Chapter 1741 - 77 - 79

Chapter 77: Attack

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Neither Anfey nor Christian slept well that night. Anfey had only spoken half of his thoughts. He couldn't tell Christian some of the plans, and Christian kept tossing and turning, his thoughts unknown. He rolled over into Anfey, who also had trouble falling asleep, and met his eyes. They exchanged smiles, and once again turned away in different directions.

Everyone got up early in the morning and efficiently divided the labor. Blavi, Sanchez, Feller, and others stayed behind to look after the base camp. Anfey, Christian, Riska and the main force went to dig up the unicorn corpse. Anfey was a little worried that the two-footed flying dragon might come to provoke them, so he especially took out a piece of the highest quality magic crystal to have Christian form a magic array. Soon afterwards he led the main battle squad out onto the prairie.

Ten miles from the manticore's den, Christian and Suzanna were preparing the final touches. The trap was about five meters wide, with four tree branches on top to hold it in place. A net of woven tree sticks was laid on the branches as well. They had prepared a lot of timber for building houses these days, and weren't lacking these materials.

At the very bottom of the trap, Christian had arranged a magic array with increased gravity. As long as he was at a far distance to stimulate the operation of the magic array with his mental strength, within ten meters of the magic array, the gravity would increase seven or eight fold, the weight of the branches and the net of sticks on top of the trap would also increase. With the addition of surface dust and the weight of the corpse of the unicorn, the branches would abruptly break, and everything on top would fall down.

After building it, Suzanna and Christian went around the trap, and even ran up on top of the trap and stomped on it a few times. It was pretty durable, although there was a loose feeling beneath the feet. But in the magic beasts forest, there were fallen sticks and leaves everywhere, and even if the ground appeared to be very strong, it was still surprising to suddenly have one foot trapped in the midst of a pile of fallen leaves.

Anfey, Riska and the others had carried the unicorn corpse over. At this time, Christian had already formed a magic array to mask all the fluctuations of the elements, ten meters away behind the bushes. After having placed the unicorn corpse properly, they would just have to wait.

The first to arrive weren't the seven-winged magic flies, but a few types of small magic beasts. Anfey was surprised that he actually saw some magic beasts similar to grayish black rabbits biting at the carrion of the unicorn. He did not have the impression that rabbits were carnivores.

As time passed, an increasing number of magic beasts gathered near the unicorn corpse. It was probably due to the fact that the unicorn corpse was too immense, and caused all the magic beasts to believe there was enough food. There were no conflicts between them; they ate their own fill and appeared to be very peaceful.

The commotion of the gathering of all types of magical beasts quickly caught the attention of the seven-winged magic flies. Two golden lights appeared and sped nearer, finally stopping eight or nine meters in the air, and shining downwards.

Anfey had heard Christian tell him before that the seven-winged magic fly was enormous, and similar to the size of a human brain. That was why Anfey had subconsciously thought of the seven-winged magic fly as a type of spherically shaped magic beast. It wasn't until he had seen with his own eyes that he understood that Christian meant the body length. It could only be said that Christian's description was mistaken.

The seven-winged magic fly had a very soft body. Its body was about as thick as a person's two fingers, its whole body appeared to be a pale gold, and there were indeed seven pairs of wings, three pairs on each side and a pair on their back that appeared to be very small and short compared to the other wings.

This splint on the back helped it to be able to change its flight direction even more rapidly, which made it even more difficult to predict the course of its flight.

The seven-winged magic fly is a worthy flight master; its action of being suspended in air seemed very easy and natural. Behind it was a small sunflower shaped sucker that shook around as if it was looking for something. A seven–winged fly rapidly turned its body around and flew in the direction it came from, and another seven-winged magic fly then continued to circle over the unicorn corpse.

Not long after, the distant forest began to glow with bits of golden light. A group of seven-winged magic flies flew towards them aggressively, and the magic beasts that were fighting over the unicorn corpse seemed somewhat afraid. They slowly stopped eating and looked towards the sky.

This group of seven-winged magic flies first attacked the grayish black rabbit-looking magic beast. It seemed that not only humans know to pinch persimmons that are ripe [1]…

The rest of the magic beasts stood aloof, as if it did not affect them, and took a bite of carrion from time to time. That rabbit-like magic beast obviously wasn't an opponent, and would soon be banished and disappear in the midst of the magic beast forest.

Immediately after that, the group of seven-winged magic flies started to attack a big spider with a weird totem on its back, and thus, at that moment, it finally experienced the fruit of having watched coldly on the sideline.

It waved it's little legs in rebellion as it let out calls of chirps, as if it was asking the other magical beasts to rescue it. But just as it had not help the rabbit just then, no magic beasts came to help it now.

The seven-winged magic flies attacked very fast, and once they attacked, they flew away immediately, not lingering over the big spider. In the blink of an eye, their attack came wave after wave, and left many wounds on the big spider. Luckily, the seven-winged magic flies' could only heal themselves once. If it could be combined, this big spider probably would have been immobilized already.

Finally, the big spider couldn't stand the collective attack of the seven-winged magic flies and fled into the forest. The seven-winged magic flies regrouped in the air, as if they were choosing their next opponent.

A magic wolf with a lame leg let out a howl to warn the seven-winged magic flies not to mess with it; to go bully the others because it was not to be trifled with. Who could have known that even before the wolf's cry had stopped, a very horrible scream came from afar. Immediately, a huge figure in the sky came pressing towards them.

The wolf was very vigilant.. Before the other magic beasts could respond, it had already opened its mouth and ripped off a big piece of carrion from the unicorn corpse, and immediately went into the forest. Even though it had just pronounced its solemn declaration, it fled into the forest in the blink of an eye; that was too much of a loss of face. But high-level magic beasts were at the top of the food chain in the magic beasts forest. Even a group of starving magic wolves wouldn't dare to wage an attack on the two-footed flying dragon, and magic beasts like the magic wolf don't really care for its reputation either.

The rest of the magic beasts coaxed to disperse. The magic beast forest was a region where the strong ones were respected, and it was also a region of survival of the fittest. All the magic beasts understood that; they knew what they should do when in the face of irresistible force.

A two-footed flying dragon lazily landed. This two-footed flying dragon was a bit bigger than the two-footed flying dragon that broke into the cave yesterday. It was too lazy to pay attention to the scattered fleeing magic beasts.

It tilted its head and looked around, then shook its stout body and slowly walked towards the unicorn corpse.

Within the magic shield, Anfey carefully watched the two-footed flying dragon's every movement, but Christian was watching Anfey instead, and was quietly waiting for Anfey to give a signal.

The two-footed flying dragon finally set down on the trap under everyone's eyes. But at this moment, an accident occurred. Although Anfey and everyone had carefully compiled the branches into a net, and Suzanna had carefully inspected it as well, there would always be some omissions. In this case, this two-footed flying dragon's weight was beyond imagination. As a result, its right leg broke the branches underneath, and it fell deep into the trap, with its whole body slanted.

"Begin!" Anfey said in a low voice. He wanted the painstakingly created trap to be of great use; to be able to kill all the seven-winged magic flies and even a few two-footed flying dragons. But hope is just hope. That two-footed flying dragon's accident had already destroyed Anfey's hopes.

Christian quickly used mental strength to launch a magic array to increase gravitational strength. There came a light hoot from the air, and the surrounding weeds ten meters or so from the unicorn corpse, as well as the shrubs, fell neatly onto the ground all at the same time, as if the ground beneath had some random force of attraction. Their leaves stuck entirely onto the ground, and also produced breaking sounds from time to time.

The most unfortunate were the seven-winged magic flies. Their wings were actually very thin, and they relied on having a light body in order for them to be able to fly fast. During the start of the magic array, there body weight immediately increased a few times.

At the same time, they flapped their wings rapidly on instinct, in hopes of ridding that kind of force of attraction. Due to the intensity of the struggle, their wings either abruptly snapped, or their bodies were strained. They fell to the ground one after another as a result.

But the two-footed flying dragon and the unicorn corpse in front of it disappeared together. The ground trembled. An adult two-footed flying dragon's weight was around 4,000 pounds, and with the addition of the increased gravity, something around the weight of nearly 30 thousand pounds crashed into the trap. It was not a surprise to have this kind of result. Not to mention that the unicorn's corpse was also affected by the increased gravity, and together, it would be an intimidating figure.

