"Migrating because of fear? Does that mean there are some particularly powerful Dream World creatures over there?" In the Woodland, Grego, in the guise of a Black Dog, asked Thomas beside him with a questioning tone. Thomas, also in the guise of a Black Dog, replied.
"Maybe. After all, Dream World creatures in dreams have stronger perception abilities than us. They can perceive many things we can't. Perhaps they fled here precisely because they sensed something terrifying. This is the most reasonable guess."
With a mysterious tone, Thomas murmured softly, and Grego nodded in understanding before speaking with some emotion.
"What kind of Dream World creature could drive so many dream creatures to flee? The largest Dream World creature I've seen before was just a wild boar."
"Heaven knows what that thing is, but thanks to it, the density of Dream World creatures in this area has greatly increased, which is good for us. This is my second time hunting here, and the last time the harvest was quite substantial.
"But you should also be a little careful. Remember to follow instructions when hunting. Some of these creatures are very strong; one mistake could be the end of you. Also, remember to stick close to the team and don't wander into that creature's territory."
Thomas continued speaking to Grego. After hearing his words, Grego pretty much understood what was going on in this area.
Afterwards, Grego continued chatting with Thomas for a while, getting an understanding of the current situation. As they talked, several more portals generated by Dream Anchor runes opened on the ground, and two more Black Dogs emerged from the portals.
Immediately after, Fulandi, the winged Black Dog who had been keeping watch from a high vantage point, flapped his wings and flew down after glancing at the situation below. He landed on the lawn where the group of Black Dogs was resting and then spoke seriously.
"Time is up. The hunt begins. Everyone follow me!"
Hearing Fulandi's words, all the Black Dogs on the lawn immediately got up, gathered in front of Fulandi, and set off with him.
Under Fulandi's leadership, the hunting party, composed of about a dozen Black Dogs, set off in a grand manner. They all headed towards the depths of the Woodland.
Fulandi was indeed an experienced Dream World hunter. Being able to fly, he quickly found prey: a sturdy wild ox about three or four meters long. Under Fulandi's arrangement, several of the most experienced Black Dog hunters cooperated with him to ambush and attack. This prey was quickly hunted down, securing a good start.
Afterwards, Fulandi began distributing the Spirituality obtained from the dissected Dream World wild ox. He primarily distributed it to the Black Dogs who had just followed him in the hunt. The other Black Dogs who hadn't participated in the action looked on enviously, and Fulandi saw what was on everyone's mind.
"Those who haven't gotten any yet, don't worry. Everyone will get a share of tonight's spoils. Next time, two different people will act with me."
Fulandi made these arrangements, slightly appeasing the restless Black Dogs. Then he led the team to continue forward. After discovering several Dream World wild deer, he indeed changed a few people to hunt with him again, successfully hunting down the discovered Dream World wild deer. These new hunting participants were also allocated Spirituality.
Just like this, Fulandi led the Black Dog team to sweep through the Woodland, hunting every prey he could find. Every hunt yielded results, and everyone was allocated Spirituality; there were no exceptions in the entire team.
Soon, Grego also participated in two hunts. After a nimble maneuver, he dodged a surprise attack from a Dream World giant lizard, then counter-attacked by biting its body. While the giant lizard struggled, Fulandi from the sky also swooped down in a sudden attack, restraining the giant lizard's body along with Grego. Immediately after, two more Black Dogs also followed up with a sudden attack, biting the giant lizard until it couldn't move.
Immediately after, the Dream World giant lizard with green patterns on its body dissolved into specks of black light, floating in mid-air. Including Grego, the several Black Dogs who participated in the hunt stood in place in an orderly manner, waiting for Fulandi's distribution.
The tall Fulandi scanned the few individuals in front of him, and finally focused his gaze on Grego.
"You're quite agile, kid. Which bureau are you from?"
"I am Grego from the Igwinte branch, Mr.." Grego said solemnly. Fulandi nodded repeatedly after hearing this.
"Oh, oh... from Igwinte, huh? I remember now. Sigh, you're all the same dogs, it's a bit hard to tell you apart."
Fulandi said. Hearing Fulandi's words, Grego felt a bit strange for a moment. What did he mean by "you're all dogs"?
"Alright, kid from Igwinte, you performed pretty well just now. Take half of this Spirituality; consider it your reward." Fulandi said to Grego. Hearing his words, Grego couldn't help but be startled, and immediately said.
"Thank you, Mr.."
