Alex was completely unaware of Rowan's thoughts. He was currently focused on the beast that stood ahead of him, in the process of overwhelming the E- rank team leader of the team they went to help.
'This one is weaker than that Flaming lion for sure.'
Alex had only really ever fought one other E rank beast before, and that was the flaming lion where he obtained his Flame talent from.
He only contributed a little bit to that fight, and he couldn't take any credit for the kill at all as that was completely due to Joanne's poison arrow.
But the aura this bear like beast exuded was nowhere near as terrifying as when he first felt the flaming lion's aura.
Alex suspected that it had something to do with that mysterious flame that granted him his Flame talent, but he had no evidence to confirm his suspicions.
'It doesn't matter anyway, with Rowan, me and that E- rank leader here this beast has nowhere to run.'
With nothing holding them back, Alex and Rowan ran alongside the E- rank leader from the other group, who was currently littered in all kinds of wounds from the accumulated attacks of the beast.
Blood was oozing from all over the place, it looked like he was on death's door.
Not everyone was like Alex—being able to fight a level above oneself was even rarer than having a talent.
"We'll take it over from here, friend! You need to rest and recuperate." Rowan announced his presence and intentions to the young man.
Phew!
When the young leader heard Rowan's words he let out a heavy sigh of relief. He had only recently advanced to E rank, which only a few others knew before he was drafted into this sudden war against the beast tide.
Just like most other adventurers, he only went by the vague version of his rank, simply listing himself as 'E rank' rather than his actual E- rank.
Due to his inexperience in the world of the awakened, he still chose to hide his real rank even when Wildblade was distributing him among the teams, hence why he was made a team leader while only being E- rank.
In truth he had no experience leading a team, and even less fighting beasts a whole level above himself.
"Looks like it's just me and you in this fight Alex, you sure you can handle this? This one is much more powerful than that E- rank you fought earlier." Rowan was genuinely concerned about Alex joining in with a fight against a beast not one, but two whole levels above him.
Not to mention there was also a difference in the soul tier itself, with Alex being at F+ tier while the beast was at E tier, so the real difference in rank was more like 3 levels.
Every jump between major soul tiers (F,E,D,C etc) there was a qualitative increase in strength that was much more condensed and noticeable than jumps in level in the minor tiers (F-. F, F+ etc), hence the difference between F+ and E- was regarded by the general population of awakened as 2 levels.
This trend carried on all the way up until when the soul tier reached C rank, where the difference between a C and B rank was astronomical and could no longer be measured by the norms.
This was not information Alex was currently aware of though.
"I've fought an E rank before, and I'm still here. So decide what you want with that information." Alex was intentionally vague when he spoke of his past fight, there were many weird things about that fight that he still wasn't sure were normal.
Rowan raised his eyebrows in surprise at Alex's reveal. He knew he was strong, especially since he could wield an element while only at F rank. That could only be achieved through a talent directly gifted by the Primordial Expanse. But he didn't know he was able to survive against a beast 3 levels above himself.
He knew Alex was vague with his answer, but he didn't even entertain the possibility that Alex was able to kill the beast.
Only awakened at the legendary S rank could achieve that!
"Well, alright then. I trust you know what you're doing."
Rowan didn't question Alex anymore and directly blocked the bear beast's attack from striking the injured team leader.
Alex reacted immediately after and without hesitation readied the same attack he used to kill the two F+ ranks before, and coated his dagger in flames.
The cracks widened on his dagger even more, prompting him to hurry up with his next actions before the thing crumbled completely.
The huge bear was currently launching attack after attack at Rowan, and with it's big bulky body it was slowly overpowering him in strength.
But soon a faint orange glow started to come from his side, where he saw Alex coating his dagger in flames, and he immediately had an idea.
He leaped from the ground to the back of the bear with minimal effort, wrapping his arms around the beast's neck—his hands barely interlocking on the other side.
Roarrr!
The bear was enraged by this action and stood up on it's two hind legs, as it started flailing around like mad, trying to claw at Rowan who held his grip firmly around its neck.
"Now! Attack it Alex!" Rowan shouted towards Alex for him to attack.
The huge bear was slowly succeeding at shaking Rowan off, he was slowly slipping!
'Why does this attack have to take so long to prepare!'
Alex wished and hoped to any god that was listening that his flames would hurry up and encase the whole dagger.
'Finally!'
He didn't know if some god answered his prayer, with the process finishing a whole 5 seconds earlier than when he first used the attack. But he wasn't going to waste the opportunity!
With its chest completely exposed, and its whole attention focused on shaking Rowan off, the bear had no time to react when Alex snuck up in front of it and lunged his dagger right through its stomach.
Yelp! Roarrr!
The bear became even more enraged.