Suzanna jumped up and rushed towards the trap first. To have arranged the magic array in the middle of the trap was a last resort; they would not get the desired result if the magic array were formed in other places. But after the heavy weight had fallen into the trap, it could possibly have done damage to the magic array. The effect of the increased gravity would disappear, and she did not have a lot of time.

Suzanna stopped for moment when she rushed out of the area enveloped in the magic array. The undulation that the magic array produced suddenly disappeared. Only then did Suzanna conveyed her energy for battle and sprung up straight towards the inside of the trap like a meteor. She wanted to resolve the hidden danger before the two-footed flying dragon restored its combat power.

The second one to charge was Anfey, while Riska released a frost tactic. White frost flowers that are visible to the naked eye began to condense on the ground surrounding the trap. The seven-winged magic flies like hot and humid weather; the frost tactic would make them suffer! As for Suzanna and Anfey, a temperature around zero degrees was completely tolerable.

Since time was short, there were only three raised top sharp-pointed stakes in the trap. The two-footed flying dragon was lucky: it laid right in the middle of the three stakes, and only one of the stakes gave it a minor scrape. The two-footed flying dragon struggled to flip its body, wanting to get itself upright. The light from the sword that Suzanna released had already arrived. A crescent moon shaped sword light struck the belly of the two-footed flying dragon and immediately left a wound about 4 inches long, and the two-footed flying dragon screamed loudly.

"Yeah!" Suzanna yelled, and kicked the inside wall of the trap forcefully with her right leg. Her attack when her whole body was shrouded in combat mode was very scary. That kick made a big hole in the wall, and Suzanna sprung up and leapt towards the two-footed flying dragon's neck.

The two-footed flying dragon had an unusually agile neck. It was the main weapon for hunting, but it was also its fatal weakness. Compared to its huge body, the two-footed flying dragon's neck was way too thin and small, and it could not withstand an attack that was too fierce.

And at the moment, Anfey was waving the tail needle of the manticore, attacking the seven-winged magic flies that practically had not defense against it. Suzanna was the strong one anyways; there was no need for him to exert his utmost strength.

A brutal cold light flashed across the small pupils of the two-footed flying dragon. It shook its neck and bypassed Suzanna's attack, and instead, it bit towards Suzanna's lower abdomen from below. Although the two-footed flying dragon was fighting Suzanna while lying down on the ground, its speed of movement was still very rapid.

Suzanna gripped her left fist tightly, and bounded with dazzling combat energy, she struck out downwards. Suzanna's small hand normally appeared to be delicate, but after conveying combat energy, her hand became hard like iron, and her punch struck the two-footed flying dragon's head with a direct hit. Suzanna only felt bursts of soreness in her hand, and her body could not help but to float upwards, while the two-footed flying dragon screamed loudly in more pain.

At this time, Christian and Riska came charging forward. Christian raised his hand and a flash of lightning fell out of thin air and struck the two-footed flying dragon's head. Riska's release of magic was much slower than Christian's, but what he released, however, was a fire meteor. The two-footed flying dragon still flipped over on its belly, but it simply could not dodge, and could only watch the fire meteor crash onto its body.

Hot flames shot everywhere. Suzanna eyed the exact position of the two-footed flying dragon, and still relying on the overpowering combat energy, she pushed into the fire. The two-footed flying dragon was about to go crazy with pain, and did not expect a human silhouette to sprung out of the flames. There was no time for it to resist again, and the long sword bathed in combat energy heavily hacked onto the back of its neck.

Although the sword attack that Suzanna had summoned with all her strength did not fully chop through the two-footed flying dragon's neck, the attack left the dragon with no chance of survival. The two-footed flying dragon's scream suddenly died down, and its long neck fell weakly to the ground. Under its mouth was the unicorn corpse of its dreams: It was a pity that it did not have enough strength left to even eat just a small piece of the carrion.

Riska let out a breath of relief, and repeatedly released a few whirlwinds. The two-footed flying dragon's ability to resist magic was the lowest amongst the high level magic beasts, and their ability to resist the magic of the fire series was beyond hideous and horrible to look at. The fire meteor abruptly exploded a hole in the two-footed flying dragon's chest. The stink of burnt flesh penetrated the air, and Riska could barely stand it.

Christian and Suzanna's expressions became more relaxed, and they turned around together to look towards Anfey. Anfey was seriously brandishing the manticore's tail needle, and the attack made the last seven-winged magic fly that was trying to escape fall to the ground. Sante and Zubin followed behind Anfey, collecting the seven-winged magic flies. The three strong combatants—the high level swordsman, the beginner level magister, and one who had just become a magister—joined forces, and Anfey was not worried that they would have some type of accident. His concentration was all on the seven-winged magic flies.

Although there were countless good things in Anfey's dimensional ring, they were not his own. Anfey never had a selfish thought of private possession; they would have to be returned to Saul sooner or later. But the unicorn corpse, manticore, and the seven-winged magic flies were different. These were the fruits of their team's labor. Anfey had always valued his own private belongings…

Achoo … Anfey contentedly took back the manticore's tail needle into the dimensional ring and sneezed. The effects of the frost tactic had gradually dissipated, but the air was still very cold. On the other hand, Christian was waiting for people not in the midst of combat and was surrounded by the magic shield, so he had no problems. Anfey glanced with envy at Christian and the others; he didn't know when he'd be able to generate a magic shield. How impressive would that be.

"Is everyone alright?" Anfey jumped in place a few times and began to do warm-up exercises. Anfey's wariness gradually decreased with the increase in the amount of time he had spent with everyone, and his temperament became easy-going. In the past, he would not have done this type of action under everyone's eyes.

"We still have no problem in dealing with a two-footed flying dragon," said Riska confidently. They all said that strength was ambition's cradle. With the increase of strength, almost everyone's ambitions would gradually grow. In actuality, confidence would also increase along with strength. Knowing that he had broken the bottleneck, and that becoming a magister was just around the corner, Riska became more confident.

"Don't be careless!" Anfey shook his head. "Suzanna, take out that two-footed flying dragon's magic crystal and poisonous tooth before the other two-footed flying dragons rush here."

Anfey was beginning to like Suzanna more and more, but this was not the usual kind of affinity between a man and a woman. Apart from the times when they had disputes, Suzanna did not have that many shortcomings, and her merits were obvious. She could endure hardship and trouble, she was willing to exert her utmost strength, her ability was the strongest amongst the team, and she knew how to obey commands. She was simply the role model citizen of another world…Where could one go to find such a good opponent?!

"Okay." Sure enough, after Suzanna nodded, she obediently extracted the two-footed flying dragon's poisonous tooth.

"Anfey, let's go check out the two-footed flying dragons' nest. Although the two-footed flying dragons live in groups, they are separated when they are hunting, and at most only two or three are together. If we go to their nest, we might have a lot to gain," Christian suggested. Having won so easily gave him a lot of confidence, and all those people at the scene were all the core members of the team's combat power. No one would be getting in the way of anyone. In case they came across any danger, there would still be no problem in retreat.

"Might as well." Anfey nodded his head. It did not mean that they would definitely have to fight if they went. Without the seven-winged magic flies being their eyes and ears, the two-footed flying dragons would have a hard time discovering them, and they could use the eye of the sky to observe movement from far away. If there were advantages to take, then they would attack. If there were no advantages, then they would just go back.

They all knew the specific location of the manticore's nest. After Suzanna had taken out the spoils of war, everyone rushed toward the nest of the two-footed flying dragons together. Christian released the eye of the sky once again, at the place where everyone had stayed last time, and searched for the trail of the two-footed flying dragons.

Compared to last time, the surrounding scenery had changed a lot. First, on the ancient tree near the resting ground of the manticore, there were seven or eight large mud nests. Those were indeed the nests of the two-footed flying dragons. The two-footed flying dragons liked to rest in trees, because their night vision was very poor, and resting on top of trees could help them to avoid a lot of dangers. Otherwise, a group of magic wolves could cause them big trouble at night.

After having searched for a while, Suzanna exclaimed in surprise, "Weird, how come I can't see even one two-footed flying dragon?"

"Search again," Anfey said quietly.

After searching again, they were still not able to find a single one. Christian suddenly became nervous. "Anfey, they didn't go attack our camping ground, right?"

