Even if Augus came, Ant Mountain was a safe place for Violet—for the time being.
It was somewhat dark inside, but not so dark that they couldn’t see anything at all.
Violet immediately encountered several ants the size of cows.
There were actually many ant larvae in this place. They weren’t nearly as large, but once they matured into ants, they immediately grew to the size of cows.
The weakest were Level 10, but there was no difference in size between ants of different levels. They were all roughly the size of cows.
However, the higher-level ants clearly had tougher bodies.
So far, the highest level Violet had seen was Level 15.
She didn’t pay much attention to them. They couldn’t see her and remained completely calm.
Up ahead, there were countless tunnels, some leading upward and others downward.
"Where did that woman go?" the others began entering and wondering where Violet had gone.
With so many paths, everyone became confused.
Rebecca had obviously already taken the best treasure, but there should still be things like A-Class Talents hidden somewhere inside.
The question was, where?
Choosing the wrong path might mean losing the opportunity to obtain them altogether.
Even from a glance, it was obvious that the tunnel walls were far too hard for them to break, even though they were probably only around ten percent as hard as the giant boulders outside.
The fact that Rebecca could shake the entire mountain with ease didn’t mean they could do the same.
Bryan and Charlotte entered later than the others.
Charlotte held her chin while studying the tunnels one after another.
As more people entered, groups of ants began pouring out from every tunnel.
Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!
They charged forward without hesitation.
"Hmph!"
Bryan snorted coldly.
He stepped forward with his fists clenched, flames surging around them.
When he punched, the flames transformed into a massive flaming fist.
Buzz!
The ants were completely helpless against the flames, instantly burning to ashes.
The terrifying heat of the flames made everyone nervous.
However, Bryan frowned afterward.
"I didn’t get any EXP," he said to Charlotte.
She didn’t seem cared at all.
"Follow me," she said before heading toward one of the tunnels and entering without hesitation.
Bryan looked uncertain about why she had chosen that tunnel, but he followed without hesitation.
"Who are those two?"
The two of them had previously been standing in a corner and hadn’t attracted much attention.
Only now did people start paying attention to them.
Their appearances alone were enough to draw attention, and Bryan’s strength made them even more conspicuous.
"Bryan O’Conner and Charlotte O’Conner. They’re from this year’s batch, the grandson and granddaughter of Mr. O’Conner."
"What? Really?"
Everyone was shocked.
Mr. O’Conner was far too famous.
He wasn’t merely one of the strongest Awakeners.
He was actually the First Awakener of the American Continent.
On top of that, before the Awakener Era, he had been a wealthy European nobleman who moved to America and founded a conglomerate that had already ranked among the world’s top five at the time.
"The two of them each possess an S-Class Talent. King of Flame and Gravity Magic."
"..."
"Why did that woman choose that tunnel?" someone wondered.
"She must have noticed something. You could tell from her expression the moment those ants appeared."
"That’s right. She must have chosen the correct path. I’m going to follow her."
That person immediately entered the same tunnel.
Several others exchanged glances before following.
Eventually, even more people followed them, leaving those who remained behind with strange expressions.
"Hahaha, if everyone is going that way, we still have time to explore the other tunnels."
"Exactly. Then those tunnels should belong to us."
In the end, it was simple logic.
With Rebecca’s restriction that only Awakeners Level 20 and below could enter, who else could compete with them?
The beginners?
It was simply too early for them.
It wasn’t that there were no other Awakeners below Level 20. In reality, there were plenty.
However, aside from those gathered here, most of them had essentially retired.
Those who hadn’t retired were generally still relatively young.
Wyatt was the only retired Awakener who had come here.
That was only because he happened to receive a mission that brought him back to the Sanctuary. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have come because he wouldn’t have known about this opportunity.
Of course, the outcome remained the same.
He had been forced to leave.
When everyone followed Charlotte, Enzo didn’t know how to react.
Curious, he eventually decided to send Violet into the same tunnel as well.
Violet followed behind everyone else.
Although Charlotte was aware that she was being followed, she didn’t seem to care. She had apparently already told Bryan not to worry about it either.
The man was given the task of killing the ants that came toward them.
They were incredibly weak, but their numbers were what made them dangerous.
Even so, they were extremely vulnerable to Bryan’s flames.
If anyone else had to deal with them, it wouldn’t be nearly this easy.
The tunnel gradually descended and became quite steep.
Many ant larvae eventually matured into monster ants.
As more and more ants appeared, everyone inevitably had to fight.
Charlotte displayed her gravity ability, which somehow only affected the ants and not the humans.
It covered a wide area.
At certain points, the gravity became so powerful that it immediately flattened the ants against the ground.
