The carriage and the mercenaries continued trekking through the forest for a few hours but the end of it was still nowhere in sight.
"How long until we get out of this place?" Ordio asked Jakob who was stationed at the front of the formation.
"It's a huge forest, at our current pace it will take at least two more days," Jakob replied as he waved his hands toward the surroundings.
"Two more days? Let's hope we don't encounter anything else then." Ordio said as he rubbed his face clear of sweat.
Jakob turned his head around and looked at Ordio as if he was a dumbass.
"Never say that again," Jakob said as he furrowed his brows.
"Say what?" Ordio asked back, confusion could be seen in his expression.
Jakob just sighed and turned around.
"Nothing, leave it." He said as he continued his trek forward while surveying the surroundings.
'He really did raise a red flag, that bastard' Jakob thought.
As they continued through the forest, the path started getting rougher and the dirt road had slimmed down so much that the carriage could barely pass through it.
All around them, they could only see trees covered with moss and hear the chirping of the forest birds as well as the occasional ribbit of frogs.
Leroy was tasked with watching the northeast side of the carriage and then alarm the others if any irregularities appeared nearby.
While he was doing that, Leroy was deep in thought.
'Mana, a central part of most high-level combat. Just unlocking it increased my combat capacities severalfold, if I managed to control it better and redirect it in concentrated amounts into specific parts of my body wouldn't that give those a higher increase in strength?' Leroy thought as he tried to figure out a way to increase his combat capabilities as fast as possible.
'Even if it is possible, currently my mana control is basically nonexistent to the point where I can't even say I control it but more like slightly influence its path, at most id be able to use all my mana in one part of my body which could work as a high-risk move but it would also cause a lot of damage I'm guessing from how it destroyed the seal around my core.'
Suddenly Leroy heard a ruffling sound coming from the bushes to his side.
Quickly Leroy placed his hand on his sword, ready to unsheathe it at any sign of trouble.
"There's something behind the bushes" Leroy loudly said so that the others could hear him.
Immediately, all four archers of the group came to Leroy and readied their bows as fast as they could.
The other mercenaries also came and unsheathed their swords in the direction where Leroy was pointing with his head.
The carriage stopped as Harry stood next to the driver and horses, protecting them from any unknown danger.
And then the thing that made the ruffling sounds came from behind the tree.
It was a man they all knew well.
Weltist.
"Weltist?" A mercenary shouted, his face expressing joy at the sight of his comrade.
Ordio however raised his hand stopping the man from nearing Weltist.
"Be careful, it could be a trap," Ordio said, his expression showing how seriously he took the matter.
"Hey," Weltist raised his hand in greeting.
He looked normal, with the same black hair and brown eyes, his height and musculature looked the same as well.
"I managed to get out of the mist somehow and then I had to run as fast as I could to catch up to you guys," Weltist said as he huffed, looking exhausted.
Ordio lowered his hand slowly as he stared at the man.
'He looks completely normal.' Ordio thought as he stared at Weltist.
Finally with Ordio no longer blocking him, The mercenary neared his friend, a happy expression on his face at finding out his friend was safe and well.
Leroy just stood there looking at them.
'It's not certain that he's Weltist, if the ritual in the slums could make puppets then who says the mist can't?' Leroy thought as he stared at Weltist, his guard still fully up in case of any accidents.
Weltist just smiled and hugged the man who had come to welcome him back.
Seeing that Weltist wasn't attacking the man, the others also thought that everything was fine and allowed happy expressions to show on their faces.
Several others also went to Weltist to hug the man and congratulate him for coming back and surviving.
"Sorry for leaving you behind man, but we just couldn't do anything." One of the mercenaries said as he hugged the man who had come back from what seemed like a certain death.
"Happy to be back," Weltist exclaimed as he finished greeting everyone.
"Go to the captain, he's in front of the carriage with the driver," Jakins said as he pointed towards Harry's position.
Weltist just nodded, a smile ever present on his face as he started walking towards Harry.
Leroy continued to stare at the man guarded until a sudden thought came to his head as if an explosion had occurred.
'Why is he so calm? Being swallowed up by the mist and then having to come back alone through the forest right after and managing to stay this calm?' Leroy thought as he started to get more and more affirmations for his thoughts.
Weltist walked with a calm gait as if nothing could bother him, his eyes weren't like those of a man who had just undergone such an incident, it was as if he was walking towards his kitchen in his home and not in the middle of a deadly forest.
Leroy turned towards Ordio and told him his thoughts.
"We will just have to see, we can't accuse him of anything right now as he does appear entirely normal besides what you're telling me but he's been a mercenary for years so his mental fortitude is much higher. Do stay on guard though and I'll also tell the others about it." Ordio said as he nodded at Leroy and turned towards the others motioning for them to get closer.
He told them the situation and asked them to stay quiet about the entire matter to Weltist and just act as usual.
The others nodded though the man that had hugged Weltist at first seemed as if reluctant to believe anything bad was going on with the man.
His expression was clearly showing his dissatisfaction with the situation.
Leroy just stared at him.
'What an idiotic bastard' Leroy thought.
Finally, Weltist arrived at the front of the carriage and he waved his hand in greeting to Harry.