"That's probably not possible." Anfey pondered for a moment, "You don't have to worry. Didn't we already arrange a magic array to protect everyone? Besides, they have a lighting chain scroll and hell's fire scroll. Even if all the two-footed flying dragons went, they would still be able to ward them off."

"I say we go back immediately," Christian said. "We'll talk again in a while." Anfey shook his head. "Riska, release the eye of the sky as well, and go in two different directions with Christian to search for the two-footed flying dragons!"

According to Christian and other people's analyses of the habits of the two-footed flying dragons, even if they had gone out to hunt collectively, there should still be two or three two-footed flying dragons that stayed behind in the nest. But now not a single one was to be found, and Anfey kept feeling it was a bit strange.

In order to find the two-footed flying dragons' trail faster, Christian and Riska both increased the scope of the eye of the sky this time. Searching from two directions, Riska shortly found a two-footed flying dragon's corpse first. "Anfey, hurry and come look!" Riska shouted. Anfey and the others quickly rushed over. A two-footed flying dragon's corpse lay quietly in the grass, with a blood hole as thick as a baby's arm on its body. Their initial estimate was that there were probably more than a hundred two-footed flying dragons. The surrounding shrubs hadn't changed that much, which proved that the battle ended very fast!

"Riska, give me your magic coordinates!" Christian said anxiously.

"Alright," Riska nodded his head.

With accurate magic coordinates, Christian's eye of the sky's search range moved closer. After they both worked very hard, they again found another two corpses of two-footed flying dragons. If it was a battle of equal strengths, then the surrounding grass and shrubs would not have been untrampled. But the scene of the two-footed flying dragons' death appeared to be very peaceful.

"Could it be…done by the top level magic beasts?" Anfey asked.

"Not possible. This way of attack does not seem to be of magic beasts," Suzanna shook her head.

"Then what do you say it was?"

"People!"

"People?" Anfey was surprised. The first person he thought of was the old Phillip, whom he had never met. "Could he have already caught up to us here?" Anfey thought.

"It must also be a lot of people!" Suzanna's second sentence gave Anfey a huge feeling of relief.

"Anfey, what about me?" Christian asked. His mood at the moment was very contradictory. Having been hanging around in the magic beasts forest for so long, he really wanted to see other people, but he was also worried about coming across danger. Human nature could not be controlled, and even Anfey had wanted people to come onto the island.

"Christian, meditate with Riska for a while first, and then we will go over there to look together." Anfey pondered for a moment and made up his mind. Kings always had a saying, "How can an outsider sleep on my bed!" Anfey and they had risked danger to eliminate the unicorn and manticore, and were even prepared to get rid of the two-footed flying dragons. It was for the team that he could become the ruler of this region, and so they would be able to live safely. But now a group of people appeared randomly; they had to get to the bottom of this no matter what!

Christian knew that it was a serious matter, didn't say much either and went into meditation with Riska. The two had mastered the method of deep meditation. They had not lost much magic energy, so returned to their best condition fast.

Following along the magic coordinate, a party very carefully made their way to the scene of the battle. This time, everyone appeared to be much more cautious. When investigating the nest of the two-footed flying dragons, Christian and the others had released a drifting tactic, and landed when they had just rushed in. But at the moment, he was carefully going through the forest with Suzanna. Not only were their movements very slow, and they heard some noises now and then, their companions also became silent, and only continued to move forward after deciding that there were no dangerous circumstances.

Apart from Anfey, the rest of them could not accurately estimate the time. After 20 or 30 minutes, everyone rushed to a two-footed flying dragon's corpse and began to carefully examine it.

Two or three wounds were nothing, but hundreds of holes crowded together seemed a bit scary. The two-footed flying dragon's eyes were still opened, and its light green skin had already became greenish black. There were bloodstains all over its body. Anfey walked to the front, pinched a small piece of flesh from the wound with his fingers, and tore it off with force. He then gently twisted it between his two fingers, and concentrated fully on feeling the elasticity of the flesh.

But Suzanna and the others did not understood what Anfey was doing. They observed vigilantly, and sensed the state of affairs of the outside world while looking at Anfey.

Anfey again grabbed a handful of bloodstained soil from the two-footed flying dragon's corpse, smelled it, then gently let it go. He then broke off a branch from the middle of the shrubs, broke the twigs and leaves, and inserted it deep into the two-footed flying dragon's wound. The wound wasn't deep, but it wasn't shallow either; it was about seven or eight centimeters deep. Anfey had also tested a few other wounds, and found that they were about the same depth.

It could be said that there was no lethal wound on this two-footed flying dragon's body, but the key was that there were too many wounds. No matter what magic beast, excessive blood loss would lead to rapid exhaustion and would lead straight to death!

"Anfey, what did you see?" Suzanna asked.

Anfey pondered for a moment, "Minus the time they spent searching for the two-footed flying dragons, minus the meditation, minus the time spent rushing here." He came to a conclusion: "This two-footed flying dragon just died right before we arrived here!"

"Then what about these wounds? Can you tell what kind of weapon it was?" Suzanna asked.

"Suzanna, how deep of a wound can you inflict on the two-footed flying dragon's body if you summoned all your combat power, and attacked with full force?" Anfey asked in return.

"Let me try." Suzanna gathered her combat power, walked slowly to the front of the two-footed flying dragon's body, and forcefully stabbed towards the two-footed flying dragon's belly. As a result, the sword went in deeply, almost to the sword hilt.

"This does not count." Suzanna shook her head. "After a magic beast dies, its defense would decrease, and…I think that this two-footed flying dragon is very strange, as if it was a bunch of grass. I could not feel any resistance at all."

"Take a look at this." Anfey raised up the tree branch in his hand, "If you were facing a live two-footed flying dragon, and used a full force attack, would you be able to stab such a deep wound?"

"Probably two or three times as deep as this," Suzanna said.

"Then that would be thirty centimeters…" Anfey pondered for a moment. "Depending on a high level swordsman's combat power, with a handle of mystery in hand, always unwilling to tell of the origin of the top sword, only then could Suzanna leave a thirty centimeters deep wound on the two-footed flying dragon. What kind of person is he? Could it be there were hundreds of beginner level swordsman?"

"I have a feeling this two-footed flying dragon's body does not contain the magic crystal anymore!" Suzanna exclaimed suddenly.

"Oh?" Anfey was stunned.

Suzanna did not wait for Anfey to speak, and had already jumped onto the two-footed flying dragon's body. She stabbed downwards, split opened the carcass, and this time Anfey and the others all saw the strange and unusual sight. The unicorn's magic crystal grew in the unicorn's brain, and the two-footed flying dragon's magic crystal grew in its chest, wrapped up by its heart.

When Suzanna had retrieved the magic crystal from the two-footed flying dragon that had been in the trap, she chopped and cut, and after after working hard for a while, she finally retrieved it. But now, this two-footed flying dragon seemed as if it was made of mud, and was easily cut open by Suzanna. Both were two-footed flying dragons and both were corpses, so there shouldn't have been that much of a difference!

"Heavens! There is indeed no magic crystal! How did they do it?!" Suzanna exclaimed in surprise. She had already cut the two-footed flying dragon's heart open. It was empty inside; there was no magic crystal, and not even blood!

Just at this time, hundreds of meters away in the forest, came a person's scream. Anfey and the others looked back towards the location of the scream.

"Attack!!" Another person's shout was heard. Promptly, that person yelled again in a very furious tone, "Who screamed just now!? I will f***king cut him into pieces!!"

Immediately, a dense javelin like thing shot out from the forest in every direction, and landed at the spot Anfey and the others were.

There was a penetrating whining sound everywhere in the sky, and the javelin-like thing that was shot overhead was like a group of dark clouds.

Luckily, Anfey and the others had already developed a sense of vigilance. Christian and four mages had already set up four walls, which firmly blocked everyone, and Christian also released a magic shield, which protected everyone inside. Christian brought out the sword, stood at the very front, and anxiously guarded.

Although the momentum of the javelin was jarring, the wall was a very effective magic shield. The javelin destroyed two walls in a row, but in front of the third wall, it did not have much energy left and could only drill into the wall in vain, its tail still trembling.

"My god! Orc!! Let's get out of here!!" Suzanna screamed urgently. Numerous savage faces emerged from the forest, and came charging forward at swift speed.

