"Wolf, what's wrong?" Reign asked after he and the others left the Treant territory. Wolf was evidently anxious because of something and urged them to get out as soon as possible.
"That Treant, it's not a Tier II being, it can't be, the aura it let off, the conviction behind its voice, it's probably Tier III or higher, I just know it," Wolf said as he glanced back at the Treant territory, evidently happy that they had left.
"Tier III or higher, how, how could he be so strong, no other monster here is even close to that," Shadow said as he stared at Wolf with a curious expression.
"I know, it's just, it's just a feeling I got, it was as if it could destroy us with a simple swipe if it wanted to," Wolf said before staring at Reign.
"You felt it too right, something about that thing just wasn't right."
Reign looked at Wolf before glancing back at the Treant territory.
"Yeah, I did get a weird feeling from it, plus the mana it exuded was definitely not normal, it was beyond the Tier II monsters that were in the arena even, I thought that it was maybe like a boss-ranked monster or something, but you might be right." Reign said as he nodded at Wolf.
"It doesn't matter, we're already out of that place, we have to focus, scouting the other 5 areas and figuring out which monster we should target first is our top priority right now," Wolf said as he shook his head before staring at them with a calm expression.
"Yeah." Reign and the others nodded at him before walking away from the area.
Inside the forest.
The old Treant stared in the direction of Reign and the others. A subtle glint passed through his spiritual eyes before he focused on the birds on the top of his hand.
"A keen one, the blonde boy, he could sense that I was hiding my power." The Treant spoke as he seemingly smiled at the birds before lowering his hand and putting it down on the ground.
The birds flew away from the hand before flying on the branches that decorated his head.
"I am sympathetic to them, but even if I wanted to, the system would definitely not allow me to help them, they will have to face the challenge by themselves." The Treant spoke again before closing his eyes and going to sleep once again.
The feeling Wolf had was right, the Treant truly was more powerful than any monster on the mountain. It was the reason why the other monsters, even though they were all hostile to the Treants and hated them, didn't dare attack them.
The monsters could all feel the incredible power that was emanating from deep inside the forest, a power so large that it would be enough for it to destroy them all with ease. The powerful Tier II monsters dared not get close as they could sense that only death would await them.
As for Reign and the others, they were currently observing the territory of a Tier II monster.
They had come close to the territory before and even fought in it a couple of times, but they never dared to go deeper in as they knew that a powerful Tier II monster would be waiting for them there.
They carefully walked through the territory, trying their best to evade any monsters that would show up. They were mostly successful, but there were times when they were forced to fight. Luckily, all of them were much more powerful than the monsters and they were able to quickly kill them and not make any loud noises.
All of them were silent and walked carefully before they suddenly stopped. Reign and Shadow were the only ones that continued forward as they were designated as scouts since they were the fastest.
Shadow was the one that would get really close if there was any need to do so. His ability made it hard for enemies to notice him, and even though it was daytime, he could still use the shadows to blend in and hide.
The two only had to walk for about 300 meters before they were able to spot the Tier II monster. It was an easy job, spotting the monster since it was much larger compared to the other ones nearby.
Its fur was pitch-black and the height of the monster was about 4 meters. Its long body was currently perched on a huge rock while it basked in the sunlight. The monster was surrounded by about 20 of its brethren, all of which were about level 90.
The claws of the monster glimmered dangerously in the sunlight while its sharp fangs protruded out from its mouth. Its eyes were closed and it seemed to be sleeping, but Shadow could still sense a dangerous aura coming from it.
Reign stared at the monster before patting Shadow's shoulder and pointing back. It was enough, he had already been able to sense the monster's mana and it would be enough for him to compare it with the other Tier II monsters.
As the two went back to Wolf and the others, they motioned for them to turn around and start making their way back as the mission was successful. Upon leaving the territory and getting away from it, Shadow was the first one to speak out.
"Damn it, why did it have to be a freaking wolf again, why do we keep coming across wolves all the damn time?!" Shadow shouted in fury as yes, you have guessed it, the Tier II monster they had just seen was a huge wolf.
The others all stared at Shadow as he was having his mini-mental breakdown.
Wolf came to Reign and started a conversation.
"So, how strong is it?"
"Well, compared to the Treant?"
"Not even close, to be honest, but it's still more powerful than the tiger from what I could sense, it won't be easy taking it down, especially not with all of those wolves around it." Reign said as Wolf nodded before turning around.
"Alright guys, we're going to the next location," Wolf said as the others all nodded and Tank patted Shadow on the shoulder before moving with him.
The party spent most of the day going around the mountain and entering the territories of the Tier II monsters.
The Tier II monsters were all of the similar strengths.
They came across a giant lizard that was sunbathing on a giant rock by itself. Compared to other Tier II monsters, it didn't have any monsters near it. The lizard, from what Reign was able to sense, was about the same strength as the wolf, but the tough and durable scales it had would definitely be harder to penetrate compared to the wolf's fur.
Another Tier II monster they came across was a giant tortoise. The tortoise was surrounded by a couple of other tortoises, but there were only about 5 of them nearby.
Each one was huge, however, and their powerful shell would definitely be a headache to break through. The toughest one, of course, was the Tier II tortoise whose height alone was 8 meters, not to mention the thick shell which would take ages to be destroyed.
The fourth Tier II monster they had come across was a bit of a weird one. It was a small fox that was hopping through a small forest on the mountain. The fox was about 1 meter long and seemed to be very fragile.
Its speed was something else though. Even Reign had a hard time following the movement of the fox, and that was just the speed that it used to travel around normally.
They had seen the fox in action during their scouting mission. It had suddenly sped up so that even Reign could only see a blur. The fox appeared next to a Tier I monster and without the monster being able to even respond to it, it simply swiped its claws and decapitated the monster before it started jumping around happily and feasting on its flesh.
The last place they went to was the base of the ash demons. The demons had made their base on a clearing near the top of the mountain. The clearing was completely fortified with wooden walls and they had even created buildings inside of it.
Compared to the other monsters, the demons were definitely the more organized ones. They followed a chain of command, with the Tier II demon being the one at the top.
Reign and the others had a hard time spotting the demon as it was holed up in his office in the center of the base.
After waiting for about 2 hours, they decided to call it quits. No matter how powerful the demon was, it would definitely be the toughest one to take on as there were tens of demons inside the base at any given moment.
They would be the last ones to fall.
For now, Reign and the others had to decide what monster to attack first.
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