Is this really a Game?!

Chapter 809 Unveiling a Potential New Rivalry in the Jungle

"Alright, so what do you think, do we continue or head back, I mean, we've covered quite a lot of ground so far and hunted a good number of monsters," Shadow said as he continued sitting atop a monster's head.

The dead monster was over 4 meters tall and was quadrupedal. Its head alone was as tall as an average person, and the thick fur it had provided quite some comfort when sitting atop it.

"The sun is slowly setting, staying here when it's night could potentially be even more dangerous, we have not explored or scouted the jungle during nighttime at all, if it's the same as the other areas, the nighttime is probably more dangerous." Wolf said as he leaned against a tree and shook his head.

"So, what do you think, will they continue following us or not?" Mia softly whispered to Reign as she sat next to him and glanced downward.

"They have been following us for about an hour and haven't attacked us, which is to be expected as I'm able to sense only 3 people, there could be more with them, of course, as I can't really sense those that have abilities that are mainly used for stealth."

"Their numbers are lower than ours, and even though I can sense that two of the three are Tier V combatants, they are probably just low-grade Tier Vs."

"And you're sure they're players, not monsters?"

"Yeah, I've learned to distinguish mana that comes from monsters and people, the more powerful the being, the easier it gets actually as the mana inside of them changes more and more."

"The mana monsters have is more wild, it's seemingly untamed, primal in a sense, while with us and other races similar to us, like the elves for example, and even the orcs in my territory, mana is more tame, it's controlled, it's not something easily distinguished normally, but my mana sensing has always been good, and with practice, I am able to notice the difference easier than others."

"So, a new group of player, one that has Tier V combatants amongst them even, that means there's a potential safe zones outside of the jungle." Mia added before she sighed.

"They even have Tier V combatants, it seems it's thanks to this jungle that we didn't meet them before, I should be thankful, with how my territory had been set up, we most likely wouldn't have been able to fight against them."

"Who knows, maybe they're not strong at all, maybe they only have a small group of capable players, plus, it could only be one group that wasn't able to find a safe zone and are constantly moving from one area to the next to hunt and survive." Reign added as Mia glanced at him before smirking.

"Even you don't believe that."

"A lone group surviving until not, and becoming this powerful, I just don't see that happening, a person's mental health would deteriorate by a lot if they spend all their time inside areas filled with monsters that can't wait to kill them."

"I'm sure you and your team could do such a thing, but that's because I'm thinking of the current you, now be honest, do you believe you guys would have managed to survive until now if you hadn't been in a safe zone from the start?"

"It's hard to say, I'm quite confident we would have, but less than half of us might have survived, of course, that's without taking into consideration the areas between areas, the clearings that act like safe zones."

"What clearings"

"You didn't know about that?" Reign asked Mia before he started talking of their trip to Doncaster. He told her how it took them days to arrive and that during the night, they would usually sleep between two areas, which would usually be a clearing where monsters couldn't enter.

"I never came across such a thing," Mia said with a light shake of her head as Reign placed his hand on his chin.

"I did realize that not all places had those, but it seems there's even less than I thought, but oh well, the main point is that I'm trying to say that with those places, we could have definitely survived until now, hell, without needing to take care of others and make sure the territory is safe, we might have been even more powerful than now."

"Of course, we would be lacking information and items since we wouldn't have anyone like Eldar, Adrian, Jack …"

"Yeah," Mia added before she stood up.

"We're leaving, we've done enough for today." Reign said as they all glanced at one another and nodded.

The bodies of the monsters were dismembered immediately by the system, Reign and the others noticed that this was not something everybody had. They were merely lucky enough to be amongst the very first that started venturing deeper into monster territory when the game started and was still in the 'Tutorial' phase, which gave them the option to do so.

It was thanks to their actions that this option, as well as the inventory, was still available to them.

Taking down a level 10 boss monster when they were level 9, venturing across multiple areas, coming into contact with gods, liberating a part of Doncaster, and becoming the first that had gained their own territory…

All of that made them gain more points with the system, which allowed them to continue utilizing the options of the system that were gone after the tutorial.

Most people never even realized that such things existed and that they were available to all during the tutorial either.

Reign and the others had noticed that a small group of people had been following them in the jungle for some time.

The first time they had used the system to dismember the bodies of the monsters they killed before storing them in the inventory, Reign was able to sense that the people following them were surprised as their mana actually fluctuated a bit.

"When they stop following us, well … if they stop, me and Shadow will turn around and follow them, both of us have darkness manipulation, with evening approaching, our powers will be further strengthened and the enemy would probably be unable to notice us even if we came about 2 meters from them." Reign said as the others said nothing but merely nodded and continued walking.

They were all interested to see what kind of territory might be present outside of the jungle.

There could be a potential new ally for them, a new opponent whose territory they might take away from, or a neutral party that might not wish to have any dealings with them.

As long as the other party didn't show hostility toward them, then Reign and the others wouldn't attack them either.

About an hour more passed as Reign and the others continued making their way back. Contrary to where they usually went, they made a turn and were walking in a different direction. They would usually head straight south and leave the jungle there before arriving in the territory that Mia had once controlled.

The territory was still present, and the barrier was intact as well, but nobody was there, except for the portal Reign and the others had left in order to get to the jungle faster.

They didn't want to show their enemy the portal, nor did they want the enemy to know which direction their territory was, so they started moving west after some time, which meant that they would need to head south-east after exiting the jungle in order to reach the portal, but if the enemy was to stop following them when they exited, they would probably think that their territory was west from the jungle, which was actually where they believed the territories of the Blood Angels and the others groups that Reign and the others had decimated were located at.

The reason they believed the enemy would stop following them after they exited the jungle was because it would be more difficult for the enemy to follow Reign and the others without being noticed, even though they had already been noticed by Reign.

And just like they thought, after they exited the jungle, the enemy had stopped following them. It was easier to blend in the jungle and hide mana because there were powerful monsters present there, so one could easily use that mana to cover up their own at times.

Reign and Shadow glanced at each other as they continued walking with the others, only leaving the group when they ventured a bit further away and were certain the enemy couldn't see them anymore.

Reign had also sensed that the enemy was going back, and he and Shadow needed to quickly catch up to them, otherwise it would be difficult for him to continue sensing their location only by sensing their mana.

Darkness wrapped around both men as they made their way back to the jungle and started following the ones that had followed them previously, eager to find out where they were going.