Days later...
After Rory's advance on the village their group had passed through and stopped for a night, the group continued their journey toward the Alpine Woodpecker Forest.
Having encountered no major problems for a group of their level, they reached the entrance to this forest area in the eastern part of Scott Province this morning.
As they followed the dirt road in front of them, the people in the three carriages of the Mazzanti family could already see the surrounding mountains, green in the lower parts but covered with ice on their peaks.
The view was breathtaking, but the abundance of plants, animals, and mana in the surrounding area was even more remarkable.
"Impressive!"
"This place looks perfect for meditation!"
"Yes, the free mana around here seems denser than in Millfall."
Some of the men controlling the carriages commented among themselves upon noticing this fact.
Polaris Realm was a living world!
Not only did islands, continents, and everything in between move around but there were areas with different levels of wealth.
Certain places were much better for growing certain types of crops, while others were very good for meditation, the process by which magicians could absorb free mana in nature and strengthen their bodies, souls, etc.
Not only that but how good a place could be for certain living beings didn't just depend on how blessed a particular place was. Sometimes, the quality of an area depended more on the individual characteristics of the beings.
A volcanic area might be vibrant for a being based on elements directly or indirectly associated with high temperatures. Still, it might be deplorable for a being of the opposite nature.
Magicians were the most complex beings in this world, and within the same race, they could have completely different affinities, something that didn't happen between other races in this world.
But even with so many possibilities between them, most had more or less similar needs as most were beings with mediocre talents and affinities.
As this was an area of common elemental affinities but a little richer than the Millfall area, everyone there realized the difference between their city and this place.
"This place is fascinating. There must be several groups of powerful beasts in this area." Rory commented to Vicente, imagining they would have to fight their way through.
"Yes. Considering that this is the home of the Woodpecker birds, this tribe cannot be weak. We'll have to watch out for them." Vicente commented, feeling that the members of the race that named this region might become a problem for his group.
"But if we have problems with these beings, as long as they're not too dangerous, we can get good pentagrams for our men with an elemental affinity for wood," Rory commented, knowing that some men in his group could benefit from this.
Upon hearing this, Vicente said to the people in front of his carriage. "Let's make a stop. I want to talk to the whole group before we go any deeper."
"Okay, boss!"
In an instant, the group of carriages stopped, and all the men walked over to Vicente and Rory's carriage.
"From now on, we'll encounter more danger on our journey, but not only that, we're entering the area where we'll find the easiest targets for our hunt. So get ready to make camp and start to go after our objective here. I want to hunt at least 9 pentagrams in the next 3 days!"
Most of the pentagram-forming beings themselves did not move freely outside of their dominion. Therefore, their group couldn't simply continue their journey to the place indicated on their map. It might even happen that one or the other of these beings showed up without them going after them, but it was unlikely that many of these beings would come to them.
Not only that, but each person had their own ideal pentagram. So it could also happen that no being compatible with the men in Vicente's group happened to come their way.
The name pentagram hunting was no accident. They really had to hunt!
So Vicente planned to set up camp as soon as he reached an area deeper in the region where they could study creatures with the potential to help his men.
The people in his group knew how pentagram hunting worked, as it was a primary subject taught in every academy in the kingdom.
Even less talented people knew the basics, and everyone there readily agreed, looking forward to getting their pentagrams.
Vicente said. "But I can't promise that all of you will get the best possible pentagrams for your level. Some of you will probably have to absorb red pentagrams."
The ideal for a 2nd-stage magician was to have the first pentagram red and the second orange.
But even though there was only a one-level difference between these two types of pentagrams, the difference was much greater than anyone could imagine.
While someone in the 2nd stage with the average talent of these men could absorb a red pentagram with relative ease, there was a risk of failure with orange pentagrams.
Above that, one could even die if they dared to absorb something of a higher level!
The men in Vicente's group had red and orange talents, low talents that would make the whole situation much more complicated for them.
Those with red talents had little chance of absorbing orange pentagrams.
Knowing this, Vicente didn't wait for the moment when some of these men might want to try something more difficult than they could handle but made it clear to everyone that some would have to accept something closer to their reality.
The level of the pentagram did not limit their future, only their ability to fight with their skills. A magician's potential and progress pace was determined by talent, something that could hardly be changed.
As a result, some of the crowd felt sorry for themselves, but they didn't question the words of their leader, who knew more about these theories than anyone else.
Even Rory was no match for Vicente's knowledge level and knew that he would choose the level of the pentagram that the men there would absorb.
"All right, let's get back on track. But be ready to act. Have your weapons in hand. They can help you achieve the best pentagram your bodies can handle."
"Yes, boss!"
They all said simultaneously before returning to their formation and heading deeper into the forest area ahead to begin their hunt.