Christian and Riska held onto Anfey on either side, levitated, and flew into the sky. Zubin and Sante also followed from behind.

"Turn!! Towards north!!" Anfey said in a low voice, then preceded to lift his voice, "Suzanna, catch up with us, hurry!" Although having suffered from the sudden attack, Anfey's senses were very clear, but Christian was actually thrown into a panic. He fled straight towards the camp, but this could probably lure the Orcs to the campsite. In order to temporarily protect the safety of the camp, there had to be a change in direction.

Footnotes:

[1] To pick on those who are easy to bully

Chapter 78: Unintentional Fabrication

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Looking back, Anfey could see clearly the group of savage looking orcs charging out of the forest. Among them was a young black-haired person dressed in black who looked particularly interesting. Anfey could feel that the young person was the leader of the orcs.

The orcs did not appear to want to give up their goal, and they continually produced weird shouts, charging towards Anfey and the others. Anfey's knowledge about the orcs was that they were always disoriented, whether in single tribes or groups of tribes, and there shouldn't be orcs living in Forest Clarm! But the orcs behind them were well equipped, and the javelin that was just thrown out was standard. At this time, every single orc was holding the same short handled wolf tooth rod, and some orcs were even wearing leather armor. How did this seem like a mess?

Anfey was able to float in the sky because of Christian and Riska's ability to fly, so he didn't need to use his strength and he could observe the movements of the orcs. The levitation speed wasn't that fast, but it was more convenient when compared to going through the forest, and Susanna easily left the orcs far behind with reliance on combat power.

Those orcs saw that they could not keep up. Some gradually slowed their pace, while some could not bear it but continued to pursue in exhaustion. Their whole formation came apart.

"Let me down! Christian!" Anfey yelled. He believed in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Since these orcs had attempted a sneak attack, he would not let them go that easily!

Christian took Anfey's direction, together with Riska let Anfey down onto the treetops, and were prompted to release a magic signal that meant counterattack. Zubin and Sante scattered in two directions of the roundabout, Suzanna came to a fast stop, and shot back immediately like a sharp arrow.

Anfey grasped a section of tree branches to first steady himself, and then used both feet to step forcefully on a thicker branch to test its flexibility. He stood up, held onto the treetop, and his body fell straight down. That tree branch could not hold Anfey's weight. When Anfey was seven or eight meters away from the ground, it split open with the sound of a crack. Anfey took a deep breath, rolled as he hit to absorb the blow, pulled out the sword with his backhand, and stared coldly at the more than a dozen orcs that were charging forward.

Retreat was just a strategy; it did not mean being scared of the enemy. There were two beginner level magisters on the team, and also a high level swordsman. This type of strength would not be inferior to the other combatants! Just then they were on flat ground; the terrain was very unfavorable, but the team of orcs had already been pulled apart, so it was time to fight back!

Christian and the others who were in the air rose higher, and then started to gather fire energy to attack the orcs in the middle. In this type of battle, fire magic was the most substantial. Especially with the exploding nature of a big fireball, even if it could not reach its attack target, its explosion would still bring disaster to the nearby orcs. Christian also released numerous flame dusts; dusts as hot as fire clouds abruptly divided the orcs in the middle.

Suzanna brandished her sword, rushed to the two orcs in the front. They did not know better and charged toward Suzanna while waving their short-handled wolf tooth rod. The result was that Suzanna almost split one orc's back in two, from the middle up to the shoulders. Another one suffered one of Suzanna's kicks to his front chest. He flew back like a bullet, and crashed into a big tree. When he slid down the tree slowly, his back was already bloody and bruised His front chest was not visible, and one can't say what could have become of it.

There were probably more than a hundred of them in this group of orcs. Most of them had already stopped chasing, especially since Christian and the others held off a part of them. There were only a few orcs who charged forward to the immediate fight, and they were not a threat for Suzanna. But before she first slaughtered, the corner of her eyes swept over to Anfey when she was charging towards the other few orcs. She was worried about Anfey's safety.

In actuality, Anfey and Suzanna should have switched sword tactics to be appropriate for this time. That was because Suzanna's sword's skill was bold and unconstrained; using the fastest attack speed with the shortest attack distance, she hit every oncoming opponent. Unable to stop their movement forward, the fate of these orcs was the same no matter how fast they would respond. Being unable to defend would naturally lead to death, and if they were able to block Suzanna's sword, they still lost weapons in the power of the collision. And Suzanna could rely on spare energy to behead the opponents.

Anfey had changed to a new sword tactic. It was elegant and flexible; now on the right, now on the left, his opponents were unable to figure it out. He seemed to know that the power of the orcs was very strong. The sword in his hand never seemed to come into contact with the opponent's weapon, and he always waited for the orcs to attack first. He would then attack suddenly when the opponent's tactics became predictable, and once he attacked, there would be blood.

In the blink of an eye, Anfey and Suzanna had taken down seven or eight of the orcs in the front, and then Anfey greeted an orc with its whole body green. Every one of the orcs had a ferocious look on its face, their colors were similar, and their bodies emitted a foul sweat smell. Anfey did not notice that the orc in front of him was a little darker in color than the other orcs. He stepped sideways to bypass the opponent's attack, and then stabbed towards the opponent's right ribs.

That orc appeared to be very agile. Anfey's choices of his attack times were always very cunning, always choosing when the opponent was almost tired out and before the opponent could recharge its energy. But that orc could actually escape this type of situation. Anfey's sword brushed against the bottom of his right ribs, and made a deep bloodstain. The orc yelled, and the short handled wolf tooth rod in his hand came smashing towards Anfey head-on. Although Anfey was a bit curious, he was not at all flustered. He stepped away suddenly and let the wolf tooth rod pass him. The sword in his hand twisted up like a poisonous snake, and with a flutter stabbed the orc's neck.

Anfey swung the sword stealthily with strength in his wrist, and cut a wound so deep on the orc's neck that the open throat was visible. Anfey did not stop, and rushed past that orc's side to greet another orc.

"Careful!!" Suzanna suddenly yelled. Anfey felt a gush of wind behind his head, there was no time to think, his stature suddenly shortened, and he stretched the sword in his hand out backwards. Listening to the wind was basic work for Anfey. He could not only figure out the weapon of his opponent from the sound of air in the wind, but could also accurately figure out the path of attack. His sword blocked the opponent's attack exactly.

Anfey's sword broke with the sound of a clang. This sword was originally Zeda's. Anfey had always kept it on him until today. Although the sword's quality was pretty good, it was very torn, without having been protected by combat energy while training with Suzanna. This time when it collided with the heavy wolf tooth rod, the life of the sword had finally come to an end.

Anfey rolled around and avoided attacks with agility. He flipped over and jumped to one side. He then had an opportunity to look back. The orc whose neck had been cut one-third through was charging towards him with the wolf tooth rod held high.

Anfey was very confident in his means of attack. That was a definite fatal wound! If he did not think that the opponent would immediately fall down, he would never just have walked past the opponent's side chicly and exposed his whole backside to the enemy!

Even though Anfey was a bit surprised, his expression still did not change one bit. He retrieved the manticore's tail needle from the dimensional ring with his backhand. With a mighty demeanor, he pierced the tail needle into the counterpart's shoulder at the sound of a flutter.

That orc suddenly froze and became rigid! The low chance of rigidity from the manticore's tail actually was a success in the first real battle. Suzanna had also arrived. Throwing herself at the orc, her right leg drew an airwave visible to the naked eye, and landed a blow to the orc's head .

Anfey had already sliced a third of the way into that orc's neck, and the strength of Suzanna's kick was too strong. The huge beast's head went volleying up into the sky and flew far into the distance in the direction Suzanna's leg had kicked. In front of them was only a headless torso, still spewing blood.

Anfey hastily jumped out of the way and avoided the bright red fountain. He tilted his head and saw Suzanna's body was half stained with blood; but she acted as if it were nothing, and once again faced the last few orcs.

There was a saying that goes, "Mountains and rivers can be changed, but it is hard to change a person's nature." Anfey was a person who liked to ponder people. Even during this battle he was like that. "This girl has definitely killed people before! Maybe…she even killed a lot!" From the side, he could see that Suzanna had a gutsy and fearless look on her face, and thus he made the judgment.