Afterwards, while others looked on enviously, Grego absorbed most of the spoils from this hunt as Fulandi had instructed. After absorbing this Spirituality, Grego's impression of Fulandi improved significantly. From beginning to end, he had indeed upheld his responsibility of leading the hunt, and the distribution of Spirituality was quite fair. He didn't take any for himself, distributing all the Spirituality obtained to the other hunting participants.
Just like this, Fulandi continued leading the Black Dog team in hunting in the Woodland of this area. The Dream World creatures here were indeed very dense. In the past, Grego might encounter one large dream creature like a wild boar in an entire night. Tonight, they had already encountered seven or eight such creatures in a row. On average, everyone had participated in two to three hunts and been allocated Spirituality two to three times.
Among them, Grego was allocated a considerable amount of Spirituality due to his excellent performance. He felt that this trip had been truly fruitful for him.
As the hunt continued, the available prey gradually began to decrease. Fulandi, who was leading the hunt, quickly encountered this problem. So, after stopping the team, he declared to the following Black Dogs.
"We've made quite a commotion. The Dream World creatures in this area might have been startled. Now, maintaining such a large team will probably make it difficult to find prey."
"So, as before, from now on, let's split into groups and act separately. Form groups of three and spread out to find prey. If you can handle the prey yourselves after finding it, hunt it. If you can't hunt it, use a howl to call me, but remember not to go too far, and don't go into dangerous areas, especially not to the east. That's the direction these dream creatures fled from, and there might be significant risks. Understood?"
Fulandi finished giving instructions. Afterwards, the Black Dogs below began talking to each other, seemingly looking for teammates. Seeing this scene, Grego was slightly taken aback.
'There's a splitting into groups part? Who should I team up with... Everyone's a dog, who knows who's who.' Grego thought, troubled. The mimicry spells used by the lower ranks in the An Yin Bureau were all the same, so the mimicked Black Dogs looked very similar, making identification very difficult. Looking at the group of Black Dogs in front of him, he didn't know how to form a team for a moment.
'Also... Mr. Fulandi said not to go east, but there's no day or night in this Dream World, and no points of reference at all, so I can't tell directions at all. I don't even know which way is east.'
Grego thought anxiously to himself. He had only recently started hunting in the Dream World more frequently, so he had very little experience exploring the Dream World, and wasn't even very good at telling directions.
Just as Grego was feeling confused, a familiar voice sounded beside him.
"Are you Grego from Igwinte?"
Listening to this voice, Grego turned his head to look, and then saw that in the direction the voice came from, two Black Dogs were standing. He remembered the tone of one of them; it was Thomas, who had greeted him earlier.
"You are... Thomas from North Yild?"
"Ah, yes! I'm Thomas, glad you still remember my name. By the way, Grego, do you want to team up with us? We have a very experienced senior leading our team, you know."
Thomas spoke directly to Grego. Listening to Thomas's voice, Grego looked at the Black Dog beside him with a questioning gaze. Then, that Black Dog spoke to Grego quite politely.
"I am Jade from Cannock. It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Grego. I've been hunting in this area with the hunting team for several days now, so I have some experience. If you don't mind, perhaps we could team up? Mr. Grego's skills are quite good, and I think we'll definitely be fruitful if we act together."
"Is that so? That's really great. I just need an experienced person to help guide the way. It's perfect to be with you." Looking at Thomas and Jade in front of him, Grego said thankfully. As a newcomer who had just joined the hunt, he was worried about not finding a team. Hearing Grego's response, Jade also said with a smile.
"Well then, I wish us pleasant cooperation."
After that, Grego, Jade, and Thomas formed a team together. Separating from the others, they ventured towards other directions in the Woodland.
Since Jade had more experience exploring the Dream World and could discern directions within the Woodland, he naturally became the leader.
Under Jade's lead, Grego and Thomas moved away from the others and advanced deeper into the Woodland. Along the way, they sporadically encountered some small prey.
After these few instances of Spirituality absorption, Grego now felt that his gains from this trip were very substantial. One night's harvest could match over a week's worth of Spirituality gains from before, which made him very happy.
'After going back tonight, once the Spirituality from hunting is digested and accumulated, I'll be one step closer to filling up my Spirituality.'
Grego thought this to himself. Then, he and Thomas continued to follow Jade forward. As the surrounding Woodland became deeper and more secluded, they felt the surroundings grow increasingly quiet.
