When the third day ended Leo's water clone was in a much better state. It could fight properly on its own and the sudden freezing has minimized by a lot. He could also let the clone fight by itself, however, without a weapon all it could do was distract the opponent.
Leo could now remain in frenzy state for 50 seconds rather than 40. The control while in frenzy state had also improved drastically. He could now activate 23% of the cells in his body as for his power Leo was now 15% in Normal Rank Level 1 which meant with frenzy state active he would be 38% in Level 1.
—-
The next morning Leo woke up as the light from the morning sun fell on his face through the windows as the winds blew them open. Leo got out from his bed and freshened up as he departed for the meeting spot.
When Leo reached the spot, he saw Mia sitting on a wooden bench wearing a light yellow dress and a grey bag near her. Leo sat on the same bench. Both said nothing to each other.
They waited for 5 minutes until Emilia showed up. Mia went towards her as soon as she came and talked freely it looked like they knew each other even before the mission got assigned at least that was what Leo thought.
After 10 minutes of waiting Xander finally arrived while yawning and with a face filled with the desire for more sleep "Sorry I overslept."
"We can see that," Mia said with her arms crossed then she looked at all of them and said, "Listen to my orders and don't act on your own."
"Whatever Mia after we return I will use the money I made to get myself chicken and fried rice with cherry ice cream," Said Xander as he drifted off into his dream.
"Xander you need to be serious and stop acting like a fool as you have been since childhood. This is our first mission don't ruin it with your stupidity," Emilia replied.
Xander rolled his eyes "How dare you call me a fool when I become the best Earth Element user and swordsman in The Kingdom of Dawn then you will ask for my autograph!"
Emilia was about to reply, but got stopped by Mia "That's enough, let's depart now."
They had a cart that prepared beforehand. It had a horse that had two tails instead of one and its legs and mane were black compared to his brown body. The horse was being controlled by a coachman who sat towards the front.
The cart traveled through the bumpy and muddy roads of the forest. They passed many small towns and campsites however they did not get close to these campsites. This was the first time Leo had seen these campsites.
What caught Leo's attention was that many of them had no hair and looked tired as if someone had taken their souls some even had their hands missing. Before they were about to breathe the pungent smell in the area Mia quickly used a spell that covered the entire cart and horse preventing them from breathing the pungent smell. She did this because of what her father said about the dangers of inhaling the air near these campsites.
Mia who saw Leo looking at the people from the campsites sighed "Sad, isn't it? Everyone you see in these campsites will die soon, they have no medical treatment and food supplies with the 'Morphing haze' disease spreading at a rapid rate a pandemic could break out."
"My mom said to be careful if we remain in contact with the infected for too long we could also get infected," Emilia said as she wrapped her arms around herself.
"It said in the paper that the virus has evolved and can spread even faster now, but it's only present in our area and the border near The Kingdom of Celsus," Said Xander.
After 2 hours of traveling, they reached their destination, however, the four of them got out while the coachman and his horse went to the village for waiting.
Mia knew where the two beasts were last sighted from the reports she got from her father. Mia led the three to a large crater in the forest near the village. The report said the beasts had injured their victims first and then brought them to this crater where they would meet death through the jaws of the two beasts.
What the report said was true. When they neared the crater trails of blood that led to the crater appeared. Bloody paw prints also led to the crater which confirmed the report of the beasts injuring their victims and bringing them to the crater where the victims would meet their deaths. Looking down into the crater there was an area where bones lay in a cluster covered with blood.
'This should be the area where the victims are eaten,' Thought Mia.
"What does the report say?" Asked Emilia turning her attention away from the bones and blood.
"Well, it confirms 15 people to be dead with 6 more missing."
Mia decided they would hide and wait for the beasts to come, but how long will they have to wait for? What if while they are waiting another person dies? As she was thinking Xander's question interrupted her thoughts "Why don't the village send their people to take care of the beasts?"
"The village has no elemental users and the normal guards can't do anything against Level 2 beasts."
Xander now had a better understanding of the situation so he asked Mia the same question on Emilia's mind "So what's the next step?"
Mia didn't answer instead she was pondering what they should do 'Since it looks like they killed all the victims inside the crater that means the beasts are likely to return so we will have to wait until they sleep then we can launch our attack.'