Watching from the sides, Nel and Aer looked at one another, almost rolling their eyes subconsciously.
Dai Zhi's reaction was much too different the first time he came upon a follower of the Darkness. He killed him without question or worry or the slightest hint of hesitation. His unfaltering confidence and belief in himself was one of the many reasons he was accepted by the Temple of Light in such a swift manner.
Micha took a couple of deep breaths and wiped beads of cold sweat from his forehead that had started to form.
"D-Dark….wizard? What is…that?"
Seeing as the roach caravan was coming closer, he pulled Micha back down and out of sight before explaining.
"They are mercenaries. Once part of an ancient outer tribe, they were avid followers of the forces of darkness. Committing massacres and genocide all over the galaxy to power their horrid rituals, they were destroyed by the Temple of Light and now wander the deep space looking for work. What you felt just now proves that your heart is one with the light," he patted Micha's shoulder amicably, like a senior giving helpful advice to his junior brother.
"Their very existence is a sin. They harbor nothing but evil intentions towards all other beings and even now continue to practice their wretched magics in secret to once again open the Primordial gates that were closed by our ancestors. It is our duty to stand against such evil wherever it may be!"
Upon the mention of the Primordial Gates, Aer and Nel's expression suddenly became somber. Their postures became respectful as the light in their eyes brightened by several degrees.
Micha was still a little out of it and it was the first time he had heard of such matters so he couldn't make sense of most of these things. He nodded blankly in response.
The caravan was less than 200 meters away by now. Seeing that, Aer gestured with his hand but Dai Zhi shook his head.
"No, we follow them. A wizard is here, once we attack they will know we are coming. We have to know where they are going," he whispered back.
Aer nodded and moved his hand in the air in a strange manner. A small glyph in the shape of an 'S' appeared. He mumbled the same thing Dai Zhi had said into it before crushing it, breaking it into hundreds of small orbs of light that flew towards all the other groups and passed on the information.
Even though they could use the Spirit Band to communicate, this far out in the deep space its security was not guaranteed and could be hacked without their knowledge. That's why the only mode of communication allowed here was one such as this. Secret arts and techniques that were controlled by one of the members.
The Caravan was close enough that they could hear it without using any superhuman senses. It passed them without any issues and continued its journey.
When it was at a distance of 150 meters, Dai Zhi's group started following it. The other groups kept a distance of another 100 meters just to be safe.
They jumped from mushroom to mushroom, landing soundlessly on the fleshy caps. But Micha was having trouble keeping up with them. His legs felt weak and his body heavy. He even messed up the landing once and almost fell down but Dai Zhi helped him up.
Nel's brow locked together and her cold glares were not gone unseen by Micha. Even he was starting to feel bad being 'taken care off' like this.
He looked up at Dai Zhi, "Senior brother, I'll stay back and join one of the other groups. I don't think I can keep up with you guys," he said rather earnestly but was quickly shot down.
"No, this is the safest place for you. You don't have a group yet so stay here. Junior brother, it is my duty to protect you guys and I won't leave any of you behind on purpose. Here, it looks like some dark energy has entered your body, that's why you are like this."
Before Micha could say anything, he tapped the middle of his forehead and a stream of warm Qi entered his body. The weakness from before started to clear up and Micha regained much of his strength.
"T-This is…?" he asked, surprised.
Dai Zhi gestured for him to follow and jumped up on the next mushroom before explaining.
"It seems this Wizard practices some kind of magic that pollutes strength. It took root in your body when you looked at him earlier. Just circulate your Qi next time and it will be fine," he whispered with an understanding expression but his inner thoughts were much different.
'It looks like I was right. It's using some kind of area of effect magic that works even without it realizing it. I'll have to be careful….'
Under the guise of helping Micha understand, he used him as a lab rat to see how far the Wizard's power went.
Magic users had different grades and terms of measurement which were rather vague from a cultivator's point of view, so it was important he knew the extent of its power before going into a fight.
The caravan moved along the twisting dirt road for almost an hour before coming to a stop on a crossroads. There, they waited for a few minutes and another, smaller caravan came from one of the other roads and joined them. This one also had a Wizard but it looked much different. It was smaller and even gave off a weaker energy signature.
After merging with the bigger caravan, they continued for another hour and a half before entering a valley shrouded in green fog.
