With Andoine's long-winded instructions still ringing in his ears, Lin Li had to feel his way through the dense forest alone. As he fumbled along the way, he whined, "Did the old man make a mistake? He knew how to prepare a new identity for me but forgot to prepare a map?"
Andoine was probably the only person in this world who understood Lin Li best. He knew there was a problem with Lin Li's identity, so he had prepared a new one for him. But perhaps he would never have thought that it had not been just a problem of troublesome identity for this fellow—in fact, he had none at all. The Sunset Mountains stretched for thousands of miles. How could Lin Li, who had come from another world, find his way out?
Andoine was not to be blamed for his negligence. Who would have expected that a magic genius skilled in pharmaceutics could have such weak sense of direction?
Barely a day after Andoine had left, Lin Li packed up all his stuff. However, it had been ten days and he had yet to figure out the bearings in the Sunset Mountains.
The woods were dark and gloomy, and the ground was covered with decaying leaves. His feet sank with every step he took, as if he was walking on mud. The rancid smell was so disgusting that Lin Li had trouble keeping his eyes open. Specks of faint green light flitted in the dark, while the incessant howls from the wolves struck fear into Lin Li's heart.
Lin Li had been walking around in this forest for three days. Ever since he stepped into this forest, Lin Li's spirits were permanently dampened. This cursed forest was like a huge labyrinth. Regardless of where he had started out from and how hard he had fumbled to find his way out, each time he felt exhausted and sat down to rest, he'd find the trees in front of him ever so familiar…
It continued until this morning, when Lin Li finally heard some voices.
Lin Li had just passed through the dense woods when, all of a sudden, he saw the leaves billow in the bushes ahead—three figures were hurtling through the sea of leaves.
"Damn! Damn! Living humans!" He had always bragged about what a refined person he was, but he blurted out two "damns" within moments. He was just too excited that he actually saw three living humans.
Although these three living humans might soon become dead, at least they were alive at the moment.
The leaves of the bushes ahead stirred; three wounded people could be seen fleeing from the forest. Among them, a middle-aged man seemed to have been seriously injured. A long wound extended from his chest to his waist; warm blood gushed out from the fresh wound, leaving a long blood trail on the ground covered with decaying leaves.
A young man and a woman held onto the middle-aged man as they fled. The young man was wearing a mage robe made with fine craftsmanship; he seemed to be a mage with a good family background. In particular, the staff he held in his hand was a rather decent one even in Lin Li's eyes.
Unfortunately, it was difficult for a mage to play a role in the current situation. The weak mage had become a burden with the vigorous running; hence, it was the beautiful girl with the long blond hair looking after the two men most of the time. The girl, who was pretty to begin with, wore a tight red vest, which outlined an infinite lovely curve in the high-speed running. She held onto the wounded man with her left hand and carried a dagger in her right hand. The temperament she displayed as she scanned her surroundings was such that Lin Li could not help but take a few more looks at her.
What was chasing them was a raging Wyvern. Its rage originated from the gash on its abdomen. It was a long and deep wound, apparently left by a sharp weapon.
Exciting! Lin Li stared at the Wyvern fervently as it appeared.
Andoine had introduced all kinds of magical beasts living in the Sunset Mountains back when he was living in his log cabin. At the mention of the Wyvern, Andoine had added gleefully, "The Wyvern's blood makes a good Rampage Potion."
Of course, only Andoine would dare to say such things. For an ordinary adventurer, a level-seven magical beast would definitely have the power to turn three living people into deadmen in a flash.
Razor-sharp talons, flying at the speed of wind, and extremely corrosive acidic spout—these allowed the Wyvern to have what it took to survive on the edge of the Sunset Mountains. Ordinary magical beasts like the Manticores dared not provoke them. A raging Wyvern spewing endless acid from the sky was probably a nightmare for anyone.
Lin Li was afraid as well. But he was even more afraid of this cursed forest. If he wished to walk out of this forest, he could not let the Wyvern turn those three into corpses. Sometimes, the reason for doing a good deed was just as simple as this.
Granted, given Lin Li's character, he would make sure not to suffer any loss when he was compelled to perform a good deed…
He saw the Wyvern take a dive, splashing acid on the bushes. In an instant, a plume of green smoke emerged, and a burst of fizzing sounds followed. Before the green smoke could disperse, the sight of lush green trees was transformed into one of fallen branches and yellow leaves.
The trio who were trying hard to escape were spared from the acid, but they had to stop in their tracks briefly to avoid it. Normally, it might not have been a problem, but at present, they happened to be under the Wyvern. As the trio looked up, they saw a shadow zooming in on them, sharp talons glimmering in the dark.
