I Hate Systems

"Can you use that lightning bolt to bring us elsewhere?" Teto asked in concern, watching the Golden Elephant silently stare at them, acting as if it was thinking about whether or not to attack them.

"I don't have enough mana to go far," Horan said, patting himself as he slowly assumed a stance, intending to fight as a Warrior for the time being until he managed to recover enough mana.

He looked at Gehera, "Is there any safe zones near us? Once I recover enough mana, I'll bring us there."

"There is one thirty kilometres away." Gehera's eyes swirled around with runes as she snapped back a reply, double checking on her map as she spoke.

"How's your mana reserves, Teto?" He then looked at the third member of their party, staring at his charred arm for a moment.

"I can unleash my basic attacks without much effort." Teto said, "As long as I don't have to unleash any powerful attacks, I can last an hour or so."

"That's more than enough time." Horan nodded as he instructed Gehera, "Keep an eye out for any other Magic Beast in the region. We would need one to carry us to our destination."

Holding onto his gun, Teto aimed at the Golden Elephant, not taking action for the time being, as the opponent just stared at them. But, he was ready to attack at a moment's notice, watching Gehera relay the positions of other Golden Elephants that were slowly converging upon them.

Even though the Golden Elephants were aware of the three people in the midst of their territory, they didn't dare attack. This was because of Horan.

The sheer presence he emitted alarmed all the Grandmasters, making them hesitate.

Gradually, the leader of their herd, a Pseudo-Saint, walked out of the forest, stopping ten metres before Horan as it glared at him.

"I have no intention to fight." Horan expressed it using his mana, gradually curbing his presence to show respect to the other party.

The Golden Elephant leader trumpeted as the other Golden Elephants parted a way, painting a path for them to leave.

"Let's go," Horan said, carrying the other two as his body turned into a bolt of lightning and flashed through the path, vanishing from the place.

Even after they left, the Golden Elephant leader remained in the place, its body trembling faintly from time to time as a melodious voice resounded in its ears, "Why did you allow them to escape?"

Krrr!

The Golden Elephant leader shuddered in response, expressing its fear while conveying through body language that the opponents were stronger than itself.

"If all of you charged at the trio while disregarding your lives, you might have lost most of your herd, but you would have managed to kill them." The voice stated before soon, blood began to drip out of the Golden Elephant leader's eyes, coagulating on the ground as it formed a tiny gem that vanished soon after.

The Golden Elephant leader seemed to have lost a couple decades of its lifespan as its trembling stopped after a while. It then entered the forest, sullen, dragging its feet as it brought the other Golden Elephants along with it to leave.

A few minutes later, a gigantic figure appeared. It spanned three metres tall, sporting a metallic texture on its greyish-brown skin. Its two horns curled up grandly, exuding imposing power as its hooved legs created large grooves in the ground upon each step.

Sporting a head resembling a cow, its peaceful-looking eyes glinted with a dangerous hue as it stared in the direction where Horan and party had left, "Quite the troublesome humans have entered our midst."

Minotaur!

It was a Pseudo-Saint from the Minotaur race, possessing a terrifying power. Minotaurs were a loosely populated race in the majority of the places, the primary reason being their longevity and innate resistance towards reproduction.

Moreover, the conceiving stage spanned around a decade for Minotaurs. So in most cases, the chances of a miscarriage or a failed birth were high due to the long-time requirement.

All in all, the population of the Minotaurs was very little. But, they were one of the most hidden races, being the leaders of a good majority of hidden organisations.

As to why they headed most hidden/secret organisations?

It was due to their professions.

The Minotaurs had the main profession of Thief and a sub-profession of Formation Specialist. The profession of a Thief was as the name implied, allowing them to steal a variety of things, including lifespan.

This was the secret to their longevity.

The second was the profession of Formation Specialist. It allowed them to erect a variety of formations, unleashing myriad effects, one of which was used to conceal a region from the rest of the world.

And such regions formed the base of their secret organisation. Otherwise, it would be easy for anyone to stumble upon their base and find out all the secrets.

If not for Horan protecting their location, and allowing Gehera to use the chance to peer into the other side of the portal in Tentuna City, they wouldn't have obtained the location of the Talon Secret Organisation.

Even the majority of its members were unaware of the location, for their entry and exit were always through a portal that the Mages in the organisation created using their Space Element.

And now, Horan and group had actually entered the territory controlled by the Talon Secret Organisation.

The location perceived by Gehera was still somewhere far away, but the area controlled by the Talon Secret Organisation was pretty large.

The trio wasn't even aware of the fact that they had infiltrated the Talon Secret Organisation yet.

Of course, the moment the Pseud-Saint Minotaur thought of them, the Mental Energy alerted Compass Carburettor, allowing him to understand just what had happened.

And through these thoughts, Compass Carburettor was able to picturise the other party's appearance, thinking of the Minotaur as the unleashed Mental Energy was used as a means for a Dragon Bullet to travel into the Minotaur's mind.

The reason was simple. This Minotaur was a Pseudo-Saint Formation Specialist. Hence, its thoughts could be used to create a useful Bullet Template.

And to influence that was why he sent a Dragon Bullet into its mind.