While the hunting squad, together with Aurora, Rejoke, and Elise, set out beyond the village's boundaries, a person arrived in the throne room of the village chief.
Seeing her sister arrive, Elaine smiled slightly, leaning back onto her throne.
"So, you met her?" Once Elusia was close enough, Elaine asked curiously. And although her question was quite vague, there was no need to specify.
"Indeed, I must say, the young lady is truly an intriguing individual." Elusia nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"What was her affinity like? Were you able to read it?" Elaine inquired further, receiving a nod from her sister.
"She's a monster when it comes to magic, even bigger than me. Her main affinities seem to be similar to Lady Shinara's, being ice and fire. However, the most surprising is how high they already are. I wouldn't hesitate to say that she's quite close to my level already." Elusia spoke, and while her words were expected, they were still surprising to hear.
Obviously, Elaine knew Aurora was absurdly powerful the second her eyes fell on the small fox. She didn't doubt that the fox would be able to beat just about anyone in the first rank of power. Heck, she could probably even defeat some second ranks. Even she herself, who was very powerful, wouldn't be able to compare to Aurora if they were at the same level.
Back when Elaine was still at the top of the first rank, she had to defeat a rank 2 being on her own. Back then, this was the last requirement left for her to complete to evolve, and she almost died to defeat just a freshly evolved monster. She was also only able to win thanks to having very powerful gifts given to her by her parents. Without the weapon made out of the bones of a peak rank 2 monster, she would have never been able to win that battle.
Yet, if Aurora went all out, Elaine had a feeling that the small white kitsune would be able to defeat maybe even a stronger monster than the one she had fought. What's more, she would have been able to do so without any help, be it from another being or an item that didn't belong to her.
"Hmmm, truly, what a little monster she is." Thinking about how Aurora was able to learn Telepathy, Elaine couldn't help but chuckle.
She was very much looking forward to what would become of the fox. However, she knew that the kitsune would probably hit a wall that would take her a long time to overcome. After all, great power always came at a cost; it was the system's way of balancing things.
"When the time comes for her to evolve, we must do anything in our power to make sure she manages to evolve as quickly as possible. It's the least we can do to repay Lady Shinara's favor." Elaine said with utter seriousness, her eyes full of burning determination.
"We'll do what we can, but I hardly doubt we'll be able to help much. The system is very strict when it comes to powerful individuals. The young lady will probably have to complete most of her requirements alone, without any help." Elusia merely shook her head.
It wasn't like she didn't want to help, but unfortunately, they had no say in this matter. If Aurora's evolution requirements didn't allow for any external help, they could only bitterly swallow their determination and leave the fox on her own. After all, no matter how powerful an individual was, they simply couldn't do anything against the system.
Of course, Elaine was very much aware of the limits placed upon them by the system. However, she would still make sure that the snow elves would help Aurora as much as possible. They couldn't go against the system, but there were still other ways for them to help her.
"For now, let's watch how things play out. We'll face the problem once it comes down to it." In the end, this was all Elaine had to say.
She was unwilling to give up, but for now, while the future was uncertain, they could only wait and see.
-----
While the two sisters talked to each other in the village, Elijah's hunting squad, together with Aurora's group, had already made their way past the fog surrounding the village.
They were taking it easy, reserving their stamina for combat or in case of danger. They still had a lot of time before the sunset, so there was no need to rush.
After leaving the safety of the fog cloud and after getting past the never-ending snowstorm, Elijah took the lead and moved towards one of the squad's favorite hunting spots.
It took about an hour for the group to reach the place they were looking for. The vast wasteland of snow continued to drag out all around; however, it wasn't as barren as before. Various large chunks of ice, dead trunks of large trees, some trees were even standing. At the very least, this place wasn't completely empty and showed some signs of life.
Aurora looked at the place with great interest. The difference between this area and the rest of the wasteland was really stark and very sudden as well. On one side, you had a completely empty and barren wasteland, while on the other, you had what could be called a lush ecosystem in comparison. What's more is that the difference wasn't gradual at all. You just had an empty land, and then, a meter later, you had a place with actual signs of life.
Seeing her curious gaze, Elijah understood what was most probably on Aurora's mind, so with a small smile, he proceeded to explain.
"Lady Shinara's influence is much weaker in these parts of the Frostbite Plains. Due to that, wildlife in the form of monsters and magical beasts is actually able to function here." So he said. Well, actually, his explanation made sense.
Aurora's mother changed these lands, so much so that beasts hardly ever live here. Not only are they unable to enter the snowstorm, they also avoid it as much as possible.
So if the influence of the energy her mother left in these lands was weaker than in other parts of this place, it would make sense that the beasts and monsters would prosper here.
