The next day, Julius opened his eyes to see Ray running past him.
A torrent of flames came towards him, and his eyes widened. Alexa jumped in front of him, forming an invisible barrier that blocked the flames.
Julius saw that Ray was fighting a large creature, which seemed to be as large as an entire portion of the mountain.
It was over 50 meters tall, and its wings spanned over 60 meters as it flapped and struck at Ray with its talons.
Its feathers were bright blue, making it seem like a blur of ink as it flew around. Its dark beak reflected the light of the bright flame emitted by Ray's sword.
"What is that?" Julius asked, his eyes still widened in shock.
"That's a one-horned mountain falcon. The horn indicates that it's already an adult. Your highness, do you remember the rankings of monsters?" Alexa asked, and Julius nodded.
The monsters of this world were classified into Tier 1 to Tier 9. The one-horned falcon in front of them was a peak Tier 6 monster, which was comparable to an early-stage grandmaster-level seeker.
Ray was only at the master level. Julius wasn't sure if he'd be able to defeat this creature.
'There was no creature on the mountain when I read about this part. This is bad.' Julius panicked. A sense of calmness suddenly washed over him, and he let out a breath as he watched Ray and the bird go toe-to-toe.
Ray used a stream of flames to levitate while fighting. He was already panting; the fight had carried on for quite a few minutes.
He held his sword and pointed it at the bird before flying towards it.
'Garden of Flame.' Ray cast his spell as he got close to the bird. A fiery aura spread from his body, covering the surrounding area in flames, and the bird was caught within it.
'Eternal Heaven Sword Art.'
A giant silhouette of a menacing dragon appeared behind Ray. With a wave of his sword, an arc of flames condensed like a blade and went towards the creature.
The bird's eyes contracted as it breathed out a torrent of flames, but alas, there was no technique behind it. Ray's skill tore through it and cut off one of the creature's wings, making it fall down the mountain, crashing against the mountain's walls as it fell.
Ray flew back to Julius as he activated his skill. He heaved a deep breath before he looked at Alexa and Julius and saw that they were okay.
"Shall we continue climbing?" Ray asked, and Julius came to his senses as he stood up.
He clenched his fists as he remembered the torrent of flames that almost burned him. He's not even sure who'd give him a chance at reincarnation next time.
'I have to be strong.'
He was a person who experienced this world from a third-person perspective as a reader, so he didn't exactly know the gravity of the dangers of this foreign land.
After climbing for another thirty minutes, the top of the mountain was now in view. They climbed and then stepped onto a flat surface. Julius couldn't help but look down to the bottom of the mountain, and he felt for a moment that he would fall. They walked forward to see two tall stone pillars beside each other and a wall surrounding the premises, which was broken in various parts.
"Your highness," Ray called to Julius, and he walked towards Ray.
They were in front of a large nest made out of dried leaves. In the middle were three blue eggs which had various complex patterns on them, and he instantly knew what these were.
Beast eggs!
"These are eggs of the one-horned falcon we saw earlier," Ray said while gazing at Julius, and he nodded.
"Ooh, the Mountain Falcon can be said to even be as strong as a Tier 7 creature when it fully matures. If you could have one as a beast companion, it would be really helpful," Alexa said as she gazed at the eggs, and then Julius stretched his hand in front of all the eggs.
"If I remember correctly, my father has a beast companion too," Julius said.
He couldn't really understand the whole logic behind bonding with the monsters of this world, but if he could get one to aid him in battles, it would be a good thing.
He stored the eggs inside his storage ring and then looked at the large nest on the ground.
Ray removed the nest, throwing it off the mountain. In the middle of the pillars was an altar which had various inscriptions on it. In the middle, there was an image of a single wing, like that of a bird.
Julius struggled to roll off the altar, and Ray assisted him. Inside the altar were three golden crystals that shone a bright, blinding light. The light soon dimmed, and Julius looked at the stones in confusion.
'Isn't there supposed to be just one stone? Why are there three?' he questioned.
From what he remembers, the MC left after taking the stone, and that was just it. Or maybe people got here before that time in the novel?
"So this is what the world directed you to?" Ray asked as he gazed at the stones.
"It's called the Stone of Rebirth. It can help me awaken magic for myself. It's not a normal spirit core, but can awaken not just a small amount of magic in a person," Julius said, and Alexa couldn't help but look at the stones in the prince's hand.
"If you use one, what are you going to do with the rest?" she asked him with a curious look, and Julius didn't know.
"I can put it in an auction. There are going to be people who would want their hands on this if they knew what it could do," Julius said, and then he stored the remaining two in his ring. His left eye shone a gold color as he looked around to see if he missed something.
"Hm?"
Julius saw a square-shaped rock which seemed to be able to be pushed in, and he walked towards it.
There were no traps attached to it, and he pushed it in. As he did this, the entire mountain shook.
A pedestal with an oval-shaped object arose from within the altar, making them all surprised.
Ray lit a flame on his hand as they checked it out. It was another egg, but strangely, this one had patterns which Ray and Alexa couldn't recognize.