I'm about to conjure up another [Flashbang Bomb] to throw in the direction of the camp when I notice movement coming towards me from that direction. I still conjure up the bomb even though I have two invisible ones again. When the figures become clear, I dismiss the [Flashbang Bomb]. It's not another gaia bear, it's people this time.

Peter and his team, specifically. As soon as I'm spotted, the party's healer (I never learned his name) rushes forward and begins healing my injuries as Peter examines the two beasts on the ground.

"Took ya long enough," I grumble.

"It wasn't until the third one that we realized they were spaced apart," Peter tells me. "Once we noticed that, we realized you were trying to signal us for some reason. You got messed up from a gaia bear?"

An actual gaia bear attacked me while I was trying to figure out how to get the crystal voidstone bear onto an [Air Barrier]. Even with me being five Levels higher, killing the gaia bear still net me almost 48% Experience.

No wonder Thomas suggested it. The fight was a small challenge, and I'm fairly certain it would have been easier than the crystal voidstone bear was even without the extra Levels from the crystal voidstone bear. Had it been the first one I fought, it probably would have given me two or three Levels.

Normal gaia bears also don't have crystals.

"Uh… no," I use my right hand to point at the crystal voidstone bear, seeing as my left arm hasn't actually been responding to me for ten minutes now. "That's called a crystal voidstone bear, and the fucker nearly killed me. I had to enhance my body with 100 Mana per second just to ensure a kill. Though in hindsight, I probably could've done with half that, but I was pissed and not thinking clearly."

I've also done a lot of thinking ever since killing the gaia bear. Was Thomas expecting me to encounter the gaia bear first, get worn out by it, and then killed by the crystal voidstone bear?

"A what?" Peter asks. "By the gods, what is one of those doing here?"

That's not the reaction I expected, especially since all of his party looks over to the remains of the big one, which they seemed to have not noticed at first. That's probably because it's a bit away from the spot we're in right now.

It seems to startle the healer so much that he actually stops healing me. They didn't know about the beast? The way they're reacting could just be acting, but I'm pretty sure it's not.

Every last one of them looks shaken over it.

"What about it?" I ask. "Ya knew about teleporting beasts but didn't know one was around?"

"Not that," Peter looks at me. "A Crystal Beast. You're extremely lucky, Max. This one was just a young one. A fully-grown Crystal Beast is powerful enough you earn a Title from killing it. Had Thomas known it was here, we might not have come to this area for the camping trip. Either that, or Benjamin might have come out early to ensure it was taken care of. How did you kill it?"

"What's the big deal with Crystal Beasts?" I ask.

I'm still uncertain on if he's being honest here. Maybe Thomas did know, and was going to use my death to feign surprise and then have Prince Benjamin come out and kill it. Or maybe to kill it himself. Maybe even as a lesson to Colt and Colt's friends to not go away from camp without an escort.

As well as punishment for telling him I wanted to go hunting alone.

"He's still bleeding out," Peter says.

"Oh, right!" The healer returns to healing me. "Sorry, Max. I was just… shocked, and forgot I was in the middle of something."

"Max," Peter says. "A Crystal Beast is a beast in which magic crystals began to incorporate into them. If they're attuned to the same element or elements the beast uses, it enhances their powers. Over time, the crystals spread through the beast more, becoming a part of it. Rather than hindering it, however, the crystals act like its flesh and joints, allowing it the same mobility it once had.

"This amplification," Peter continues. "Isn't slight. You boosted yourself plenty by enhancing your body with Mana. These crystals create a similar effect, only they also enhance the beast's magic. As they grow older and the crystals more incorporated into them, new magic crystals form, granting them additional powers. Void is one of the rarest ones, and you're extremely lucky that it was still in the infant stages of that. Void is a specialized version of dimensional magics, the same classification of magic that allows teleporting monsters to teleport. It's a nothingness – a total nothingness. Void consumes anything which comes into contact with it. Had this thing been fully-fledged, it would have used its void magics to destroy your barriers and you."

"Humans have no way of defending against it," Owen says. "Only dimensional magic can, and we can only wield the elements. Anything outside of them requires magic crystals attuned to that magic and lost knowledge in how to use them."

"Max?" Lydia looks over inquisitively. "A voidstone bear's dimensional crystals should be at least coating their claws, but this one's are missing. Did you cut them off?"

"They seemed valuable."

There's too much [Earth Crystal] on the beast for me to fit in my pack, though, so I left those. I'm fairly certain they're valuable, too, considering that magic crystals are used in magic items, and magic items tend to be worth a lot. Figuring out how to get them all back to the city was another thing I was doing while fuming over Thomas's actions.

"The crystals are extremely valuable," Peter says. "Evan, you seem to be taking longer than normal to heal his wounds. Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine," Evan says. "It's just taking longer than normal."

"Why?" I ask.

Evan looks like he doesn't want to say, and I start to shift an invisible [Flashbang Bomb] toward him. His gaze flicks to where it's located, and even though I know he can't directly sense what it is, he knows what it is because he's been told.

"I don't want to tell you because of your suspicious nature," Evan tells me, and I make sure the bomb spell is between us. "Though not telling you also raises your suspicions. It's nothing to worry about, you're not cursed again. I can cure shadow magics that affect healing magics, anyway."

Him saying that doesn't make me just believe him. He could be lying and I could have been cursed by the crystal voidstone bear.

Crystal voidstone bear? Not voidstone crystal bear?

"Can beasts without crystals-"

"Use powers beyond the elements?" Peter finishes my question. "Yes. Generally speaking, however, it's the very powerful ones. There's a theory that Crystal Beasts were originally beasts that had the ability innate, but they were too weak until the crystals started amplifying it. This power level thing is typically why it'll only be a Crystal Beast that does, if it's not something that's naturally absurdly powerful, like a dragon or a titan."

