Recognizing the danger before it was too late was one of the key aspects of survival.
Hunters generally relied on reports and on their senses to understand if an area was too dangerous or if a pack had rank 4 magical beasts among them.
That's why many of them just ignored the study of traces or weren't adept in that field, the senses of a cultivator were generally enough to recognize beings of such might.
Yet, having more information could only be considered an advantage, no matter how small it was.
"This is indeed surprising, I had to hunt in this area for a month before becoming able to recognize the rank of those beasts by their footprints. The academy is worthy of its fame."
Ada praised before continuing with her questions.
"And, what do you think will it be the best approach against them?"
Noah's answer came immediately.
"In their reduced size, they are too dangerous because they can maintain the same strength behind each attack while removing the weakness of their huge frame. The only way to make them return to their normal shape is to kill each weaker beast in their pack. They will then instinctively feel the need to attract other similar magical beasts and would return to their original form to do it. Yet, that means that someone has to deal with the rank 4 elephant at full strength while the others vanquish the rest of the pack."
The other hunters nodded at his explanation, that was precisely the method that they intended to use.
Kurt stepped forth and proudly patted his chest.
"You have the necessary knowledge to be of use. Now, let's find the pack so that we can reassure you of our strength."
The hunters resumed their march in the grassland.
There were no trees, only short bushes, so their field of view was particularly clear.
Ada became more friendly with Noah once she understood that he could give a second opinion to her guesses and they often exchanged thoughts on the magical beasts' topic as they followed the tracks left by the pack.
Then, in about half a day of walk, they finally met their target.
At a few hundred meters in the distance, fourteen gray elephants calmly walked over the plain.
The biggest of them was about two meters tall while some of them were so short that the grass almost hid them.
"The big one is the weakest of the pack, the rank 4 should be hidden in the grass thanks to its small size."
Ada nodded at Noah's words and softly patted his shoulder.
"You stay here, we will take care of them."
Noah nodded and could not help but feel a bit of excitement growing inside of him.
He was about to see cultivators actively fight a rank 4 creature!
Until then, he had always been forced to run away when he met one of them and the only time he had seen one of them die was inside Twilboia Cliff.
Also, if they managed to win, he could use the Blood drain spell to inflict the finishing blow!
'I bet that the nourishment from a rank 4 beasts will help me a lot in shortening the time required for my breakthrough! The wind mage's blood had been enough to heal all my injuries and still increase my strength and he was only a human!'
The bodies of the magical beasts were far stronger than the human's ones, the nourishment that they could give had to be undoubtedly higher.
That was the main reason why Noah accepted Kurt's offer.
After all, his killing spree of rank 3 creatures was caused by his need for nourishment.
If he could obtain it from rank 4 creatures without being endangered, then he would gladly stop hunting the weaker beasts.
"Let's go."
Kurt gave the order and six figures shot out at high speed toward the pack.
There were fourteen visible beasts to kill in order to make the rank 4 beast return to its normal size.
Time was key.
In just a few seconds, the hunters arrived at the pack and launched attacks that had a wide area of destruction.
Kurt wielded a big hammer that slammed on the terrain and created a shockwave that made three elephants directly explode!
Ada and Ella created two fire snakes that reduced to ashes five elephants in a few instants.
Newton rotated his two meters long metal stick that slammed precisely on the heads of three other elephants, making them explode due to the impact.
Hazel threw eight black needles that accelerated mid-air and pierced two beasts in the middle of their eyes, killing them on the spot.
Vic swung his sword and severed the head of the last visible beast, the pack was vanquished in just one move of the hunters.
However, Noah wasn't surprised in the slightest.
He could accomplish something similar alone with his rank 3 body, how could six cultivators with rank 4 bodies be any weaker?
'The real battle starts now.'
The last elephant was less than thirty centimeters tall and was hidden under the yellow grass of the plain.
Its feet were partially inside the terrain, it seemed that the surface of the ground wasn't able to sustain its weight.
As the last member of its pack was killed, it felt the urge to create a new one.
Yet, its size didn't allow for it to be noticed so it instinctively chose to return to its normal size.
It raised its trunk to the sky and trumpeted angrily!
The sound was too strong and created a shockwave that sent back the hunters around it.
Meanwhile, the body of the beast enlarged.
From thirty centimeters to one meter.
From one meter to two meters.
It stopped only when it reached a height of six meters!
Its true form was revealed and it stood like a small boulder in the middle of the plain.
'Rank 4 Shrinking elephant! Its tusks are almost indestructible for cultivators in the human ranks and it can release sound attacks with its trunk! It is slow but its charges are almost unstoppable due to the size of its body and its skin is hard, giving it one of the best defenses among magical beasts. Can they really kill it?'
Noah thought, reviewing the information about that creature in his mind.
Kurt and the others had by then recovered from the shockwave and encircled the beast.
The battle was about to begin!