other beasts charged forward wildly.
Their numbers chilled Jareth's heart.
A few of the arcanist groups, however, snuck into the inner estate.
They moved in teams, beelining through tight alleys between buildings, scaling structures, and switching paths when they reached dead ends. They also cut through buildings for cover and alternate routes.
Jareth spent an hour observing before coming to a conclusion.
'The ones near the boundary are Rank 1, but their numbers are overwhelming compared to those deeper in. They kill each other but quickly replenish their ranks. Come to think of it, is there a machine producing them? Although the Rank 2s are deeper in, their numbers seem lower than what I remember from the tower. What's scary are the hidden Rank 2 beasts hiding with the Rank 1. Those wolves in sheep's clothing.'
He even saw one arcanist with an overpowering area-attack wind blade spell and a bubble-like shield, but he was nearly overwhelmed by the endless wave of Rank 1 beasts.
What almost killed him was the hidden Rank 2 beasts mixed in the horde.
He escaped, but with deep injuries. His armor had saved him.
Sucking in a deep breath, Jareth crept down and quietly moved into an alley. He walked cautiously, sword held in front of him. The alley felt enclosed.
Soon, he reached the end, which opened onto a ruined paved road teeming with monsters.
Going deeper wasn't his plan for now. He observed from the alley, watching different beasts killing and eating one another while others prowled.
It didn't take long for him to pinpoint his target—a pack of seventeen gray panthers approaching the alley while dragging dead beasts.
He'd observed them fighting earlier. They relied on their speed, but their speed seemed slow in his eyes.
'Rank 1 speed-type beasts.'
Gripping his sword tightly, he calculated with bated breath how to quickly kill them, store the corpses, and escape.
Just as they reached the front of the alley, Jareth sprang out.
With a thought, crimson flames transformed his blade into glowing metal, and green aura coiled around him.
He swung his blade at the first panther at the edge, sending its head rolling. Spinning, he slashed two more. Jareth's deadly sword danced in their midst. Blood sizzled over his hot blade.
By the time they reacted, eight beasts were already dead.
They roared in unison, alerting the other beasts, and lunged at him.
Jareth swept his sword in a wide arc, sending them flying with deep injuries. Roars turned to whimpers.
He pounced on the remaining gray panthers, his peripheral vision catching other beasts closing in.
'They're coming!'
He swiftly slashed through the rest, splitting the last escaping one at the waist.
Without pause, Jareth's hands moved quickly, storing all the bodies on the ground into his badge.
Just when he finished, he saw that some beasts had already drawn near. Stretching both hands in opposite directions, compressed fire orbs launched at them.
BANG! BANG!! BANG!!!
The orbs ruptured, burying the area in crimson fire as he retreated into the alley. Chaos and roars erupted behind him.
Jareth dashed back toward the outer estate, but a sudden cloud of black smoke enveloped him.