"What's a titan?"

"Another powerful beast," Owen answers. "Humanoid creatures that stand dozens of feet tall. Strong, powerful, and their bodies have an enhancement magic running through it at all times. It's the only way for their bodies to be able to support their weight. Most titans have earth-based powers, though some of the very old ones can distort space, causing attacks against them to miss."

That sounds useful, though I don't think I'd be okay with an enemy that uses that.

"Fortunately," Peter says. "Titans haven't been spotted in more than a thousand years. Either they're extinct or they were fictional to begin with. Evan, you never take that long to regenerate missing chunks. I don't care about how much it'll make him suspicious, I want to know what's going on because now I'm suspicious."

Evan sighs, examining the wound in my left arm that came from the [Stone Spear] that pierced straight through my barriers.

"The beast had some void magics," Evan says. "Whatever attack did this to him completely erased the flesh. That normally wouldn't be an issue for me by itself, but Max has his invisible [Air Barrier], don't forget. I have to heal him through that. The compressed air is distorting the light, which is weakening the effect. Rather than taking only a minute to heal, it'll take me around ten. Seeing as he's going to be more comfortable having his [Air Barrier] than not, I'm not going to ask it to be lessened. That said, Max, I'm going to run out of Mana a few times doing this, so I'll have to take some breaks and it'll take longer than ten minutes. I'm just warning you now so that you know why I'm stopping when I do here in a few moments."

"And if you hadn't been ordered by Peter to answer?" I ask.

"I was just going to tell you that because it's taking more effort for me to heal," he answers. "I'm going to have to take several breaks to recover. The only thing I would leave out is why it's taking me so long to heal."

That's a reasonable explanation. I'm still suspicious, though.

Evan returns his attention to healing me, stopping once his Mana runs out. Once he does, he gets up and examines the crystal voidstone bear with the others. I watch them for a few moments, then decide to try something.

I conjure up an invisible [Air Barrier] of the same type as the one I have coating me, though this one is only six inches in diameter. Then, I conjure up two different [Light Orb]s. They're both small, maybe an inch in diameter each. One is floating on the other side of the new [Air Barrier], the other floating to the side.

Even if Perception doesn't affect how good my senses are, it allows me to take in more details at once, to notice more of what I'm taking in. Utilizing that rather than the more casual sight I normally do, I examine the difference between the lights.

Owen wasn't lying. The light is distorted by the [Air Barrier]. It's like looking through glass, just glass that isn't visible. It looks really weird when I-

THAT'S HOW THEY CAN TELL, ISN'T IT?

All of the people who have noticed the spells are more powerful than I am! They all must have rather a decent Perception, too! Some of them struggle to figure out what it is other than getting a vague sense, and those tend to be the ones who are lower in Level. They're noticing the way it distorts light!

But no, that can't be fully true, can it? If that was all it was, then they would only know it's air spells. Some of them can't tell that much, but some can tell that there's a light aspect to it. At least I'm closer to figuring this out, though.

Dismissing the spells I used for the test, I come to a decision.

"Gods," I murmur as I close my eyes. "Please protect me if this turns out to be the wrong decision."

I continue to rest here while I wait for Evan's Mana to recover. When he approaches me and lets me know he's ready to heal me, I dismiss my [Air Barrier].

"Did you just-"

"I want my arm usable."

This conflicts with my priorities, as my safety is more important than my health. Lowering my barrier means sacrificing safety for health, a reversal of the two. I don't trust Evan, but he was being honest that my barrier was affecting his light. Healing magic is in the light, so if the light isn't as strong, then the healing isn't, either.

Evan pauses for a few moments when I dismiss the barrier, gives me a whispered thanks, then begins healing. His healing is a lot more potent this time around, and he finishes healing me in under a minute.

As soon as he finishes, I summon my invisible [Air Barrier] again.

"Thank you for trusting me," Evan says.

"I didn't trust you."

"You lowered your barrier," Evan says.

I narrow my gaze on him.

"And I was going to blow your ass to hell with one of my [Flashbang Bomb]s if you tried anything."

From what I remember about Peter's party, they're all around 400-450 Points in their strongest Attribute. I'm pretty high above that thanks to the last two fights. Even wounded, I could probably kill all of them if needed.

So that wasn't trust I was showing him. That was me knowing I could blast his ass into hell, killing him before the others could react. By the time they did, I'd have full defenses back up. He'd have only a moment's notice I'd be going to detonate them, and that's just because I'd still create the film of shadows over my eyes.

He's not powerful enough to weaken my attacks enough to save himself. Even if the initial blasts didn't kill him, my follow-up attacks would have. Down their healer, the party would have issues. Facing someone more than 100 Points above them in each Attribute would put them at a severe disadvantage.

Even if they are more experienced. That kind of gap isn't easily crossed. Burning Mana to enhance their bodies wouldn't be a good idea for them. Sure, they could use less Mana than I did for it, but they'd have to make sure it's at the right moment – and do it while also casting their own spells. I could probably take out one or two more before they recover from the blindness and ringing, too.

Taking on only two or three rather than four would be much better.

Thankfully, Evan only healed me and had no other plans. I'm not sure how Colt or the king would react to me killing the princess's boyfriend and his team.

"What did I miss?" Peter asks, having apparently only heard the last part. "What was he going to try?"

"Max lowered his barrier so that I could heal him faster," Evan explains. "He was correcting me on thinking it was out of trust."

"Ah," Peter says. "Well, thank you for that, Max. Now I have a question for you: do you want us to take the carcasses back with us, or do you just want the crystals from the crystal voidstone bear?"