After that, Erza continued to travel with the mercenary group and chatted with them. Erza and the group of mercenaries subconsciously grew closer together while at the same time Erza had learned a thing or two about the group.
This group of mercenaries was called the Big Boys and it had around eighty members. Aside from the captain that had Peak Knight strength and five others that were at the late stage of Knight Realm, everyone else ranged from Peak Apprentice to Mid Knight.
As the night came, Erza and the Big Boys would often talk for a while before retiring to rest. She would always take out her tent from her storage ring and then some supportive pills in order to spend the rest of the night meditating.
In front of the Big Boys, Erza introduced herself as Erna, a Mid Knight who just graduated from her academy and was currently looking for some experience.
Even though Erza did not tell them which family she came from, the Big Boys knew that she came from the capital thanks to her dialect. That was why no one was surprised to see her having a storage ring. It was not a rare item in Black Snow Empire, especially for someone who came from the capital.
Few of them might be having bad intentions toward her, however so far none was dare to show it.
During her practice, Erza did not forget to pass some of her energy to Ash in order to help him recover to his peak form. The Soul Recovery Heavenly Herb indeed helped him to pass his critical state, but it was not enough to let him recover his original strength.
She also gave him some pills which were beneficial to his soul. Even though it was not too apparent at first, after more than four months, there was a clear improvement in Ash's condition.
Since she could borrow Ash's power in some occasions, she wanted to strengthen his power first so that the power she could use would be even stronger. Moreover, Ash's knowledge was something very precious to her. She needed him to guide her when she was unsure what to do.
Of course, Erza could not afford to provide Ash with high quality soul medicines since they were too expensive. She could only do her best to help him recover, while solidifying her own strength.
The night was very peaceful in the campground, but occasionally there was an odd sound.
...
By morning, the sun dyed the lands a bright red as the Big Boys packed up their tents while chattering. Soon afterward, the campfire came to life with a crackling sound.
In her tent, Erza slowly opened her eyes and shook herself sober from her meditation. Walking out of her tent, Erza's eyes swept around.
Seeing only forty men moving about and lighting campfires while packing up the tents, she noticed a few were already mounting the horses in preparation to move out.
From some other tents, a few men slowly crawled out in a hazy stupor. A few of them were yawning continuously, a symbol of their lack of good sleep.
Slowly shaking her head, Erza began to pack up her tent.
"Hey, Erna! Did you get a good night's sleep?" Suddenly, a deep voice called out to her from behind. At the voice, Erza turned her head behind only to see a sturdy looking man coming toward her.
This man was someone Erza recognized. He was the leader of the Big Boys, Moses.
"Ah, yes." Erza responded with a laugh, though last night, she had not slept a wink. To be accurate, Erza had not slept frequently since the incident at the underground dungeon. The moment she recalled that she had lost a brother because of her weakness, she was unable to go to sleep and generally spent the night meditating.
It was not really a problem. Although sleep was necessary to recover, when a person slept, their head became blank. Within this world of spirits and dreams, a person would not be able to sense the passage of time, but the common man would waste this time by sleeping.
A practitioner could enter a state of meditation and recover his spirit and energy there. Through this method, not only would the spirit and energy recover, but it would also improve faster than sleep would.
Sleep was merely a way to recover spirit and energy. The stronger experts of the world would be able to go day and night without sleeping.
After an early breakfast, the Big Boys immediately set off for the road. Erza did not have a mount to ride on, but instead rode within a crowded caravan on the way toward Mirage City.
In a flash, Erza had traveled with the Big Boys for an entire day. In that time, Erza had idly chatted and deepened her friendship with them all.
At this moment, Erza sat within the crowded caravan with her eyes shut before slowly opening them. Staring outward with a cold glare, she spoke out, "Be careful everyone, there's movement up front. It should be a Wild Beast."
Hearing Erza's warning, the group paused as each one of them stared up ahead. However, no matter how much they strained their eyes, they could only see an empty plain in front of them with no strange object.
"Erna, you're too sensitive! Everything's normal with nothing moving at all." A mercenary called back with a grumble.
"Yeah, Erna, this type of talk shouldn't be said so casually. If you can't make sure of this in the future, then it's best to not joke about it." Moses reprimanded.
Suddenly, just as Moses finished speaking, the land around them began to shake.
"Captain, there's actually movement! Pay attention to the ground!" A mercenary cried out the moment he realized the ground was shaking.
"The earth is shaking…"
"Could a group of mercenaries on mounts be passing by?"
"Are we being attacked by a group of bandits?"
...
As they spoke, each one of the Big Boys began to pay attention to the shaking of the ground with serious expressions on their faces.
"Everyone prepare yourself for an attack!" Moses cried out without hesitation toward his group of mercenaries.
Each one of the Big Boys suddenly sprung into motion as they brought out their weapons. They arranged themselves into a serious battle formation as if ready to fight a war.
As the tremors in the ground became more apparent, everyone grew more and more serious as they tried to find out what exactly was causing the tremors.
All the Big Boys clenched their weapons as they stared ahead. They heard many sounds coming from in front of them, but they still could not see anything. Each one of the mercenaries knew that if what Erza had said about a single wild beast was true, then this one was definitely a strong wild beast.
"Everyone be careful, if we can't fight, then prepare to scatter!" Moses barked in a serious tone.
Just then, a man with an expensive robe and a weak looking face came up from behind and moved next to Moses. "Captain Moses, what's happening? I just heard something about a wild beast heading our way, is that true?"
"Sire Trevor, you should move back for now. We're not sure if it's safe yet, but based on the movements in front of us, it's either a group of bandits on mounts, or a large amount of wild beasts. And it's not just one beast." Moses' voice was calm, but his expression was extremely serious.
"Can the goods be saved?" The weak looking man asked.
"That's difficult to say!" Moses shook his head, "Sire Trevor, you should prepare to run for now. In the case that there's a large group of bandits, then it won't be that bad. But if it's a single wild beast….then Sire Trevor, you should know what it implies."
"Ai…" Hearing Moses' words, the man could only sigh heavily. Those goods were his and the Big Boys was the group he had hired to protect him until Mirage City. If the goods they were transporting were lost, then he would not be able to make up for the deficit, since this entire inventory of goods had been completely bought using the man's savings.
Erza sat within the caravan with her eyes concentrated in the direction ahead. However, compared to the others, she was much calmer. There was not a single trace of panic to be seen in her eyes.
At this moment, a small dust cloud could be seen from beyond the horizon. The dust cloud was not moving too fast, but as the dust cloud moved up and down, the mercenary group could feel the tremors in the ground get stronger. These shakes continued to spread further and further within a large perimeter of several kilometres.
By this point, everyone could finally see that the reason behind the dust cloud and tremors was indeed a wild beast.
Everyone's faces grew whiter by a few shades. If it was a group of bandits that was causing the shakes, then they would have been able to force their way to pass, or give some money for a safe passage. But with a wild beast, there were not any other options aside from fight or flight.
The large wild beast right in front of them appeared to be a large gorilla that was ten meters in height with brown fur. It stood up on two legs like a human, and walked similarly to a human as well. Step by step, it bounded towards them.
"That's… that's a warbeast…!"