After several more days of travel, Vicente's group finally arrived near Crystal Creek Falls.
Situated within a deep valley enclosed by towering cliffs and thick forests, Crystal Creek Falls earned its name from a spectacular waterfall that cascades through the valley. Here, the crystalline water glistens under the sunlight, lending an ethereal beauty to the landscape.
The air in this area is thick with magic, almost palpable, manifesting in the form of shimmering particles that swirl around the trees and boulders. Along the banks of the winding stream that runs through the valley, translucent crystals are scattered, emitting a gentle blue glow. These crystals are known to possess magical properties fueled by mana.
Due to the abundance of resources and mana, this area, covering half the size of Scott Province, serves as a haven for various magical creatures.
As the group entered Crystal Creek Falls, they paused to absorb the tranquil yet promising atmosphere that surrounded them.
Seeing the tall, majestic trees with their leaves glowing in vibrant hues, Casey felt a sense of excitement, knowing they were nearing their destination.
However, Lina appeared serious, sensing that danger was looming closer than ever.
Noticing her demeanor, Vicente whispered, "Do you sense anything new?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})"More or less. But it's undeniable that we're closer to danger than ever," she replied, her body tense with anticipation. "I believe we'll encounter trouble in this area, Vicente. If not here, then shortly after we leave. I'm certain of it."
"Understood. I'll prepare," he reassured her, giving her shoulder a comforting squeeze before turning to Layla and Onyx, their expert trackers.
"You two will lead the search for Borbormyst's tracks, with the rest of us following closely," he instructed, turning to Lina. "Try to anticipate what may occur in the next few minutes. We'll rely on your ability to expedite things."
Lina possessed Premonitory Intuition, a unique power allowing her to passively sense events and actively foresee the future with remarkable clarity. With this ability, she could anticipate forthcoming events and make split-second decisions to avoid potential dangers.
That made her an invaluable asset to any team, capable of steering them away from perilous situations. Moreover, her foresight prowess extended to combat, enabling her to prepare for attacks and defenses effectively.
Despite her lack of combat-oriented powers from the pentagram, Lina compensated with proficient fighting techniques, offensive spells, and strategic prowess, making her one of the most skilled individuals in the Seidel Kingdom, capable of holding her own against adversaries of similar caliber.
What's more, she and all of Vicente's companions wore the 4th-grade, 100% efficient robotic armor he had made.
Lina nodded to Vicente before the group followed Layla and Onyx.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Layla's strength was her extremely high speed. She wasn't a natural tracker. But by moving fast, she could quickly analyze almost everything in a given space.
As for Onyx, he wasn't as fast as her, but he was the most cultivated of the group. His senses were the sharpest, so if there were any traces of a Borbormyst nearby, he would be the first to sense it.
Thus, the group embarked on their quest to locate Casey's next pentagram, specifically targeting individuals of that origin who had ascended to the pinnacle of the 4th stage and the threshold of the 5th stage.
Hunting formidable adversaries initially proved less challenging. Why? The pentagram hunt typically comprised two stages: target identification and engagement.
In the pursuit of weaker entities, their abundance posed a dilemma. Due to their sheer numbers, attempting to pinpoint them using aura detection was akin to discerning a blue metal sphere within a bucket teeming with metal spheres of various hues based solely on their metallic properties.
The multitude of beings boasting comparable cultivation levels rendered the search for lower-tier targets a daunting endeavor indeed!
But that wasn't the case with more powerful creatures. For example, when searching for a Paragon, the chances of the group going straight to the target would be very high because even in the most powerful places on the continent, there were few such creatures.
Even though there were more Paragons among the magical beings capable of forming pentagrams than among the beings that absorbed them, there still weren't many of them.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})While an area half the size of Scott Province in this central region of the continent might have had 5 to 10 Paragons of the human race before the Purification, such an area would have had 15 to 25 Paragons of the various common magical races in the region.
That was a lot more than the members of the human race, but it wasn't so much that one who was looking for a being of that stage would have to disregard the search for the target's cultivation.
It was precisely because of this that the group's search for their target would be much faster than other hunts they had done in the past.
After only three hours of searching for a member of the Borbormyst race, the group found their first one, a large, colorful butterfly with a peak cultivation of the 4th stage.
Looking at it from a distance, Lina shook her head negatively. "It only has a yellow pentagram."
The group sighed when they heard this. They were all looking for a green pentagram, the ideal for someone at the 4th stage except for Vicente.
Green pentagrams could be found on 4th stage magical beings. However, for every 10 pentagram-forming magical beings who reached the peak of the 4th stage, only 2 would form green pentagrams. All the others would have yellow magical essences.
Only one magical being at the beginning of the 5th stage was guaranteed to have a green pentagram!
The group didn't go any closer to that being but went back to look for another member of that race that was closer to them.
Since they had already found one of these butterflies, finding the second one wouldn't be difficult. With another hour and a half of searching, they would reach a new destination!
This time, however, they would encounter a Low-level Paragon!
