"Hey! You there! Are you a yer?"
Ren looked over at the group of yers. There were . . . many of them. At least, more than fifty if he was counting heads.
They were from Great Dynasty, and he even saw Roni amongst the group. The guy seemed like a distant memory, but since Ren was petty enough, he wouldn''t just forget about Roni''s debt.
However, Ren had other matters that were more important, so he wouldn''t bother with Roni right now.
Besides, based on Roni''s gear and constipated face, he looked like he was already suffering without his intervention.
"Hey! I''m talking to you," said Hugo, the leader of the Great Dynasty.
Ren didn''t have the time for this. He went on his feet, and Pii curled around his neck. He was about to leave when the group surrounded him.
"I''m asking you a question. Are you a yer or NPC?"
"He looked like an NPC?"
"Is he a herbalist? He''s carrying one of those bags those guys wore when foraging grass."
"Do you have a quest for us?"
"Rather, we''re lost. Do you know the way? Our hunters couldn''t seem to find the way out of here."
"It was odd because their beastpanions should have sniffed the right paths."
Ren was contemting whether to kill them all and just get it over with when something piqued his interest.
Beastpanions?
Looking around, Ren saw that the Ravagers within their group all had beastpanions already, most in the wolves, lizards, and birds category. He was even surprised that they already have Rangers in their ranks, the evolved ss of a Ravager.
Ravagers were an advanced ss that could now use range weapons like a [Bow] and [Throwing Knives], while a Ranger could set traps to ensnare monsters and beasts. Usually, they were the best ss for poaching beasts and sold them to other Hunters as a beastpanion.
Ren guessed that there were a lot of things that changed from his one-month absence from the game.
Another thing that piqued his interest was the thing they said . . . their beastpanions couldn''t sniff out the right path. But they had Rangers in their ranks. Those yers should have an advanced tracking set of skills already.
And before Ren could further dissect his hypothesis as to what was going on, they heard rustling sounds around them, and all the nt life that their eyes could see was moving, alive, and making gurgling noises.
They were Numian nts when Ren used [Probe] on them. They vary in shape and size dependent on the environment in which they grow in. Some were formed of twisting vines cast in a sticky mucus to trap their prey; others grew pitchers with digestive enzymes inside to devour the unwary.
Upon sessfully killing them, they would yield [Numian Dew], a liquid that Numian nts use to trap and digest their prey. Due to the dangers that came alongside of gathering it, it was highly prized by botanists and herbalist. Its mildly acidic properties made it a valuableponent in many potions.
But one thing was for sure, all Numian nts had one thing inmon –– they were hungry.
Ren equipped the [Monarch Sovereignty] scepter when the Numian nts emitted an alluring scent that could charm any creature within a twenty-meter radius for one minute. But since they were surrounded then, everything was enveloped with pinkish smog, and for a time, none could see what was going on.
It looked like this was an area trap. One in which the Numian nts attacked in waves and annihted yers if they didn''t have any protection against [Charm].
Pii.
"I don''t me you." Ren chuckled and rubbed Pii''s chin. Pii was leading him on the right path. That was for sure. But something was hindering the beast''s and the Ranger''s detection abilities.
"What''s going on?"
"What''s this?"
"Help!"
"Don''t panic! Stay calm! Healers . . . !"
There was utter silence after that. Ren knew that Great Dynasty had sumbed to the Charm spell. Even a mighty army of fifty yers strong could be annihted if they didn''t have at least someone who was immune to [Charm] and healed the others.
But it looked like even that strategy was futile since every five seconds or so, another batch of Numian nts were dancing and puffing out pinkish smog on their carnivorous mouth.
It looks like the only way to survive here was total immunity against [Charm] since even a White Mage wouldn''t be able to keep up casting [Cure] to the affected yers. They would just be [Charmed] again after seconds.
It was the case for Great Dynasty. They were unprepared, thinking of exploring deeper into Maze Forest without proper research and preparation.
They thought that their Ranger''s acquired immunity to different status effect was enough, but they were only two of them in the group. What would they do about the rest of the party? They could either kill the nts or heal the others. There was no in-between and they would suffer the consequences of their action.
Being [Charmed] was akin to being [Stunned]. The only difference was that once charmed creatures could move and attack each other. They could also easily recover when someone attacked them hard enough to wake them up from being charmed.
However, due to the constant puffing of pink smog in the air by the Numian nts, it was impossible to recover, even if they pped themselves silly until their cheeks bled.
Dozens of vines burst forth from these nts and grappled every yer they could reach. Upon contact the yers suffered bludgeoning damage and additional acid damage.
The damage was minuscule against the ATP of the yers right now, but once the nts used [Plunge], the grappled yers would be dragged into its mouth and lurched them into its acid-filled pitcher-like stomach. Inside they could recover from being charmed because of the acid attack, but it was a whole story if they could get back up or escape its stomach before their HP continuously drained at a fast rate because of its acid.
That was how this nt became deadly. They could reduce a yer''s 1000 HP to zero in mere seconds.
Now, what to do? Ren thought to himself.