Geriya scooped up a handful of desert sand and threw it at Hastora.
Fsst!
Hastora turned his head slightly, "What was that for?"
"You deserve it!" Geriya yelled, full of anger.
Hastora sighed, "Waste of time. I'm leaving... Take care of yourselves."
Hastora walked away, leaving the three of them in the middle of the desert. It was all for his purpose; he wouldn't be able to complete the mission Viktor gave him if he stayed with them.
However, it seemed the three of them didn't give up. They followed him from behind, led by Valeska.
"Don't follow me anymore," Hastora said slightly annoyed.
"We won't. We'll follow you wherever you go," Valeska replied.
"How long will you keep following me?" Hastora asked.
"Until you agree to work with us to complete this test," Valeska replied, her voice without a hint of anger.
It's useless to entertain them. Hastora walked aimlessly in the desert, hoping to tire the three of them out.
That way, they wouldn't follow him anymore. His biggest obstacle right now was them. His secret mission would be exposed if they came with him.
Hastora had been walking aimlessly for ten minutes. However, the three of them were still following him.
Sweat soaked his entire body, their steps slowed down by the scorching sun.
Hastora muttered, "Just a little more" He continued to walk aimlessly around the desert.
On the way, several monsters appeared right in front of them. They were only a few meters away.
They were covered in a sandstorm. Slowly, the sandstorm began to subside—revealing three Dunststalker Mantis flying in the air.
Hastora drew the sword he had hidden in his shadow.
"Get ready," he said, trying to tell the four girls about the situation, whether they understood.
"Preparation? For what?" Renia asked curiously.
Apparently the girls didn't understand what Hastora meant.
"Stupid," Hastora mocked Renia, who couldn't even understand something so simple.
Twenty thousand years ago, the word "prepare"—uttered when someone drew a weapon—signaled a situation when an attack or danger was imminent.
However, it seems that is no longer the case in this era. Maybe... People in this era use other ways to silently warn of danger. It was very different from twenty thousand years ago.
Hastora regretted meeting the four of them a little. Meeting them was one of his biggest distractions right now.
The Dunststalker Mantis seemed to detect the magical energy around them. One of the Dunststalker Mantis flew higher—trying to find the source of the magical energy.
Hastora sighed, there was no other way. When the Dunststalker Mantis detected magical energy, they would soon find the source of that energy.
Running was no use; it would only make the Dunststalker Mantis easier to detect them.
Hastora muttered, "No other way."
He coated his sword with a dark and dark black aura, with a hint of dark red—and ran quickly towards the monster.
"Where are you going!" Gisella yelled.
Hastora heard Gisella's yell, but he didn't care. He intended to use the current situation to separate himself from the four of them.
"Dark Swordsmanship level two,
Hastora jumped high towards the monsters. His sword attack landed on one of the Dunststalker Mantis flying there.
A black storm was created by the slash of his sword. The black storm spun violently like a tornado, carrying the sand around it.
The strong whirlwind obscured their vision. Hastora took advantage of that moment to escape. He immediately ran away leaving the four of them there.
"That's powerful... I can't see," said Renia, her vision blurry.
"Don't let Hastora escape. That's the most important thing now," said Valeska.
After a while, the dark storm gradually subsided—leaving the swirling sand in the air.
"Let's go there," Valeska suggested, running to where the dark storm had just occurred.
When they arrived, she didn't see any trace of Hastora. All that was there were the legs and wings of the Dunststalker Mantis there, which made Geriya angry and even more angry.
"Damn bastard!" Geriya yelled, venting all her anger through that yell.
"Calm down Geriya, don't be noisy," Gisella said trying to calm Geriya who was filled with anger.
"That man is a bastard. I've known it since the first time I saw him," Geriya replied, her face flushed with anger.
"Just forget about it, Geriya. Let that man go, we'll finish this test together," said Valeska, trying to ease Geriya's anger.
"Well then, let's go. Follow me," Valeska stepped forward, continuing their journey to find the monster.
Seeing Valeska move, the other three girls followed her from behind. The four of them searched for monsters together, led by Valeska.
...
Behind a large sand dune.
"I did it."
Hastora sat for a moment behind the large sand dune in the middle of the desert.
He started to feel a little tired from being constantly exposed to the sun.
His throat was dry, his legs ached, his whole body was hot.
However, he got up immediately. He had to find the Giant Ant quickly to take its heart.
He walked away from that place. Despite being tired, his steps were still fast and strong.
After walking for five minutes, he saw a cave in the middle of the desert.
It caught his attention, he turned and walked towards the cave.
Upon arriving there, he was a little amazed by the beauty of the cave.
Inside it was a medium-sized pool of water. There were also pieces of gold and diamonds.
Feeling thirsty, Hastora stepped into the cave.
The inside of the cave was very cold, in stark contrast to the outside.
The heat from the sun could not affect the temperature inside the cave.
Hastora created cup through the darkness.
He took water from the pool and drank it.
Instantly the thirst that gnawed at his throat disappeared.
"Refreshing," he said.
Hastora took more water from the pool and drank it.
