A few seconds of strange silence ruled over the battlefield.
The wind was passing through the tall grass of the plain and the sound of the Lava Behemoth’s heavy breathing was echoing in the air.
The massive monster was staring at Lian with its bright yellow eyes, the group members were doing the same.
The only one who apparently kept his calm was that lightning mage.
Lian slowly got down from the Windrunner Strider, his riding monster stepped back a few steps and stood silently at the edge of the field.
The red-haired girl was still looking at him with a frown, if her gaze could kill someone, Lian would probably be dead right now.
From her point of view, this man was definitely a freeloader, he had come here and was waiting for them to weaken the monster and get themselves killed, then he would kill the monster and take everything for himself.
She hated this type of people more than anything.
But before she could say anything, the lightning mage stepped forward, unlike the girl who was almost ready to fight, he seemed completely calm.
"If you do not intend to help, just get away from here."
His voice was calm.
"The last thing we need is someone interfering in the middle of the battle."
Lian glanced at the level twenty-seven monster, then looked at the golden plant in the center of the plain.
"If I help, do I get a share of the plant?" He then said indifferently.
For a few moments everyone fell silent, even the sound of the battle seemed to stop.
"What?! You haven’t even joined the battle yet and you are bargaining?! Of course you are not getting anything!" Then Rhea, the red-haired girl, almost exploded.
At that same moment, the Lava Behemoth attacked with a loud roar, the shield-bearing warrior threw himself in front of the group.
The monster’s massive horn hit his shield, the sound of metal echoed across the plain, the burly man was thrown back several meters, but despite this, the argument continued.
In such an environment, this was completely normal, if someone was going to risk their life, they had to get something in return.
Lian was not a bad person, but he was also not a person who would help for free, he definitely would not let these people die, but that was the point, when should he interfere?
He could just watch for now, it was completely clear that this group was losing, and interfere after their defeat.
Or help them right now?
Lian now had the chance to examine the group members better.
The lightning mage, a boy with golden hair and green eyes, tall, calm, composed, and clearly the leader of the group.
Next to him stood the only girl in the group, a girl with fiery red hair and a huge sword that was almost twice her own size.
A bit further away was the shield-bearing warrior, a massive body, muscles like rock, and the main role of protecting the group.
The fourth warrior was a man with two short swords, fast, light, and clearly the main close-range attacker.
The last person was that thin healer boy, his face had turned white, sweat had settled on his forehead.
And he was clearly close to running out of mana.
At that moment, the lightning mage’s gaze fixed on Lian, his eyes shone for a moment, one of his innate skills had been activated, a skill that could estimate the intensity of people’s mana.
And then... his face changed, very slightly, so slightly that maybe no one would notice, but it changed, because what he had sensed was not logical.
The boy in front of him was almost the same age as himself, maybe even one or two years younger, but the amount of mana flowing in his body... was insane.
Not just more than people his age, but even more than all the members of the group, for a moment he even thought his skill had made a mistake.
But that was impossible, his skill never made mistakes.
’Who is this boy?’ For the first time, this question formed in his mind.
He had been in the Ruined Realm all this time, so he was not very aware of the country’s news, and he was not the type to follow the news either.
At that same moment, the red-haired girl attacked again, her massive sword landed on one of the monster’s legs, sparks spread, but the monster’s natural armor only got scratched.
The Lava Behemoth became angrier, magma was boiling out from the cracks in its armor.
"I will pay you half the value of the plant." The lightning mage, or in other words Kael, suddenly said.
"No." Lian shook his head without even a second of thinking.
"Then why are you still here?!" The red-haired girl, or in other words Rhea, almost exploded from anger.
"What do you want?" Kael asked calmly.
Lian did not take his gaze off the plant, he had the book of treasure, he knew exactly what this plant was, he knew why this mage needed it.
Mana affinity, something that was like gold for any mage, but it was also valuable for himself, if his mana affinity increased, first, the efficiency of his skills would increase, and second, the mana consumption of them would also decrease.
For him, who has to keep his skills fully active during battles and they also consume a lot of mana, this plant was like gold.
Finally he said.
"I will save you, either you give me the plant, or you pay three times its market price, and half of the monster’s corpse as a bonus." It was not like he could not give it up, but only if he was paid the right price for it.
The faces of all the group members turned ugly, even the healer, even the shield-bearing warrior, even the quiet swordsman, everyone knew this was practically daylight robbery.
But the worst part was that the conditions were against them, at that same moment the Lava Behemoth roared.
Its body started to shine, the cracks between its armor filled with bright red light.
"Damn it!" The mage shouted.
"Second phase!" The next second, dozens of magma balls shot in all directions.
The ground exploded, the grassland caught fire, the healer was forced to throw himself on the ground.
The shield-bearing warrior raised his shield, Rhea was thrown back several meters, but in the end none of them remained without wounds, and the battle had suddenly become more dangerous.
Much more dangerous, the lightning mage looked at Lian for a few seconds, then at the monster, and then at Lian again.
With their current situation, they had no chance of winning, in the end he gritted his teeth.
"Agreed."
"What?! Rhea turned back in disbelief.
"Agreed, three times the value of the plant, just help us kill this damn thing."
"Fine." Lian gave a small smile, he had not obtained the plant, but he was going to receive money for it at three times its market value.
Of course, if he was sure he could defeat this monster alone, there was no way he would make such an offer, he would just wait for this group to accept defeat and retreat, then he would kill the monster himself and take the plant.
But the situation was against him, even if the monster was weakened, a monster that had passed its first evolution, even if it was Normal rank, still has a berserk state.
There was no way he could defeat it in its berserk state either.
At that same moment, the Lava Behemoth opened its mouth, a massive magma ball formed, its diameter was more than three meters, and then it was fired.
The sound of the explosion echoed in the plain, the ground split, fire spread everywhere, everyone dodged, everyone except one person who had just joined the battle.
Lian... entered the field, lightning gathered on his right arm, thunder sparked between his fingers.
His muscles contracted and then... the ground beneath his feet exploded.
Not because of the monster, but because of himself, cracks spread in the soil, his body shot like a bullet, covering dozens of meters in the blink of an eye.
Everyone was stunned.
Rhea.
The shield-bearing warrior.
The healer.
The swordsman.
And even Kael.
Everyone had imagined they were dealing with a normal awakened one, in fact, only Kael had high expectations, but he thought this boy must be a mage because of the high amount of mana he had.
But this speed... this explosion... was completely unexpected.
The golden mage’s eyes widened for a moment, until a few seconds ago he thought he was the only lightning element user on the battlefield.
But now... he was seeing an unknown boy using the same element in a completely different way.
Lian pulled his fist back in mid-air, lightning gathered around his arm, the sound of thunder echoed in the air.
The Lava Behemoth had just noticed the danger, but it was too late, Lian’s fist hit the monster’s face directly.
The sound of a massive explosion echoed across the plain, the shockwave flattened the grassland.
Soil and rocks were thrown into the air, the massive body of the Lava Behemoth was pushed back several meters.
"My god... who is this guy?" Everyone’s eyes opened wide in surprise.