"So, how about this area?" asked Alea while running toward the northeast. "This area is filled with Level 51-60 Elite Rank Monsters, so I think this is good for you right now. And it's not too low for me to showcase my ability to you.
"After knowing my fighting style, we will hunt together to find the best pattern we can do as a team. How about it?"
Theo narrowed his eyes and nodded. "Well, the area is only one hour away from the training camp, so I think it's a good place."
"That's good. Let's go then."
The two traveled by foot. Although the journey took a bit longer, they still had an hour left before lunchtime, so Alea offered a suggestion. "I want to find a group of monsters… Probably more than five."
"It's up to you." Theo shrugged as he remembered that Alea managed to kill fifty Elite Rank Bats by herself, albeit the last one almost killed him.
They ran for a while until reaching their destination. Since Theo never came to this place, he was surprised to see the area was a prairie.
"This… Won't it be easy for the monsters to spot us?" asked Theo while scanning the area.
"Yes, but the same applies for both of us. Don't worry. Even though the grass around here reaches our knees, the data has confirmed that no small monsters like a snake or whatever appears, so I think it's relatively safe to rely on our eyes. Of course, I will be spreading my awareness the whole time. You know about it, right?"
"Yes." Theo nodded with a serious expression and noticed a small hill on their right. "How about we climb that hill before lunch? Not only can we get a good grasp of this place, but there are a few buffalos on the way there."
"Alright. Let's go then. I will trust your decision." Alea agreed without hesitation as she started running. "Seven buffalos spotted. You stay here first and watch how I fight, okay?"
Theo nodded while taking out his Skylink to check their status.
Name: Rhino Buffalo
Level: 51-56
A three-horned buffalo powered with speed and power. Don't touch their horns as it is sharp like a spear.
"Hmm…" Theo thought for a moment and stared at the black-skinned buffalos. The two curved horns seemed to be able to pierce his body, but the most dangerous one might be the one in the middle. "The size is the same as a regular buffalo, but…"
Finding Alea coming toward them, the buffalos roared as they made a "V" formation. If Alea leaped to the side, she would just get rammed, so this should be enough to stop her movement.
Instead of changing her direction, she chose to charge toward them.
When he was about to call her a fool, she took one step to the right. The buffalos noticed it and slightly tweaked the direction, so the one in the middle could hit her.
"Too late." Theo clenched his teeth, knowing that Alea didn't have enough time to avoid them.
This was where Alea proved him wrong. She never had any intention to dodge.
After taking that step that completely killed her momentum, she spun her body to regain her balance, aligned herself with the center buffalo and slashed it into two.
"What?!" Theo dropped his jaw. His eyes were wide open. "Did she just fake that movement to throw their balance off and end it with one strike, but why? She could've done it without a fake."
The answer came in the form of action. With them slightly turning to the left, it meant that after killing the first buffalo, the three on the left would be the closest ones to her. After all, they could only continue running according to the direction.
With the back facing Alea and the distance still within Alea's range, she jumped toward them and killed the three in succession with a horizontal slash.
Theo had no word to say as four of them had gone within the first move. Meanwhile, the other three tried to escape from Alea, knowing their disparity.
Unfortunately for them, Alea's power was far too great as she caught up in a few seconds and killed them one by one.
The grasses around them were smeared with their blood, dying this place with red paint.
She didn't even use magic or any special technique. It only took her one fake move to end this fight.
Alea smiled and swung her sword once to get rid of the blood before sheathing her sword. Turning around, she asked Theo. "How is it?"
"I have no words to say." Theo facepalmed and sighed. "Should I say as expected a genius from the Eilric Family?"
"Haha. I don't care if you want to say that, but just don't compare me to you, okay? We can't choose our parents after all."
'She is strong in that aspect too, huh.' Theo's eyebrows twitched as he realized that it was hard to rile Alea up.
"If you fought together with me, what would you do?"
Theo looked down and closed his eyes. "Stay behind you and watch your back."
"What? You serious?" Alea looked at him with a weird expression. She didn't know whether this Theo actually observed her or not. "Oi, oi. You can only get the EXP points if you kill them, you know. Why do you want to stay behind me?"
"First of all, I don't understand why you would use a feint earlier. Second, who said I wouldn't do anything?" Theo tilted his head in confusion. "What I mean is one or two feet behind you, so the moment you strike the right, I will pierce my spear to the left side, killing them in one move."
"Ah, sorry. I misunderstood you." Alea apologized. "That's good enough. But do you think you are strong enough to kill them in one strike? Their skin is pretty tough, so I doubt you can do it at once, even with your current weapon."
"Is that so?" Theo furrowed his eyebrows, wondering what he should do at that time.
"No need to think about it. First of all, you need to reach Elite Rank first."
"Is there a difference between Normal Rank and Elite Rank? It's only a couple of points difference, right?"
"Yes and no. I will tell you about it while eating." Alea turned around and looked at the dead body before slashing it to gain the meat. "Can you bring that with us? I can't really bring it with my hand. Also, can you cook?"
"A little bit, but I have never worked with buffalo meat."
"I will tell you about the recipe later, but you are the one going to prepare it, okay?"
"Sure." Theo nodded as he grabbed the meat and walked toward the hill together.
