Emily had thought that as well, but she never thought that they had any meaning. They were in a world which a hero failed to save, so it was only natural that they would find more than a few odd things here and there. Regardless, Emily decided to fly as high as possible to confirm if Ethan was imagining things or not.

Although she could fly and she was completely under the control of her body, Emily didn't like heights. Still, she stopped several times along the way before she could get a clear view of the entire region. At first, she saw several of those signs of destruction, but they appeared in random places, so she couldn't find any meaning in them. However, when Emily was twenty kilometers above the ground level, she managed to see the concentration of devourers in the north, and they were right in the center of something… a weird symbol that started right at their position and went toward all directions.

"What is that…" Emily frowned.

It wasn't a magic circle, and yet, Emily was sure that the symbol had some meaning or purpose. She wasn't quite certain since she was far away from the devourers' camp, but it looked a little bit like a whirlpool. Those lines of destruction made the monsters look like they were at the center of the whirlpool. Although Emily knew about runes and magic circles, she had no idea if such a symbol could do anything. It was better to talk with the others.

While Ethan was waiting for Emily, he noticed that things got too quiet around them. They still had to walk for quite a bit to reach the point where they could create their second line of surveillance, so it was only natural that there were supposed to be monsters waiting to attack them. Yet… Ethan couldn't feel a single sign of their malice.

pαndα,noνɐ1,ｃoΜ "Enter a circular formation," Ethan said to everyone. "Keep your eyes and ears open."

Maerys frowned when she saw Ethan suddenly grabbing his sword when there was no sign of the enemy nearby. Still, then she eventually noticed things were too quiet around them… that wasn't a good sign."Don't panic, everyone," Maerys said. "But they are here."

Ethan also agreed with that. Still, for a monster that was a specialist at using shadows to attack, those devourers were crazy to think of doing that in the middle of the day. However, Ethan noticed that there were some shadows here and there. There was a large number of trees around, after all. Those monsters like shadows, but it doesn't mean they only use them at night.

Ethan waited for a bit but then got bored. Just like he was cautious of the devourers, the devourers were cautious of him. Ethan unequipped his sword without any other choice, and at that very moment, his body relaxed. Three shadows jumped out from the trees toward him.

Maerys gave Ethan a pretty good description of the monsters. Still, she forgot to mention that devourers were five meters long. They were much bigger than lions and bears… Ethan grabbed his sword and swung it. Still, at the same time, he cast two Ice Hands to hit the monsters since, with his current strength, he didn't have the confidence to split the beasts while they had those dark carapaces.

The ice hands stopped the monsters' charge, and his sword also cut one of the devourers, but only slightly. His cursed sword destroyed one part of the carapace, but it served its purpose of protecting the organs of the beast.

Before Ethan could think of attacking again, he saw some massive blocks of earth appearing out of nowhere around the devourers. Emily returned and she didn't hold back, and her attack locked the monsters and almost crushed them to death… still, they survived thanks to their carapaces. However, Ethan wouldn't let them go away. The beasts had carapaces protecting their vitals, but to eat, they had to use their mouths. That part wasn't protected, so he made the monsters taste how delicious his sword was. However, Anna stopped him when he was about to kill the third.

You received 500 experience points.

You received 100 coins.

You received 500 experience points.

You received 100 coins.

"Wait, we should capture one," Anna said.

"I don't think so," Ethan said. "The others will probably be attacked as well. Besides, even if we can prevent them from escaping during the day, doing the same at night is definitely impossible."

After thinking for a few seconds, Anna recognized those facts. They wouldn't have time to study the monsters, so it was better to dispose of them before they caused some problems. It wouldn't be the same thing, but they could always analyze their corpses.

"Phew, their carapaces were something else," Ethan sighed while he checked his bleeding hands. "I guess I am not strong enough to face even a single one of them alone."

That was a problem that could be solved since he had skill and status points. Still, it was a problem… Although she had to think fast and didn't prepare as much as she could, Emily didn't hold back, and she also failed at killing the monsters.

"Sorry we didn't react on time," Maerys said on behalf of her people.

"No worries, we also almost lost the chance to attack," Emily said. "Still… what is this carapace? Ah… it is losing the durability."

"Apparently, their mana is used as fuel to make their carapaces as hard as possible," Maerys said. "I just heard rumors about it, but based on what you said, that is probably true."

"Enough talking," Anna said. "We will build a watchtower here and retreat immediately."

Anna sure had an excellent head to decide things for a twelve-year-old girl. Ethan was also aware that those monsters were just scouts, and since they were beasts that couldn't talk, they had other means to deliver information. It was also very likely that the other devourers in the area noticed their deaths and were approaching. Or, at the very least, they are going to find some allies in their camp for the hunt.

In the blink of an eye, the watchtower was built, and Anna installed everything that was necessary for the place to work. Afterward, they left the place as fast as possible while Ethan was carrying one of the corpses.