At the same time, Lin Li had finished the recitation of the Ice Armor Spell.
As the last of the spell broke out, a hard layer of ice armor covered the middle-aged man. While stopping the bleeding of the wound, it also made the Wyvern's strike fall in vain. An excruciating pain shot up from the Wyvern's talons, like having caught onto steel, and the Wyvern roared in fury and agony.
The trio, who were still reeling from shock, took the chance to extricate themselves from the Wyvern and went on to hide in the thick grove.
Then, they saw a young man wearing a mage robe walk out from the forest, reciting an unintelligible spell. A shot of icicle tore through the sky and plunged into the wound on the Wyvern's abdomen. The icicle was not sharp, and would not be enough to penetrate the tough skin of the Wyvern. Even if it pierced through the wound as it did this moment, this low-level spell would not deal much damage to the Wyvern.
The only thing the icicle could do was to aggravate the wound on its body. The initially deep, long wound was as though a ravine all of a sudden. Blood poured out like rain, and even the viscera were surging about in its abdomen…
What was really fatal was that the icicle got stuck in the wound from the start. The icicle not only punctured the viscera of the Wyvern, it also prevented the wound from closing. Blood flowed out gaily like from a reservoir with its gates opened.
After all these, Lin Li unleashed a Delaying Spell to make matters worse for the magical beast.
The bloodied Wyvern was already at its weakest. Now that the Delaying Spell was cast, it was like an old bullock pulling a broken cart, trundling along. No matter how hard it struggled, it seemed that the distance of a dozen steps was a gap it could never cross.
The wail of the Wyvern was filled with despair, and such emotions accompanied it till it breathed its last.
"Oh no!" After confirming the level-seven magical beast was dead, Lin Li was suddenly reminded of something. What a waste! All this blood that have been spilled could make a substantial amount of Rampage Potion…
Upon seeing that the Wyvern was dead, the wounded middle-aged man held onto the surrounding branches and struggled as he walked out of the grove. He had wanted to thank his life's savior and had just taken two steps when he saw the latter holding a glass bottle, desperately squeezing the body of the dead Wyvern.
"Is there really no more? Please… Squeeze a little more, just a little bit more. At least let me make a bottle of Rampage Potion…"
His actions reminded the trio of a vampire, and sent chills down their spines…
At last, it was the wounded middle-aged man who plucked up his courage and approached him with caution. "Mr Mage, thanks for your generous help…"
Hearing the middle-aged man's expression of gratitude, Lin Li was reminded of the proper business at hand.
"You are welcome, it was an act of convenience." Lin Li put the stopper back on the glass bottle that was half-filled with the Wyvern's blood and gingerly put it away into the pocket of his mage robe. Grinning, he introduced himself, "You can call me Felic. By the way, may I ask how the three of you have come to provoke the Wyvern?"
This was the new identity that Andoine had prepared for him. Lin Li had thoroughly memorized it along the way, and now said it so naturally and fluently as though Felic was his real name all along.
The middle-aged man had not expected the seemingly powerful yet mysterious young mage would be this amiable and easy to approach. He was rather flattered and expressed his sincere gratitude all over again before introducing his party of three to him.
The injured middle-aged man was called McGrenn, one of the many adventurers in Jarrosus City. He had entered the Sunset Mountains after accepting a quest from the Adventurers Guild to obtain a Manticore's tail. The beautiful lady with the long blond hair was his daughter Ina; she was an adventurer just like him.
As for the mage who looked like he came from a good family, McGrenn was vague in his introduction of him. He only mentioned that his name was Cromwell, and that he was a warm-hearted mage they had met on the way.
Lin Li stifled a laugh at this. A warm-hearted mage? More like he's trying to court your daughter. Who else would be that idle, coming to the Sunset Mountains being warm-hearted and all…
"Everything was going well in the beginning. After a few days of search, we found a lone Manticore, so we'd deployed a trap near the place where it nested this morning." A bitter smile came across McGrenn's face. "And then, we hid in the forest, waiting for it to fall into the trap. But who knew the trap would attract two Wyverns instead of the Manticore? God knows what happened; a trap that was meant for the Manticore had provoked the Wyverns' attacks on us in the forest. I'd killed one of them, but was badly hurt by it before it died. Cromwell had no choice but to bring Ina and I out of the forest… And then, fortunately, we met you. If it hadn't been for you, I really wouldn't have known what to do…"
"How unfortunate…" Lin Li looked regretful, but rejoiced secretly in his heart. Luckily they had encountered the Wyverns; if not, where would he have gone looking for people to lead the way? This cursed forest was much trickier to deal with than a Wyvern…