Actually, the energy left behind by Shinara is very potent and powerful. Were it not for the fact that it seemed repulsive to most monsters and magical beasts, they would have been much more powerful than in other places thanks to it. Just passively absorbing such energy would be enough to slowly strengthen these creatures.
So a place like this, where the influence and energy were still present but were much weaker, would become a perfect natural habitat for monsters and beasts. Even more so monsters, which are beings made of energy. They are the ones most affected by this high-quality energy.
The team resumed their march, pressing on through the snow. The territory of monsters was dead silent for now. However, Aurora had no doubts that the silence wouldn't last long. Neither monster nor magical beast will stay quiet with someone else trespassing on their territory. It probably wouldn't take long at all for them to get attacked.
"Most monsters around here average around level 40. Some obviously reach up to even level 50, but you don't see anything in the second rank in these parts. To find such strong monsters, you would need to head deeper in." Along the way, Elijah never stopped talking and explaining certain things to Aurora.
As a hunting squad, every member usually stayed completely quiet, not only so they wouldn't attract too much attention but also so they could possibly ambush some prey. However, since they had three new members on the team, one of whom was extremely important, Elijah took the initiative to explain some basic things to them.
Aurora also made sure to carefully listen to him for any useful information. While not everything Elijah said was incredibly useful, information is still information, no matter how useless it may seem. The elven captain also made sure to not speak too many random facts and focused on helpful hunting tips.
As the team continued on, even after half an hour, they didn't get attacked even once. Quite surprising, considering they weren't really bothering to stay quiet. Soon, their luck, or maybe unluck, seemed to run out.
"I sense two presences closing in from the north." An elf suddenly spoke up, interrupting Elijah.
Hearing the elf's words, Elijah immediately went on guard and started giving out orders to the team. Since every single member of the team was already an experienced hunter, they quickly assumed their positions and waited for the incoming hostiles to reach them.
Aurora, on the other hand, didn't react much when she heard the news. These creatures won't be able to pose a threat to her unless they are rank 2, something highly unlikely. What interested her more, however, was the elf who managed to discover the presence of the two beings.
Although she wasn't releasing and spreading her aura out fully, the elf, who was considerably weaker than her, shouldn't be able to have a strong enough aura to sense targets so far away.
"Most probably some special skill. No one else reacted to the creatures before he spoke up, meaning they weren't able to sense them approaching. If my guess is right, this elf's specialization is tracking and looking for targets." Yuki spoke up, coming to the same conclusion as Aurora.
The elven squad focused on hunting, so while most members would obviously be combatants, having a role like a tracker was essential. Stalking your prey, sensing nearby presences, or warning your squadmates—all of these were tasks most fit for a tracker. A good hunting squad needed to have at least one tracker, with the ideal number being two or sometimes even three.
Another extremely crucial part of a good team was mutual trust. Each member had to trust another with their lives; otherwise, there was a high chance the teamwork of such a team wouldn't be great. And seeing how Elijah or any other elf hadn't doubted the tracker's words for even a second, it was quite obvious the trust between the members of Elijah's squad wasn't small at all.
As for Aurora, she naturally couldn't trust these elves at all. Elise may know them; heck, her brother was the squad's captain. It was normal for Elise to trust these elves; however, Aurora wasn't the same at all.
She had just properly met these elves, and the past they shared also wasn't exactly great. There was no way she would already trust them. Rejoke was the same, but even more extreme. He didn't trust any of these strange creatures at all, maybe except the one that spent the most time with them. The only being he trusted here was his alpha. As for the others, he didn't trust or care about them at all.
The two approaching enemies soon reached the group of more than twenty members. They were two identical beasts, very similar to the various ice-type rhinos Aurora had defeated in the past.
Since they were only rank 1 beasts, they quickly got dealt with by the elves. In fact, this hunting squad was really powerful. Every single member here was a first-rank individual around level 40. The stronger ones, like Örlof, were even at the peak of the first rank at level 50. As for the strongest member, being Elijah, the young prince of the snow elves was actually in the second rank.
'Still, unless he is very effectively hiding his aura, I should possibly be able to defeat him. At the very least, his aura is nowhere near as terrifying in comparison to Aurelius's. Aurora thought, her eyes fixed on the ongoing battle.
For the elven squad, this kind of battle was nothing, as these two rhinos were too weak to pose a serious threat. Aurora didn't even join the battle as it was unnecessary. Instead, she did her best to gauge the strength of each elf.
'Except for Elijah, I could wipe the floor with all these guys at once if they didn't use their skills. And with Rejoke's help, it would be a walk in the park to clean them out even with them going all out.' Yes, Aurora was actually analyzing the strength of her current allies.
The human heart was too easy to change, and the difference between humans and elves probably wouldn't be too big. They may be allies right now, but that didn't mean some of these elves won't betray her.
As said previously, Auroea didn't trust these elves at all, and they were loyal to her mother, not her. Who knew what they would do in the future?