"Before that, can I ask you something?" Aldred asked.
"What is it?"
"Who are you?"
"I am one of the guardian of this place."
"Doesn't that mean you have to fight me?"
"Not necessarily. My task is simply to test and challenge if any of you are worthy to obtain this treasure."
"Who gave you this task?"
The old lady smiled. "The world, son."
She disappeared, and then a voice came from the wind. "Come back to this place when you collect enough spiritual rocks."
"I wonder if the guardians have a life of their own. Like, do they have family and friends?" Mary asked.
"I don't think so," Mira said. "The bible described the guardians as the manifestation of the world. They are simply avatars that act as the tester for the treasure hunter. But the bible isn't always right. Nothing is always right."
"Manifestation of the world?" Aldred asked. "That's like saying the world has consciousness and has a goal of its own. If that was true, what was the intention behind the treasure?"
"To increase the numbers of adamantite beings in this world?" Ivette said.
They all looked at her which made her blush and looked away.
"That might be possible, but for what?" Mary said.
"We will keep that for later. For now, we should collect these spiritual rocks as much as we can." Aldred stared at the adventurer that came from below and collecting rocks.
It seemed like the old lady wasn't the only way to get information.
The search for spiritual rocks commenced. Everyone was confused as which rock was spiritual and which was ordinary.
The weird thing in this place was that every rock looked identitcal. To every scratch, to every mark, to the weight, shape, taste, and feel.
Mira raised her staff. "Fortune senses." A golden light enveloped Aldred and everyone else.
"This won't help much, but I believe we can find the spiritual rocks easier with this."
They suddenly felt some rocks looked different than the other. Bartrem and the soldiers picked up these rocks and placed them in a storage bags.
Each storage bag was a rare item, and not everyone could have it. So when the adventurer saw all the soldiers had one storage bag, they felt their heart break in envy.
"I wish I could be that rich someday."
Meanwhile, Aldred was using his godly eyes. His vision went through the surface appearance of the rock, and arrived at its atomic level. When he found no difference in there, his vision changed to magical perception, and there he saw green energy within the rocks.
Only a few rocks had this green energy.
"So this is the spiritual energy." Aldred picked up the rocks along with others and put them all in his inventory.
As they were calmly picking up rocks, the trees suddenly shook and their roots whipped at Bartrem and the soldiers.
"Watch out!" Aldred shouted.
Bartrem and the soldiers calmly brandished their swords and slashed forward, cutting off all the roots and trees.
"We're not that weak, Aldred. You have been stealing the lime lights all the time so we couldn't show our might," Bartrem said.
Aldred smiled. "Alright, sorry for that."
The trees pulled themselves out of the ground and started attacking everyone in the vicinity.
"No need to summon your undead. We will handle this." Bartrem charged forward with his soldier, and their power surprised Aldred.
Each slash cut dozens of trees, and their movement was agile and quick. Rolling and ducking from the roots, before savagely cutting them in pieces.
"They improved so much."
"Not just them," Mareona said.
Mary smiled. "We are stronger as well."
Both Mareona and Mary rushed towards the trees and their hands moved like flashes of lights.
The trees blasted into pieces, and were blown into the sky.
Sophia raised her staff. "Empowering Might!"
Powerful red energy enveloped Mary and the others. Suddenly, their strength increased more than twice, and then thrice. Each blow shook the air, and rattled the ground.
After a few minutes, all the trees were cut down by them.
Mira smiled and casted a spell that returned their stamina and made them feel refreshed
[Party system evolving… sucessful]
[EXP sharing unlocked]
[Now every EXP received will be received by every party member]
'Wait, system. Does the EXP get split?]
[Incorrect. Every party member receive equal EXP without reducing the original amount]
'So if I get 5,000 EXP from a monster, everyone got that amount as well?'
[Correct]
'That's wonderful! Next time he defeated a powerful monster, his comrades would receive the benefit as well.'
As Aldred was looking at the screen, the ground shook. They all frowned, wondering what caused the shaking.
And the shaking got stronger as time passed. Suddenly, a large hill on the west was blown apart from below.
Something dark—something mind—numbingly enormous—rose out of the hill on thick, chitinous legs. Its dark purple claws, seemingly clad with black steel-like exoskeleton crawled out of the large pit of blackness. Its head had no visible eyes with a helmet-like exoskeleton grew above the mouth and to the back of the head.
[Xer Xai Earth Burrower]
Level: 75
Power: Burrow, Devour,
History: Xer Xai was once an apex predator lurking beneath the Duchy of Aringuerao. In her true form, she was a fearsome creature with endless hungers—once devastating an entire province by herself. Now in ruins and lay waste, only fearless adventurers dare to approach her hunting ground.
Its alien-like mouth roared into the sky, striking their eardrum, and then charged towards Mira.
"Fuck!" Aldred was a distance away from Mira, and he quickly morphed into a Phantom claw to come for her aid.
The beast was getting closer, so Aldred hastened his steps.
Nine hundred meter.
That was the current distance between the beast and Mira. Aldred had to outspeed the beast or else.
Eight hundred meter.
The beast passed those distance within a single step. Time slowed down, but Aldred felt like he needed to be faster.
Seven hundred meter.
The beast towered like a mountain of gargantic purple flesh clad in black exoskeleton. Purple lightning flashed around its body. Its forelegs were a pair of claws whereas its hind legs were akin to a large scythe.
Six hundred meter.
These giant legs made a grinding noise against stone and blasted every hills and boulder in its way.
Five hundred meter.
"Run away, Mira! Run as fast as you can!" Aldred bellowed.
Four hundred meter.
"Sophia! Slow it down with your spell!"
Three hundred meter.
Sophia casted numerous debuff spells to slow the creature. Yet its speed were unhindered.
Two hundred meter.
Aldred turned into astral form, becoming intangible and went through large boulders. His legs couldn't be any quicker.
One hundred meter.
The creature burrowed under the ground, and then came out right behind Mira, blasting rocks and boulders all over.
Mira was running, before she turned around, and a large claw grabbed her.