At this time, a low horn sound came from the forest. All the orcs turned neatly and ran back like a well-trained army. The few orcs that were attempting to surround Suzanna in the middle also turned around together and ran back. Suzanna hesitated, carved out a cross shape with her sword, light from the sword shot out, and two orcs were killed on the spot. Just when Suzanna was about to wield her sword again, Anfey's voice rang out from behind her, "Leave this to me!"

Anfey had already rushed past Suzanna when she had paused for a second. His palm hit the orc's back, and the orc screamed and flew out flailing his arms and legs. But his injury was not that serious. The orc rolled around a few times on the ground but got back up and continued to run forwards; and couldn't tell where it was hurt.

"What are you doing?" Suzanna asked with a frown. Anfey smiled as he waved his hands, at the same time he sniffed the smell in the air, and revealed a well-thought-out smile. Suzanna shrugged and did not continue to question him. She thought: "This man is mysterious in many ways anyways. I wouldn't be able to get any answers even if I do ask, and even then, the answers I get might not even be true."

Christian and a few others landed from the air. "Anfey, should we chase them?"

"No need, they can't run away," Anfey said with a smile, "Suzanna, what was up with that orc just then? I obviously hurt him so badly, how did he still have strength to fight?"

"That wasn't a normal orc, it was an orc warrior."

"Very powerful?"

"If it was very powerful you'd have long been dead," Suzanna rolled her eyes at Anfey, "Above the orc warrior is still the beast blood warrior, and the strongest is the beast soul warrior. Have you heard of Ahdibaijan?"

"This name…I'm very familiar with!" Anfey pondered. "It's the powerful warrior that united all the savage tribes!"

Suzanna said slowly, "Ahdibaijan's lineage is half wolf man. He is a beast soul warrior! The beast soul warrior is a very fearsome creature. Back then, master mage Richard entered Moon Shadow City at the cost of his life and sealed Ahdibaijan in with the use of a vacuum scroll, just because there was no other way."

"I also know this, Ahdibaijan once fell into the humans' trap, and had hundreds of magic concealing arrows on his body, but he still killed his way out of the encirclement in the end. After half a year, he had completely recovered. If it was an ordinary human, or even if it were a legendary swordsman, this would not be possible!"

"How many beast soul warriors are there among the orcs?" Anfey asked.

That's what the novel says.

"Very few, luckily it's very few," Christian smiled bitterly.

"I understand," Anfey nodded, and suddenly looked at Christian, then at Zubin. "At the time, who told me Forest Clarm had no orcs?"

"This…" Christian was speechless and slightly embarrassed.

"Forget it, and let's not talk about this. Let's go back immediately. The other people must be anxious."

"Anfey, are we really not chasing those orcs? I remember that most of the orcs are violent and cruel, but they are practically brainless. Those orcs were actually like an army, and also knew to arrange an ambush. They are too sinister. They will cause big trouble for us sooner or later," Zubin said suddenly.

"I've got the picture," Anfey said, smiling. "Let's, go back!"

Back at the cave, Christian first told them of the two-footed flying dragon's slaughter, so that the people were very happy. Then he told of the clash with the orcs, and the atmosphere became tense again.

Anfey solicited suggestions from everyone to get them to support going to war. Although there were many who did not have much experience handling things—they were generally childish and reckless—one thing was for sure: there were no cowards among them!

Anfey then started to organize the group. He first had Christian and Riska form some more magic arrays at the entrance of the cave. The following day, everyone would take off except Feller, Arrago, Niya, and little Shally with little guy. Christian was very curious why Anfey was so sure he could find the orc tribe. He only asked twice, and both times his questions were brushed off by Anfey. It appeared to be mysterious, but in actuality it was very simple. When Anfey was attacking, he left perfume powder on the barbarian. Under normal circumstances, Anfey could follow the smell of the perfume powder to find the adversary. Anfey wasn't worried about Christian, but a secret was a secret, the less people knew, the better.

That night, almost everyone who knew they were joining the battle the next day went to sleep early, so they could wake up early to meditate before heading into battle. That way they could exert stronger combat power. Feller and Arrago regretted that they could not participate in the battle. Feller was terribly busy; he had to organize and sort out a lot of statistics every day. And Arrago's injured leg had not healed yet. Even if they wanted to join in the battle, they were not able to.

Neither Anfey nor Christian slept. They chatted and walked in the grass under the moonlight. Christian was very eloquent, and mastered very profound knowledge. No matter what Anfey brought up, he would always have something to say, so Anfey really liked to chat with Christian.

According to Christian, the origin of magic and combat power in this world was very interesting. Originally, mankind did not know magic and did not have combat power. Humans, elves, barbarians, orcs, and dwarves all lived in peace on the continent. Every type of intelligent life embraced different deities, and there were sub-regional differences. Even the same groups of beings that believed in the same deity had differences.

There were many deities. And there were also many gods who displayed miracles. It was said that gods rely on the power of faith to survive. The more the people had faith in a god, the more powerful he was. Those gods who had no believers could only choose hibernation, or else they would become weaker and weaker. In order to gather more believers, the gods instigated their believers to start wars. At the same time, in order to ensure that their own believers would win, they gave the believers magic and combat power that originally only gods could comprehend. One god did that, and naturally there would be other gods who would not fall far behind. Gradually, all types of intelligent life mastered battle skills that were suitable for them. They expanded, and became unique systems.

But the gods neglected one thing. Under general circumstances, there would not be breakouts of life-or-death battles. That was because they already had the most valuable thing. They were already above all things; there was nothing for them to fight for. But the groups of earthly beings were not the same!

In the never-ending fights, the battle skills the various groups had mastered rapidly rose to a peak. Strong ones who could threaten the safety of the gods appeared. The sword sage of the people, the master magister, paladin, the sunset shooter of the elves, the master deity, the destroyers among the barbarians, sacrificial destructions, beast deity among the orcs, the master ghost, the king of the hills of the dwarves tribe... Those strong ones stood out, about a few dozen of them. The gods may not have cared, but if there was an influx of thousands, or millions, even the most powerful gods would have to retreat.

The gods could not tolerate this! But they could not do anything about it, because the gods needed the power of faith. They could not possibly risk the destruction of faith in order to make things hard for the strong ones. Something similar had happened in the magic world as well. Maybe…it was the result of the gods making peace with the monarchs of the magic world. A huge opening of time and space connected the two planes of space. From then on, mankind launched a bloody slaughter with the magic tribe. A large number of strong ones fell in the middle of the battle. After the ultimate strength of the two worlds collided several times, the battle skills that each person had mastered suffered devastating damage, and the ultimate strong ones who luckily survived the battle all mysteriously disappeared.

Having fought for hundreds of years, neither mankind nor the magic tribe wanted to continue to battle anymore, but they had accumulated too much hatred between them. No one could stop the inertia of this hatred. You came to my hometown to burn and kill, I also have to go loot your domain. Many people bore the hatred through many generations. Who was willing to put down his weapons? Finally after a sharp decrease in the amount of intelligent life on the Pan Continent, many gods sent down miracles, and the huge time and space door disappeared.

Christian started by telling Anfey what he had read from books, and towards the end he gave Saul's own reasoning and speculation. Saul firmly believed that the century of holy war was just a conspiracy!! One of the most powerful pieces of evidence was that under outrageous circumstances, Brunswick decided to send out the army to block the magic tribe's attack. Brunswick knew that this was his last battle, and he commanded his four bodyguards to take his children and leave through the magic array. Those four bodyguards were all sword sages, and were also the last inheritance Brunswick gifted to his children. In the end, the children appeared at the other end of the magic array, and the four bodyguards were gone without a trace. Not only Brunswick had this type of encounter. Intelligent beings liked to leave room for maneuver. When the habitat of the elf tribe suffered the siege of the magic tribe, the elf tribe assigned more than thirty sunset shooters and two master deities to other places, and those people also mysteriously disappeared!

When discussing topics related to gods, the fragile mage was actually the boldest among all the strong ones. They believed that as long as they could control enough elements, then they would be gods! Before the holy war, the most famous master magister Hahn had an extravagant saying, "What gods could do, mankind could also do!"

The mage went beyond the normal senses and communicated with the elements, and finally controlled the elements. They believed that elements were the fundamental constitutions of the world, and thus did not believe in any gods! That was why Saul only said those words after having done a lot of research. Of course, Saul was also very careful. Among these people, he had only talked about it with Christian.

