Two races had their eyes on one person. In fact, three races did, if one counted the race Ivor the Tattler belonged to. But of the three only one had good intentions towards this person. The others either wanted to kill or capture him. For both the first option was more welcoming. The second will only be chosen if there was no choice. But the person who was on the radar of the Three Great Races had no idea that he was in their line of sight. Neither did he know that there were members of one of these races waiting for him outside the Dark Valley. Right now he had one mission and one mission alone: to find the Revival Grass.
Normally a search like that would have taken him quite a while. And Mane had already prepared himself to actively search for the plant even if it took him months to find it. But his task had been made much easier. And the reason for this was the giant Ape that travelled with them now.
The ape was about 11 meters tall at the very least when it stood upright on its legs. But even hunched over it was about 9 or 10 meters tall. It had large hands the size of a person and a crystalline physique – literally. It was a precious beast called Crystal Monkey. Mane hadn't expected to meet one here, much less befriend it. He had unwittingly helped the beast achieve a breakthrough from the 7th stage of the Earth Realm to the 8th stage. And the sly creature, seeing an opportunity to grow infinitely stronger, chose to stick with Mane. It hadn't been unhesitant in offering its loyalty, and when Mane said he was looking for the Revival Grass it had offered its help and knowledge of the Dark Valley.
Honestly, Mane was very surprised that the Crystal Monkey was this helpful. He knew that the beast was intelligent, but when Lily had suggested that he tell it what they came for he was a bit hesitant. After all, the Crystal Monkey couldn't possibly know what a Revival Grass was. It wasn't that Mane didn't think it didn't know about the grass, but he didn't think that the Crystal Monkey would know what he was talking about. After all, humans called it Revival Grass, but beasts surely didn't know it by that name. However, once he mentioned the name of the grass and said he needed it to wake a friend up, the Crystal Monkey beat its chest in pride and excitement and indicated that it knew where this plant was. And it asked that they follow him. Yes, him. The Crystal Monkey was male.
So they had been travelling this way for a while now. Crystal Monkey ahead, humans and mounts behind.
"Is this the way, Silver?" Mane asked as the three moved. He was seated on his mount, Roxanne, and Lily was perched on her horse, Skimpy. Before the two was the large Crystal Monkey Lily had named Silver.
*Wu wu wu*
Silver nodded his head several times and pointed to the path before them. Well, it wasn't so much a path as it was a cave. For that was exactly where Silver was leading them. Before them was the entrance of a cave that for some reason seemed to give off a faint glow. In a place like Dark Valley where there was no light at all, a glow like that was especially catchy.
*Wu ha wu wu*
Silver had a slightly worried expression on his face. Thanks to the glow of the Light Grass that lit up the area around them, his face which was filled with worry could be seen. And Mane and Lily could see that the Crystal Monkey didn't want them to go in. Its large eyes were filled with questions and concern. As for the reason why, it had already informed them before they started their journey here.
By using gestures and feeble roars Silver had told them that there was a powerful beast guarding the Revival Grass. Apparently this beast treated the patch of Revival Grass that grew in Dark Valley as its farm, and it didn't allow any of the stalks of the flowers to be taken away. Only those who were powerful enough to beat it into submission got its permission to take away the plant. This beast was so powerful that Silver didn't dare to confront it, and it was worried about Mane and Lily's decision to go against this beast.
Of course Mane didn't really worry about the guardian beast. His combat prowess was an entire realm above Silver's. Any beast that could make Silver this weary was likely to be a Legendary Class Magical Beast – a beast comparable to a Nightmare! Yet Mane wasn't afraid. He reckoned that he would be able to handle a Legendary Class Magical Beast. Unless this guardian beast was beyond the 6th Stage of the Heaven Realm, Mane would be able to deal with it. And if it was, he would be forced to go all out. All out with his Glows; all out with his skills, and his Breaths.
"You can stay outside if you want," Mane giggled and patted the giant arm of the Crystal Monkey. When he struck the beast the sound was akin to hitting a metallic pipe.
*Roar*
Silver hit his chest in pride as if to say he wasn't going to run away from them and that he would come along.
