Translator: Wuxia Dog Editor: Wuxia Dog
“I smell the scent of water.” Sunier’s voice came from above. “Hold on a bit longer. It would be better to rest by the riverside.”
Moxinke slouched as he lifted his head. “How far is it?” he asked.
“Not far away. A little further on, and we might hear the sound of spring water.”
Moxinke had to gather his strength to continue the way. The female magicians and the two deacons were dissatisfied with Moxinke’s rudeness and were still complaining. They didn’t stop jabbering until Asa, who seemed to enjoy a high prestige among them, made them stop.
Not far away, there really was a spring. Though not reaching two meters in width, it was a paradise in this shadowy forest. At least, there was visible sunshine and soft, real verdant grass here.
The female magicians cheered when they saw the spring and ran upstream together. With their robes covered in mud and fluids of all colors, they were eager to have a wash.
Moxinke threw himself down, his giant sword lying beside him. Cessacioun and Reg also sat down next to him. Asa hesitated for a while before walking beside Han Jin.
It had been only two hours since they had departed from Isolated Cliff City, but the young magicians had gone through earth-shaking changes in their hearts. They had come too hastily and without any preparation. But who could they blame? It was their headmaster that had required this. However bold they were, no one dared to blame her.
Han Jin took out some pieces of dried meat from the space ring, threw them to the others, and kept one for himself, slowly chewing. “Excuse me…” Asa had come over to them. “But I don’t understand…”
“What?” Han Jin and the others all looked up at Asa.
“Those teleportation matrices in Isolated Cliff City are used often, aren’t they?”
“Of course! They are one of the largest sources of income for the Mercenary Association. If not used frequently, how are they going to feed themselves?”
“But why… why isn’t there even a small trail here? Has nobody come here before?”
“Well,” Moxinke said slowly. “The teleportation matrix can send mercenaries to a particular area, but not to an exact position. You may find yourself here, on the other side of the mountain, or even on the top of another mountain.”
“How could that be?” Asa said with his face full of amazement. “What if they send people straight into a herd of holy animals?”
“That actually happened before,” Moxinke replied. “In that case, you fight or you die.”
“That… that’s so irresponsible!” Asa shouted angrily. “They are throwing away lives!”
“We come here for adventure, and that means risk. What did you expect from this place?” Moxinke showed a hint of sneer. “If you are too afraid of danger, you shouldn’t have come.”
Asa paused. “But they can build a fixed teleportation matrix in the forest and arrange for some guards there. Don’t tell me the association can’t even accomplish that with all of their power?”
“Not as simple as you think.”
“How?”
“It is said that they really did build a fixed teleportation matrix in the forest before, but at some point, there was an accident.”
“What accident?” Asa asked curiously.
This topic also attracted the curiosity of Han Jin and the others. Though Moxinke had never come to the depths of the Tarasha Mountains before, he had grown up in Isolated Cliff City and knew much more than them.
“Since the establishment of the teleportation matrix, the mercenaries did gain the convenience of shuttling across the mountains more frequently. Not far away from one of the magic transferring circles was a group of Gale Wolves. For the mercenaries, Gale Wolves were perfect prey since their skin can be used to make leather armors and their teeth for magic swords. If the mercenaries were lucky enough, they might even get some magic crystals. Gale Wolves are only fifth-grade holy animals and are not that threatening.” Moxinke slowly narrated. He was currently in the center of the group, and he really enjoyed the attention.
While Han Jin and others were all listening with relish, Asa asked, “What happened later?”
“Though Gale Wolves come out in groups… we humans have an advantage: this.” Moxinke pointed to his own head. “Any experienced mercenary would have plenty of ways to deal with Gale Wolves. With constant attacks from the mercenaries, the population of the Gale Wolves drastically declined.”
“But one day, no one knows exactly when, a wolf king was born. A true king among the Gale Wolves! Ordinary Gale Wolves can be at best sixth-grade holy animals after progression, but this one… It is said that it was at least eighth or ninth-grade.”
“Even so, an eighth or ninth-grade holy animal shouldn’t cause much trouble, right?” Asa interrupted.
“Stop interrupting!” Moxinke rolled his eyes at him. “Some high-grade mercenaries noticed the king of the wolves and thought they might get a mutated magic crystal from it. But suddenly, the wolf king disappeared, leaving the other wolves in the forest. When it returned, it brought back tens of thousands of Gale Wolves.”
