A few minutes later, they arrived in a savanna.
The rolling grassland scattered around the area was blown away by the gentle breeze that also swiped the isolated trees and shrubs.
There were some big grey-colored stones now and then, but not a single monster appeared in this area.
"Hmm… No monsters?" Theo narrowed his eyes and looked around as he couldn't believe that a huge open place like this didn't have a single monster.
"There is something I want to show you." Alea smiled and started running toward one of the giant stones.
Although he didn't understand her plan, he followed her.
Rumble.
Rumble.
Blue lines suddenly appeared on the stones as if they were markings.
Theo narrowed his eyes and took one step back while aiming his spear toward the stone. Alea also did the same while saying, "Not every single monster will appear like all the monsters we fought yesterday, there are many that hide their appearances like this stone."
Theo instinctively took out his Skylink and checked the monster's identity.
Name: Limestone Golem
Level: 59-61
The body is very strong and it's almost impossible to be destroyed. There is a core hidden inside the stone. Destroy it and you will kill the golem.
As he inspected it, the stone gradually rose from the ground.
"Is there a possibility of an explosion?" Theo asked while walking forward.
"Nope," Alea answered with a smile. "You're free to do whatever you want."
Theo nodded and jumped forward, thrusting his spear right on the stone.
Clang.
"Kh!" Theo hit the stone with his Elite Spear, but it was not enough. Only a small crack appeared on the stone's surface and Theo leaped back a few times to regroup with Alea.
"You're doing it correctly. Normally, they will take time to wake up, so that's the best way to end it. Many magicians with high firepower aim at this monster because they can kill it before it wakes up, but you really need high firepower to do it perfectly." Alea explained.
"I'm still not strong enough to pierce it." Theo narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Not really, you have the power to kill it now." Alea smiled. "The only thing you need to do is to search for the core."
She suddenly pointed at the golem's stomach and said, "I will give you the first location. It's on the stomach. You're going to learn why I can know its position later."
Theo nodded and looked at the golem that eventually reached ten feet high. It had a pair of huge stone hands that would be able to crush him like an ant, but Theo knew what Alea suggested.
He made a bit more distance and raised his spear.
"Haste." Theo ran forward with the additional speed with his spear in the front. A blue light appeared and swirled around the spear's blade as it gradually became bigger. "Focused Charge."
"Is this the reason why you give me this skill?" Theo asked as he passed her.
"Hehe. It's not the sole reason," she answered him in a roundabout way, refusing to tell him the whole reason.
"Hmph." Theo snorted and jumped to the air, striking the golem's stomach with his Focused Charge.
Crack.
The stone began to crack as it crumbled, revealing a shining red crystal underneath it. However, he hit it too hard to the point the force bounced him back.
Alea smiled and used this chance to leap toward the core to kill the golem, but Theo clicked his tongue and threw his spear toward the golem core before the distance became too far. He simply didn't have a good enough aim to do something like that.
"That's mine."
The golem's core cracked as its body began falling apart. He even got the notification about the kill.
[Killed a Limestone Golem (Elite)]
[EXP+112]
"Haha." She chuckled and said, "You should give it to me, you know. If you throw your spear like that, you won't have anything to protect yourself, you know."
"I'd checked our surroundings and confirmed that as long as I hit it deep enough, I would be able to kill it without suffering any consequences from other monsters. If I didn't have enough confidence, I wouldn't even throw it." Theo shrugged. "It's a useless comment."
She remembered him asking a question and sighed. "Come on. I'm just trying to have a conversation with you since it will be boring if we both stay silent."
Theo ignored her and placed his hand on the golem, but nothing dropped.
When he was about to regroup with her, a strange incident occurred.
Croak.
Croak.
Creak.
Various noises resounded in the area as the silence in the forest next to the savanna turned into an uproar. Many monsters roared as birds also flew to the sky in panic.
"Hmm?" Alea narrowed her eyes and turned to the left, looking at the flying birds. "Something big is going to happen soon. Is there a hidden monster that threatens them? But this reaction…"
"This kind of reaction is like an…" Before Theo finished his words, the ground began to rumble, shaking both Alea and Theo until they dropped to the ground just to stabilize their postures. "Earthquake!"
"Kh. There is no warning!" Alea widened her eyes and complained. "There should be a warning before this…"
"I'm afraid. We're in the worst case scenario." Theo narrowed his eyes and looked around, still feeling the shake from the ground.
"You're telling me that the notification came after we were gone?"
"You have another explanation?" Theo harrumphed as he tried to assess the situation. "We need to hide somewhere because this place will be swarmed by monsters since monsters don't like Earthquakes and will come out of the forests to search an open area in every report."
"I know. Many monsters will surely come out from the earlier cave, so we need to go straight to the smaller cave. It's thirty minutes from here, but that's the safest option for us. Are you with me?"
"Let's go as soon as the Earthquake stops." Theo nodded with a serious expression while taking off the weights.
"Sure." Alea also took off the four bracelets and left them there.
The Earthquake lasted for two minutes.
Thoe and Alea looked at each other and turned in the same direction as they both started running at the same time.
Unfortunately for them, their journey would be a rocky one as a series of roars shook the savanna from behind them.
Roar.
Roar.
Alea clicked her tongue and said, "We will lose them with our speed."
"Roger."