Plon and the group of three women that were along with him for the current assessment were patiently waiting. They didn't stay out of sight of the warehouse but were still just walking through the grassy areas here and there.
"Oh come on, I thought he just needed to go to the toilet or something," one of the women complained. "But this is taking a lot longer than a toilet break."
"I know what you mean," the other sighed and knelt down to the point where the long grass was almost touching her nose. "The longer we are out here, the more I can imagine them just getting everything for themselves."
"Hey, hey, just save your breath, alright," Plon replied. "We are all wanderers just like him, and we were probably in the same situation at one point.
"Look, we want to become just as great as the Crimson Crane someday, and I want to do it our way. Who knows, maybe they will hear about how kind we are to other wanderers, and we will get invited to be part of their group."
"What, stage 3 warriors like us. All of the members of the Crimson Crane are at least at the middle stage," the other woman commented.
"That's not true," Plon said, as he took out his shield and dug it into the ground in front of him. He started to lean on it and placed his face on top of the shield, looking at the other three.
"Didn't you hear that the Dark Magus joined them, and I heard he's just an alchemist."
"Wait, isn't that the alchemist that took out like fifty of their members, the one they're calling the new demon?" one of the others replied. "I don't think that's a normal alchemist."
While ready to make a counter-argument, there and then, Plon could see something moving through the tall grass. It was rapidly changing directions but was heading straight for them.
"Look out!" Plon shouted.
Immediately from the tall grass, a four-legged creature, dark green in color but with glowing yellow eyes, leaped up from the grass and into the air.
On its back, there was a bud that looked like a type of plant. The bud opened up, and small seed objects shot out from it.
It had hit two of the girls that were close by; they were too slow to block the attack and took the hit. It felt like a large rock had hit them, and they cried out in pain.
"Ah!"
However, it wasn't a fatal blow because the real attack was headed toward another.
Thankfully, due to Plon's warning, the woman had managed to pull out her sword in time, and she swung it out, clashing it against the beast's teeth.
The attack was powerful, even with her Qi and timing, she was sent skidding across the ground.
"This thing is tough!" She called out, and when looking up had lost sight of the beast in the tall grass.
This was one of the reasons why they were told to enter with groups. It was an initial stage dimension, but an area where the beasts were at the third level.
Each beast would drop a level 3 power stone at least, and due to the terrain, it was harder for them to face than they initially thought.
"Crap, we need more help!" One of them called out as they moved, heading closer to where Plon was aiming to stay behind his shield.
Inside the large warehouse building, Raze had set up all the preparations that were needed. He had drawn the magic circle on the ground and was sitting cross-legged.
Now the level 5 power stone, given as a gift from the Crimson Crane leader Alba, was ready to be absorbed.
'If it was a level 4 power stone, then I'm not too sure it would do the trick, but since it's a level 5 power stone, it should be able to push me to the 4th star!'
The magic circle lit up, and the stone's energy was starting to disintegrate into small particles. As it did, the particles were being absorbed into Raze's skin. Then it began to move to his magic core.
The swirling magic ball that surrounded his heart was growing with power and getting bigger.
'When a magic core is complete, a large surge of magic fills the area. The higher the stage, the more magic. If I was to do this in the world of Pagna, then no doubt would it cause a portal break, which is why I have no choice but to do it here.'
The crystal lifted up more so to the point where it was around chest height. Slowly, as if magnetized, it started to move right toward Raze's chest.
His eyes lit up with a glowing light, and the mana was swirling all around him, moving the pieces of metal objects.
The three women were able to head over to where Plon was, but it felt like they were no closer to hurting the beast.
Once in a while it would jump from a certain direction trying to attack them. Plon would lift his shield to defend, but when the others went to attack, from the flower bud on its back, several seeds would either hit the item or them before they got the chance to defeat the beast.
"I thought you said you wanted to see a beast, well now that we have a beast why aren't you dealing with it?" Plon asked, he charged forward blocking the jumping strike from the beast again.
It quickly went back into the bush where they were unable to see.
"Maybe if you got someone that could have supported us better, then with the five of us, we wouldn't be in this mess. Or we could have gone to one of those concrete areas where we could see the thing."
Out of anger, lifting up her sword, filled with Qi, a flowing downward strike was made. It hit the ground, and dirt flung up, the area around the grass had disappeared.
The attack did nothing to harm the beast as it leaped out from the side. Dashing forward with his footwork, Plon was able to block the attack in the air once more, saving her from getting dealt a blow.
"I'm doing my part, protecting you guys from getting hit, so it's time that you guys do your part now!" Plon stated.
In the middle of their mess while regrouping, that's when one of the females in the group could see someone walking into the long grass.
They were walking slowly, wearing a blazer uniform and had an iron mask on his face.
"Finally, the guy decides to show up."
"Wait, if he just enters like this, he'll be in danger, the beast will attack him!"
However, the beast was still busy going through the long grass dealing with them.
As Raze walked closer to the group, he reached toward his back, holding onto the sword. Seeing the situation, he made a quick change with one of the other enchanted swords.
At that moment, the beast leaped up in the air. Its mouth was wide open. Plon got into position ready to stop the attack.
"Crimson Slash!"
Out from the side, a long line of aura had come out, and sliced right through the beast. Its body fell apart mid-air, falling to the ground.
The entire group was frozen in place for a moment as they slowly turned their heads to look at Raze, still standing a few meters away.
"Let's go hunt," Raze said.