"Yes. Act all brave now. As if you haven't run away before." Mane smirked and got off his horse. His words elicited a subdued roar from Silver. The fear and worry it showed when it informed them of the guardian beast suggested that Silver had confronted the beast before and lost. To lose a fight and still be alive in the world of beasts meant that the loser was able to escape from the winner. And that was how Mane knew that it had retreated before. And it was also the reason why Mane was confident that he could handle the guardian beast. After all, if Silver who was at the High Stage of the Earth Realm was able to escape, that meant that the guardian beast was not overpowered. It was at a fairly reasonable level of power for Mane to take on.
"What an intelligent beast," Hildegarde sighed, swinging her small legs like a pendulum on Mane's shoulder.
"It amazes me that he is able to understand human speech," Hildegarde added, and Mane nodded his head in response to her words. Since Lily was right beside him, he couldn't use Lock-On. But that didn't mean he couldn't agree with Hildegarde. He felt that she was absolutely correct. Talking to Silver didn't feel like talking to a pet or a beast. It felt like talking to a mute intelligent lifeform. For the shiny monkey understood every word he said. And Mane was finding it difficult to understand how that was possible. After all, Silver had lived in Dark Valley his entire life. He had informed them of this. And Silver also made his curiosity in Mane and Lily obvious. It didn't hide that it was trying to understand this new race that had entered the Dark Valley. And that meant that it didn't come across a lot of humans. So how did it understand what Mane was saying? It was a question that only Silver could answer, but sadly, he wasn't able to speak so he couldn't.
"We are leaving them here?" Lily asked seeing that Mane had gotten down.
"Yes," Mane nodded his head and said. "The presence of a superior beast has cleared out this area. There aren't any Magical Beasts for at least a kilometer. And did you notice that for a while now we haven't been attacked?" Mane added. Although the guardian beast wasn't making its presence known, it seemed like it didn't need to. It was highly plausible that it had built up a reputation for itself in this area, and this was its territory. After all, it was a Legendary Class Magical Beast and was inclined to mark out its territory. Silver was only a Pseudo Legendary Class Magical Beast, yet he had his own territory.
"I thought that was because of Silver's aura," Lily said with a slightly confused expression as she got off her horse.
*Roar*
Silver roared in pride as if to say, "Yeah. It was because of me." Lily smiled slightly when she saw the big brute behaving in such a cute manner.
"His aura drove away the beasts, that's for sure. But that was before we entered this beast's territory. Since we entered this particular part of the Dark Valley, I haven't sensed any other beast apart from the one in here. Although I can't make out its aura because it is actively hiding it." Mane stated.
While it was true that Silver's aura scared off most Magical Beasts, that was before they entered the guardian beast's territory. Since they entered its territory, Mane hadn't sensed any other aura but its own. And this meant that the beast was similar to Silver. It was a solitary beast and preferred to live alone. Which was great because if it was a Legendary Class Magical Beast that commanded hordes of other Magical Beasts things would have been much more troublesome.
The strange thing about the beast however, was that it could hide its presence from Mane. Since Mane could sense it, that meant that it wasn't at a level where Trace would be useless. Unless it was unreasonably more powerful, Mane should be able to sense its aura of power. And since Mane could sense its life aura, logically he should be able to sense its aura of power. But he couldn't. And that could likely mean that the beast had a skill that allowed it to hide its aura; possibly for ambushes and surprise attacks. Added to the fact that Silver hadn't been concealing his aura at Mane's request, it must have surely felt Silver's presence. So that meant that it knew they were here. But it still remained in the cave. That solidified Mane's belief that it wasn't a beast well suited for frontal exchanges. For if Silver's aura was making it uneasy, that meant that it was slightly wary of him, and may only be at the 1st stage of the Heaven Realm.
"We should go in," Mane ordered, and Lily nodded her head. She unsheathed her sword and stood next to Mane. She didn't know if she would be of much help in the fight to come, but she was more than ready to provide her help if necessary. Of course she would rather that they didn't have to fight at all. But life was never that easy now, was it? Mane spoke a few words to the reluctant Roxanne as though he was comforting her. Lily was doing the same with Skimpy. When the two had settled down, Mane and Lily proceeded to enter the cave.
*Roar*
Silver roared loudly as if to give himself some encouragement. There was a little hesitation in his eyes, but he steeled his resolve and followed after Mane and Lily who had already entered the cave.