“So many? Are you joking?” Reg was startled. Even with his ability, if he was surrounded by tens of thousands of Gale Wolves, there was only one fate waiting for him: death. Invisibility could only hide his figure, and if the wolf pack refused to move on, he couldn’t do anything. He would still be immediately torn into pieces by the wolves as soon as his invisibility ran out. Besides, with their amazing sense of smell, the wolves would locate him sooner or later.
“Joking? Thousands of mercenaries were torn apart during that incident. You think I would joke about such a serious matter?” Moxinke stared at Reg.
“How is that possible?” Asa shook his head. “Mercenaries have a much stronger fighting capability than Gale Wolves. How could the wolves pose a threat to them?”
“Do you want to listen to me or not? If not, I will stop!” Moxinke closed his mouth.
“Fine…” Asa immediately smiled apologetically. “Sorry, I won’t interrupt you again.”
“Humph!” Moxinke grunted and continued, “The wolf king attacked the guards at the teleportation matrix. Strangely, they didn’t destroy the teleportation matrix after they killed the guards. Instead, they stayed nearby. Each time the teleportation matrix activated, it would send dozens of mercenaries here, and the group of wolves would launch another attack. The guards were switched every ten days. Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps the wolf king truly did understand human language and had done this deliberately, but who knows. As a result, in the next ten days, all the mercenaries teleported there were killed by the wolf pack.”
“Didn’t the Mercenary Association notice this?” Han Jin asked in amazement.
“No.” Moxinke shook his head. “Mercenaries usually only come to the Tarasha Mountains after taking enough tasks, and it was normal for them to stay in the mountains for over ten days.”
“How did they eventually discover this then?” Asked Cessacioun.
“Ten days later, some guards were supposed to transfer there, but those who should have been back never came back, arousing their suspicion. They sent some other mercenaries there but still got no information. At last, a vice president of the association, who is said to be a tenth-grade professional, personally went there with some guards, trying to find out what had happened. But… he never came back either.”
They all gasped in amazement. They knew how powerful a tenth-grade professional was just by thinking about Gerald. But the vice president of the association was still killed by the wolf group. How crazy were the Gale Wolves!
“Isolated Cliff City immediately fell into panic. Some suspected that the transferring circle was connected to an unknown place. But the magicians checked it repeatedly and found nothing abnormal! At last, the president of the association – I can’t remember his name – went to the Tarasha Mountains via another teleportation matrix and headed for the position of the accident.” This said, Moxinke let out a sigh. “Ten days later, when they finally approached the teleportation circle, they found a scene straight out of Hell. Bodies of human beings, as well as wolves, littered the ground. An enormous Gale Wolf stood in front of tens of thousands of other Gale Wolves, seemingly determined to hold their post.”
“The president immediately went back to Isolated Cliff City and published an announcement throughout the city. He claimed that this was no longer a hunt, but a war – a war launched by the Gale Wolves against Isolated Cliff City! He summoned all mercenaries to fight this war with him.”
“And what happened later?” Asa couldn’t help asking again.
“Just as you said. If the mercenaries were to fight together, the wolves did not have a chance against the humans.” Moxinke said. “Though the group of wolves failed, none of them fled. They all fought until the last moment with their king.”
“I didn’t expect that holy animals could be that intelligent.” Asa sighed.
“There are many more things I wouldn’t expect,” Moxinke casually said. “In all honesty, holy animals are not what we should be scared of.”
“Then what is it?”
“Humans, elves, and all professionals from the sentient races,” Moxinke continued. “Mercenaries often have conflicts against each other. Without persuasion or control, even small conflicts deteriorate into hatred. A long time ago, there was a mercenary team who found out the leader of their rival team would come to the west area of the Tarasha Mountains via one of the teleportation arrays. They set up an ambush nearby in advance, and when their enemy appeared, they immediately launched an attack. Even the guards guarding the matrix were killed. After that, the Mercenary Association removed all fixed teleportation matrices in the forest and instead changed them into one-way teleportation matrices. The teleportation coordinates were also changed to be some random positions within a certain area, similar to those now.”
“Why didn’t the mercenaries just sit down and talk it out?” Asa asked.
Reg and Cessacioun almost burst into laughter. Moxinke opened his mouth wide. He was really speechless now.
“Because the most powerful justice in this world is the power you possess.” The young headmaster interrupted. Her eyes swept among them. “Who is Raphael?”
“That’s me.” Han Jin was stunned. “Anything I can do for you?”
But the young headmaster simply shifted her eyes, completely ignoring Han Jin.
