Chapter 148: Curiosity (2/2)

But, if these matters were put into perspective, just how shocking was it that Leonel, who had just stepped foot into the Force Crafting world, could already be considered a Tier 6 Black Force Crafter?

'Hm?'

Leonel noticed that there was someone coming toward him. But, since it was a human and not an animal, he didn't bother to move. This wasn't because Leonel assumed that this person wouldn't be hostile. The words Thunderous Clap had spoken to him were more than just a small wake up call to him about the kind of world he lived in now. Rather, it was that he didn't think this person in particualr could harm him even if they wanted to.

When that person entered the clearing Leonel was resting in and saw that it was him, they were stunned for a while.

”Indomitable, it's you.”

The person didn't seem to be hostile. Of course, Leonel immediately recognized him. It was none other than Erupting Volcano, one of the young men Leonel had defeated during the gathering. It was easy to tell from the molten magma drawn directly onto his mask.

”Hello.” Leonel said as a polite greeting.

Though Erupting Volcano's face was covered by his mask, Leonel could tell from his eyes that he was stunned. Toward such a thing, he could only bitterly laugh. Did they all really take him to be such a bad person? Even to the point they were shocked by something as simple as a greeting?

Erupting Volcano suddenly felt hesitant, not knowing how he should approach.

Leonel laughed lightly. ”If you have something you want to say, just say it. I won't bite you.”

Hearing such words, Erupting Volcano relaxed slightly.

”I don't know how much you know about what's going on right now?”

”What's going on?” Leonel's brow furrowed.

”As expected, you really weren't aware. In the past half month, there've been a few skirmishes between us and the Eastern Lookout participants. We were caught off guard because most of us traveled alone while they traveled in groups. A lot of us got ambushed and had our stash of beast crystals taken away…”

”So that's what happened…” Leonel mumbled.

”You know about it?”

”Well, a group did try to rob me a few days ago. But…”

Erupting Volcano smiled bitterly. Leonel didn't need to finish. He knew those people hadn't succeeded. Shaking his head, he continued.

”What's more pressing is the lack of S-grade and above beasts. Even A-grade beasts have been getting scarcer and scarcer.”

Leonel frowned. Now that he thought about it, this was true. He only didn't notice because that creature was always attacking him. He knew that little thing was at least an SS-grade threat. With such a beast constantly haunting him, where would he get the time to think about why stronger creatures weren't appearing?

”It can't be that we've already hunted them all?” Leonel asked probingly.

Erupting Volcano shook his head. ”That's impossible. Even though this island isn't as big as a continent, it's still at least a hundred kilometers in diameter. The population of beasts should be in the tens of thousands. We don't even number a hundred total, how could we clear them all in a few days?”

Leonel nodded. This made sense.

”So none of you have an answer to this?”

”Well… we've been trying to go to the center of the island for a long time. The problem is that there are a lot of rivers and lakes blocking the way there with dense populations of dangerous underwater creatures. I'm actually part of a scout sent out to find and stragglers so we can come together to make a push.”

Hearing this much, Leonel fell into his own thoughts. Ultimately, he chose to follow only for the sake of his own curiosity. Why were the beasts acting so weirdly?