The team continued walking, but the entire atmosphere had changed.
Earlier, the team felt professional, calm, and collected.
Now, there was anger and hostility in the air.
Over the next hour, Shang found another Early General Stage beast and made the team avoid it.
Then, they finally found the next Initial General Stage beast.
Even though there was hostility in the air, the teamwork was still impeccable, and everyone did their job.
The only difference was the lack of communication after the beast was dead.
Astor tried to lift the spirits of everyone, but he was mostly ignored.
In the end, Astor could only sigh and wait for the hunt to be over.
Two hours later, the team had hunted two more beasts, leaving only one spot open in Sarah's Space Ring.
This was an insanely profitable day for them.
Even with Shang's share, they had all earned several days' worth of gold in these couple of hours.
Hunting in the Caves was dangerous but very profitable.
Sarah decided that the team would walk back. If they met another beast on their journey, great, but if they didn't, it would also be okay. Being too greedy and going further away from their exit was a recipe for disaster.
The team avoided a couple of beasts on their way back, and everything was proceeding smoothly.
That was, until a certain moment.
Shang's eyes suddenly narrowed. "You run back!" Shang shouted as he took out his big sword. "It's time for me to do my job."
Elver and Astor looked with confusion and surprise at Shang while Sarah narrowed her eyes.
"You heard him!" Sarah shouted as she accelerated. "Move it!"
As Sarah left, Elver and Astor looked nervously at Shang.
Then, they felt vibrations coming from the ground.
This meant that something heavy was running in their direction!
"Don't worry. I'm confident," Shang said calmly.
Astor and Elver nodded when they heard Shang's voice and followed Sarah.
Three seconds later, everyone had left the tunnel where Shang was in.
And the beast arrived.
Shang had felt the beast approach, but he hadn't been sure what exactly it was until he saw it.
And when he saw it, he frowned.
'Great, that thing's on the blacklist,' Shang thought with annoyance.
A gigantic, yellowish-brown ball was rolling up a slope towards Shang. No one would think that this thing was a beast since the ball was way too smooth.
However, Shang knew what it was.
Tunnel Pangolin.
Tunnel Pangolins were beasts with an Earth Affinity. They were famous for turning into a ball and rolling over their opponents with their hard exterior and heavy weight.
The reason why the Tunnel Pangolins were on the blacklist was that they kept the tunnels smooth and hard. They essentially were responsible for keeping the Caves from collapsing. On top of that, they didn't like humans very much and tried to avoid them. Lastly, they also loved snacking on Swamp Millipedes.
It was no wonder that this thing was on the blacklist with so many benefits to the environment.
When Shang saw that it was a Tunnel Pangolin, he jumped back to block the entrance of the tunnel his team had fled into.
Then, Shang took out his sword and punched its side.
CLIIIIINNNGGG!
His sword vibrated loudly, the sound echoing throughout the Caves.
The Tunnel Pangolin heard the noise and turned back into its normal form in an instant. The transformation was incredibly smooth and fast.
The Tunnel Pangolin was very susceptible to the sound of metal.
Why?
Because human hunters always used metal as their weapons.
The sound of ringing metal most likely meant that humans were near.
As soon as the Tunnel Pangolin turned back into its normal form, it looked around and noticed Shang.
Then, it turned into a ball again and rolled down a different tunnel.
Shang looked on as the Tunnel Pangolin fled down a different tunnel with furrowed brows.
'It seemed to be in quite a hurry. If it were hunting, it wouldn't waste so much energy rolling at such speeds up a slope. It would climb the slope with its feet instead.'
'Was it afraid of something?'
At that moment, Shang felt something else come from the tunnel the Tunnel Pangolin had just come from, and that something was giving off a kind of murky Darkness Mana.
It wasn't pure Darkness Mana, which meant that this thing didn't have a pure Darkness Affinity. It probably had a Mixed Affinity that included Darkness.
Shang's eyes narrowed when he felt the Mana.
That thing was absorbing quite a bit of Darkness Mana.
Some seconds later, Shang saw the thing reach the top of the slope, and it stopped at the entrance of the tunnel where Shang was currently.
It scanned the tunnel for a bit and then focused on Shang.
"They're gone. Good."
Yes, it was a human.
At the entrance of the tunnel stood a man with black hair and purple robes. His eyes seemed to be emotionless and bored.
And beside the man…
Hovered a Focus.
Based on context clues, Shang could very quickly make a rough profile of this man.
'Poison Affinity Mid Adept.'
Shang narrowed his eyes.
Something inside him told him that this man was not here to exchange greetings.
Shang also remembered what the man had just said.
Did he scare the Tunnel Pangolin so that Shang and his team would be forced to split up?
But why?
What did that guy want?
"Took me nearly six months to find you," the man commented evenly. "It was almost like you vanished, Shang."
"What do you want?" Shang asked with narrowed eyes.
The man stopped about thirty meters away from Shang.
Then, his Focus began to shine.
It had already prepared a Spell!
"You angered someone you shouldn't have," the Adept said.
Shang furrowed his brows.
He had angered someone?
And it had happened over six months ago?
At that time, Shang had been training with the Dean in preparation for his mission in the battlefield.
So, it must have happened before the procedure had even happened.
However, Shang couldn't think about anyone he might have angered.
He had mostly acted completely alone, and he hadn't killed many humans back then.
The only humans he had killed had been the beggar bandits, but they obviously didn't have the means to employ a Mid Adept with a Focus to deal with him.
"Would you kindly drop dead?" the Adept asked.
And then, his Focus fired its Spell at Shang.
