At each evolution, the grimoire unlocks a characteristic.
If the summoners can control their grimoire by telekinesis when it reaches the iron-rank, those who possess silver-rank grimoires also enjoy an additional advantage.
This advantage is the manifestation of a shield. A protective shield that can be manifested by the host of a silver-rank grimoire.
These shields are known to be indestructible, no matter how powerful the enemy could be.
However, this impregnable defense only lasts five minutes before collapsing.
In addition to this disadvantage, it has two others, one of which is the cooldown.
Even if the author turns off the shield before five minutes, it must wait an entire day to reactivate it.
Therefore, holders of silver-rank grimoires and above only activate this skill once their lives are truly threatened.
As for the last disadvantage, this only applies to holders of silver-rank grimoires.
Once the shield is active, the author cannot move from his place, otherwise, the shield will collapse instantly.
--
Standing in this shield, Valtus knew that only one choice was available to him.
This choice was none other than to use his runestone to alert his teammates.
-HISSSS!!!
He stared at the two-headed snake with black scales crawling around him with anxiety.
As he suspected, this mutant beast was on a whole other level compared to wild boars.
Its body was about twenty meters long and the existence of a second head meant that this creature had transcended the limits of its kind, becoming a terrifying creature.
However, even if the choice seemed obvious, doubt persisted in his heart, pushing him to look for another solution that could help him complete his mission without the intervention of others.
His pride as a warrior was at stake and would be greatly tainted if he called for help.
Because calling for help was tantamount to announcing his failure in his mission. A mission similar to those his two other teammates weaker than him are carrying out right now.
'Fuck, what are you thinking, Valtus!? It's your life that's at stake here. If I don't make up my mind soon, the others will be in danger if they come looking for me here without knowing the danger.' He growls, slapping his cheeks with both hands.
It was whether he wanted to convince himself or find a valid excuse to justify his failure.
Regardless, before he decided, the talisman in his pocket automatically activated as soon as it resonated with the energy of his shield.
The sudden light of the talisman surprised him for a while before he understood what was happening.
Afterward, he helplessly shook his head. "Since the worst has already happened, I must now do my best to survive until they come."
As for his enemy, after several seconds of observation to find a flaw to exploit but without success, finally took action.
He surrounded Valtus with its massive body to block all his escape routes before starting to spit a cloud of viscous black smoke above him.
Being in his shield, Valtus only frowned at the two-headed serpent without daring to move even an iota.
Currently, he had nothing to fear from its assaults, the shield of the grimoires is known to be an impenetrable defense against all types of attacks.
That said, for how long?
Time was against him, unlike his enemy who seemed patient.
A little further away from them, just about forty meters away, dozens of wild boars were already there.
However, no wild boar among this small pack had yet dared to approach them.
They watched the snake and Valtus from afar, without even daring to growl as before.
They watched them like spectators or prey waiting for the right opportunity to attack both.
All this was not reassuring for Valtus.
'If the leader of the wild boars shows up here, a fight between two beasts is very likely to start. With a little luck, I could take advantage of this opportunity to flee.'
With this new hope, he remains patient in his shield, waiting for that glimmer of uncertain hope.
--
To the west, still, in the same area assigned to William's little squad, the last member of the small band was running at full speed in the forest without worrying about being noticed by the wild beasts.
Her restless eyes were fixed on her amulet which pointed in a specific direction.
'That's the first time I've seen Valtus use his amulet. Damn it! Why did Captain William assign him such a dangerous area? Does he want to eliminate him just to get revenge on him?'
All sorts of questions were jostling in her little head as she lost her cool every moment.
Even though she knew she was weaker than Valtus and that she might be more of a burden to him than a help, it was better than staying there without doing anything.
After a while, she used her grimoire which floated in front of her before a creature similar to a fairy displayed on her shoulder.
Its size was no more than thirty centimeters and had butterfly wings that were huge compared to its size, and golden hair.
However, a greenish halo surrounded it, preventing its face from being exposed.
"Sylph, use the speed skill, Wind Blessing!" Ciel ordered instantly without even peeking at the spirit on her shoulder.
The next second, a strong, yet harmless draft enveloped her entirely.
Gradually, the entire draft condensed under her feet and increased her speed to an incredulous level.
'I hope I get there on time.' She repeated this sentence to herself every two seconds like a scratched disc.
After leaving her territory, she arrived in an area that was assigned to Mystic.
Since she and Valtus were exploring the Northeast and Northwest, only the center and North remained to venture deeper into the forest.
Considering that the further one ventures into the forest, the more danger there will be, William took care of the North, leaving the center to Mystic.
Therefore, to reach Valtus' position, Ciel had no other option but to go through the center.
