The group of nine people gradually and cautiously moved deep into the Endless Wasteland. Although it would seem that it would be very easy to detect enemies in the wasteland, as the terrain allowed them to see hundreds of meters ahead. But in fact, many animals in such an environment learned to camouflage themselves well.
Sometimes an animal could burrow into the ground or blend its coloring with its surroundings. One of the most dangerous places were the crevices that ran through the entire wasteland, as many creatures could hide there and attack suddenly.
Some crevices in the ground were not very deep, they could be twenty meters deep and ten meters wide, but still very large in their length. Sometimes whole packs of dangerous animals could live in them.
Under the command of a big man with a two-handed axe named Roga, they walked in a clear formation, constantly looking around.
In front of them were Roga and two sturdy guys named Alisud and Verik, they were in a triangle formation, followed by two girls who specialized in counterattacks.
In the center were Fabian and his student Keshi, as well as Kai. Since he had introduced himself as a scout, he couldn't be placed in the vanguard or the back of the group. Besides, he was only in the middle of the Cultivator, which was considered the lowest level in the group.
The swordsman named Gontas, on the other hand, was at the back of the group.
The formation was quite effective, it was clear that Roga was indeed an experienced warrior, and had been on many forays into the wasteland. His skills could also be gauged by the fact that he had two rhombuses on his chest, which characterized him as a second rank warrior of the Border Beast City.
Looking at this, Kai pondered over what kind of strength the first rank and Glory Ranking had. That type from the Blood Commonwealth was at the middle stage of the Cloud Sphere, but he was already at the 91st rank of the strongest warriors.
Thinking about it, Kai began to realize that there could most likely be a huge difference in combat strength between warriors of the same cultivation level, but he was one of those warriors himself. He was even more terrifying than many others, very few people who were at a high Cultivator stage could fight a warrior of the initial stage of the Cloud Sphere. He, on the other hand, could already do so at the middle Cultivator stage.
He also realized another important thing. In Border Beast City, strength was not only calculated by personal combat power, but also by wealth and influence, as this was also part of a master's strength. Now, it wasn't strange that the Head of the Blood Commonwealth was ranked 91st, he was most likely quite strong among masters of his level, while controlling a large alliance. Also, one shouldn't forget that most likely through exploiting and cheating newcomers, he was very rich. His total influence was very large!
Thinking about this, Kai was concurrently focusing on his surroundings, now it was already a habit he had developed by the Fury King, now he was doing it subconsciously. Even thinking about completely different things, nothing around him went unnoticed.
Suddenly he sensed something underground, ahead of the group. Danger!
- Watch out for the enemy underfoot! - Kai shouted confidently.
At that moment Roga quickly pulled out his axe, hitting the ground hard lifting all the rock into the air. His blow created a small crater. At that moment some black beast with a horn on its nose and very sharp claws appeared, it seemed to be very confident under the ground.
When the beast realized that it had been discovered and the surprise attack had failed, it rushed at the group with lightning speed.
Alisud and Verik quickly jumped forward and crossed their weapons blocking the blow.
No sooner had they blocked than the two sisters instantly launched a counterattack. As soon as the beast was blocked, it immediately received two strong blows from different sides, incapacitating it for a second.
After the counterattack, the girls immediately bounced back and a huge axe was already flying behind them, cutting the beast's head in half. Everything was done quickly and cleanly. The group worked together perfectly.
- Kid, you're not bad! Even I didn't feel threatened, but you saw something wrong. