Looking for monsters through anathema was very similar to try to discern where a person was just by sound. It was hard, especially so since the ‘noise’ was muted and seemed to come from different directions. Practice made perfect, however—or so people said.

I strained my metaphorical hears to catch anything worth investigating but came up short—I was met with ‘silence’. Not discouraged, I resumed moving, stopping from time to time to try and listen some more.

It took me the better part of an hour to pick something up. It was soft—barely a ripple spreading through the film of energy blanketing the area. I couldn’t pint point its exact location, only the general direction it had come from. I followed the occasional sound until it seemed to reverberate and quake the area all around me. I decided it was a clear sign the cause of the disturbance had to be close. I couldn’t think of any other explanation, and after an hour of feeling up the metaphysical, I needed to know I was making progress.

With the knowledge a monster could be lurking around the area, I moved with more caution, careful not to cause too great a disturbance. I needn’t have worried, however. I found the creature I was tracking lounging on the grass, bathing under one of the rare sun rays that breached past the canopy of the forest.

Like many of the creatures inhabiting this dungeon, the monster was massive and covered from head to tail in scales. They were a beautiful earth brown, which reflected in a deep yellow whenever light hit them. Along the ridge of its back, spikes the size of a human leg rose two at a time, which gained in length the closer they got to the back of its chest. Only the ones that were placed at the very tip of the tail and on top of its head were an exception—twice as long as those closest to them, the four worked as weapons against any would-be aggressor or prey.

The creature, all in all, resembled an ankylosaurus, but leaner and with the head of a dragon and the fangs and claws to match one. It was another, very well known monster spawning in the Great Forest—the behemoth.

This close, I could feel the corruption radiating from it in waves, crashing against the mana around it in a furious effort to keep it as far away as possible. It was an impressive display of power, especially since it didn’t seem as it was done on purpose, and I also understood it was the reason why I had found it.

Instead of hurrying back to Alessandro, I hid among the roots of the closest tree to see if there were any others around. Behemoths, despite their size, were pack monsters, and most frequently lived in groups numbering between five to ten. I had to find out how many there were before bringing Sara, Alessio, and Alessandro here.

The one resting under the sun was without the shade of a doubt the alpha. The density and quantity of the corruption within its body assured me the monster had to be on the same level of an A-ranker, which was concerning. We had barely entered the Great Forest, and already we had found an A-ranked monster.

About fifteen minutes later, five Behemoths, one at the very peak of rank B and the others at that of rank C, appeared.

In the jaws of the smallest of the five were the corpses of a lindworm and a cockatrice. It dragged them over to the alpha, and then laid them in front of it.

The lead behemoth, at the smell of food, opened its eyes, and, after raising its head from the ground, it began gorging on what its packmates brought.

I watched the beasts a bit more before hurrying back to Alessandro to report him what I had found. Luckily, knowing in which area my group was searching for monsters let me find them rather easily.

“An A rank Behemoth?” Alessio asked in disbelief. “This far from the center?”

“The situation may be worse than Giacomo initially thought,” Alessandro offered, causing Alessio to frown. “Bring us to them.”

“Are you sure?” Sara asked, very much concerned. “Alessio, Marco, and I can’t keep the B and C-ranked behemoths occupied for long while you take care of the alpha.”

“You won’t have to. I will take on both,” Alessandro assured her. “You just think of the other members of its pack.”

Sara didn’t seem convinced but acquiesced. Alessio, on the other hand, made his concerns known.

“I mean no offense, Guildmaster,” he started, looking at Alessandro like he would look at a mad man. “But this is a rank A behemoth, which, given the state of the dungeon, has most probably already condensed a core. Even a peak A-ranked Awakened would struggle against one, let alone when it pairs with another peak B-ranked monster. It’s suicide.”

"It’s fortunate I’m not an A-ranker anymore then.”

After Alessandro’s revelation about his promotion to rank S, neither Alessio nor Sara had anything more to say. After all, if what Alessandro had said was true—which it had to be, as he had no reason to lie—then we had nothing to fear. There existed a fundamental difference between an A and an S-ranker. It wasn’t purely a matter of a higher resonance with the ambient mana like it was for the other ranks, there was a qualitative change about the powers they had and also the control they could exert upon them.

When we arrived at the place where I had spotted the monsters, the alpha was back to resting under the sun, peacefully enjoying the warmth after a meal.

Alessandro didn’t waste time. The moment he saw the monster, he dashed forward, appearing in front of the armored beast in an instant, sword already above his head and poised to strike. Despite their size, behemoths were capable of incredibly fast movements, however, and right as the massive blade was about to crash on its scaled neck, it angled one of the spikes protruding from its head to intercept the blow.

The thunderous clash of steel and monster's bone reverberated throughout the forest, while the ground under the behemoth exploded like a bomb had gone off, raising a pulverous cloud of dirt. My, Sara, and Alessio's sight was obscured, but the second, monumental clash that immediately followed the first told us the monster was still alive and kicking despite the ambush.

Shockwave after shockwave rippled through the dust as the three of us waited for Alessandro to emerge from the smoke.