Christian was also very careful when he talked about these things with Anfey, and had arranged a sound proof magic array before he dared to spill secrets. After Anfey had heard these things, he felt like a hero that had experienced things. He could totally understand. If he had been a god, and had come across the same situation, he would probably also have formulated a similar plan. This type of drastic approach was very simple and very effective!

The more the two talked, the more interested they got, and they forgot about the time. But the little unicorn was aggrieved. It had risked its life to go out with Anfey to be able to play with Anfey, but it knew Anfey just simply ignored it. It rubbed against Anfey, which annoyed Anfey. A slap made it fall on its back, and it finally obediently lied down behind Anfey.

"Anfey, it's getting late. Let's go back." Christian lifted his head, looked up at the night sky, and hesitated. "Anfey, don't tell anyone what we talked about tonight! Or else we could bring trouble to our teacher. You know that the church and the magic guild have always had disagreements, and the power of the church is very strong now. They have eyes and ears everywhere. If these things leak out…"

"Alright, don't worry! Do you think that I am a person with a loose tongue?" Anfey laughed.

"Haha…" Christian laughed a bit, and suddenly proclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Where's the little guy?" They did not know when the little unicorn had actually slipped away. Anfey could not be blamed. He had been enthusiastically talking, so how could he have been in the mood to play around with that little thing?! "We need to make some reins tomorrow and harness it!" Anfey looked to the left and to the right, and yelled, "Hey!"

The little guy still did not have a name. According to Anfey, it could be named whatever. It could be Nao Nao, Liu Liu, Huan Huan…all could work, but Niya, Suzanna, and everyone else were firmly opposed. It was a pity that the name they gave was strongly opposed by Anfey. "Silver Lightning! It was pink at the moment! Also that name was too vulgar! The elegant wind on the divine mountain of Gruia! Please, that name wasn't vulgar, but let me see first what kind of divine mountain Gruia was, alright? Besides…wasn't it uncomfortable to give such a long name? Jungle nocturne! Save it, the little guy hums all day long, my singing sounds a lot better than it does. What song?" As a result, Anfey could only use "Hey" to call the little guy.

It was quiet all around. The little guy did not come happily running to Anfey's call like it did in the past. "Hey! Hey! Hey…" Anfey raised his voice.

"Anfey, let's go back. Maybe the little guy went back by itself."

"No, it doesn't like to be in the cave. If someone did not watch it, it would have long escaped," Anfey shook his head. "Then…let's divide up the search?"

"Sure."

Anfey was just about to get up but suddenly saw a small white shadow galloping towards him from a distance. That white shadow was the little unicorn. There was a bunch of things hanging from its mouth, and it looked like clothing. The little guy ran to Anfey and threw the things in his mouth onto the side, and intimately rubbed its head against Anfey's chest.

But Anfey wasn't a person who was easily influenced. He reached out and slapped the little guy's butt two times, not hard but not softly either. "I dare you to run out again, I dare you to run out again!!"

Christian's eyes fell on the pile of things, and his expression changed. "Anfey, sit here for a while, I'm going back first," he said unnaturally.

"Alright," Anfey nodded. He only focused on disciplining the little guy, and temporarily had not paid attention to the pile of stuff.

The little guy made sobbing sounds as it continued to rub against Anfey, and it even licked Anfey's hand with its tongue just like a puppy. This was its experience. The fact that Anfey had hit it couldn't be changed, but it could make Anfey stop disciplining it.

Sure enough, Anfey laughed, stroked the little guy's head a few times, and then lied on the grass with his hands under his head as a pillow. The little guy then put its head on Anfey's chest, and its cries grew softer and softer. This piece of grassland's scenery was indeed good, but there were numerous insects, mosquitoes, and crustacean creatures in the grass. But the little guy had an invisible force that could be sensed, and could drive away all sorts of little living creatures. This was also a new recent discovery for everyone. When living in the cave previously, the entrance of the cave would always have a large cluster of mosquitoes each morning. Sometimes, they even fully blocked the sky. There would have to be a person in the sky to gather a large amount of water elements, to make the mosquitoes lose their ability to fly, and the fallen mosquitoes paved a whole layer on the ground. But after they brought in the little guy, the mosquitoes never appeared again.

After a long time, Anfey took a breath and slowly stood up. Only then did his gaze fall on the pile of things. It seemed like…women's clothing?! A woman's scream came from the left. Anfey was surprised for a moment. He heard that it was Niya's scream. "Niya, what's wrong?"

There was no reply. A moment after, a plump figure came out from the forest. The most unusual thing was that the figure actually had two heads. When it "walked" out of the shadows, Anfey recognized that it was two people. One was Niya, and one was Suzanna. The two were wrapped in a cloak. Four smooth legs covered in boots were exposed under the cloak, and could be seen under the moonlight.

Comparing the two figures, Suzanna's calves were thinner than Niya's calves. From the contours of the waist, Suzanna's legs were about six or seven centimeters longer than Niya's. Niya was slightly taller than Suzanna, and her frame was also wider than Suzanna's. It was a pity that combat power had nothing to do with frame… One Suzanna could kill hundreds of Niyas. Combat power also had nothing to do with qualities. Niya appeared to be tall and slender and looked valiant, but had poor combat power, and Suzanna appeared to be very delicate.

Anfey immediately reacted to what had happened! Suzanna's whole body was stained with blood; she definitely came to bathe together with Niya. While they were bathing, the little guy had stolen their clothes…The problem was…there was no use in reacting to what had happened. He may not be able to solve that problem!

"What are you guys doing?" Anfey walked two steps sideways as he talked, trying to block the clothes on the ground. This was not a guilty conscience. He was worried that he would not be able to explain clearly.

"Alright! It's you again!!" Suzanna's eyes were angry and wide, her demeanor resentful. "What's 'it's me again'?" Anfey replied. "It's you spying on us bathing again, and this time you even stole our clothes, what do you want? Anfey!!" "Ah…" Niya looked at Anfey in surprise. She wasn't stupid. That word, "again", was worth examining. Gossip…

"You think I still have the need to secretly watch you bathe?"

"Ah…" Niya looked towards Suzanna in surprise. No need to look? What did that mean? Could it possibly mean that he had already looked…so there was no need to look?

"You…" Suzanna had already reached to the point of indescribable resentment. Old enmity and new hatred rose in her heart, and she raised her foot to charge forward.

"Don't, Suzanna!!" Niya screamed, "You want to die!!" Niya screamed while tightly pulling onto Suzanna and the cloak with her hands, for the fear of them getting exposed. Actually, they were already exposed. If someone went behind them, they would be surprised with a pair of snow-white butts. The cloak was only so big, it could not possibly cover them both.

After they finished bathing, Niya and Suzanna found that all their clothes were missing. There were only two pairs of their boots at the scene. They had no choice, Niya retrieved a cloak from her own Dimensional ring, and barely escaped this, or else they could only have stayed in the lake…

Upon hearing Anfey's voice, the two exchanged views on whether to go out or not under low voices. In the end they decided to go out. They'd rather let only Anfey see than having to go back to the cave and let everyone see…this way they could let Anfey go back by himself to find Shally, who could bring some spare clothes back.

"Don't be agitated, don't be agitated," Anfey laughed bitterly. "It wasn't me who took your clothes, it was him," Anfey's finger pointed at the little guy.

Chapter 79: Trust

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Stealing clothes would normally be a difficult situation to get out of, but thanks to Christian, whom everyone trusted, and his testimonies, Anfey felt himself relaxing. Since Christian had vouched for him, Suzanna and Niya found themselves believing Anfey's story. The actual perpetrator, on the other hand, showed no remorse. The young unicorn looked around at everyone happily. The more boisterous the scene, the happier it got.

Anfey, since he did not know what to do with it, picked up the young unicorn. He handed it to Christian and told him to retrieve the girls' clothes. Then he said down by the mouth of the cave and began thinking.

A few days ago, he was able to defeat Shally with a small fireball, and officially became the second worst mage on the team. Even though the magical surges in the fight were very weak, Anfey's power had shocked his companions. Christian even said that Anfey could be a genius with his elemental powers.

Elemental power sounded like an amazing power, but in truth it really wasn't a useful power. There wasn't anyone in history who managed to achieve great things solely relying on elemental power. There was a famous hero that had the power, but the most he could do was to summon a fire element and use it to form a sword. Of course, he wasn't a hero because he could summon the sword or use it to defeat anyone. It was because he sacrificed himself for mankind and became a spy for the humans among the magic beasts. He slowly gained their trust and even became a leader among them. In the end, he led an elite group of magic beasts into an ambush laid by humans.

Initially Anfey was overjoyed when he heard Christian's compliments, but after a thorough explanation, he was disappointed. He had mostly forgotten about it, but he had lost his longsword in the fight earlier that day, and the manticore's sting was still an unfamiliar weapon. He was unarmed at that moment, and had only then remembered the story about the fire sword.

They had kept some spare swords in the storage room in the cave, but they had found those swords on the ship, and Anfey did not trust their quality.

Anfey thought perhaps he could learn to master the skills of making a fire sword. He also wanted to learn more about this ability. If he could make a sword out of it, he could probably figure out how to make other things as well.

A small ball of fire appeared, hovering over his hand, and tumbled in midair according to his will. Like always, he only felt warmth and obedience, and was not at all threatened.

Theoretically speaking, magic would become harmful as soon as it was released. It was not intelligent and couldn't distinguish between friend and foe. There were many records of magic hurting the wrong side, or harming the person that had initially released it. On the contrary, people like Anfey, who could use magic freely, were rare.

Under his control, the fireball bounced up and down slowly in front of him. He then took a deep breath and conjured another ball of flame. Slowly, Anfey felt himself getting more accustomed to controlling the fire. He merged the two fireballs and carefully observed it.

After the two fireballs merged, its color became brighter and the size increased. After a few minutes with no strange activity, Anfey merged the bigger one with three other smaller fireballs.

The five fireballs together became a magical presence slightly smaller than a large fireball. The fireball hovered a few inches over Anfey's palm, and when he probed the power, he felt nothing but warmth and obedience.

Anfey used all of his power to control the fireball. He tried to pull on the fireball, and managed to stretch it. This took up most of his time and energy, since he still needed to work on his mental strength. Oftentimes he would forget about one thing while working on another. This caused the fireball to twist and change shapes like a tree in a strong wind. After what seemed like forever, Anfey's forehead was covered in sweat and a stick about two foot long appeared in his hands.

Anfey had initially wanted a sword and was disappointed it was only a stick. He looked at his hands and felt no burning sensation or pain. The fire from the stick brushed his sleeves but did not damage them.

He probed a nearby bush with it, and saw the leaves curl up and blacken under the moonlight. Then with a small spark, the bush began to emit smoke.

Anfey thought about it and touched the tip of the stick to his own shirt. The shirt was undamaged. He felt that the element was purposefully protecting him. He decided to change the course of its action and directed its aggression towards something else. He touched his shirt again and it burst into flame.

He hurriedly put out the fire and realized that the fire's power purely depended on his commands. If he wanted it to attack, it would.

For normal people, it would be very hard to control their own minds. For example, sometimes the more one wants to forget, the harder it is to do so. When someone focuses their mind on one thing, it would only take minutes for their minds to go to other places. Hearts of men were like wild animals. They were hard to tame and control. Just like there are many ways to take a wild beast, people invented many ways to control their own minds. For someone like Anfey, controlling his mind was not hard work.

If a normal person saw their shirt on fire, they could freak out and imagine what might happen if the fire harmed them. Then perhaps the fire would really injure them. Imagining the fire harming themselves would be a hint that the fire could harm them. However, once a man could control his own mind, the fire would be warm and obedient.

Anfey walked over to a tree and slashed the stick towards its trunk. The stick dissolved into thousands of tiny pieces and disappeared into the night, leaving no more than a small burn mark on the tree.

Anfey was shocked by the fragility of the stick. Christian had told him that the hero could fight with his fire sword. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be so weak that it couldn't even cut a tree. What did he do wrong?

Anfey sat down on a patch of grass and began going over the steps he took to form that stick. Then he began meditating in order to replenish his magic. Even though he was slowly working towards becoming a mage, he wasn't even an apprentice yet, and the small fireballs were all it took to drain him of his magic.

He went through several rounds of meditation and experimentation, looking for an answer. Once he even used eight fireballs at the same time, but it was no stronger than five, and had shattered against the tree.

The moon was high in the sky, and it was almost time for them to move on. Anfey stopped his experimentation. His work tonight pushed him a step closer to becoming a mage, but he wasn't satisfied and felt slightly defeated.

"Did you not sleep?" Feller, who was the vigil that night, asked as Anfey walked into the cave, exhausted.

"Not tired," Anfey said, shaking his head. "Feller, fetch me Suzanna and a sword from the storage room."

"Alright," Feller said. He disappeared into one of the rooms in the back of the cave.

Anfey approached Christian. He tapped Christian on the shoulder and patted Riska. The two sat up, rubbing their eyes.

"It's time?"

"Yes," Anfey said. "Christian, I'll take Riska and Suzanna first. Bring everyone else with you later. We will leave marks on the way. If you run into orcs, try not to tangle with them and find us first."

"Alright," Christian said. "Anfey, why don't you bring Sante and Zubin as well? It's too dangerous with just you three."

"We're just scouting. If we get into trouble, it's easier with less people."

"If you say so."

"Be careful yourselves, alright?"

"You as well."

The hours before dawn were always the darkest, and the quietest in the forest. Both the nocturnal creatures and the diurnal creatures would slumber during this time.

A lone squirrel with a long, fiery red tail, poked its head out of a small hole in the ground. It stared at the east as if it was a zealot staring at his god, waiting for the sun to rise. A few large bats flew over the trees, and the squirrel hurriedly returned to its hiding place. The bats, however, didn't seemed to pay the squirrel any heed. They needed to return to their nests before the sun came up.

There were many different animals inhabiting the Magic Beast Forest, and sometimes even the same animals would branch into different species. Take spiders for example. There were thousands of spiders in the forest—some as big as a wheel, some as small as a fingernail. Some lived in the bushes, others could make webs dozen of feet long. Others relied not on webs but superior jumps and venomous fangs to hunt. At the crack of dawn, these spiders would scurry away from their nighttime hunting places and return to their daytime hiding places. There was a kind of hummingbird living the forest. They were the predator of all spiders and enjoyed draining the spiders of their body fluids. If the spiders were still out after sunrise, they were good as dead.

A few wolves brushed past Anfey and disappeared into the woods, clearly satisfied. Humans tend to view wolves as cruel, but always forget that wolves seek no more than food and shelter, while men's greed was limitless. Of course, civilization flourished because of greed, and it was not wrong to say that desire drives humanity.

Anfey had his eyes closed, sniffing the scented powder from the air. Suzanna and Riska stayed close to him, alert to any danger that could be near.

Anfey knew that as long as it was within twenty-four hours and the people he was tracking did not enter a completely sealed off space, he could find them.

Suzanna stared at the night sky and had a sudden realization. Not only did the young unicorn have the ability to avoid any evil and everything bad, Anfey did too. There were thousands of bugs hovering around them, but not a single one dared to land. It must be the power of the Tear of Stars. Suzanna wanted to ask Anfey if he could feel any difference, but then she remembered Anfey had told her that the less she knew about the Tear of Stars, the better. Now that Riska was here, she didn't want to talk about it.

Cutting through the forest was easy, but tracking an enemy was much more dangerous. On their way, they could use magic and combat power to protect themselves. Using those powers when tracking enemies would give their enemies a warning. However, Suzanna was still worried about being attacked by insects.

"This way," Anfey said, pointing towards the distance.

"Alright." Riska and Suzanna nodded together.

"Riska, bring me up with levitation. Suzanna, remain on the ground. We're still far from the orcs. There shouldn't be anything to worry about."

Suzanna and Riska didn't know how Anfey knew the orcs were far away, but they didn't want to ask. Anfey was a mysterious man, because he needed the mystery for protection.

The three cut through the forest quickly, every once in a while Anfey would stop and look for the remaining scent. After two dozen times, the three arrived at the edge of a swamp. Anfey felt the scent of the powder had grown stronger, and told Riska to land on a nearby hill. Suzanna caught up quickly. The three stood on the hill and observed their surroundings.

