“This should be the last one.” Red said.

He places down an ornate iron plate on the forest floor, turning around to look at his work.

A rough voice came from behind him. “Are you sure this is going to work?”

Red turned around to look at Rog. “I’m not sure of anything, but if it goes badly, we can just kill it.”

The hunter, who had barely changed in appearance over the last six years, frowned with skepticism. “You seem confident. We’re talking about a Lesser Ring Realm monster here, and there’s only the two of us.”

Rog was leaning against a tree with his bow slung over his right shoulder and a faint lantern in his hand to illuminate their night surroundings. At least for himself, that is.

Red shook his head. “We have wounded it enough over the past week. If worse comes to worst, we can put in some effort and kill it.”

Rog grunted. “If this doesn’t work, I’ll just run.”

Red frowned. “No, you won’t.”

The youth hoped not. He walked back and took out his short-sword from his sheathe, the same one his master had crafted him six years ago. The blade saw enough action since then, losing some of its luster, but its edge remained just as sharp as the day when Red first crafted.

Although the weapon remained the same, the wielder had changed substantially.

Red was now seventeen years of age, or something close enough since he never knew his real year of birth, and his appearance changed substantially since then. He was taller, of course, standing slightly above average for a man nearing 180 centimeters, but that wasn’t the most significant transformation his body saw.

Instead, those belonged to his features.

Age and a good upbringing as a free individual seemed to have brought about a monumental change to his features. No longer was Red the sallow and emaciated child - now he had grown into an elegant young man with sharp features that complemented his cold demeanor. This came as a surprise to himself and those around him. If his crimson hair wasn’t a giveaway back then, his developing features seemed to indicate he came from a finer and more distinguished bloodline.

This didn’t fit with the image of a slave and peasant upbringing his companions associated him to. Red was confused about this too, but rather than worrying about his origin, his concerns were more practical.

Having a distinguished appearance wasn’t something desirable for someone with Red’s set of skills, and his messy crimson hair that reached around his shoulders didn’t make his task any easier, either. This was why Red made up his mind to walk everywhere with a hood covering most of his hair and showing his facial features a few years ago, a fashion he now adhered to using even in the middle of the night in the forest.

Allen now often teased him about how he was starting to dress like Rimold - something Red assured was just a coincidence. Of course, this choice of garb brought more than a few suspicious looks thrown his way, but it wasn’t too uncommon in large towns for people to hide their identities, and no one bothered him about it too often.

“So, how’s this supposed to work?” Rog asked as he looked over Red’s work.

In front of them, a circle of iron plates was placed on the forest floor. Each of these plates had a set of complex drawings on their surface made by some kind of golden paint that reflected the light emitted by the lantern.

“We need to power it first. Like this.” Red took out a Spirit Stone from his pouch and placed it on top of the central plate of the circle.

The reaction was almost immediate as the plate and stone began to glow. Red got out of the way in a hurry and watched the reaction from a safe distance.

The glow of Spiritual Energy from the central plate seemed to be transmitted to the other plates, which all began to glow in turn. Then, a few seconds later, the glow from both the plates and the stone disappeared, and the Spirit Stone turned into dust.

Nothing else happened.

Rog frowned. “Did it work?”

“It should have.” Red nodded. “Now we need the bait.”

“Right.” Rog walked away.

A few moments later, the hunter came back, dragging the large carcass of a boar. It looked like he was about to throw it inside the circle of iron plates.

“Stop!” Red held the man back. “Do you want to die?”

Rog frowned. “Is that a threat or a genuine question?”

Red sighed. “Just place it near the circle, but don’t touch the plates.”

The hunter looked confused, but just shrugged. He did as Red told him and placed the recently killed boar a meter behind the circle against a tree. This way, their prey would need to walk over Red’s trap to get its food.

Red nodded in satisfaction once he saw this. “Now let’s wait and hope the bear is feeling hungry.”

They did as much.

Rog led them behind a tree a few dozen meters away, and they sat in wait for their prey.

An hour passed by with no changes in the environment, but neither of them lost their patience. This was the boring part of hunting, the wait and focus required to act at a moment’s notice, all of which was more important when your prey was a Lesser Ring Realm beast.

Red used this time to meditate, while Rog was in the process of looking through his equipment. Both of them appreciated the peace, but this time around, it seemed the hunter had something to say.

“Hector asked me about Allen again.” Rog broke the silence.

Red opened his eyes and frowned. “What did he say?”

