System's POV
chapter-73

Thirteen and Cristopher could only watch as the poisonous Monitor Lizard feasted on the three Condors.

Several minutes later, more monsters arrived near the Oasis, including three Desert Wolves that tried to challenge the Yellow Striped Dusk Brute for its meal.

All three of them were Rank 1 Monsters, and they thought that they could overwhelm the stronger monsters with their speed and numbers. For a while, their strategy worked until one of the Wolves tried to drag the corpse of the Condor away from the Monitor Lizard.

That move didn't sit well with the Yellow Striped Dusk Brute, so it immediately unleashed its poisonous spray, hitting the pitiful Wolf, who still managed to run away for a few meters before collapsing on the ground.

Its body convulsed for half a minute before it stopped moving completely.

In just a span of a few minutes, a Rank 1 Monster died just like that, prompting the other two Wolves to make a hasty retreat.

Of course, they also managed to deal some moderate injuries to the Yellow Striped Dusk Brute, especially near its eyes.

They knew how tough its scales were, so they only focused on targeting areas where they could deal considerable damage with their teeth and claws, taking turns attacking it in different directions.

"If one of the wolves hadn't gotten greedy and decided to steal one of the dead Condors while his comrades were attacking their enemy, things might have ended differently," Cristopher commented.

"Right." Thirteen nodded. "So we mustn't be too greedy and underestimate our opponents either."

The Desert Wolves were very agile creatures, so they could easily outrun and dodge the Yellow Striped Dusk Brute's attacks, as well as its lethal poisonous spray if need be.

It just so happened that the Desert Wolf that died refused to let go of the Condor, considerably slowing its movements, which gave the Monitor Lizard the opportunity to hit it with its poisonous spray.

The other Monsters eyed the Yellow Striped Dusk Brute warily. Some of them were tempted to go for the kill, while others decided that it wasn't worth it and simply drank from the Oasis before going on their way.

Thirteen and Cristopher had hidden themselves in the makeshift tent and only peeked at the battle from afar.

Because of this, none of the Monsters paid any attention to them and simply focused their gaze on the victorious Monster, who had added a dead wolf to its menu.

However, after eating one of the dead Condors, the desert Monitor Lizard decided that it had enough, so it headed toward the Oasis to drink before moving Northwards.

The Monsters that had stayed decided to also eat the remains of the Condors, with some of them even fighting against each other to take it.

In the end, some Monsters were injured, while some emerged victorious. Even so, none of them touched the body of the dead Desert Wolf, whose skin had turned purple due to the effects of the poison that had spread inside its body.

Only the Yellow Striped Dusk Brute, the Purple Desert Scorpion, the Black-Furred Wolf Spider, and the Bronze Desert Boa could consume a poisoned Monster without worrying about dying in the process.

When all the monsters left the oasis, Thirteen asked Cristopher to summon Brutus again to continue digging the hole he had started to dig a few hours ago.

The trap they were making would only work if it had the element of surprise.

Some monsters were very smart, so if they ever saw a Troll digging in a certain location, they would be wary of going in that direction.

A few hours later, Brutus managed to dig a deep enough hole to trap even a Yellow Striped Dusk Brute.

Thirteen personally entered the hole and placed several stone spears in it, creating a pitfall trap.

When he was done, he climbed back out with Brutus' help and placed several branches over it before placing one of the condor's wings on top of it.

When he was done, he used dirt and small gravel to hide it completely from sight.

Just to make sure that he and Cristopher wouldn't fall into their own trap, he placed four large stones next to the corners of the hole as a visual reminder that there was a trap there.

A week passed, and the two boys had grown accustomed to a daily routine.

Every day, they would attack the Rank 1 Monsters that approached the Oasis alone together.

When the Monster thought that it found two weaklings as its prey, Cristopher would summon Brutus, who would immediately launch a full-powered strike on their enemy, catching it by surprise.

Once the target had been hit by one of its attacks, the rest of the battle would be wrapped up in minutes, with Cristopher landing the last blow each time.

After killing over a dozen monsters, the two boys finally got an item from one of them, which was a dagger from the Rank 1 Purple Desert Scorpion that had wandered into the oasis during the night.

It was a young Scorpion that was only a meter tall, and three meters long.

Usually, a Purple Desert Scorpion remained hidden in its burrow because it was too eye-catching during the day.

It was typically more active during the night and preyed on unsuspecting monsters that wandered too near its burrow.

This Monster was also known to create pitfall traps and attack its prey once they were immobilized.

It was one of the most notorious night hunters in the Desert, and it could live for many months without food if water was readily available.

The name of the dagger was Purple Stinger, and its blade was colored purple just like its namesake.

It had the passive ability of inflicting poison on those who were pricked by its blade, albeit by a small percentage.

Thirteen asked Cristopher for the dagger because he would be able to use it as a throwing weapon.

Of course, since Thirteen had the Skill Ban restriction on him, the passive skill of the Purple Stinger of poisoning its target was grayed out.

This meant that because it was in Thirteen's possession, this passive ability was currently inactive.

However, the seven-year-old didn't care.

With the dagger, he was able to carve sharper wooden spears, which he planned to use as throwing weapons.

He even started to make wooden arrows in preparation for when he could make a bow.

Sadly, he didn't have the proper materials near the Oasis to make one, so he just made preparations for the future.

Just as the sun was about to set, Thirteen saw something moving toward the Oasis from the corner of his eye.

After squinting a bit, he noticed that it was standing on two legs and was, at the very least, two meters tall.

Most of the time, Cristopher and him stayed in their makeshift tent to stay out of sight in the open.

The Monsters who were curious enough to approach their resting place would find themselves falling into one of their pitfall traps.

Those who were lucky to survive would then be finished off by Brutus without much suspense.

But the Creature approaching the Oasis wasn't an ordinary Monster.

'An Ogre,' Thirteen thought before motioning for Cristopher to lie low and not do anything.

"If it comes to us, wait until it falls into one of our traps before you summon Brutus," Thirteen said in a volume that only the chubby boy could hear.

"Yes, Young Master," Cristopher replied.

They had spent more than a week in the Oasis, but this was the first time they had seen an Ogre.

Ogres were stronger than Trolls and also more intelligent than the latter.

This was why whenever the two sides fought, it would almost always be the Trolls who ended up being on the losing side.

As one of the strongest races in the Houdini Desert, very few Monsters were their match.

Because of this, they were able to grow in numbers and become one of the Overlords of the Desert, which Thirteen was looking forward to fighting.