"What did you say?!" Addison was infuriated as soon as she heard the man's words.
He actually wanted to monopolize the Night Flare Grass that they had waited to be fully nurtured! She couldn't help but feel angry at the audacity of this person.
Her Wind Fairy had already started creating wind arrows and was waiting for the signal to attack.
However, before Addison could command the fairy to attack, their leader hastily spoke.
"Stop, Addison… Saving Reed's life is more important. Just let the man leave." Lester said as he held Addison's arm.
However, Addison didn't want to listen as she knew that Reed had a Mystical Item that could protect his life. Using him as a hostage wouldn't deter her from attacking.
Realizing that the situation might go out of control, Lester sternly spoke.
"Look above you…"
After saying this, Addison looked above her only to realize that there were three huge and ghastly hands above them!
"Ahh…"
The terrifying hands were huge and about three times the size of her Wind Fairy!
Addison almost stumbled after seeing these hands… How come she failed to notice them?! They were obviously inside her Elemental State's Magic Zone!
Hunter, who was also preparing to cast a spell, calmed down as he watched the masked man turn around to leave.
He also failed to notice the Ghost Hands above them. Nevertheless, if Addison really attacked, there was no way he would allow her to face the masked man alone.
Luckily, the masked man didn't care about them casting their spells as he left swiftly. As soon as his figure disappeared, the Ghost Hands above them also dissipated like they were just illusions. However, they know for sure that those Hands weren't just there as decoration.
'Whew~'
Hunter heaved a sigh of relief as soon as the masked man left. He was actually feeling threatened even though the man was just standing without any hints of defense. He even turned his back on his possible enemies!
In his mind, his Fire Spell could reach the masked man before those terrifying ghost hands could reach him. It was quite odd since he couldn't tell where that person's confidence was coming from.
"What do we do now?" Hunter asked.
He had always trusted his instincts and knew that the masked man was dangerous. Chasing him right away might be dangerous for them.
"He was probably that Dark Arts Practitioner that caused trouble in the city. Should we report it?" Addison asked as she walked towards Reed.
All of them could tell that their companion just passed out and still steadily breathing, so they weren't concerned about his condition.
Lester shook his head at Addison's suggestion.
"If we report it to the city, all the Night Flare Grass would be gone by then. Even if there are still some remaining blades of grass, they would be taken by other factions, and we wouldn't benefit from it. Once Reed wakes up, we'll plan our ambush… We have no choice but to kill this person. We'll be using all our Elemental Talismans today to kill him."
Lester said with a sinister voice. He was the most frustrated among the group, but he was keeping it inside.
Since the man dared to take advantage of them, he would have to go all out. Furthermore, the man was most likely a wanted criminal, so they wouldn't feel burdened eliminating this type of person.
Addison and Hunter looked at each other and nodded in agreement.
They brought high-level Elemental Talismans with them and will use them to drown that masked man with powerful Spells. They just need to make enough preparations to ambush him and it could guarantee their win even if they face a First-Class Dark Magician.
At this thought, they checked their belt bags where they were keeping their precious talismans.
"…"
"…"
"…"
The three Elementalists went silent as they realized that their belt bags were missing!
"What happened?!"
"Where did it go?!"
"This… Was it stolen right in front of us?!"
Aside from feeling shocked, the three of them felt a chill run up their spine. If their bags were stolen without them realizing it, then that person could've done more if he wanted to mess with them!
At this time, Lester suddenly started panicking…
"No… No… This is bad! My Awakening Token is inside that bag!"
Addison and Hunter were stunned since this would cause a massive problem for Lester. The Awakening Token was their only chance of advancing their Elemental Affinity after their Elemental Baptism. This would allow them to become a Second-Class Elementalist!
This token cost a vast fortune and Lester probably needs another decade to save enough money to get this one again!
Addison, Hunter, and Reed didn't even have enough money to see this item in person!
"Not good… We should follow him quickly, or he might get away." Addison worriedly said. She could tell how frustrated their leader was.
He was previously hoping to use it together with the nourishment of the Night Flare Grass but all of it had come to an end after he lost his belt bag.
***
In the meantime, Vale had no clue about how these Elementalist were now grimacing.
As soon as Vale got out of range of the Elemental Spirit, he didn't immediately relax as he used his Extrasensory Perception Spell to create a film of energy to hide his presence.
He also used his full agility to run inside the forest before removing the Demonic Mask on his face.
"Yvaine, hide this mask for now." Vale immediately said as he leaned on a nearby tree.
Yvaine silently appeared beside him and opened the treasure box where he could keep his things. Seeing this, Vale carefully placed the mask back into the box.
Just like what he had guessed before, the mask had a mystical ability related to the summoning technique. It was based on the white flame that he found during Phantasm State's detection.
When Yvaine appraised the object inside his shadow, she learned that the Demonic Mask and Dagger were indeed strange. In Vale's opinion, they are what he could call an Equipment Set.
If he wore both of these items at the same time, he could summon a strange living white flame! He hadn't tried it yet, but according to Yvaine, the white flame was most likely a sentient flame, and he should be careful about it.