Only 30 seconds had passed since Alex had first checked his inventory, and by now Raymond's smile had long turned into a frown.
He didn't know what that light was that momentarily appeared in Alex's hand, but the sheer energy it was giving off felt much more dense than the E rank beast core he had absorbed.
'What is this little brat up to...'
On the other side, Alex felt this newfound power surge through him and felt as if he was unstoppable. But he quickly suppressed that feeling as he knew in the grand scheme of things his pitiful amount of power meant nothing.
Even before Raymond, he still wasn't strong enough to deal any long lasting damage to him.
'But I may stand a good chance at escaping.'
Just moments after he had these thoughts, he witnessed Raymond reaching his hand out into the air, and knew that he was about to summon that same white glowing sword he saw him use to easily penetrate the lion's skin.
"Looks like you aren't in the mood to play around anymore." Alex said to Raymond with a sly smile as he suddenly dashed to the side, dodging Raymond's sudden attack.
Immediately, Alex decided to take a big gamble and put his new talent to work. The various information he had learned when he absorbed that mysterious flame came to mind as he instinctively knew how he could use his [Flame].
Seemingly out of nowhere, a flaming wall of fire arose between Raymond and Alex, separating the two and keeping Raymond on the opposite side of the cave entrance, giving Alex a perfect opportunity to escape.
"Joanne, quickly store the lion's body and follow me. NOW!" Raymond shouted at the top of his lungs as his jaw metaphorically touched the floor when he witnessed Alex wielding an element.
'How??? He can use an element while still only being F rank! This kid has the future potential to reach B rank... I have to stop him or else I'm dead meat.'
Raymond's thoughts raced as he and Joanne quickly took chase after Alex, who's speed had reached the minimum of what most E- rank adventurers are capable of.
What Raymond was so concerned about was the fact that with Alex's potential to reach B rank, he was sure to have some sort of backing much stronger than him, and if Alex's backers found out what Raymond had done then he would be screwed.
Even if Alex didn't have a backing right now, someone down the line was sure to notice his talent and choose to nurture him. And even if that wasn't the case, then Alex could just come and find Raymond when he was stronger to take revenge.
In all scenarios, Raymond is essentially screwed. There are countless ways to track someone in the Primordial Expanse so there would literally be nowhere Raymond would be able to run.
Because he was a native, he couldn't travel back to the federation either as only outsiders were able to travel back and forth between the two.
Hence why it was so imperative that Alex was killed before he could make it back to some sort of civilisation.
"Did you see where he went?? Put your skills to work, I invited you because you're a tracker!" Raymond was so anxious he started shouting at Joanne, who was equally as nervous. She had no doubt Alex would just stop at taking revenge on Raymond.
"There is only one way out of this ravine, and that's the way we came in!" She made a desperate bid to run towards the exit, checking every second for any footprints Alex left behind, which there were a lot of, and eventually the sinister duo continued until they saw sunlight shining through the cracks.
They weren't happy about that fact one bit though.
'How is this kid so fast! Just the difference in our levels should make it impossible for him to run from me, yet somehow we still haven't caught up...' Raymond was practically gnawing his teeth away with a mixture of anger and nervousness.
"This way!" Joanne shouted from the side lines, as she spotted some more tracks left behind by Alex among the shrubbery of the forest.
"He's heading back towards Valentis city. He probably doesn't know the area well or he would have went to Star city instead! This stupid little brat is giving us a chance to catch up!" Joanne shouted with some relief and excitement in her voice as she realised the direction Alex was headed to.
What Alex didn't realise was that Valentis was still a good 6 days walk away, 4 if he ran the whole time.
Yet there happened to be another city, Star city, just a single days walk away.
***
'Nearly there, come on, come on!'
Alex ran until he lost track of time.
By now, exhaustion was catching up to him, but he pushed through the pain his legs were transmitting to him.
He knew that Raymond and Joanne were still hot on his tail.
'Why are these two fuckers so determined to kill me!? Can't they just leave me alone?'
Nobody was around to answer his questions, by this point the sun had already set and the moon hung high in the sky.
Distant howls and hoots could be heard across the forest and Alex even occasionally heard sounds of battle coming from behind him.
He was certain this was Raymond and Joanne fighting some random beast that blocked their path.
Luckily, his senses had heightened from his increase in rank so he was able to avoid any conflicts with any beasts. But it seemed his pursuers were too tunnel visioned on finding him that they didn't even bother avoiding any beasts.
Eventually after what seemed like countless hours of running, and his legs screaming at him in pain by this point, the light of Valentis city once again graced his eyes.
'Thank fuck! Just a few more miles and I'll be back to safety.'
However before he could celebrate any longer, he heard rushed steps coming from behind.
"I finally found you, Alex." Chills were sent down Alex's spine as he heard Raymond speak with more malicious intent than he had ever felt before.