“Same usual stuff.” The hunter shrugged. “I just told him he was out hunting with us again, but Hector’s not stupid. He definitely already suspects something is up.”

Red shook his head. “Hector suspects everything he hears - it’s in his nature.”

Rog stared at him. “You’re not one to speak.”

Red frowned. “Be that as it may, as long as Hector refuses to press you further, it doesn’t matter.”

“Is this really that big of a deal? When I was Allen’s age, I also did my fair share of stupid things. Hector might scold him, but it shouldn’t be that bad.”

The youth shook his head. “I would do anything to avoid conflict these days. We can’t afford the distractions.”

Rog scratched his beard with a thoughtful expression. “… You’re right.”

They fell silent again, waiting for their prey.

Another hour passed by before Red felt a fluctuation enter his detection range.

He opened his eyes. “It’s here.”

These last six years were a rather peaceful time for Red, and even though he still saw his fair share of conflicts, none of them were as dangerous as the challenges he faced in his first year on the surface. This also meant that he wasn’t forced to consume any blood, human or animal, and his crimson powers hadn’t developed much.

Of course, the catch was that they had still developed on their own to a certain extent. Red’s crimson sense now reached just about 300 meters. At first, the youth was worried that this would come with a development in his demonification, but such a matter didn’t come to pass.

His scales and lizard-like eyes were still there, hidden by the magical bracelet, but they hadn’t developed further. The same couldn’t be said for his other problem, though.

At Red’s words, Rog dropped what he was doing and picked up his bow, looking around for the monster. They were in complete darkness, and although the hunter couldn’t see as well in that environment as Red, it wasn’t hard to spot the large shadowy figure of the treebark bear amidst the trees.

Red put his arm in front of Rog. “Don’t shoot it.”

The hunter looked hesitant, but he followed the youth’s instructions. As the monster approached, Red saw the large gash on the side of its body. It was no longer bleeding, but judging by the way the monster was moving so gingerly, it still had an effect on it.

The bear was walking straight towards the boar carcass, but it was still looking around in caution. Red held his breath, watching as the monster got ever so close to the circle without turning back.

Then, finally, a few seconds later, the beast put its front paw inside the iron-plate circle.

All of a sudden, the plaques glowed.

A spark rose beneath its feet, and a split second later, an explosion of flames happened. Dust and smoke rose up, the heat from the fire reaching even Red and Rog dozens of meters away.

The whole forest seemed to have been woken up by this sound.

Rog whistled in awe. “It really worked.”

Red shook his head. “It’s not over yet. The bear is still alive.”

When the dust settled, they saw the bear slumped to the ground. Its front left paw was completely blown off from the explosion, and its underside bark-skin was shattered in multiple places. The creature could barely move and it looked as if it was in extreme pain.

Red frowned at the sight. It hadn’t killed the beast in one blow, and the youth wasn’t particularly fond of making prey suffer, even the most dangerous ones.

Rog stared at the beast and put his bow down. “I’ll give you the honors, kid.”

Red sighed and walked over to the bear with his sword. The monster growled threateningly at the human, but it didn’t have the strength to react.

Red walked towards its side and stabbed his sword down right behind its front shoulder. His weapon bit deep into its flesh, reaching its vital organs, and the bear let out a growl of pain before its fight died down a few seconds later.

It stopped moving.

Rog approached him. “You really outdid yourself this time, kid.”

Of course, what Red used was a formation. A primitive one that worked as a trap, but even so, its powers couldn’t be underestimated.

“The plates look ruined, though.” the hunter said as he looked at the remains of the iron plates.

Indeed, they were scorched and bent from the explosion, the arcane drawings on their surface completely ruined.

“This is a one-time use formation.” Red said. “Not much different from a talisman, but it’s the best I could do right now.”

Rog raised his eyebrows. “Can you make another one?”

The youth shook his head. “This took me almost a week to produce, and it’s an inferior product at best. I just wanted to test if my own skills are up to standard.”

The hunter looked around at the scorched area. “Well, I’d say you passed the test.”

Red had to agree.

Now that he had taken this small but very important step, he felt more confident in his next objective. He was getting close to being capable of building the Parting Storm Formation, and then he would finally be able to breakthrough.

Indeed, over the last six years, Red had completely opened eleven of his veins, and now a single vein remained to be opened - the third eye vein. The youth was getting close to the bottleneck, and judging by the increasing strength of the Moon Gaze over the last couple of years, it was best if he hurried.