Regardless, due to her thoughts being entirely focused on Valtus, she didn't even notice that she was already in Mystic's assigned territory, much less feeling the latter's presence behind her.
The latter was like a shadow behind her, stealthily following her without being spotted by her.
"At first, I didn't want to get involved in this matter. But if this is a test to gauge our camaraderie, I'll be the one who will have to bear the reproaches of our captain." She mumbles to herself while frowning in doubt.
"[It's also possible that your comrade is in danger. If that's the case, what can we do against enemies that forced a second-order summoner to call for help?]"
Devon, who was also following his master without being left behind, also puts forward his hypothesis.
Mystic briefly looks behind her before focusing on Ciel who is no longer paying attention to the surroundings.
Although Mystic could see enemies behind them, she didn't bother to warn Devon.
'Tsk, Because of her, we were spotted by mutant beasts. I don't know if she's confident in her speed, or just too concerned about the other guy's life, in either case, she'll just slow us down if she makes so much noise.' She mumbles, feeling the worst coming.
To be prepared for any eventuality, she whispers her instructions to Devon.
"Stay on your guard, this fellow is going to cause us trouble soon."
Hearing her instructions, Devon nods.
He looks behind him, gauging the power of the three deer whose hides were covered in fur as thick as that of arctic wolves.
'These three deers are advanced-rank, no matter how fast they are, they will have a hard time catching up with us. But if a higher rank beast shows up, I have to take it down in one shot before it slows us down.'
With this decision, he materializes his crossbow with dozens of arrows.
'Unlike the black needles I used in the dungeon, the crossbow allows me to better adjust my shots.'
To cover more area, he deemed it necessary to prioritize long-range attacks.
Noticing that Devon was ready, Mystic smiled and accelerated to catch up with Ciel.
Devon meanwhile maintained the same distance between them, waving like a bodyguard lurking in the shadow.
After getting close enough to her, up to two meters, Mystic talked to Ciel.
"Ciel, it's not reasonable to run like this."
-!
Mystic's sudden voice echoing behind her like a ghost alarmed her to the point that she almost attacked her right away.
But upon identifying her teammate, she lowered her scepter. "Huh? Is that you? Since when do you..."
Before she finished her sentence, Mystic replied. "I know the situation is urgent, but we have to be careful if we don't want to lead all those beasts that are after us to Valtus."
"...Beasts?" She asked in a confused tone.
The next moment, she looked behind Mystic.
Her eyes widened at the sight of Devon leading three deer towards them. That was how she interpreted the situation when she saw Devon being chased by three mutant deers.
However, before she understood the situation as a whole, she felt threatened when she saw Devon pointing her crossbow at her and firing an arrow at her!
-!!
Between her surprise and the incredible speed accompanying Devon's arrow, she had a hard time switching her direction.
'Fuck!' She screamed in her mind as she focused all her power on her ankles to leap out of the path of Devon's arrow.
However, before she could execute her move, Devon's arrow flew above her shoulder, missing her an inch.
Taking advantage of this chance, she stopped running to Valtus' aid, prioritizing neutralizing her enemy.
She then hastily raised her wand to blow Devon with a long-range spell before he could attack her again.
However, Mystic accelerated towards her and grabbed her hand before she activated her spell.
"What the fuck are you doing!?" She yelled at Mystic without taking her eyes off her enemy, Devon.
"Calm down, he wasn't targeting you."
Hearing Mystic speak as if she could communicate with beasts, she became more than irritated.
Due to Mytic's action, Devon got close enough to them in less than three meters.
The worst thing for Ciel was to realize that Devon had armed his crossbow with a new arrow in record time!
But against all her expectations, Devon did not target her but turned back to the three deer without worrying about her anymore.
And the next second, Devon fired three arrows at the same time towards the three deer!
The most impressive thing for Ciel was seeing the unrealistic precision Devon achieved despite the complexity of his attack.
At the same time, Mystic's silhouette flashed before her eyes before appearing five meters in front followed by an agony cry from a beast she didn't yet noticed.
Due to all these strange and conflicting events, Ciel took a great leap to the nearby tree to regain control of her turbulent mind.
Even though she didn't fully understand the situation, she saw Devon get rid of the three deer that were chasing them.
Connecting this to Mystic's actions, her eyes instinctively moved to Mystic's location.
To her dismay, she saw the latter withdraw her sword from the chest of the corpse of a boar she had just killed.
Furthermore, she could see Devon's first arrow embedded in the thigh of that same boar.
Gradually, the pieces of the puzzle came to gather in her mind as she understood the situation.
"I wasn't its target?" It was only now that she understood what Mystic meant when she said those words.