PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

Desmond took another deep breath, and it was then that thin strands of emerald green mana and golden mana began to condense and concentrate on the sheathed sword. Desmond’s mind was like a calm lake, like an infinite dark sky in eternal peace. But the cosmos never remain quiet; entropy is inevitable, and a star came into existence in that dark sky.

Despite his passive posture, Desmond gave off a terrifying pressure that intimidated even Aisha. “He seems like a different person.” Aisha thought.

In Desmond’s mental world filled with boundless dark space, that single star in the middle of the night sky grew ever brighter. A vortex of green and gold mana formed between the sword guard and sheath, pouring massive amounts of mana into the sheath. Then, in the blink of an eye, as if it were the natural course of things, that star fell, leaving behind a beautiful trail as it streaked across the night sky.

At the same time that spark of light became a shooting star, Desmond opened his eyes, and his entire body went from calm to action instantly. Every muscle fiber was being overwhelmed by the mana, his body being pushed beyond limits, his sword being driven to greater heights.

A flash of green light burst from the sword’s scabbard as it was drawn with excessive speed. A diagonal cut sliced ??through the air, leaving behind an exquisite golden scar in the void.

At the end of his first slash, Desmond twisted his wrist, swung his arm over his head, and held the sword’s hilt with both hands. Desmond brought his body to his absolute limit to unleash a second cut. A second golden scar overlapped the first, creating an X-shaped mark. And as if on cue, the new golden blade burst forward.

Leaving a trail of green glow behind, Desmond’s sword slashes only accelerated. As the wind’s mana consumed, the slash grew faster and sharper, compacted by the pressure of its own acceleration.

It was a long process to describe, but it all happened in less than a second. And barely a second later, the golden mana blade had already met the stem of the maddened fiery flower.

.....

Desmond seemed to have timed perfectly the moment he made his attack. Calculating the time it took him to perform it and the time it took him to cover his distance to the flower. When the flower and the golden blade met, the latter aimed precisely at where the flower and stem connected, the same place Desmond had struck earlier.

Upon impact, without waiting to see the result, Desmond sheathed his sword back and heaved a contented sigh as he muttered. “.”

Standing right next to Desmond, Aisha heard what he said. She couldn’t help but be a little stunned seeing the flower being separated from its stem at the same time Desmond finished speaking.

A geyser of orange sap gushed from the severed stem, and the landscape of fire and magma went berserk for a few seconds before calming down. Eventually, the stalk lost its power and fell to the ground with a loud thud. The flower stayed alive for a few extra moments, using its massive mane of petals to try to crawl back to its roots, but its efforts quickly died.

Wanting to be wary of this strange flower that possessed more than enough strength to kill any of them, Desmond and Aisha waited nearly a full minute before approaching. As they got closer, they both noticed some differences in the surroundings.

The temperature seemed to have dropped significantly, which was expected to some extent; what puzzled them was that even the strange reddish vegetation began to die. Desmond and Aisha predicted some changes after the death of the flower. Yet, the scene in front of them seemed a bit strange.

The reason was that both Desmond and Aisha could sense not one but two sources of change, two points where energy from the environment was gathering before being absorbed.

All the fire and heat were naturally gathering on the magma-like gem on the flower corpse. While a strange life energy and a strange essence that neither Desmond nor Aisha could identify were gathering at the base of the roots of the dead plant.

Aisha didn’t say anything and simply went to the flower to extract the fire gem. Meanwhile, Desmond went to the flower’s roots to search for the source of the second anomaly. There was no need to say anything; it was as if they had talked about it beforehand.

From Aisha’s side, the magma-like gem radiated a warmth that even she found uncomfortable. Still, the emotion in her eyes only grew from it.

Aisha might need help understanding the functions of this gem since the gems in these mountains were quite random in nature and functions. Still, her instincts told her that this gem was highly suitable for her. With the soul of a true craftswoman burning deep within her, Aisha couldn’t wait to discover the powers of this gem. Then she would create something that would allow her to wield these powers to their full potential.

On the other hand, Desmond wasn’t as nonchalant and excited as Aisha, mainly because he had to move a couple of tons of dead plants to even begin looking for the source of the anomaly.

Someone like Desmond would generally take a relatively cautious and calm approach to unknown phenomena. Still, his current circumstances didn’t allow it. Although he seemed fine on the outside, his body was now in a strange state of exhaustion, and his mana reserves were one step away from being non-existent. As if that wasn’t enough, it was only a matter of time before this cave was filled with explorers searching for treasure; things could only get worse from that point on.

Since caution was not an option, Desmond threw all caution to the wind and directly used the ring, , to launch one of the abilities stored in it. “This should save time. .”

The eight water snakes that burst out of the ring soon acted like bulldozers, completely uprooting the roots in their path in a matter of seconds. “Its defensive power went down a lot upon death.” Desmond commented, remembering how hard it was to hurt the stem before.

As Desmond watched his adorable snakes (according to him) burrow wildly, Aisha was preoccupied with her own situation. The woman with sensual curves and reddish skin was now standing on the flower’s core. She was bent over just enough to highlight how tempting her perky bottom was as she used both hands to try and pry the gem from the core.

The magma-like gem seemed to have partially fused with the flower’s core, which turned out to be much harder than Aisha had expected. However, with a somewhat tyrannical physique, it didn’t take long for Aisha to forcibly rip out the gem, shattering a chunk of the core in the process.

Aisha was happy to have taken the gem, but her expression was curious as she looked at the core she was standing on. She had felt something when she plucked the gem. Desmond, who had been enjoying the tempting rear view of Aisha, saw her looking curiously at the core, and he asked. “What’s wrong? Did you find something?”

Aisha felt Desmond’s burning gaze on her body, but she didn’t care. On the contrary, she had a proud smile; shyness was not something she knew. Although, of course, the story would be different if it was some other disgusting man who saw her like this.

However, Aisha didn’t stop to think about it either. It was perfectly natural for Desmond to see her that way; she was beautiful, after all. It was like wondering why the sky was blue; only philosophers and scientists would ask themselves those questions. And those professions weren’t something that would exist in Aisha’s race.

Such unnecessary thoughts didn’t even have a place in Aisha’s mind, so she replied quite simply. At the same time, she kept a curious expression as she looked at the core. “Yes, I believe that this core is filled with some kind of liquid. I heard and felt it move when I forcibly ripped the gem out.”

Desmond thought about it for a bit and answered. “Isn’t it just lava or something?”

To which Aisha replied she shook her head. “I doubt it. If it was something similar, I feel like the gem would have absorbed it back.”

Desmond saw the now dry magma veins in the flower’s petals and nodded. Aisha was probably right. Aisha remained curious about the matter, so she approached the place where the core was slightly broken. As she approached, Aisha’s delicate little nose twitched a bit. “I don’t know what’s inside, but it smells really sweet, and I feel like...” Aisha’s voice trailed off briefly; simultaneously, the gleam in her eyes grew in intensity. “Whatever is inside must be incredibly beneficial to me. I feel my core tremble from smelling it a bit; this is a treasure.”

Because Desmond was listening intently to what Aisha was saying, he had stopped paying attention to what was going on with the ongoing dig. One can imagine his surprise when he heard a clink while Aisha said the word “Treasure.”

Drawn by the sound, Desmond turned around only to find the second gem in the jaws of one of his snakes. “Speaking of finding treasures.” Desmond said with a smile as he looked at the bright green gem in the shape of a flower bud.