Olivia looked at the duo doubtfully, not fully grasping their conversation. However, her eyes were already glued to the flower, captivated by its beauty.
"What is he saying, Igor?" she asked, turning to Igor for an explanation.
Igor glanced at her, then at the flower in his hand. He cleared his throat and said truthfully, "The village chief wants to give this flower to you as a present for the misunderstanding that you're my mating partner. He says this is a legendary flower that can increase your beauty."
Her eyes widened in surprise, realizing she would be receiving such a valuable magical flower. However, the next part made her stutter.
"M...Mating Partner?" Her face flushed red, realizing the meaning of that term. "Old pervert!" she cursed the village chief for thinking like that.
"Should I put this on you, or should I return it to him?" Igor asked somewhat hesitantly.
Olivia began to fiddle with her fingers in panic, contemplating whether she should accept the gift or not. The flower was tempting due to its impressive magical properties. Although Olivia already looked beautiful, it could make her even more so.
In the end, she agreed to accept the gift from his hand. "It's just a formality, Olivia, nothing personal at all!" she consoled herself, patting her chest.
Igor approached her closely, making her pause for a moment. She looked into his eyes, seeing purity and innocence reflected in them. Igor gently placed the flower in her shiny purple hair, exactly over her right ear.
Though Igor was slightly shorter than Olivia, his warm breath tickled her as he leaned in.
Igor stepped back and marveled at Olivia's enchanting figure with amazement.
"You look really beautiful, Olivia," he commented, feeling genuine appreciation from his heart.
The Frost-Lily Flower, alongside her shiny purple hair, cast an enchanting glow, making it hard for anyone to look away.
Olivia blushed slightly as she realized his praise was from the bottom of his heart.
"Th-Thanks, I guess," she smiled.
Afterwards, they left the village chief behind.
Igor carried the heavy spear on his shoulder, the sheer weight immense, followed by Olivia, who touched the flower in her hair with affection.
As Igor and Olivia made their way out of the village, Raelan and his friends called out to them. "Igor, what did the village chief talk about?" one of them asked, their eyes quickly falling on the heavy bone spear resting on his shoulder.
"Wow! Igor, did the village chief give you that?" they asked in unison.
Igor grinned and showed off his new weapon. "You guys will be no match for me now," he boasted playfully.
Raelan laughed and patted Igor on the back. "We'll see about that. But hey, before you go, we've discovered something amazing and we'd like you to join us. Your mating partner can also come."
Igor looked curious. "What is it?" he asked.
"We found a strange, glowing magical tree deep in the forest. It has some very special magical fruits hanging from its branches. However, we couldn't get any of them because a guardian beast was protecting it. We need to defeat it to collect the fruit."
"Oh!" Igor grew curious at the mention of the fruits. "What class is the beast?" he asked to be sure about the raid.
Raelan and his friends said, "We think it must be at the Elite level, a giant fire serpent! That's why we are finding it tough to defeat it. The adults are also not taking it seriously."
"What do you say? Do you want to join us? Those fruits must be some kind of treasure, Igor. Let's go!" Raelan said excitedly.
The monsters and magical beasts of this world were divided into seven power classes known to all:
- Classic
- Elite
- Leader
- King
- Emperor
- Dragon
- Calamity
Each class has unique characteristics, making them distinguishable from the others. Raelan and his friends were at the Classic class, whereas the Village Chief was a King class magical beast. The power level between them was immense.
Similarly, the power gap between King and Calamity classes was vast.
However, that didn't mean the King class was weak at any means. On the contrary, they had the power to shatter mountains and cause massive damage to any magical nation alone.
The higher class beings were on a different League, extremely rare with unimaginable powers at their possession. Although humans had high mages to counter them, it would take a few banding together to defeat a single magical beast or monster.
The difference between a Magical beast and a Monster was that the former had spirituality while the latter had none.
***
Tempted by the prospect of eating something delicious, Igor followed Raelan and the group, along with Olivia. Olivia, after getting an explanation from Igor, followed eagerly, excited to experience the fight. The prospect of treasure also excited her a little.
After traveling for a while, they reached a glowing tree. It was nearly 10 meters in height with a few magical fruits hanging from its branches.
"This is it!" Raelan said, looking in awe.
Igor and Olivia looked and found a large Fire Serpent guarding the tree as if it was its possession.
"Careful, Igor! This Fire Serpent is really deadly. It has a fire breath ability alongside high resilience. Its skin is tough. Maybe we need the help of a weapon to pierce it."
"Alright!" Igor nodded, holding the heavy spear in anticipation. He turned to Olivia and said, "Olivia, stay out of danger! We'll be done in minutes. We will give you one fruit to eat as well, don't worry."
Olivia nodded, knowing she would just be a burden in the fight, which made her feel useless. Her small spells wouldn't even damage the serpent's skin.
She began to regret not having enough power to join their fight. If only she were a 2nd class mage, it wouldn't have been so difficult.
Human Mages are also divided by 7 Classes according to their expertise in magic spells:
- Novice
- Intermediate
- Journeyman
- Expert
- Adept
- Grand Mage
- Arch Mage
"Sigh! I should have just listened to my master's advice," she lamented, regretting not heeding her master's words in the past.
After completing their preparations, Igor and six others charged forward swiftly in a proper formation. Igor was at the front, with the White Tigers at the back, covering from all sides. It was not the first time they had hunted like this, so they coordinated well with each other.
"Hiss, hiss!"
As soon as they stepped into the vicinity, the giant Fire Serpent sensed their movements with its sharp senses. Its large coiled body moved, and it opened its big mouth for a fire breath attack to annihilate the intruders.
Seeing the fire breath coming towards them, Igor and the group moved with precision to avoid getting caught up in it. If it connected, they would have been left with serious burn marks.
However, the Fire Serpent did not stop its fiery attack. The fire breath was still aimed at Raelan, who was running in desperation.
Witnessing this, Igor grew angry. "You dare to hurt my friends!" He stopped and gripped the heavy spear in his hand, charging forward by stomping on the ground to increase his speed to the limit.
Sensing Igor's movement, the serpent hurriedly tried to defend by swatting Igor like a fly with its large, sturdy tail.
However, Igor remained undeterred as he jumped toward it, pointing the sharp spear forward.
"Squash!"
"Squelch!"
The spear directly pierced through its tail and then through its large stomach. Igor directly entered its stomach and got out, cutting through the other side.
"Sssss!" The serpent let out a cry of pain, and green blood poured from the wound.
"Bang!" It fell from the tree in weakness.
"Excellent!" Raelan and the others exclaimed. "Good job, Igor." Then they charged forward to finish the serpent off. The next scene was gruesome, so there is no need to go into further detail.
Olivia stepped forward, her footsteps heavy. She could not believe that Igor was so powerful. Although the credit for his increased strength went to the new weapon, it was no ordinary weapon.
Still, she was truly impressed. She began to admire him a little. Somehow, as she looked at Igor now, she found his victorious figure really domineering and attractive.
The way he stood, the way he smiled, his strong hands—imagining the power they held and the gentleness they were capable of.
She could not help but notice his broad shoulders and the way his eyes sparkled like the morning sun over the enchanted forest.
It was obvious; she was head over heels for Igor. However, she shook her head, dismissing the notion, but her body language spoke the truth.