Violet was the only one doing nothing.
At most, she merely had to avoid ants that happened to pass by or get thrown toward her.
With things going like this, Enzo was completely relaxed.
He even lit a cigarette.
Of course, he found the situation somewhat strange, but he wasn’t worried.
"Hmm..."
He became slightly serious when he noticed the ants emerging from deeper within the tunnel.
Their bodies seemed to be made of steel.
Clang!
Someone tried to slash one with a sword, but the attack simply bounced off.
"Steel Ants!" someone shouted.
"They have the strongest defense among the ants. They can only be destroyed by A-Class attacks."
"Seriously?"
"Yes. B-Class attacks won’t work."
"Move!"
A large man wielding a huge sword stepped forward and swung it down at one of the Steel Ants.
Clang!
The result was completely different from what everyone expected.
The massive sword bounced back into the air.
"Watch out!"
The Steel Ant suddenly thrust both of its spiked legs toward him.
The large man’s face immediately turned pale.
He was in no position to dodge and was far too slow.
But just as he thought he was doomed, Charlotte suddenly appeared above the ant.
Her figure looked unreal, almost as though it were made entirely of smoke.
Her real body was still standing behind Bryan.
BOOM!
The phantom released an incredibly powerful gravitational force, forcing the Steel Ant into the ground.
"Wow, that’s an A-Class Talent, Smoke Source, with an Innate Skill, Smoke Clone. So she doesn’t have just one Talent."
"I heard she actually has three A-Class Talents that she awakened herself."
"What? Does that mean she awakened four Talents at once? How is that possible?"
"Don’t ask me."
"What about that man?"
"There are no rumors like that about him. He probably only has one S-Class Talent and one A-Class Talent."
"Is all of this purely a matter of luck?"
"Hard to say. Our understanding is too limited. There are far more things we don’t know than things we do."
"..."
More and more Steel Ants appeared, but Charlotte and Bryan could still kill them with ease.
Aside from those two, only one other person was capable of dealing with them.
He combined two offensive-type B-Class Talents.
Although the situation was becoming somewhat difficult, Enzo decided to keep Violet hidden.
So far, the group continued moving forward.
"Look, there’s a gate!"
Someone shouted while pointing ahead.
That person probably had sharper eyesight than the others.
The rest only noticed it a moment later.
There really was a gate.
It was a steel gate shaped like a giant open-and-close mouth.
Whenever it opened, Steel Ant after Steel Ant leaped out from inside before the mouth closed again.
"There must definitely be an A-Class Talent behind it."
"How do we open it?"
"I think we can enter when the mouth opens."
"Are you insane? You want to die?"
As everyone discussed it, even more Steel Ants began emerging, their numbers multiplying rapidly.
Only three people were capable of dealing with them.
As their numbers continued increasing, everyone gradually realized how dangerous the situation was becoming.
"Hey, I think we should go back now," someone suggested to his group.
"Don’t rush. That woman must have a plan," someone else disagreed.
Right after that, Charlotte actually did something.
Her body suddenly released an enormous amount of thick smoke, as if she herself were a smoke machine.
The tunnel, which had already been somewhat dark, became completely engulfed in darkness.
Before long, no one could see anything.
"What the hell is this?"
"Girl, stop!"
"You’ll get us killed!"
Everyone panicked.
Although they couldn’t kill the Steel Ants, they could still dodge or defend themselves.
But everything changed once they couldn’t see.
No one had expected Charlotte to do something like this.
Even Enzo cursed because his entire screen was filled with smoke.
How could she do something like this when it practically endangered everyone?
Smoke shouldn’t have been dangerous.
But in an enclosed space filled with monsters, it was more dangerous than a knife.
"Everyone, please stay calm. I guarantee that you’re safe."
Charlotte’s voice suddenly echoed through the tunnel.
"Is she...?"
Enzo immediately became suspicious.
With a single thought, he transferred all of Violet’s Intelligence to her.
The image on his screen changed immediately, allowing him to see the silhouettes of every figure.
The ants had apparently stopped moving.
Only their heads turned left and right.
The people were confused and frightened because they couldn’t see anything.
The ants, surprisingly, seemed just as confused.
But what shocked Enzo was the silhouette of a slender woman calmly walking toward the gate.
The gate’s mouth was currently open because another ant was still inside.
’With four Talents, it’s obvious that she has plenty of tricks up her sleeve.’
Enzo understood.
In the end, having everyone follow her was actually an advantage for Charlotte.
Once she was finished here, she could explore the other tunnels that no one had visited.
Understanding the woman’s intelligence, Enzo smiled faintly.
’Let’s see whether you’ve taken Violet into consideration.’
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