"If you stay under the sunlight for a long time, it will make your skin more tanned." Benak, just returns from his scouting duty, happens to hear their conversation.
"Nacorn responded for last night shift, right?"
"Yes, that why he is sleeping like a pig now." Carone looks at Benak with an interesting look and replies. Even though they have been together for more than ten years, Benak who already gets used to Carone teasing, still cannot endure for more than a few seconds before looking away.
"Eh! What's happened to him last night? With our current level as a late stage body refinement even without resting for an entire night, we are fine the next day, too. Right?" As an adventurer, Benak has had good judgment when it comes to cultivating traits. He always notes the change in his body until he reaches this stage. All three of them are in late stage body refinement, they just need a good fortune and luck to break through to the next step in which it is Elemental refinement that many dreams about.
"Hmm, it is a bit different than usual. By now, he ought to get up from being hungry." Yes, it should be like that. Because since he started to cultivate, William himself appetite become bigger and bigger than usual. If he were to have a spirit beast meat than a normal one, his appetite will be less than having a normal one. If he were to eat a chicken, he could eat five of them without feeling his belly is full.
All of the three men who currently chit chat under the old tree, their expression become serious all of a sudden. As they look at Nacorn without even blink their very eyes, they want to find anything that is unusual at his place. Even looking without blinking for more than five minutes, there is nothing to notice besides Nacorn snoring soundly.
William looks at Benak and then Carone. So do, the other two men. They are all looking at each other and wondering what's happened with Nacorn? However, no one was able to find an answer to the mysterious sleeping of Nacorn.
That day, they are still camping in the same spot. Because of no matter how they cannot wake up Nacorn from his slumber. The next morning, everything is the same. William gets up from his tent at dawn and doing what he normally does every morning. He practices his body refinement technique that got it improved from the system with the bloody point sucking. The art of body refinement that upgrades from the system is like an entirely new art when it is compared to the old one. The hands and legs movement technique is completely different, but it compensates for each other. Although the bloody sucking system tokes many points from him, yet it is not that bad as it is also returned something to him.
Since waking up in this forest, he is always alone, not until he met a man. No, it is a girl who dresses as a man that had not drowned even after staying unconscious in the water for who knows how long. And his daily isolated life starts to change, he can see a big city and high height wall. He made a few friends now, and it is all started because of meeting Rosa, his wife. If not fate that has brought her into his life, he might not even able to leave this forest for the rest of his life or he might already become a dead body in this forest somewhere else.
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Somewhere in the North region of the Amarilla forest, an earth-shaking fight currently taken place between a human and a lion type spirit beast. The spirit beast has had a green fire all over its body, mean that this spirit beast is at least already at an elemental refinement body if comparing it to the human cultivator. It is hard to fight with this type of spirit beast without a countering elemental. Because every time the flame comes in contact with something, it will be burned to ash.
"Hey! little cat, become my mount. I will find many little female cats for you." A man in plain white clothes that no one would believe to see him in this kind of dangerous situation and still leisure talking with this angry looking spirit beast. A beautiful face that is like jade and his long bronde hair has dropped till his waist and with his slim body, there is no one will believe that he had the strength to even truncate a chicken.
The lion spirit beast has very kin of smelling sense. It can determine the difference between human male and female sense. Yet, it cannot judge this human sense from the beginning to the end and even after they clash with each other. Puny human, you are not even a man nor a woman. How dare you trespass this sovereign territory? Die! The only replied from the spirit beast is "Grrr! Grrrr! Grrrrr!". As it jumps straight at the man, but no matter what it cannot touch even a single hair of him. This puny human is only at the initiate stage elemental refinement, but it cannot touch him no matter how hard it tried. Every time its claw pound, it just passed an empty air instead of the man in white.
It is hard to determine a spirit beast cultivation without a Rank Judgment Spirit tool. The Rank Judgment Spirit tool is an incomparable rare treasure that many adventurers dream about possessing it in their hands. No one would want to fight an opponent that has a higher rank than themself. Yet, this plain white clothes man being able to determine this spirit rank and also attempt to angry it on purpose. Does he not treasure his life anymore?
This time when the lion failed to pound its claw at the man, there is only darkness comes into its view. When it drops to the ground, there is a piece of a thin icy layer piece through its head. The man shakes his head many times in disappointment. It is already his third attempted when he found his liking spirit beast.
