Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 573: Who Is The Hunter, And Who Is The Hunted? [Part 1]

’As expected, she has a general idea of my location,’ Alex thought while looking at his map.

The red blinking dot labeled with Diona’s name moved toward him. Her monster army also spreads out strategically. From the looks of it, they were planning to trap him in an encirclement.

Alex was confident about defeating Rank 3 Monsters and below with ease. But Diona’s Rank had only regressed to a Rank 5 Beast Conqueror. In other words, she could still control Rank 4 Monsters.

As a mere Rank 3 Oathkeeper, Alex was bound to struggle fighting against Rank 4 monsters. Of course, he could defeat them.

However, it would take him significantly more time. Enough time for the Hunters to pinpoint his location and mob him to oblivion.

Alex’s strategy was simple. He wouldn’t venture too far from Etherion Village. In fact, he planned to stick as close to it as possible.

There was a famous saying, ”It is darkest under the lamp.” The hunters were more likely to assume that the Oathkeeper would try to distance himself as far away as possible, buying time until sunset.

Sometimes, people fail to notice those closest to them. Even people who lose their items, like pens or glasses, often end up finding it in their pockets or somewhere near them despite looking for them far away.

People tend to overlook the obvious, and so Alex planned to exploit this weakness.

He planned to circle around the perimeter of the village, until he arrived back at the southern entrance of the forest, where people had seen him escape earlier.

By then, the effect of the runes that Nessia had imbued on his throwing daggers would have already taken effect, covering the area in mist.

He had no intention of running on foot since it would leave traces that the pathfinders and scouts could use to track him down.

The young man had set a goal for himself—to create a favorable battleground for his fight with Diona.

Sometimes, the only way to make a bully stop was to make them understand that bullying them was not worth it.

Just like a skunk. If you tried to approach a skunk, and it felt threatened, it would spray you with one of the most intoxicating perfumes in the world.

The kind that could end friendships and relationships.

In short, getting sprayed at by a skunk was not worth the trouble.

And Alex would make sure that Diona understood that messing with him was not worth it.

’This is fun,’ Alex thought as he maneuvered his flying shield outside the detection range of the monsters in the vicinity.

Even Diona, who initially knew his location, now struggled to find him.

Little did he know that a handful of people in the village knew where he was.

”Why did you change your mind?” Ramza asked his grandson, Cairo. ”I thought you planned to join the hunt to test Alex’s skills.”

”I have a feeling that Lavinia will hate me if I participate and prevent Alex from winning,” Cairo replied.

Ramza chuckled after hearing his grandson’s reply. Cairo doted on his sister in his own way, and although he wasn’t an excessive siscon, he’d rather not be hated if he could help it.

Besides, Alex was his disciple. He didn’t mind if his disciple married his sister.

”Still, Alex is very sly.” Ramza smirked. ”To think that he’s playing a trick on our warriors.”

Cairo nodded. ”It’s a good strategy. Sometimes, the most dangerous place is the safest.”

Ramza knew where Alex was exactly located as the Lord of the territory. He had a special ability that allowed him to pinpoint the exact location of anyone he wished to find within his domain.

Cairo also knew Alex’s location because when they met again in the village, he planted a tracking spell on his disciple.

After two hours, the confident warriors of the Clawford Tribe were starting to lose their confidence.

Even their best trackers had no progress in tracking him due to the rune magic the daggers released.

Not only did it hide Alex’s scent, it also generated a mist that was starting to spread in the forest.

Diona was also starting to lose patience because the Catkins were also killing her monsters whenever they crossed paths.

Just like everyone else, she had moved away from the village, assuming Alex would run far away.

After one more hour, everyone’s patience started to run out.

By this time, the mist had become quite thick. The funny part was that it amplified the runic magic that erased the scent of others.

In fact, the mist prevented any scent from being detected by their senses, including the scent of the other warriors.

While everyone was panicking, Alex was resting on a tree branch, conserving his energy.

His gaze was locked onto Diona’s location, which was moving randomly within the forest, hoping to stumble on Alex’s hiding place.

Time passed by slowly until there were only two hours left before sunset.

”It’s time,” Alex muttered before standing up from his tree branch and doing some light stretches.

He was simply waiting for the warriors to be separated from each other before making his move.

The young man had no intention of waiting for the time limit without doing anything.

Now that Diona had decided to travel on her own without the escort of her Monster Army, Alex decided it was about time he dealt with the Beast Conqueror.

The young man didn’t want to admit it, but he was also a very competitive person.

After seeing Charles and Renard’s progress, he itched to gain some enlightenment by fighting real battles.

And the best opponent to achieve this goal was someone who genuinely wanted him dead.

The warriors of the Clawford Tribe wouldn’t really fight him with killing intent.

But Diona was the perfect opponent. Alex wouldn’t miss the chance to fight one of the strongest opponents he could face with his current rank.

Summoning a shield, Alex jumped on it and activated his Shield Chaser skill.

It was now time to find out who was really the hunter and the hunted in the Etherion Challenge.