The Herb King



Grace looked at the Navigation Rune on her wrist. This rune works like a map with a GPS setting that allows her to see her position and the 1 square kilometer area around her.

The Navigation Rune was a recent creation of Aethelwolf. He followed the characteristics of his Virtual Map for reference. It could even detect anyone below Level 5, making it very valuable for his army. If each of his soldiers possessed this rune, they wouldn't have to blindly navigate their way in unfamiliar places anymore. However, the Navigation Rune requires strict inscription accuracy so only Level 4 Engravers and above could make them. Because of its slow production, only a fourth of his main army was equipped with it. 

Grace furrowed her eyebrows when she saw that the Navigation Rune has detected someone. She didn't know if it was a person or a magical beast, but because it was positioned near their meeting spot, she didn't have a choice but to check it out. 

Looking at the Navigation Rune, she noticed that the others were also going in the same direction. She heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing this. With the others around, she was confident that they could take down anything. 

Soon, she saw Janrose and the others confronting a large beast. It was a giant snake that was more than a few hundred meters long with a body that was as thick as a car! It was covered in black and dark brown scales that were as tough as magic metals! On either side of its head were two sharp horns that were shaped like scimitars! This magical beast was called Forest Basilisk and it has a strength that was comparable to a peak stage Level 4 Esper! 

The huge creature raised its head into the sky and roared furiously. 

ROOARR!!

The leaves rustled and the ground trembled as its reverberating roar echoed in all directions. 

Grace covered her ears with a pained look on her face. The roar of this beast was so loud that it almost shattered her eardrums. "Dammit! Why does such a strong creature have to be here?" She cursed while keeping her eyes on the gigantic snake. 

From the corner of her eyes, she noticed someone hiding on top of a tree waving at her. Upon closer look, she found out that it was Janrose. She also saw Alec and Michael behind her. 

Seeing them, Grace took out her Communication Rune and said. "I don't think it has seen us yet. Stay there and don't move. Once it leaves the place, I'll go to where you guys are." 

"Alright. Be careful." Janrose's voice echoed over the device.

"Yes, you too." Grace kept the Communication Rune while observing the Forest Basilisk. Luckily for them, the creature was only passing by and it left soon after. 

After seeing that it was gone, Grace jumped to where the others were hiding. "That was close. Who would have thought that we would actually encounter such a powerful magical beast on our first hour here on this island?" She shook her head as she muttered those words.

"To be honest, it was because of me that the Forest Basilisk was here." Janrose awkwardly smiled. 

"What did you do? It seems to be enraged. You must have done something awful to it." Michael chuckled while looking at Janrose.

Janrose laughed as she took out a big egg the size of a human. "I took one of its eggs. If it didn't notice me, I would have taken everything." 

Looking at the big egg, their eyes went wide in shock. 

"Oh no! Just keep it inside your storage ring! That beast might be able to smell her egg! Let's get out of here! Quick!" Michael anxiously said. 

Janrose also realized her mistake and she hurriedly placed the egg inside her storage ring. "Sorry." She muttered apologetically.

"Let's talk later. Let's go somewhere safe first. Follow me. I found a cave nearby." 

The others followed Alec and they soon arrived in front of a cave. Its entrance was covered in thick vines, making it almost unnoticeable. Upon entering, they noticed that there were several corpses of magical beasts inside the cave. 

"These corpses are still fresh. Did you kill them?" Grace asked while inspecting the corpses.

Alec nodded his head calmly. "There was a Silver Key inside this cave and these magical beasts were in the way so I killed them. I didn't have the time to explore the cave since we agreed to meet after an hour. I only managed to explore a small portion of the cave. If I'm not wrong, there should be more Keys inside." He took out a bunch of Keys and showed them to everyone. There was one Silver Key and two Bronze Keys.

"Not bad!" Michael smiled as he took out the Keys he had gotten. He had one Silver Key and three Bronze Keys. 

Grace snorted at them as she took out a shining Golden Key from her storage ring.

"What the hell! You actually found a Golden Key in just an hour! How lucky!" Michael exclaimed in surprise as he stared at the Golden Key in Grace's hand. 

Alec was also stunned when he saw the Golden Key. He killed his way inside the cave and only found a Silver Key. 

"I haven't gotten a Key yet." Janrose shook her head in embarrassment. She used most of her time escaping from the Forest Basilisk so she didn't have the time to look for Keys. Although she was powerful, she wasn't confident enough that she could fight against a peak stage Level 4 magical beast. 

"It's fine, but you should focus more on the competition. Although the egg of a Forest Basilisk is valuable, it is very difficult to nurture it. You will need a lot of resources once that egg hatches." Alec muttered calmly. 

"Yes, I know. Don't worry. I won't be distracted now." 

"Let's go. Hopefully, we can find more Keys inside." Alec took out a flickering orb from his storage ring. It lit up the dark cave, allowing them to see further. The others also took out a bunch of items that made them see more clearly in the dark as they followed Alec's lead.