Chapter 689: Deciding A Location - 2

"832 projectile iron feathers ranging from 3 meters to 4 meters. That's... quite a good haul," Leo said with a nod as he looked at the pile of collected iron feathers in front of him.

For reference, Leo had pulled out an 8-meter iron feather from the Roc's corpse for comparison.

"It seems that the beast uses a weaker type of feather to initiate those attacks," Tavian said after examining both.

Leo nodded and tapped both feathers to test their hardness as well.

The one directly plucked from the body was at least thrice as strong as the collected ones.

But Fruder was actually optimistic.

"These feathers may seem weaker in comparison, but I can guarantee they can block the hit of any Peak 3-star being multiple times!"

At that, Leo simply picked up one projectile iron feather and used Agni's [Magma Claw] skill to directly wield a handle in the metal's frame, digging his lava-covered hand inside the feathers to hold it upright.

"Aaron, attack with your strongest greatsword hit until this cracks."

With that, Leo steadied himself by gripping the ground tightly with his boots.

Aaron didn't hesitate even for a second. He drew out his body-length greatsword, infusing the weapon with his Earthen ability to make it hit harder, and—

Clang!

His greatsword rebounded, and the shock reverberated through Aaron's arms, making them go slightly weak as he staggered back.

"Damn!" Aaron exclaimed.

But his strike had actually managed to create a dent and a small crack at the point of impact.

"Aaron, until it breaks!" Leo reminded him from the back, and Aaron immediately leaned forward for a forceful perpendicular downward strike at the same spot.

CLANG!

The crack widened, and Aaron proceeded to make two more side-sweep attacks in succession until the feather finally cracked in half on the fifth thrust strike, revealing Leo's face behind it.

"Those attacks were actually bordering on the Pseudo 4-star level. These metal feathers are quite sturdy," Kaelion commented from the side as Aaron took a breather to relax his arm while Plato cast a light healing spell.

Leo nodded and picked up another feather, holding it in the same manner.

"This time, Leon, hit your hardest."

Kaelion was already wearing his gauntlets, so he immediately stepped in front, charged his fist with aura, and struck a critical strike.

KLLLAAATTT!

The feather was blasted apart after spiderweb cracks spread through it in milliseconds. Kaelion's attack continued along its path and hit Leo on his forearm, sending him skidding across the ground before he came to a halt a few meters away.

Meanwhile, Lily stopped the stray shrapnel from hitting the others.

"Well... a Low 5-star punch gave the expected result," Leo muttered as he brushed off the punch.

Though his arm was terribly bruised, it healed up quickly.

He walked up to the heaps of feathers and stored them away in his spiritual space.

The other students could only watch him act as if an attack capable of killing them wasn't a problem for him.

People didn't even bother to ask how much space he had in his spiritual space, knowing he wouldn't answer. With that, Uraan pulled out the map he had made.

"So, we actually spotted the centre of the secret realm. It was a huge, tall and wide mountain above which the same design of realm gate stood, through which we had entered."

Uraan placed the map on the ground as the other students surrounded him for the discussion.

Aaron, Ronan, Sylrael, and a few others were told to roam around in case somebody launched a surprise attack.

"Though we didn't cover the entire realm due to other students also riding their flying beasts and the obvious dangers of wild beasts and dragons, it is clear that this realm has all sorts of terrain."

Kaelion then gestured towards Fruder.

"We will need to take Fruder for a tour around the same if we want to spot areas rich in resources, like treasures or even mana crystal veins."

"We came across a place that we strongly suspect has some mineral vein beneath the ground due to the amount of reddish flora around it."

"Might be an area rich in iron content," Fruder pointed out.

After that, they strategised about their desired location.

"Better to be in an elevated place like that of Leo's territory," Lyra said.

"But not the central mountain or volcanic region. That area will be a hot spot for those prideful dragons who will want to boast their superiority by establishing their stronghold on it and making themselves the centre of attention," Fruder continued.

"And I strongly suspect that underneath that mountain, there should be a very strong boss beast. The realm was Pseudo 6-star, you know?"

Others nodded at Fruder's words.

"Wait, what about this Roc's nest? I killed it, so it should be empty now." Leo pointed.

Kaelion and Uraan looked at Leo.

"It's at the same place as the red area. Though the hill has considerable size, we would say it is at an altitude of 4000 meters. But it isn't actually good terrain for a stronghold. The area is completely filled with jagged, thin cliffs, and avian beasts rule that area. Even if we manage to drive out the other beasts on time, the dragons will have a good time targeting us too.

"And those irregular peaks even block vision for surveillance," Kaelion pointed out, and they abandoned the idea.

There was a moment of quiet because the map wasn't that accurate, and things couldn't be decided on the spot.

At that, Fruder noticed something on the map.

"This map... can a safe path be traced for us all to check the surroundings? Sir Leon's beast is huge and fast; it can carry us all—of course, if Sir Leon wants."

Kaelion shrugged. There was no problem with that.

Uraan quickly took a pen and marked a safe route from memory for around 1,000 kilometres.

With Fruder's remark, they wanted to have a safe distance from the centre while also being deep enough in the realm to capture necessary resource points if Fruder spotted any after Kaelion took him for a ride.

Since the realm centre was 2000 kilometres from their place, meaning it was 4000 kilometres wide, and they already knew that this artificial realm was a circle, establishing their stronghold at the 1000-kilometre mark from the borders was the safest bet.

And so, everybody climbed onto Kaelion's Skyreaver, and they took off.