“Okay, so the plan is we wait here until the beasts arrive and fall asleep, then we attack them,” Mia said after a lot of thinking in her mind. This was a less risky approach compared to facing the two beast’s head on. She wanted no one to get injured on her first mission as a leader.

Xander agreed with Mia while Emilia thought about the plan in her head. Mia looked towards Leo who said “Your plan won’t work what if while we are about to attack they wake up? Also, what if this is not their only base? We could be waiting for days if that is the case.”

“But based on the reports all the killings have happened here so doesn’t that confirm this is their only base?” Said Mia showing the handwritten report.

“This place could be where the two beasts bring their victims to kill them, but that doesn’t mean this is the only place they could have other places,” Replied Leo.

Mia knew what Leo said could be true, however, the report had no information regarding any other places the two beasts used.

“What if we combine both ideas? We can survey the surrounding area for places where the two beasts could hide, but we won’t go too far away from the crater,” Suggested Emilia.

“Yes, that is a good idea, but for that to work properly we will need to divide into two groups,” Said Mia as she scanned the three.

“Leo and Emilia should be in separate teams since both are water element users, so that means me and Leo will be in one team and you two will be in the other,” Said Mia pointing with her two fingers at Emilia and Xander.

Xander was not feeling too well he had contributed nothing to the plan Emilia’s words echoed in his mind ‘Xander you need to stop acting like a fool,’ He tried to keep his head low.

Mia suddenly remembered something and looked in her bag after searching for it, she took out two stone-like objects. They had carvings on the surface and were red.

“These are ‘Location Stones’ both are infused with a special light magic which allows them to find each other as long as they are within a certain distance from each other,” Said Mia as she gave one to Emilia “Infuse it with your element to activate it as soon as you locate the beasts but remember don’t get too far away from the crater.”

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“Remember the two beasts have white skin with black stripes and red eyes. They are intelligent and aggressive at the same time, so don’t let your guard down always be on the lookout,” Said Mia as the two groups went the opposite direction.

—-

After 15 minutes of searching Leo and Mia found nothing. They ran into level 1 beasts, but that was all there was no sign of any level 2 ones.

“Do you think they ran into the beasts, but can’t contact us since we are far away?” Mia asked as she stroked her nape.

“We would have heard sounds if that was the case since it’s so silent here,” Said Leo as he moved his attention from a level 1 beast in the distance.

Mia relaxed a little after hearing this she did not want her first mission to be a failure and have casualties.

The plants covered the entire area, however, none of them had any life. All the plants were brown and looked like they could fall apart at any moment.

As they walked, a pungent smell came into their nose. When Mia looked at the source, she saw a Brown-Striped Tiger lying near a tree with its intestines and heart lying outside it. Flies gathered around the carcass. Mia covered her nose as she moved faster away from the carcass.

Leo took one more look at it. He saw the dead beast’s paw prints and a trail of blood, however, there was nothing else. Leo guessed the beasts could have been severely injured, but escaped somehow and reached this place where it eventually died. As for the spilled out intestines and heart that could result from birds trying to eat its meat.

The area they were in had a lot fewer trees compared to the other areas brimming with wildlife. Not huge beasts, but small insects and birds of all shapes, sizes, and colors. This was surprising since all the flora in the area were almost dead.

There was a bird with four wings green and a slim light red body called The Four-Winged Macaw. Then another with a long head and golden beak called The Golden Beak Parrot. It kept saying the word ‘Dumb Macaw’ repeatedly as three of them chased The Four-Winged Macaw. Mia chuckled, seeing this.

Leo got the name of these birds from Mia who was very enthusiastic about giving names of the birds to Leo.

“You see that bird over there?” Mia asked as she pointed towards a white bird with two black lines circling its neck “That bird is the reason for all the plants in the area dying it sucks all the nutrients the plants have.”

As they kept on walking a huge explosion went off in the distance. The exact moment the explosion went off Mia’s ‘Location Stone’ shined lightly. Mia rushed off towards the direction from which the explosion came.

After 3 minutes of running Mia finally reached the location.

Xander was lying on the ground with his back against a tree as he held his right arm tightly. A great deal of blood surrounded Xander and also covered his clothes. Emilia stood in front of Xander with her sword firmly held in her hands as an armor made of water covered her body. She had a line that ran along her cheek filled with blood.

Two beasts stood in front. White skin with black stripes, eyes red like blood also claws and teeth as sharp as a dagger. When Mia they saw Mia, one of them turned its attention to Mia as it roared, which made birds in the area fly off into the sky from fear.