"Hmm... it seems we've been walking for a while without encountering any prey... Have all the prey in this area been hunted already?"
Walking among the unusually quiet giant trees, Thomas scanned the silent Woodland surroundings before speaking, and Grego also continued with some doubt.
"Yeah, it's been a while since we've seen any prey. It's so quiet around here. Mr. Jade, have we been walking in this direction for a bit too long, getting too far from the others? I feel like the duration of my current mimicry is about to end."
"Heh heh, don't worry. I assure you we haven't gone too far from the others. The more you hunt, the harder it is to find prey, naturally. If we look more, we'll definitely find some. Hurry up, I've already found tracks."
Jade, who was leading the way, replied and then accelerated into a jog forward, while Thomas immediately followed.
"Wait! Mr. Jade!"
Facing Jade's words, Grego's brows furrowed slightly, but when he saw Thomas also run up, he immediately followed.
Just like that, the three jogged forward all the way. Before long, they arrived at a relatively wide patch of grassland. As soon as they got there, the three discovered a small white figure in the center of the grassland. It was unmistakably a small White Fox.
"Found prey! Over there! Don't let it run away!"
After seeing the White Fox, Jade shouted loudly, and as soon as Grego and Thomas saw the prey, they immediately assumed hunting stances and rushed forward together, pouncing.
The White Fox couldn't help but be startled upon seeing someone pounce towards it. After a shiver, it immediately began to dodge.
The Little Fox's movements were light and nimble. It dodged Thomas's frontal pounce with exceptional agility, but its actions were also predicted by Grego. Grego immediately followed with another pounce, pinning the Little Fox that was preparing to escape to the ground.
Just as Grego was preparing to use a bite to finish off the prey, something unexpected happened; the Little Fox under his paw actually spoke directly.
"Let go of me! Let go of me! Hurry up and let go of me! You bunch of Black Dogs!"
The Little Fox's voice was a quite clear female voice. Hearing this voice, both Grego and Thomas were startled, because ordinary Dream World creatures don't speak. Those who can speak in the Dream World are usually mimics.
Is this Little Fox a mimic?
Having reached this conclusion, Grego carefully looked at the White Fox under his paw and found that she indeed did not have the characteristic green glowing patterns of Dream World creatures. This was indeed a mimic.
"Are you an Extraordinary's mimic?"
"Of course I'm a mimic! Can't you even tell that, you bunch of stupid dogs! Just as Grandpa said, Black Dogs are all a bunch of idiots! Idiots who couldn't be any stupider! Hurry up and let go of me!"
Struggling, the Little Fox shouted with all her might, but Grego had no intention of letting go. He continued to hold down the Little Fox and asked sternly in the tone of interrogating a prisoner.
"Speak, which society's Extraordinary are you? What rank are you? What are you doing here? Confess honestly!"
"I'd be crazy to tell you Black Dogs! What I'm doing here is none of your business! I'd rather ask you, are you tired of living, daring to come to a place like this? Even Dream World tigers don't dare to stay here. You Black Dogs are coming here to find death!"
The Little Fox continued to shout. Hearing the Little Fox's words, Grego was stunned, and then, as if suddenly realizing something, he asked the Little Fox.
"What do you mean a place even Dream World tigers don't dare to stay? Explain it clearly to me..."
"Ah ah!!"
Just as Grego wanted to continue questioning the Little Fox, a scream suddenly came from behind him. Grego turned his head to look, and then his eyes widened abruptly.
Thomas, in his Black Dog mimicry, was currently lying on the ground, a large wound bitten into his neck. His entire body began to rapidly dissolve into Spirituality. And beside Thomas, a dark, swift Shadow was attacking towards him, directly pouncing at his back.
Grabbing the Little Fox under his paw, Grego urgently dodged. Although the surprise attack from behind him did not subdue Grego or hit a vital spot, it tore a large wound on his body. Grego, in pain, rolled on the ground before getting back up, looking at the dark Shadow that had attacked him. It was none other than Jade, who had led him and Thomas all the way here.
"Jade! What are you doing?!"
Gritting his teeth, the injured Grego shouted loudly at Jade not far away, while Jade silently walked to Thomas's side, looking at his remains which had finished dissolving and become black Spirituality light spots.
"Doing what? Isn't it obvious? Hunting, of course..."
"Before your mimics return to their original dreams and take the collected Spirituality back, I'll hunt all of you. The Spirituality collected by one of you is worth several Dream World creatures."