As Ackster kept running without pause, the pain in his toe gradually numbed and became a constant throbbing, similar to a bee sting. It was infinitely more comfortable than before, but he could sense that the bone was still far from healed. Since he was traveling through a nigh endless sea of grass and flowers, only the sun's journey across the sky, the healing of his toe, and the occasional arboreal interruption to the grassy fields helped him keep track of time.
But the only thing keeping track of time did for Ackster was make him nervous since he knew the more time that passed, the lower his chances of getting his hands on Karandiel. Still, he didn't lose heart and kept running, his bare feet hitting the ground like the hooves of a runaway horse.
Eventually, he saw another interruption to the grassy ocean, and it was straight ahead. As he thought about whether it would be faster to go around or go through, he realized that he wasn't alone.
He sensed other humans around and within the small forest. And not only that, but he could also see a lemon-yellow glow emanate from the grove.
Ackster had found the crash site of a certain Fallen Angel, and he wasn't the only one. But at least it didn't seem like anyone had taken away Karandiel yet. So, while keeping a wary eye on his surroundings and the various adventurers lurking through the grass or hiding among the trees, he approached the source of the yellow glow, which was most likely related to Karandiel.
He could sense others, who had arrived earlier, giving him threatening or warning looks to tell him to stay away. But unlike when he had faced Kargas, and it had looked like the Dragon Slayer was about to kill him, Ackster barely even felt the gazes. Many of those around were also in groups, and considering the Cloven Grasslands' inhabitants' strength, he was probably looking at D to B-ranking adventurers.
A group of B-ranks would likely give him some trouble, especially if they were veterans or good at fighting other humans. But Ackster believed in his skills and stats. Strong Body and the skills it had helped him acquire gave him a reliable advantage against other beings similar in rank to himself.
The irregularly grown leafy trees gave cover from the sun, but the shade was far from enough to hide the twenty or so adventures that had popped up like snails after rain from Ackster's senses. He had barely even seen tracks of a single adventurer after he entered the Grasslands, but now he was sensing a whole apartment building of them in one place.
Though, considering the spectacle of Karandiel's entry to the mortal realm and the time that had passed since, a lot of people would have had time to look for and find this grove. If anything, it was more surprising that Karandiel had landed in one of the few clumps of trees dotting the vast Cloven Grasslands.
Ackster looked around and stared down anyone who tried to threaten him into backing off. It seemed like no one was interested in actually fighting or colliding until the opaque yellow dome of light faded.
The sunflower-yellow dome was as tall as the shortest tree in the grove, so not much higher than the top of Ackster's head. And it was as wide as it was tall. But, if the crater-like mound around the dome was any indication, the dome was a sphere. So, it would be more than twice as tall as Ackster.
Ackster walked up to Karandiel's capsule and was about to knock on it out of curiosity when a spear from a nearby adventurer appeared right in front of his chest.
Ackster followed the red shaft with his gaze until he locked eyes with a lean man wearing red leather armor. He raised an eyebrow while shoving the spear out of his way.
"You call dibs or something?"
The spear-wielding man took back his spear and rested its butt against the ground next to him.
"No. But I'm not letting anyone do something to jeopardize this."
"Do you even know what this is?"
At Ackster's hostile attitude, the spear user's companions, equipped with similarly colored armor and weapons, stepped up and glared at Ackster in support of their leader-apparent.
"Do you?"
A woman with black and red hair tied up in a ponytail, wearing light red leather armor and resting her hands on the pommels of a pair of scimitars with blood-red cloths tied around the handles spoke to Ackster.
Ackster assessed the four people who had decided to stop him from touching the sphere. The moderately handsome—not as handsome as Ackster— spear-wielding man had the scimitar woman, a large hairy mountain-like man carrying a battleaxe, and a young swordsman with short hair accompanying him. All of them were dressed in crimson leather armor and had decorated their weapons with various blood-red details.
But the group dressed in red wasn't the only one eyeing Ackster. Their meeting hadn't gone unnoticed, and anyone with a clear view was looking at them.
Ackster scoffed. He could tell that the four people in red were strong. They might even be the strongest non-Guild affiliated ones he had encountered. But that didn't mean much since almost everyone he had met or talked to was part of the Guild.
However, even if they were strong, Ackster didn't feel that threatened.
"I know enough to tell you that touching this isn't going to 'jeopardize' anything."
Ackster mocked the spear user with air quotes and a snide tone.
Hopefully, he could stir up trouble before the dome went down and get everyone to indulge in a chaotic fight he could make use of to escape unnoticed.
Unfortunately, the spear user was unfazed by Ackster's taunt and smiled.
"It seems we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry if my caution ended up offending you. My name is Hansel. I'm the leader of the Crimson Edge. You?"
"Hugo."