Due to the unique nature of the Crimson Crane Clan, and how individually each one of them was strong in their own space as middle-stage warriors, often the group split up and only gathered when the request was made by Alba.
In the group, Alba was the only one able to make this request; it was part of the rules of the clan in a way. Even a clan like theirs had to have some type of structure for them to work together. Of course, a member could always pass on information to Alba and request the grouping of other members if they were to have a problem, and with their low number of members, it wasn't as if there was a large chain of people that one needed to go through before it reached Alba's ears in the first place.
Which was why the group was split up like so currently. However, there was a certain goal that all of the members had on their mind, and that goal was that they were soon to head into the dimension space that was graded at the high middle-stage level or low Divine rank.
It would be the first time for the group their size, and would allow them an even higher position if they were able to accomplish this, putting them close to the realm above, a realm of masters that didn't really bother with clans, continents, and territories.
Preparing for such a thing, currently, Tilon, a member of the Crimson Crane who wore heavy armor and had a large black shield on his back, Lilly, a relatively small woman with a large spear, and Elvlin, another user who used a glaive that was almost bigger than their entire body, were traveling together.
It was correct to say that they were fighting together. Elvlin, holding the large glaive, jumped up and swung down, slicing through the top skull of the gorilla-like beast in front of him.
The gorilla beast looked just like a gorilla, only it was around four times as big, and its eyes glowed slightly yellow, piercing through the light.
One of the gorilla beasts came from the side and threw out a wide punch. To which Tilon pulled out his shield, blocking the hit. The shield vibrated with power and made a clanging noise like that of a gong.
While the attack was blocked, Lilly had seemingly appeared from behind, and with the spear held in her hand, she had condensed the entire item in Qi. It was glowing faintly. She then threw it through the air, and it pierced through the beast's head.
Right after, she followed up by running forward and pulled the spear out of the gorilla. Another beast had appeared with both their hands held together, ready to swing it down on top of her head, but she looked unfazed, almost uncaring about the hand above.
That was because a shield had appeared in the air, and Tilon held it above like an umbrella, blocking the attack for her. Lastly, Elvlin had come forward again, swinging the giant glaive, slicing at the beast's neck.
When it fell to the floor, for a moment there was silence and a pile of dead beast bodies.
"I guess it's time for us to do the dirty work of gathering the crystals now," Tilon said.
The group got to work as they extracted the level 3 power stones from the gorillas. For them, this was a warm-up. They had entered a dimension, wishing to keep their senses high, their fighting instincts sharp. If they couldn't get through, going against level 3 beasts without a scratch, then they weren't ready for the next level dimension.
"You know, I'm kind of excited to see what the Dark Magus might make for us," Lilly commented as she wiped some of the blood from the crystal and proceeded to place it in her pouch.
"Ah, I know what you mean," Elvlin replied. "We all saw that sword he made that helped us defeat the elder. Could you imagine if our weapons had that kind of effect? I'm really hoping that Alba selects me next."
"Ha!" Tilon laughed. "You know the next choice is me. She chose Kizer wishing to boost our striking power since he is the one that deals the most single-handed damage. However, after increasing one's striking power, the next obvious choice would be to increase our defenses, right?"
Although the Dark Magus hadn't made any items for them yet, unlike some in the group that were skeptical about how much his influence could help them, there were others that were happy that he was on board.
This was mainly due to them experiencing the power of the Qi pills firsthand and having witnessed the effect of one of the weapons already. It was safe to say that they were quite jealous that Kizer was the first one to have received a new item.
"Alright, we should get out of here," Lilly said. "Any more, and the dimension boss will appear, and we don't want to clear this portal; otherwise, the clan will give us a big headache."
With this, all three of them held onto what was known as a return stone. When breaking it, they would return right to the entrance of the dimension where they had entered from.
Each of them broke the return stones, having gathered the power stones, and they soon appeared back on Pagna, landing on the hard orange continent, with little to no green around them.
However, what they were surprised to see was that there were several people waiting for them on the other side, and not just several, it was more like a small army as fifty of them had appeared.
"Erghh, do any of you guys have an idea of what is going on?" Lilly asked.
The others shook their heads as they were unsure, to which Tilon walked ahead with his shield out. The Pagna warriors in front of them had their weapons drawn, so he already assumed that they were being hostile toward them.
"We received permission from the Red Square Clan!" Tilon stated. "We entered this portal after paying a fee. Also, we are members of the Crimson Crane."
Tilon was hoping that stating their clan name in this situation would diffuse them from fighting. Even if they were confident they were going to win, going up against fifty Pagna warriors would be a pain.
However, he wasn't sure if they could win this bout, as those in front looked to be quite experienced Pagna warriors and not just your run-of-the-mill warriors. Which gave him more reason to use the Clan's name, which was something that they usually wouldn't do.
"Haha, we know exactly who you are!" A long blonde-haired man said. "If you didn't state you were from the Crimson Crane, we would have believed we had the wrong people. Either way, let me state something for you.
"We, the Behemoth Clan, have bought the rights to this portal. This is now under us, and you have illegally entered our portal, and for that, we will punish you. Or there is something else you can do, tell us everything about the Dark Magus."
