After a battle that lasted for half an hour, the team managed to kill all the tamed beasts and eliminate half of the Elite Tamers.

The other half was left unconscious and was taken as a prisoner.

​​

Hendrick wanted to extract as much information he can get to learn about their mission.

"Is everyone alright?"

Hendrick asked after confirming that there are no more threats around.

"We have some injured people here. I don't think that they can fight with us at this rate."

Castillo replied referring to the Hunters and 4th-Class Arcanists who battled against the tamed beasts.

Due to the limited space in the cave, they found it difficult to maneuver and evade the beast's attacks. Most of the time, they had to parry their attacks and it would sometimes lead to injuries.

The terrain was disadvantageous to these hunters.

The heaviest injury so far was from the berserk Armored Bear who swiped away two 1-Star Hunters.

The cut was deep and if not for the Arcanist's help, they might have died due to blood loss.

After all, the blood clotting herb that they've brought may not be enough to treat such wounds.

"I understand… We'll rest here first to treat the injured. We'll also interrogate these guys for now."

Hendrick replied referring to the five tamers that were unconscious. He then looked at Stella that's currently resting on the ground.

"You're truly skilled. Thank you for helping us back there…"

"That's fine… I need to work hard to get what I wanted." Stella replied and smiled at him.

"Ahh… Are you referring to the Arcana?"

"Uhmm… That's right."

"I haven't checked their items yet… If you found one, you can just take it."

"That's good to hear. Just let me rest first---" The young girl paused for a moment as if she was lost in her thought.

"Mhmm?" Hendrick noticed this and stared at her curiously.

"No, I'll look for it now." Stella suddenly said.

"Is that so? You don't have to hurry. No one's going to touch them."

"Haha… It's alright. I'm quite excited, so I'll inspect the items they left behind now."

"Very well… Do as you wish…"

Hendrick said as he let the young girl do as she wants.

After all, she contributed a lot during their battle a while ago.

Her swordsmanship was so impressive that the tamers, who were confident about their ability to defeat the Chaos Knights, struggled to keep up with her unique combat style.

Her footwork and sword techniques were almost unpredictable as she defeated almost all the tamers who crossed her path.

Their battle becomes lighter as she leads the fight to their advantage.

Of course, the beast tamers had several Arcane Magic that surprises them, but Stella seems to be very well versed in dealing with them.

They used Arcane Magic such as Energy Arrows, Fire Whip, Fire Bullet, Solid Corrode, and Echo Punch…

These were common skills that can be found in many Magic Weapons except for the last two, the Weapon's Corrosion and the Echo Punch.

Hendrick suspected that that should be something that only an Arcana could have.

However, despite all of that, Stella's quick reflex allowed her to respond appropriately. It was very impressive considering her young age.

It feels like she has an eye at the back of her head that allows her to predict any incoming attacks from her supposed blindspot.

'Is it an Arcane Magic that I'm not aware of? Something similar to sixth sense?'

Hendrick mused but he remembered that he still has many things to do.

Several Knights were also injured and even had their weapons destroyed by the tamer's arcane magic.

The Solid Corrode deals a lot more damage to any weapons that were made of metal. It must be something that they were relying on to defeat them in this battle. However, they failed to calculate Stella's skills and failed in the end. She also has a wooden weapon that helps her ignore this Arcane Magic.

Aside from that, the Echo Punch must be something that they've prepared to deal with the remaining Arcanist but ended up being used on her. However, this skill was also not good enough to defeat Stella with her Arcane Wall…

"Ulysses, Misha… Gather all the remains of the weapons that were destroyed. We'll need it to get a free replacement from the headquarters."

"Ahh… You're right…"

"Haha! You're really stingy, Captain."

Misha laughed but she still collected the broken pieces of their weapons.

Apparently, they have to pay for replacement if they lost the items given by the headquarters, but if it was destroyed in battle or during their mission, it can be replaced for free as long as they have the remains with them.

"Haa~ I'm trying to save money to buy a better mount… I can't just rely on my current horse if I want to be promoted."

Hendrick said after being teased by Misha.

The knights who heard him immediately understood what he was trying to say.

