Hours after entering the Alpine Woodpecker Forest, Vicente and his group left their carriages at a place where they would set up a small temporary camp.
As low-level magicians, their needs were very similar to those of ordinary people without Magic Gems. They needed to rest, eat, and sleep. In short, they couldn't just go out and explore this unknown region without a resting place for the group to return to each day.
After setting up camp that same day, the group would split into two, one group with fewer members to take care of the camp and the other to actually go hunting for pentagrams.
Along with 10 Acolytes, nine at level 1 and one at level 2, Vicente and Rory would go on their first hunt, searching for red-grade pentagrams for the less talented of their men.
...
Two days later...
After Vice's group began their journey in search of pentagrams for 9 of his men, they successfully found beasts with red pentagrams on them.
After encountering three such beings in those two days that were compatible with the less gifted of the group's first half that would absorb pentagrams, Vicente, Rory, and seven of his men did what they could to help those three.
The pentagrams had to be conquered. This meant that one had to overcome the challenge of absorbing such an essence, which became very difficult when the one attempting to do so was not the same one who had killed the entity that had created the pentagram.
Following this logic, the men in the group basically helped the three to limit the space of the beasts that had the pentagrams compatible with them, preventing their escape routes, sometimes even immobilizing them.
But the more one did to defeat one of these beings, the easier it would be for them to absorb the pentagram generated by the defeated being. Thus, Vicente's group avoided getting involved in the battles of the three men as much as possible, only participating when necessary.
As a result, over those two days, three of the ten men who had hunted alongside Rory and Vice had received their new Magic Pentagrams and the eventual benefits of obtaining such a thing!
Having successfully hunted down the last of these pentagrams hours ago, Vicente's group was currently in their camp, resting before returning to their hunt.
...
At dawn of a new day, Vicente and his group were up early, all around a campfire, eating and getting ready to go out again.
Holding a hot drink, Vicente looked at his group and said. "Today, I want the three of you who have already absorbed your pentagrams to stay behind and help care for the camp.
We'll hold our position for another day or two, and then we'll move on."
The core of each area was always the most dangerous when it came to beast territory. After all, a beast would hardly choose to live on the outskirts of an area where there were fewer natural structures to protect them or give them geographical advantages.
Therefore, in such regions, stronger beings would stay deeper in these areas. Consequently, better pentagrams could be found deeper in such sites.
Moving on would be more dangerous than staying where they were, but it would also speed up their journey. That is, the outer areas were safer, but powerful beings less densely populated them. In other words, finding a good target there might be more difficult than in the more dangerous areas, which could increase the group's hunting time.
Thus, Vicente wanted to spend a short time there before going deeper to complete his initial goal of having 9 of his men with new pentagrams before heading to the point the group's map led to.
Over the next two days, he planned to reach a few more red pentagrams and perhaps an orange one before the group continued into the area.
The three men who had absorbed new pentagrams were now much stronger and could be considered more powerful than even the level 2 Acolytes in the group. As such, they would stay behind to protect their horses and carriages while three others would take their place in the hunting group.
After selecting the three who would join the group on that day's hunt, Vicente stood up and said. "The rest of you wait for us until nightfall. I'll try to get the pentagrams for our companions with red talent before nightfall."
"Yes, boss!"
So the group of 10 soldiers, Vice and Rory, set off again, leaving 8 people behind.
Walking with rifles in their hands and revolvers at their belts, Vice and his 11 men were soon walking like soldiers in a forest, each keeping watch in a different direction and paying attention to their surroundings.
Meanwhile, Vicente had his ability in use, with his red pentagram in front of one of his hands, as he used his magnetic abilities to sense the living beings in the area.
Vicente was able to use his powers to identify the location of the living beings in the area and also tell their power level. With this, the group had been looking for targets with a high chance of having pentagrams formed in their essence.
After finding one creature a few minutes after leaving his camp, Vice used special signals to indicate it to his men and warned his group to move silently around the target.
Everyone in the group began to move more cautiously, using the surroundings to their advantage, trees, and rocks to hide behind as they approached their target.
Rory used a bush of a plant incapable of absorbing mana to hide and soon saw a white-furred beast, a fox, standing next to a puddle of water.
Feeling the aura of that 2nd stage creature, Rory shook his head negatively.
'It's no match for anyone in our group.' He lamented, seeing that it wouldn't make sense for them to go up against such a fox.
What made pentagram hunting so time-consuming and tiring was not only the fact that the hunters had to be careful not to frighten their targets but also that they often encountered creatures that were not compatible with their goals.
Since no one there was a beast tamer, soon not only Rory but the whole group would move away from the beast and return to their hunt in search of beings compatible with the people in the group.
But it wouldn't be long before they found their next target!