"Princess, how long do you wish to stay here?" A woman in blue attire at the rear comes closer to the man who dresses in white and said, she seemed to appear out of nowhere.
It is another woman in disguised, again. What kind of karma did William's past life have done?
The eyebrows of the man in white attire prone together and his expression become angrier all of a sudden when he heard what his trusted companion calling him.
"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me a princess?"
"But..." Without even letting Vimo finish her sentence.
"No, but. You have to call me Verno, it is Verno. Not princess this, princess that. Remember we are not in the palace anymore. And I am not your master nor princess anymore. We are a companion and friends." Vernora already interrupted her. Looks at the dead body of the flame lion, Vernora shakes her head in disappointed again, and again.
The woman in the blue attire tries to correct herself many times, but it is her instinct to call her master as "Princess". Since young when she served under the household of M. Nico, and she was arranged to attend Vernora well being since she was born.
"Let's decompose its body and take its core. It is at least can be refined or sell for some golds."
Vernora has run out of her kingdom for almost two years. She ventured to many places and she happened to hear a rumor from another kingdom during her visit there. That there is a very big forest in the center of this continent that separated two big empires. Yet, it is just baseless rumor from the people to people of the kingdom that is under the control of the empire itself. No one has ever explored this forest before, and inside that very forest is very dangerous with many unknown situations that can be happened at any time.
It was a few months ago that she happened to hear the exploded sound inside this forest. Her interest was picked, she has been already three months in the forest without leaving to the outside world. She wants to find a stronger spirit beast to fight again them. After that, there is no more exploded sound can be heard for almost one and a half months. Just as she is about to decide to leave the forest, the exploding sound can be heard again toward the east path of the forest. Sometimes it happens during the day, and sometimes it happens at night. When she comes closer to the source of the explosion, she always gets an empty hand. Because there is not even the remnant of the spirit beast body, the place where the explosion occurs becomes less and less. It is already 4 days without any of the explosion that can be heard.
Maybe that spirit beast already gets what it wants and left to the deep of the forest. She has been following it for so long in this forest. Without even getting anything for so long, this is not her style. Yet, just after she killed the flame type spirit beast, a series of explosions can be heard again. This time she ought to catch up with it because it happened in her vicinity.
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"Beast raiding, it is a horde of spirit beasts coming to our area. Many spirit beasts are gathering toward the area where we are currently at." Benak is sweating from head to toe, he returns as fast as possible from his scouting duty. This cold morning is not tranquil as it seems to be as a huge crowd of spirit beasts tries to pass the area where William team currently camping. It has been three days since Nacorn in deep sleep, so they cannot move at all. Nacorn body becomes so heavy that they can only lift him for a few inc from the ground before dropping him to the ground again. With this kind of activity, Nacorn ought to wake up, right? Yet, he still snoring as if nothing happens.
After a series of the explosion, the spirit beast that gathering in the vicinity of William camp comes to a halt. As if in an agreement, they all stop their footsteps in front of the mined area. Some of the spirit beasts try to sniff the area in front of them. Yet, they can not find anything that is special with their sense. Some spirit beasts "Howl!" in rage but the moment that they step forward, there is only bloody gore left behind.
William, Carone, and Benak have a relief expression on their faces. It is good that they had planted the mines in this area beforehand or else right now it is their turn to be hunted by the spirit beast.
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"What kind of sorcerer is this?" The scene in front of Vernora and Vimo makes both of them speechless. They stay a bit far away on a high tree and exclaim in surprise. There are so many different types of spirit beasts gathered in this area, yet not even one can pass the roadblock in front of them without being exploded and become a bloody mess.
The spirit beasts howling from one after another, but now not even a single spirit beast dare to trespass the area in front of them.
"So the explosion sound that happened for the past few months, it was created by that group of people." That why they dared to enter such a deep place in this forest with that kind of cultivation.
"Do we help them or not?" Vimo asks Vernora's opinion.
"No, do you want to become a ghost? Don't be mindless like those spirit beasts, and become a corp without a graveyard." Vernora processes her brain at the fastest speed as possible. Yes, they must have done something into the ground surrounding their camping site.
"Even if you could pass the ground surrounding that area, do you think you can live and come back with that many spirit beasts surrounding you?"