In a secluded building, a youth could be seen sitting in a meditative position with an orb in his hands which gave off an intense cold aura.

"Hmm"

The youth opened his eyes and looked towards his right.

Hearing the increased sounds of movements, he stood up from his sitting position and slowly walked towards the direction the sounds were coming from.

Reaching there, he saw a black leopard.

'From the aura it's giving off, it seems to be in the Ninth stage of the Arcane Plane. I should be able to deal with it, but I don't know if there are others around'.

The youth thought while looking at the creature as it took big strides around the building.

As if sensing the youth's gaze, the leopard looked in his direction. It looked at the youth and faced him. Both the youth and the leopard stared at each other for some time, each clearly wary of the other.

'I haven't battled a beast in the Ninth stage since I advanced'

The youth thought as a little glimpse of fighting intent surfaced in his heart. But after some thought, he decided against it.

'Although I'll like to test my current strength, doing it now isn't worth it. Besides, the beast doesn't seem like it wants to attack'

The youth looked on for some time before slowly backing off.

He knew turning his back against the beast might trigger its predatory instinct, and it might just probably lose what little reasoning it had.

The leopard didn't make any other movements and just stared at the departing human.

Just as the youth turned and was about to exit the building, he saw another leopard outside the building. This one was slightly weaker compared to the first one as it was in the Eighth stage, but it isn't far from a breakthrough.

'Had I gotten into a battle with the first one, I would have been in a difficult situation if this one joined the battle'

The youth thought before trying to leave the place unnoticed.

Unfortunately, things don't always go as planned. The leopard being a predatory type beast, had keen senses, so it was able to sense the arrival of the human.

Unlike the first one, this one charged straight at the youth.

'Damn! Couldn't it just pretend it didn't see me?'

The youth thought frustrated before sending out a water snake towards the leopard.

Bam!

The leopard was immediately sent flying.

"Stupid cat"

The youth said with a smirk.

'Wow! My attack power is insane. Normally, someone in the Ninth stage of the Arcane Plane can't easily send a beast in the Eighth stage flying so easily'

He thought delighted.

He didn't stay any longer and quickly left the place before the other leopard would recover from the attack, and the other would exit the building.

The youth soon disappeared from the area. This youth is Klaus who found a place for his seclusion two weeks ago.

'It has been two weeks now, I wonder how the others are doing'

Klaus thought while running in the forest.

In these two weeks, he had already broken through to the Ninth stage of the Arcane Plane. His speed could be said to be the fastest among everyone who entered the trial lands. In one month of entry, he has gone from the Sixth stage to the Ninth stage.

And it seems he isn't far from breaking through to the Origin Plane.

This was the second time his seclusion has been disrupted during these two weeks, he couldn't complain though since there is a high number of beasts present in the place.

'I should find a good spot to complete my refining, or even, I should at least break through to the Origin Plane before they disrupt my cultivation again'

Shaking his head, Klaus continued heading deeper.

Four hours later

'This place should be a go'

He didn't finish his statement before he started hearing the sounds of fighting not too far away.

Going over to check it out, his jaw dropped. With stars almost shooting out of his eyes, he stared at the opened box at the side of the building.

'Essence stones and two of them seem to contain water essence. I will acquire it, no, I must acquire it'.

Klaus stared at the box greedily.

There were about seven fist-sized stones in the box. With two of them being blue, this was a sign of them being filled with water essence. One had earthen brown, which signified it was of the earth element, and the other three were orange. He couldn't see the last one clearly.

'I'll use the water essence stones, I'll give Alice the fire essence stones. Then Grey will get the earth essence stones, it's a pity there isn't a lightning essence stone, I would have given it to Rey'.

Klaus started thinking about how he'll divide the stones among himself and his friends. If the people fighting knew someone had already distributed the stones they were fighting over, they might cough out a mouthful of blood.

If Klaus could get this, then he could gain a bigger boost in his cultivation after breaking through to the Origin Plane, as they can only be used for cultivating when an Elementalist reaches the Origin Plane. Also, acquiring one is very difficult.

'Oh! Beauties'.

When he finally shifted his attention from the box to the fighters, he saw two beautiful faces.

'Stealing is great! But stealing from a beauty is even better!'

Klaus laughed inside.

From the aura of both ladies, one of them is just a bit away from breaking through to the Ninth stage, while the other seems like she just broke through. The fight was currently tied as none of them seems to be getting the upper hand.

From Klaus's love for ladies, one would expect he wouldn't steal what they were battling for. But, what would their beautiful faces give him? Nothing! What would the essence stones give him? Increase in strength. So you see what's more important.

Arranging his hair, Klaus sneakily swaggered towards the box. It's not like he couldn't defeat both ladies if they were to fight, but seeing how beautiful they were, he decided to only steal the stones.

Before long, he had already reached the spot the stones were. Opening his bag, he started picking them and placing them in his bag.

'Oh! Guess Rey is lucky after all'.

He thought when he saw the last stone in the box.

It had a silver color which showed it's of the lightning element.

After putting the last stone on his bag,

'Huh! That's strange, how come I don't hear fighting anymore'.

Turning around, Klaus was greeted by the furious gazes of both beauties.

He immediately raised his hands,

"It's not what you think"

He said to the ladies.

"Oh really, what does it look like then? You thief!"

The lady in the Eighth stage was the first to lash out words towards Klaus.

'If not for the fact that I don't want to beat up two pretty ladies, I wouldn't bother talking to them'

Klaus thought with a sigh.

"Drop the stones and piss off!"

The girl in the Ninth stage said in a commanding tone.

'Anyone would be upset if what they were fighting for was being stolen. I'll just take it as they said nothing, I really don't want to beat them up'

With this in his mind, Klaus started walking in the other direction, with the mind of leaving the building.

But would the girls allow him?

Boom!

"Stay here you thief!"

The girl in the Eighth stage was the first to attack.

"If you know what's good for you, I'll advise you to let me go"

Klaus shook his head as he dodged the attack.

The other girl stood without making any movements, it seems like she was weighing her options. She didn't want to allow Klaus to leave with the stones, but from his aura, he seems stronger than she was.

"Hey, let's team-up. After taking the stones from him, we'll decide on what to do next"

The girl in the Ninth stage said toward her previous opponent.

"Okay"

The girl in the Eighth stage nodded.

When Klaus easily dodged her attack previously, she knew she was no match for him.

"Why do they never listen?"

Klaus prepared himself for battle.

'I really don't want to beat them up'

He thought.

Five minutes later

Two bloodied girls were lying on the floor motionless, it was unknown whether they were dead or alive.

At first when the battle started, Klaus wanted to go easy on them. But then he realized something, these ladies wanted to kill him. After realizing this, he changed them from beauties, to enemies.

Just like Grey, Klaus hated it whenever someone directs a killing gaze towards him. If he notices this, then he'll try everything he can to kill the person. It's not that he was evil or anything, it's the rule of the world. And leaving someone who wants to kill you alive, is like leaving a sword hanging above your head.

'I should start my seclusion, the battles from now on will be harder than this was'

Klaus felt a little sense of urgency.

He knew some people must have already broken through to the Origin Plane, if he were to accidentally encounter one before his breakthrough, it will be bad for him.

'Alice should have broken through by now, I'm not really sure about Rey and Grey. But hopefully, the next time we meet, you all should have broken through to the Origin Plane'.

A smile appeared on his face when he thought of his friends. He missed them a lot, especially Rey.