Two weeks after Sarah's pentagram development...",

The group had taken advantage of another midway opportunity to further develop their individual and collective magical quality, but their focus had been on finding creatures compatible with Rory.

They had found nothing compatible and good enough for Rory yet, but they had fought monsters and magical beasts in the area several times.

Although The Pure Enclave was an area where the presence of positive elements was high, the group had already encountered several groups of Dark Path beings because of The Purification.

They ignored the groups they had managed to avoid. As much as every monster they killed would make a positive difference for magicians, their purpose was not to deal with monsters.

If they could fend off a group of powerful monsters, the group would do what they had to do with no hesitation. However, frequently, the monsters themselves made it impossible to dodge them. As a result, the group had fought several times in the few days since Sarah's pentagram upgrade.

Today, in the middle of their journey in The Pure Enclave, the group would find traces of a beast that could theoretically be a match for Rory!

...

In an area of sparse vegetation and exposed sand in The Pure Enclave, where the temperature reached an incredible 50 degrees Celsius during the day, Vicente's group stood around what appeared to be a footprint.

Rory's knees bent as he felt the burning flame left behind by the creature that had left this footprint, and he couldn't help but notice his affinity with that fire.

"That's an Ifrit footprint," Onyx commented, being the one in the group who knew the most about monsters.

"Ifrit?" Lina looked curiously at the black crow near them.

Ifrits were powerful jinns associated with fire, able to manipulate flames and extreme heat.

They were like flame demons, humanoid creatures with a brutal appearance, winged and with horns on their heads.

Given their characteristics, an Ifrit had fire as its primary element and air as its secondary element. Those were exactly the two elements Rory had an affinity for!

"That seems to be the case." Rory felt his opponent's flame, something very special that could not be the case with other creatures.

Each race of creature had its own peculiarities. Even though there were dozens of fire-based creatures that also had an elemental affinity for air, each of them had unique magical characteristics.

Someone with compatibility and knowledge of the differences between these signs could tell the race of an Ifrit with just a few moments of observation.

"Ifrits are powerful. They are a race of talented creatures who are characterized by their immense physical strength, good mental powers, and high skill in manipulating flames." Vicente looked at Rory and imagined that hunting such a creature would be very interesting for them.

"This Ifrit has recently advanced to the 5th stage, master. It must be at its weakest," Onyx said with an obvious purpose.

Rory stood up with a determined smile on his face. "Let's go after the creature."

"Lina, Layla and Onyx, help us find the trail behind that footprint." Vicente looked at his three principal investigators in the group.

However, the group would stand around the footprint at the top of a sandbank for another three minutes until Onyx noticed the direction in which the 5th stage of Ifrit had left.

Layla led the way with Lina on her back, the others following on the back of Onyx, the only one who could move at a speed close to hers.

Soon she could use her ability and see their group meet Rory's destination not too far in the future.

"He's close. Let's be careful. He has a special power that can summon fire creatures of lesser elemental purity," she said after seeing her group attacked by dozens of 4th stage creatures.

"Rory, if you get this pentagram, you'll have a fantastic power!" She smiled. The battle shouldn't be the most challenging, but Rory's powers would be incredible if he mastered such a pentagram!

Rory clenched his fists, feeling his heart beat faster, while the rest of the group became more attentive as they approached the Ifrit.

Five minutes later, they came to a spot where there was a small lake of magma, the surrounding sand burning, but there was hardly any smoke in the area.

The mana there was very dense, but the temperature was even higher than in the surroundings of this small desert. With temperatures that could exceed 100 degrees Celsius, magical beings not associated with fire would have to be careful when entering and staying in the area.

As soon as they arrived, they attracted the attention of the Ifrit, a very intelligent creature that was sensitive to disturbances in its surroundings.

Rory saw the 2.5 meter tall creature in the middle of the small lake of magma and couldn't help but focus on the monstrous face of the creature with red scales and large horns on its head.

The creature's elongated ears had sharp points like knives, while it exposed teeth capable of grinding raw flesh.

It spread its dark red wings wide, making it look even more intimidating than it already was as a Low-level Paragon.

"Magicians!" The Ifrit opened its eyes to this group, looking directly at Rory, even considering the presence of Onyx, a 5th-stage beast.

Onyx should be the biggest problem for it on this team. But the reason the group was there had to be the little red-haired human who had a magical affinity of over 85% compatibility with it.

The Ifrit understood that this was a hunt and became defensive about its surroundings. "If you're here for my pentagram, I'm afraid some of you will die before you get it."

It raised its hands in the air, causing over 80 flame portals to appear around the magma lake.

From these flame portals, magical flame creatures emerged, revealing magical beings subservient to this Ifrit.

In the blink of an eye, Lave Trolls, Coal Golems, Bonfire Spirits, and Flaming Salamanders, all at the peak of the 4th stage, appeared around the magma lake.

An important fact about these creatures was that they were not special mana forms, but actual creatures with their own pentagrams!

This was a power based on the flames of the Ifrit, something that gave it an influential position among the flame creatures, something that could make it compete with the Red Dragons!

Rory was impressed, but even more inspired by his opponent's ability, which would obviously influence the power of the green pentagram that would emerge after the Ifrit's death.

"Perfect!" Rory smiled eagerly, watching scenes from the future as Casey and Lina combined their special powers. "Ifrit, come to me and strengthen me!"

Rory's pentagrams appeared simultaneously with those of Vicente and the others.