"Pressurized water breath!"
Just as I did, Maribelle also announces her skill as she attacks. The beam of water that she releases tears through the branti that are just leaving the center tunnel. As I cut through the last branti ahead of me I enter the aisle of destruction that was left behind by that breath attack.
Countless crushed and cut body parts litter the ground and make traversing it a task I have to focus on. However, it does allow me to clear the last few meters to the tunnel several times faster.
As I reach the tunnel, I slow down and let Pascal overtake me. The cactus dryad who's just been following after me without attacking suddenly turns into a fearsome killing machine.
Her six arms punch out with almost no gap left in between hits and the branti ahead either have their heads exploded or get their thorax dented. Every hit is fatal and the tide from a single tunnel is completely crushed under Pascal's furious punches.
With Maribelle taking care of the rear, I get a moment to take it easy and observe. The branti we are currently facing are all the same type. My instructor's assessment tells me these things are branti workers. My dismantling skill tells me that they have an ant's body with the head of a long crested eagle whose beak has mutated to go further back, almost reaching the eye. They also have a mean looking stinger in their abdomen.
Looking behind myself, I can see Maribelle keeping the rear clear by using her pressurized water breath whenever the branti try to advance. In front, Pascal is still bulldozing her way along the tunnel.
Since the fighting is being taken care of, I might as well get started on the second mission I got from Clink.
I sheathe my daggers and pull out my dismantling knife. Since we are moving I can't dismantle the corpses as a whole but most of them are too damaged for that anyway. Thus, I focus on scavenging the parts that are of the most value while also being undamaged.
This is considered a dive that aims to completely conquer this dungeons and destroy its core so to keep up appearances I don't need to dismantle everything. Though it hurts my carrier heart, I make some sacrifices to ensure speed.
My first target are the stingers. If the branti were given the time to get close they would no doubt use them to attack but since they get one shot before being able to, the stingers are the most undamaged parts overall.
Just four quick and easy incisions into their abdomens and the stinger comes right out. If only I had as many arms as Pascal, then I could make the incisions simultaneously. I'd also need three more dismantling knives, the coordination would be easy since the incisions are perfectly symmetrical…
A sudden idea hits my mind and I use energy dagger when making the next incision. Three identical dismantling knives made of energy appear and perfectly complete the other four incisions.
I might have just revolutionized dismantling.
I ignore Navi's money grubbing mutterings and focus on dismantling. With the increase in speed, I can focus on gathering other stuff while simultaneously practicing my discovery of the new use of the energy dagger skill. Some materials might be lost but again, with the amount of branti that can be disregarded.
First I focus on the branti that have had their heads exploded. Their carapaces are mostly undamaged and can probably used to make newbie armor or something.
Getting the carapace off the body is a bit tough. Most newer carriers struggle a lot with it. Monster ants grow so fast that their carapaces would crack under the expansion. To circumvent that problem, they evolved to have a weak point at the bottom of their carapace. Whenever the expansion goes to quickly, the point breaks and allows for some leeway until they shed their exoskeleton for a new one.
It's convenient for dismantling but not so convenient for fighting. The weak point isn't a straight line down the bottom but a zigzagging mess that's different for every ant. Trying to target the underside of an ant during battle will either fail or get your weapon stuck in a zag without doing much damage.
And while it is convenient for dismantling it has its difficulties. You can't see the zigzag and if you apply too much force either the dismantling knife or the carapace will end up damaged.
The trick is lightly drag the tip of the dismantling knife across the bottom the the carapace until you find a weak spot were you can penetrate. Then, you only sink in the tip of the dismantling knife and carefully exert a little bit of strength until you find where the breaking line is. At that point you just continue to cut along the breaking line with just enough force to cut along it. If you hit a point where that amount of strength can't cut, apply force in different angles until you find where the zigzagging line continues.
This sounds like a terribly slow process and for newbies it really is. But for me, it's almost second nature so I can trace the zigzag at a speed that makes spectators think I can see it.
Unfortunately, it does require you to feel the resistance of the material. Thus I stop trying to use my energy dagger skill to dismantle multiple carapaces simultaneously.
Along with the carapaces, I also start plucking the the best feathers from the intact heads of the branti I pass. Man, at this rate my backpack will be full in no time. But why doesn't it feel heavy? Wait, it's empty?
"Clink, did you do something to the materials I dismantled?"