A few mutant hippopotamuses climbed ashore slowly and walked towards their dens, their large bodies shifting. They looked completely defenseless, and there was no need for them to be defensive. The hippopotamuses were all very mild, but because their flesh had a strange chemical that made it extremely sour, they were able to live without predators. Even a magic beast with a varied diet could not consume their meat without getting sick.

The hippopotamuses were so useless that the other magic beasts would be better off just leaving them alone. No beasts would try to attack each other, and they lived in relative peace. For other magic beasts, the forest was a place of danger and challenge. For the hippopotamuses, however, it was a comfortable place to make home.

A nearby bush rustled, and a fire alligator appeared. It walked straight past the hippopotamus without even looking at it. Perhaps it was because its ancestor had once eaten it by accident, and taught all of its children, which in turn taught its children, never to go near those things.

A flash leopard appeared from a bush on top of the hill. It glanced towards the humans, and appeared spooked. Its beautiful back arched, and it gave a deep growl before running down the hill.

The alligator had heard the leopard's growls but didn't see its movement. It turned and headed straight for the hill. It seems like it was too starving to care that it was way too slow to ever catch a flash leopard.

The alligator reached the top of the hill, and, instead of a flash leopard, it found three humans. Its small, cruel eyes lit up, and it began to twist its body and stomp on the ground. Then it headed straight to Suzanna, whom it had deemed to be the weakest. The magic beasts all had their own advantages. Flash leopards were fast and sensitive to their surroundings, while the fire alligators were thick skinned and hard to kill.

Suzanna's eyes were filled with disgust. She kicked the alligator in the jaw, sending it tumbling down the hill.

A few other alligators that had gathered around returned to their hideouts, while the one that tried to attack them laid on the ground. It was twisting in pain and making gurgling noises. Suzanna had shattered its jaw, and in a few days it would starve to death.

"Riska, you ready?" Anfey asked.

Riska nodded. He whispered a spell, and used eyes of the sky.

Anfey was growing very fond of this magic. It was like a spy satellite. After a few times using it, Anfey thought he could find a few mediocre members of the team and have them focus on this magic.

Riska changed a few coordinates, but with no success. He looked at Anfey and shook his head.

"There," Anfey said. He pointed to the place he could clearly smell the powder.

Riska summoned his magic and began looking again. After changing the coordinates a dozen times, there were still no clues. He was about to talk to Anfey, when a dozen orcs appeared in his view.

"Look," Riska called to Anfey.

"Keep an eye on them," Anfey told him.

Watching orcs moving through a forest was very hard, and Riska had to focus all of his attention on the task. In order to keep track, every time the orcs walk into the shade, he immediately had to find a nearby coordinate and search carefully.

After a while, when Riska's magic was almost all used up, the orcs disappeared into the woods near a small mountain.

Riska waited a few more moments and stopped the magic. He wiped the sweat on his forehead and said, "That's the best I can do."

"Take a break," Anfey said. "I feel like that is the orcs' hideout. Suzanna, what do you think?"

Suzanna did not reply. Anfey turned around, and found Suzanna standing there. She looked excited, and her eyes were staring at a mountain in the distance.

"Suzanna? What happened?" Anfey asked.

"Nothing," Suzanna replied, as if waking from a dream. "Nothing. Just remembered something in the past"

"Really?"

Suzanna bit her lip and turned her gaze towards Anfey. The latter was staring at the alligator down the hill, as if it was too interesting for him to turn his eyes away.

Suzanna's eyes were filled with emotion, as if she was making some difficult decisions. After a moment, she walked over and whispered to Anfey, "Do you remember the map I once talked about?"

"Of course. The one you talked about that day…" Anfey stopped his sentence mid track. There were some memories neither one of them were willing to speak of.

"If I am not mistaken, this is the place on the map."

"Can I see it?" Anfey asked. "Don't worry, I won't take it. I know how much it means to you. I just want to help."

Suzanna nodded. "Alright," she said, "I trust you." When she first mentioned the map, she already knew that she won't find the treasure all by herself. She needed help, and Anfey was her only option. She didn't like him and thought badly of him, but at least she didn't have to worry about Anfey taking the treasure for himself after they had found it. After working together for some time, Suzanna was sure of it.

She drew her sword and took out a piece of tattered and stained paper from the sheath. She handed it to Anfey and said, "Don't damage it!"

Anfey smiled and opened the paper. It was a map, but only half of it was there. The other half was ripped off and missing, leaving a jagged edge. It seemed like the map had some stories to it, as well.

"You see the mountain there? It's the one over there," Suzanna said, pointing from the map to the mountain she was looking at earlier.

The mountain that appeared in Riska's eyes of the sky had a flat top, like it was once cut down by a god. The mountain on the map had a flat top as well. There were some wavy lines drawn next to the mountain, and it was labeled "Clarm Swamp."

It was the same swamp and mountain. The possibility of the treasure being hidden there was very high. High enough for them to look into it.

"Where's the other half?" Anfey asked.

"It was taken away from me," Suzanna said. She shook her head and seemed to have remembered some unpleasant memories.

"It's alright," Anfey reassured her. "We'll find it."

"The other half contained the spell to open whatever contains the treasure," Suzanna said, shaking her head. "Without it, we can't open the lock."

"That troublesome?"

"Yes," Suzanna said, nodding. "Don't you want to know what is in that treasure?" she asked after glancing at him for a few moments. "Are you not interested in it?"

"Why would I be?" Anfey asked. He had remembered his conversation with Suzanna. If she wanted to tell him about everything, he would offer her his help. If she chose to remain secretive, it wasn't his place to intervene. Everything came at a price, and there wouldn't be any treasure without risks.

"I have no idea what kind of a man you are," Suzanna said, shaking her head. A normal person would be very interested after hearing about treasures. People like Anfey were very strange to her.

"I'm an honest man," Anfey said. "I won't seek things that are not mine. What is mine will never be another's."

"Honest?" Suzanna rolled her eyes. "Are you joking?"

"Jokes?" Riska had just woken up from his deep meditation, and since he could not sense anything of the outside world when he was meditating, he had only heard the last sentence.

"Anfey was joking," Suzanna said. She took the map from Anfey and returned it to the secret compartment in her sheath.

"Hm." Seeing that Suzanna didn't want to talk about it, Riska shrugged and turned to Anfey. "What are we doing next? Are we going to keep waiting here?"

"Can you tell how far away the orcs are? Exactly?"

"I have the coordinates," Riska told him. "It's about eight miles."

"Do you have a plan?" Suzanna asked. "The orcs aren't easy targets. We don't know how many there are, and how many are warriors and fighters. We don't know if they have any obsidian mages or spirit mages. If they really do have an obsidian mage, they could detect our presence miles away." Suzanna had the feeling that there were many things Anfey did not know about, so she felt the need to talk to him in case he made a rushed decision. After spending time with them, Suzanna didn't want to see anyone hurt.

Of course, she agreed with Anfey's decision. If the orcs had attacked her without even an attempt of negotiation, they would attack any and everyone. They needed to strike fast to eliminate the threats.

"Christian talked about the spirit mages before. What are they?"

"Obsidian mages are like human mages, and the spirit mages are like the human magisters. They are not as powerful as humans, of course, but they shouldn't be taken lightly, either," Suzanna said slowly. "If an orc tribe has an Obsidian Mage, their strength would increase significantly. They can enhance the strength of individual orcs, increasing an orc's attack, speed, defense, and life force. If the tribe has a spirit mage, it would be even more terrifying. The orcs' strength would depend on the mage's faith power, and a spirit mage's faith power is much stronger than an obsidian mage. A spirit mage can even summon a blood moon, which would turn orcs into terrifying fighting machines, their strength increasing tenfold. In the Sacred War, a spirit mage summoned the blood moon for three hundred werewolves, who in turn defeated an elite legion of forty thousand men. It was called the great miracle of the war."

"So, if a warrior of the Beast God was under the blood moon, it would fight the gods? And that Ahdibaijan, what if he was under that moon?" Anfey asked.

"In reality, among the sentient beings, the direct lineages from the ancient beasts are very rare, but they are treated as equal because of their incredible strength. The great spirit mages were all killed in the Sacred War. Those that could summon the blood moon are no longer alive. Those that were left behind were forced to work with savages like the orcs."