Henry squatted down and patted Rigor''s shoulder with a grin. "Good job, fat-ass."

    "Argh!"

    "Damn you, old man!" Rigor cussed out.

    After making sure that he was alright, Alaric instructed the rest to inspect the body of the Spiked Grizzly Bear.

    Monsters that possessed mana could form a special type of crystal near their heart, the beast soul crystal. It contained the purest energy of the monster which was beneficial to the Knights. Upon absorption, their training speed would increase dramatically.

    "My lord, this guy has a beast soul crystal!" Aldrin exclaimed after he dug out a small brown crystal in the beast''s chest.

    Alaric nodded. "Keep it first. We will deal with it once we return to the mansion."

    "Yes, my lord!"

    Aldrin put the crystal inside a sack and tied it carefully to his waist.

    "Rigor, can you walk?" Alaric turned his head at the former mercenary.

    Even with a face full of sweat and the stabbing pain in his shoulder, Rigor still managed to smirk. "This little bit of injury is nothing, my lord. I will be fine."

    "Look at you acting so tough." Henry scoffed, staring at him disdainfully.

    Rigor ignored the old man and went to grab his shield. He then tied it on his back.

    He couldn''t lift it anymore since he could barely move his left arm, but he could make use of it to protect his back.

    Seeing this, Henry clicked his tongue.

    "Don''t exert yourself. Your wound might worsen if you move excessively." Alaric reminded him.

    "Yes, my lord." Rigor nodded.

    It turned out that they had yet to reach the end of the tunnel. They had only arrived at an intersection that led deeper into the cave.

    "Mark our path. There might be more intersections ahead." Alaric instructed.

    Hearing this, the Knights immediately carved out markings on the wall using their swords.

    As they went deeper, they arrived at an intersection with four different paths.

    "Where should we go, my lord?" Henry asked for his opinion.@@@@

    Alaric furrowed his eyebrows and thought for a moment.

    "Yes, my lord!"

    "Aldrin, you are the fastest in the group so you must draw its attention. The rest will wait for my signal to attack." Alaric issued a series of commands.

    "Yes, my lord!" Everyone answered in unison.

    "Go!"

    Aldrin rushed out with a spear in his hand.

    "I''m coming, big lizard!" He yelled in provocation.

    The Iron Back Crocodile''s territorial instincts kicked in when it saw Aldrin charging towards it. The beast growled and lunged at him, crawling with surprisingly quick speed.

    When Aldrin reached its range, the beast abruptly stopped and lashed its tail at him.

    Swish!

    Aldrin jumped and rolled to the side, expertly avoiding its tail.

    As soon as the beast turned around, Alaric motioned with his hand.

    The Knights immediately rushed out, brandishing their weapons with unstoppable precision!

    In just the blink of an eye, they skewered the beast with their swords!

    The Iron Back Crocodile flailed for a few seconds before its movements faltered.

    The Knights only pulled their swords when it was no longer moving.

    Alaric nodded to Aldrin and said. "Check if it''s still alive."

    "Yes, my lord!"

    Aldrin carefully approached the body of the beast and prodded it with the tip of his spear. He then stabbed its head to make sure that it was dead.

    "Good work, everyone!"

    "Aldrin, go and check if it has a beast soul crystal."

    "The rest of you... collect the Dragon Tail Ferns!"

    Alaric instructed.

    Everything is going smoothly. Good thing we have Galanar here.

    This trip would have gone differently without Galanar. Having an Elite Knight made things easier for them.