He did this over and over again until his thirst was completely gone.
After drinking, he lay down on the pile of diamonds there.
Trying to relieve his fatigue while gathering his strength again.
"Giant Ant. It's a little hard to find that monster," he muttered.
Giant Ants are rarely found in the desert; they usually live around tall rocks.
Tall rocks are also very difficult to find in the desert.
This is because tall rocks can only be found in rocky areas in the middle of the desert.
"I have to hurry."
There was no time to rest. Hastora got up, before leaving—he took more water from the pool by taking advantage of the darkness.
This desert is really hot, he'll get thirsty again.
Feeling enough, Hastora stored the water he had taken earlier into his shadow.
He also took all the gold and diamonds that were in the cave before stepping out leaving the cave.
The sunlight stung his body again, his body started to sweat again.
However, that didn't stop him. He continued walking to continue his journey.
...
The longer he walked, the hotter the sun he felt—hotter than before.
His steps began to weaken, his energy began to drain.
Hastora took a little of the water he had taken from the cave earlier and drank it.
After drinking, he continued his journey to find a rocky place.
...
On the other side, Valeska and her friends are currently fighting against several monsters.
The monster is a Cinderfang Jackal. They attacked Valeska and her friends in groups.
They attacked using their sharp claws and their hot, fiery bites.
"Finish them off," said Valeska.
Valeska released her aura, a wave like a blizzard blew violently.
The group of Cinderfang Jackal was instantly frozen by Valeska's aura.
They became ice statues that could shatter at any moment.
"Renia. I leave it to you," she ordered.
"Okay."
Renia gathered mana in her hand. The yellow energy spun rapidly.
"Volt Requiem"
Lightning attacks like waves that are like a symphony of destruction shot towards the Cinderfang Jackal that had become ice statues.
ZRAAAK-BOOM!!
The ice statues shattered instantly—leaving no small pieces behind.
"How many monsters have we killed?" Gisella asked curiously.
"Maybe... Eight?" Geriya replied.
Valeska frowned.
"This is still a little. Let's kill more."
Valeska and her friends continued their journey.
They walked further, looking for more monsters to kill.
...
In the middle of the desert.
"It's so hot"
Sweat soaked Hastora's entire body, his clothes were wet from sweat.
However, it wouldn't make him give up his intention to find a rocky place.
He clenched both his arms, gathering all the energy there was.
His steps became stronger and faster.
"Ughhh... I... I... "
As Hastora tried to endure the fatigue from being exposed to the sun.
He saw something glittering in the middle of the desert.
"What is that?" he asked.
He quickly ran towards the glitter, his curiosity was aroused.
Upon arriving there, there was a pile of diamonds and emeralds lying in the middle of the desert.
Hastora took it. He put it into the shadow.
He looked ahead.
"I'm lucky".
There seemed to be a lot of large and tall rocks in front of him.
The rocks were made of various colors.
There were yellow, green, blue, red, purple, brown, gray, and glittering white colors there.
Hastora ran towards the rocks.
It wasn't an ordinary rock, it was a gemstone.
Hastora smiled thinly.
"I'm rich".
He created a sword through the darkness, then slashed all the rocks in one slash.
Krrash!
The gemstones cracked and shattered, leaving small fragments behind.
"Successful".
Hastora created a giant dark hand, then took all the gems in one grab.
The gemstones felt like they were releasing magical energy.
Hastora was very sure of it, his magical energy resonated with the magical energy of the gemstones.
"I'll sell this on the black market".
He put all the gemstones into the shadow.
He was lucky.
After storing all the gemstones, he continued his journey.
Not long after, he saw another large rock that was not far from where the gemstones were.
Hastora ran towards the rocks.
Upon arriving there, large rocks stood in front of him.
This time it wasn't a gemstone, but a pebble with a large size.
Hastora raised his eyebrows.
"I think this is the place".
He stepped into the place where the rocks were.
It felt quiet there.
But, even though it felt quiet, he felt the magical energy from behind the large rocks there.
Without thinking twice, Hastora immediately stepped in further.
"... "
After going deeper, he saw a group of Giant Ants standing behind the large rocks.
The magical energy he felt before came from the Giant Ant there.
The energy they emitted was the same, it could not be denied.
Hastora smiled slightly.
"You're having fun, aren't you?"
He gathered a large amount of mana in his hand.
The pitch black energy swirled, then created ten giant dark chains.
The dark chains were launched towards the group of Giant Ants standing there. And...
Shhhk—chlak!
the sound of dark chains appeared and wrapped suddenly.
The Giant Ants entangled by the dark chains could not move anywhere.
"Gotcha".
Hastora walked casually towards the group of Giant Ants.
Upon arriving there, he coated his sword with an aura.
"Goodbye".
He beheaded the Giant Ants one by one.
Fresh green blood flowed profusely.
Then, he cut open the Giant Ant's abdomen to take its heart.
"I got a lot".
He got four Giant Ant hearts, that was enough.
Hastora put all the Giant Ant hearts into the shadow.
Then he stepped out of the place where the rocks were before the other monsters detected him.
To be continued in the next chapter…