Chapter 72: Eradicating the Mutts

Chapter 72: Eradicating the Mutts Xu Tao’s plan was basically to let his students suffer a minor "trauma" by themselves. But of course, with their numbers, this would be easier soon enough. With enough hands, they could just surround and bully the Wild Dogs, after all. Thus, he only let them go in parties of five at most. The rest would have to stay and continue training forms, sword swings, and footwork until the batch who left returned—either by walking or through respawning—before sending the next batch. Unfortunately, until now, no party had been able to return using the former method yet... Three hours passed, and each team had died at least 50 times to the dogs by then. Their trauma was so ingrained now that they were already starting to hesitate going back to the forest. ’This much should be enough,’ Xu Tao decided, smiling. CLAP! "Alright, everyone..." he spoke, catching everyone’s attention at once. "From now on, I’ll be coming with you to the forest. Move in the same parties of five as before, but now, there’s no limit if you want to tag along with other parties!" "...!" For once, the dulled eyes of everyone started to glow. They didn’t need to be told what his words meant, after all... A perfect chance for revenge! They could fight the enemy’s numbers with numbers of their own! And with enough numbers, they could kill one dog after another through combined efforts! One kill would let them gain EXP and would slowly "improve" them over time, making killing dogs much easier as time went on—at least, that’s what Xu Tao expected. "EVERYONE! REVERSE WEDGE FORMATION! DON’T LEAVE GAPS!" "DON’T LET THESE DROOLERS HAVE THEIR WAY! CONCENTRATE ATTACKS ON THEM ONE BY ONE!" "THEY DON’T ATTACK FOR FIVE SECONDS AFTER ATTACKING, THAT’S YOUR CHANCE!" "..." Xu Tao was speechless. As soon as everyone moved to the forest as one, Henrietta took over command. Like a fierce, experienced general, she gave precise commands and information to her army, allowing them to move with speed and efficiency. As proof, when their "Reverse Wedge" formation headed onward, no Wild Dog was spared. Those who tried to attack fell victim to the panicked attacks of the nearby guards. Lucky hits would land once in a while given their numbers—four hits wouldn’t take long to come. Experience was completely on a "Last Hit" basis, so not everyone was able to level up at the same pace. But as they cycled their formation, moving those injured further back into the wedge for protection, the opportunity to gain experience became "balanced." "Kill them! Don’t let these fuckers roam around in our turf!" "You damned mutts! Feel my wrath from dying 56 times...!" "Hahaha! I can kill them... I can kill them...!" Adding to that, the guards were muttering things to themselves as they waved their swords too. Xu Tao felt like something was amiss, bringing the current situation far from what he envisioned... ’But they’re still overcoming their fear of the dogs with their strength, so... it should be fine, right?’ He shrugged, not even sure anymore. Within 15 minutes, all members had raised by at least one level. As they did, they quickly added stats to their STR stat, increasing damage significantly. Now, the mutts were killable in just three hits! With more stats, their killing speed increased, causing their strength to snowball. And one hour later, Henrietta reached level 10 first. Her stat assignment was so impulsive, though—all put to STR. No balance whatsoever, just focusing on damage output. Though thanks to that, the dogs were now dead with just one hit from her sword! Just when he thought she’d stop there... he realized he couldn’t be further from reality. Henrietta raised her sword, pointing it forward, and commanded: "Now, soldiers of the Henrietta Faction! Split up and sweep all the dogs in the forest! Wild Dogs, Wolves, Foxes—anything remotely close to dogs, kill them all...!" Her words became the signal. The start of a genocide. "RAAAGH!" With a wild war cry, all parties began to split up, breaking their wedge formation. With their current strength and levels, it wouldn’t be hard to face a small group of mutts. But to add to their increased stats, the "courage" they gained from killing the one that threatened them before allowed them to have more peace of mind. This allowed them to finally perform proper martial arts to fight back more efficiently! Wild Dogs fell, turning to fangs and pelts. Higher-level mutts like Wolves (Lv. 4) and Foxes (Lv. 7) weren’t spared either, turning into miscellaneous drops after the "army" swept through them. Within the next hour, the entire forest around the Beginner Village’s east side... became as quiet as a cemetery. As Henrietta declared, all "mutts" were wiped out, leaving them all at level 12 to 15. Their inventories were already overflowing with misc items, ready to trade them off for game currency. "...Let’s head back?" Xu Tao didn’t know what to say. His plan worked well... maybe a little too well. Their hatred toward dogs got so intense they literally killed every canine around. This did clear their trauma, turning it into confidence... but at the same time, he was worried if they’d end up killing any dogs they saw outside the game too. Since he didn’t know what to do, he just decided to proceed as planned—resuming cultivation until they all reached Bronze Level 10 in-game, and whatever level they could in reality. [⚠ WARNING! ⚠ WARNING! ⚠ WARNING! ⚠] "...!" But just as they turned around, about to go back... a red window appeared before everyone’s eyes. [ New Emergency Quest: Cerberus’ Anger Quest Details: Cerberus, the guardian of all dog-like monsters, realized that its brethren near Huratio Village were wiped out. It’s furious toward the assailants, and swore to tear them apart on sight. Cerberus will be hunting you. Do your best to survive. (0 / 60 minutes) Quest Rewards: Title: Mutt Slayer (bonus 50% damage on all attacks against dog-type monsters) ] Xu Tao skimmed the details and quickly frowned. "Cerberus?" he muttered, confused. Then, the next moment, the sound of trees falling echoed. It was so loud that it sounded like lightning had struck, with a deafening thunder accompanying it. GRRRAAAAAAAAAH! Followed by an equally deafening roar—no, growl—shaking the entire forest like an earthquake. Xu Tao turned around, facing the direction the sound came from, and stopped. "Everyone," he said, his lips slowly curling up. "New order to all of you." "M-Master..." "No way..." Henrietta and Uriel could already predict what he was about to say, their faces turning pale despite being just game avatars. Xu Tao nodded, pointing toward the towering shadow toppling trees like a child knocking over blocks. Soon, its figure vaguely came to view. Glowing red eyes the size of dinner plates, sharp claws the size of a small car, and dangerous drool that could melt tree barks. "To wrap it all up, kill that rabid mutt too!" And his orders came just as they expected.