It seems that their Knight-Captain wasn't just going around doing missions without any plans for his future…

The Chaos Knight's warhorses can be considered as the best mount in the kingdom. However, if it will be compared to the neighboring countries' mounts, they may still be lacking.

If he wanted to have a better mount, it means that he was planning to get a different breed that was perhaps similar to low or mid-grade Evil Beasts…

With this in mind, he must be planning to join the yearly expedition with a better mount… and if that was the case, Hendrick was definitely aiming to be a Knight-Champion.

***

Stella did not hear their conversation but Reiji managed to hear them clearly.

But he just ignored them since it wasn't an interesting topic. The pile of items in front of them was even more compelling than their conversation…

'Stella, hurry up… Just tap my the shinai in every weapon one by one…' Reiji ushered Stella...

'Alright, master…'

Stella obediently followed as she looked at the thirty or so items in front of her…

'I wonder how much money I'd earn if sell all of these...'

There were gauntlets, staff, swords, blades, broken pieces of bracelets, rings, scrolls, and a leash…

As Stella tapped them one by one, Reiji was constantly receiving information about these items through the help of his guide.

Many of them were unimpressive but there were two amazing Magic Items that he found in the pile.

It is a leash and a short blade…

[ Soul-Binding Leash ]

[ Type: Magic Equipment ]

[ A leash that is made of Horror Tree's bark, Cursed Vine, and soaked with the blood of an evil creature, Imp. ]

[ Skills: Beast's Soul Bind, Beast's Force Control ]

[ Durability: 80/80 ]

[ Class: C+ ]

[ Creator: Marcus Nord ]

"This must be one of their emergency items…" Reiji muttered after noticing that it seems to be an unused magic item.

They would no longer be called beast tamers if all they do is bind their souls to control them. Since they only have a single Soul-Binding Leash, Reiji concluded that this is not a common item for them.

[ Unshadowed Blade ]

[ Type: Magic Weapon ]

[ A blade made of Black Aredrite Alloy and Unfeathered Crow's Beast Core. ]

[ Skill: Lesser Restriction, Confusion, Nightmare ]

[ Durability: 71/90 ]

[ Class: B ]

[ Creator: Haren Nord ]

After learning about the Chaotic Heart ability of the knights, Reiji was quite interested in Arcane Magic that could affect a human's mind so he took note of this item as well…

Anyway, these two were the best Magic Items so far…

After checking everything, he finally found three Arcana! They were the two rings and a gauntlet!

'They actually have three Arcanists in their midst. I didn't notice that...'

[ Name: Delicate Storage Ring ]

[ Type: Arcana ]

[ Rank: Common ]

[ Wielder: Mezei Gyula ( Deceased ) ]

[ Durability: 82/110 ]

[ Skills: Store, Retrieve ]

The other ring was also something similar.

[ Name: Fragile Storage Ring ]

[ Type: Arcana ]

[ Rank: Common ]

[ Wielder: Pinter Edina ( Deceased ) ]

[ Durability: 12/90]

[ Skills: Store, Retrieve ]

Finally, the Gauntlet with powerful abilities.

[ Name: Blast Gauntlet ]

[ Type: Arcana ]

[ Rank: Rare ]

[ Wielder: Zobor Matyas ]

[ Durability: 77/145]

[ Skills: Solid Corrode, Echo Punch ]

"Finally… I can rank-up now…"

Reiji also noticed that the gauntlet's owner was still alive. He remembered that Stella briefly fought with this man but after he realized that his arcane magic was ineffective, he quickly changed his tactics and confronted the Knights first.

'Stella… Take the Fragile Storage Ring…'

'Eh… Which one?'

'Ahhh… The one with a glass-like design and black crystal embedded…'

Stella quickly found the ring…

'What should I do now, Master?'

'Hmmm… Find a place where you can be alone and leave me for a while with the pocket watch and this ring… I need to do something…'

'I see…'

Stella answered but she really doesn't know where to find one in this cave…

In the end, she decided to return to the previous place before they entered this secret passage…

Of course, she told Hendrick and the others about it. Anyway, they were still treating the injured and she'll be back very quickly as per her master's words…