Almond, Lily, and Natalia stood up while Alfred also became combat-ready.
The group of six adventurers seemed to be from an academy in another city, and they also became alert when they saw Almond and others.
"Relax, I thought there were bears here," the leading man with light red spiky hair said with a dry chuckle as he raised his hand holding the sword.
"Then go back," Almond plainly said.
"Yeah."
That group also didn't want to bother fighting against other Adventurers. Usually, nobody would fight without a reason because if a fight occurred between two groups of similar levels, it would result in casualties from both sides.
After resting for a few minutes, the gang began exploring once again to find bears and kill them.
Half an hour later, the three of them had reached Silver-rank level 3, and their progression in the 1st Specialized Class Quest reached halfway.
All of them had killed 25 or more monsters so far.
After advancement to Silver rank, they started at level 0, so reaching level 3 granted them nine stat points.
Alfred finished his Advancement quest and reached Silver rank level 1 as well, gaining 30 stat points total as he became more powerful.
[Spirit Wraith—Alfred]
-Rank: Silver
-Level: 1
-Stats:
—Physical:
↳[Strength: 25 | Health: 23 | Stamina: 23]
—Mental:
↳[Mana: 25 | Focus: 23 | Perception: 25]
Almond found it slightly funny that Alfred was stronger than him stat-wise if he didn't count the 30 bonus Mana stat he had thanks to his Class perk.
[Almond]
-Adventurer rank: Silver.
-Level: 3
-Class: Spirit Dealer (SS)
-[Vitality: 100%]
-[Mana: 500/500]
-Stats: 0 unassigned points
—Physical:
↳[Strength: 31 | Health: 20 | Stamina: 20]
—Mental:
↳[Mana: 20 (+30) | Focus: 25 | Perception: 24.5]
In the end, they didn't encounter that Thunderfire Guild group again but encountered two other groups. Those encounters ended with peace, as nobody wanted to fight.
There was no point in farming here anymore as they had reached level 3, on top of that, all of the bears were killed by multiple groups who were exploring. They would respawn tomorrow, so it was time to enter the new area.
"The night will come soon. We'll camp somewhere in the Shimmering Fen," Almond said.
"Yeah, that area is best. The fog covers it all day and night, and the area has a low amount of trees and is open with various plants and flowers of Bronze rank and rarely some silver ranks," Lily nodded. "I have a magic camp kit that can make a good spot for us to rest."
They couldn't harvest any Willowbee Nectar Pools because it was a Bronze-rank area, and many guilds usually sent their higher-rank Adventurers daily while Labyrinth remained activated so they could go and farm the nectar since those could be used to make healing potions.
However, the Shimmering Fen was a different story. It was an area of Silver-rank level 3 to 5, along with a Field Boss—Silver rank level 5, Maddening Beaver—who roamed around and targetted higher level Adventurers.
Since it stayed burrowed and traveled through the ground, it could pop out at any time. If a group of Silver rank level 3 rested there, it wouldn't target them but instead go for Silver rank level 4 or 5 if there were any.
And there were bound to be many groups there because that area was vast and good for camping and resting.
The evening had already descended, so it was time to find a spot to rest before the night.
Naturally, a few groups already planned to camp in this Cavern of Glassblaze Bears as there were many passages, and one could take a corner and build camp before taking a rest and keeping a watch turn by one.
…
Almond and the gang arrived at the northern exit and left, but the moment they emerged, a group was standing twenty meters away under a tree as if waiting.
"Hehe, so that's your group, huh? We saw some destroyed Willowbee Hives on our way out of that area, so I figured you would be with your group and might exit here," Zoren spoke, a nasty sneer plastered on his face.
The three young adventurers who were new recruits of Thunderbird Guild behind Zoren pointed their weapons at them, nervous and unwilling.
Meanwhile, the Knight's expression was indifferent or rather dead, as he pointed his sword at them. "If you could send that lady over here, we won't need to shed your blood."
"Are you serious?" Lily narrowed her as she took out her bow and nocked an arrow, a rather special arrow that Almond's Spirit Factory crafted from Glassblaze Bear Spirits.
It could explode in a 2-meter radius upon exploding and cover the area in flames if the area had greenery or woods.
Natalia held a towering Glass Shield and also had a Lava Crystal Chest plate for her defense while holding a wand in her other hand.
Alfred had a Round Glass Shield and a Glass Bone Sword made from the Spirit Factory as well, ready for combat.
As for Almond, he only kept the Rare-grade sword in his hand as that was enough.
'All of those items are Uncommon-rank…and that Chest Plate is Rare-rank? How did they get those?' Henry frowned seeing their items.
'And that guy also got the rare Preying Hunter's Sword. So this group was the one who killed it.'
He had a premonition that this wasn't going to go as well as he and his shitty young master thought.
"I have a proposal," Almond suddenly said, his eyes flashing disgust as he glanced at Zoren before turning to the Knight.
"Those three fellows don't seem to be willing to throw their lives away for this, and you… never mind. Anyway, if you are the source of confidence for that piece of trash, then how about we duel and settle this without involving others?"
"Huh?" Zoren was stunned before he started laughing. "You think you can do anything to us?"
Taking out a scroll, he infused Mana as it vanished and created a five-meter radius ring, buffing everyone within as their defense increased.
"That's not going to help you much," Lily snorted as she also took out the same-looking buff scroll and buffed the group.
"Really, but do you have this?" Zoren sneered as he took out a scroll, but it was black with dark yellow patterns and oozed out the same colored aura.
"That…" Lily's eyes turned somber.
Almond also recognized it, his eyes flashing a dark glint. 'This piece of trash…'