Chapter 724 Leaving for the Manticore Hunt
?By the end of the group's third day in the cave where the cyan pentagram had appeared, everyone in Vicente's group had completed their cultivation.
Those who didn't advance had developed their powers, and Casey and Sarah had completed their progress to the level of Sky Sovereigns.
Now the entire group, except for those at the 5th stage, was at the last level of the 4th stage!
Even those who hadn't advanced because they had improved their strength recently could take advantage of the 3 days of peaceful cultivation after the battle with the Behemoth.
Vicente could now turn ordinary areas into special cultivation grounds for 4th-stage beings. But the place where they had spent those days was no ordinary place. By taking turns with their new abilities, the place had further stimulated the cultivation of Vicente's five human companions.
This time was also enough for Torne to finish recovering from the exhaustion of the previous battle.
After everyone had finished recovering their strength, Vicente gathered the group that evening to plan their next steps, reunite his people with the werewolf, and discuss their next target.
An early 6th stage Manticore!
The werewolf told Vicente's companions what it had told him earlier and listened to the skills available in this group.
Together, they planned how to act and what to avoid in the upcoming battle.
The enemy was only a few hours away from the group, so it wouldn't be long before they were involved in another battle against a Beginner Archmage!
The group prepared well, with Vicente explaining to his people the new capabilities of the robot armor and some of their artifacts.
The five magicians took the night to adjust to the extra powers their armor or artifacts would give them, determined to set out in search of the enemy at dawn.
...
By dawn, Vicente's five human companions had eager looks on their faces, full of the desire to fight after experiencing the changes in their armor.
To say they were changed was an understatement. It was as if Vicente had reinvented every part of his design, taking it to such an absurd level that the armor seemed to be a living being rather than mere objects.
When they wore them, the five of them were now completely certain that they could fight at a level similar to Low-level Paragons, but not necessarily just any Low-level Paragon, but a talented being close to becoming a Mid-level Paragon!
This was something incredible for all of them, something that would give them not only attack and movement power but also more solid defense than any of their powers could give them.
Seeing Vicente finish his meditation at the beginning of the day, the five were ready to leave.
Vicente walked among the trees in this area of the Valley of Lightning, feeling parts of his body vibrate as small blue rays shot out from them.
The area was truly perfect for practitioners with an affinity for the lightning element. He had only been meditating, but he felt as if he had "recharged his batteries" to a level beyond what he could normally go.
He said as he saw his companions eating and drinking. "Are you ready? Let's get on with our mission. If all goes well, we'll find our target at dawn tomorrow."
The werewolf, now dressed in a hood to protect it from the daylight, stood up, more anxious than anyone else, for this was the glorious moment of its life.
"Follow me," it said as it took the lead and made its way under the branches of the large trees in the area, the group following behind it without haste or delay.
As they set off, Rory asked Vicente. "Are we going after another pentagram after this hunt? You have four spaces to fill in your second magical form."
The others were curious as well and looked at Vicente to hear his answer.
"No. As interesting as it would be for me to add as many pentagrams as possible to my second magical form, the truth is that it can be quite difficult, time consuming and conspicuous," he said, without explaining some details about the fact that he was mainly targeting naturally formed essences.
"We've been away from home for several months now. There's a long way to go before we return, with necessary stops for our future preparations. If we go on a big hunt now, we may not return in time to help our family deal with the worst of the crisis."
"So you want to go after Lauren after absorbing the pentagram created by Manticora?" Rory asked.
"Yes. Depending on the situation in Nixlas' Shadows, we could return home in two or three months," Vicente confirmed, making his companions even more excited.
As much as the cultivation opportunities in the continent's north were incredible, they all wanted to return home, enjoy some progress, and help their families.
None of them were expected to become Paragons in the short term, so it would be a long time before they needed new pentagrams. Returning was what everyone there wanted most, despite all the strengthening they had undergone during these months of hunting.
"Nixlas' Shadows, huh?" the werewolf murmured when it heard that. "Are you related to them?"
Vicente said to the creature leading them. "They took my older sister years ago. I want to save her."
"That's how Nixlas' Shadows work. They take newly awakened magicians with elements of the Dark Path as soon as they become aware of it. But that's not the worst thing about them. The worst thing is their alliance with vampires."
"What?" Lina exclaimed in surprise, not expecting to hear something like that now.
"You didn't know that?" The werewolf laughed bitterly. "Nixlas' Shadows is just another organization of magicians who allied themselves with vampires even before The Purification. Some even say that the Temple Master of the Congregation of Revelations, who led his religion into a war of extermination against the Dark Path magicians, was an ally of the vampires."
"That can't be true!" Layla didn't like what she heard. "From what we've already discovered, the vampires dealt a fatal blow to the Congregation of Revelations. How could they be allies if they did that?"
"As I said, the former Temple Master was the one who supposedly had a relationship with the vampires. But he disappeared about 2,000 years ago, around the time the most recent Temple Master took over the temple. But maybe this may just be an unfounded rumor. However, it is a fact that Nixlas' Shadow is with the vampires." This creature confirmed what it had already said, speaking with unwavering firmness.
"If that's the case, then things on the continent could be even worse than we imagined," Torne commented to the group as he emerged from Vicente's body. "Perhaps other sects and clans of the Dark Path have betrayed humanity, master. In that case, it will be much more difficult for us to deal with the current crisis, as well as to rescue young Lauren!"
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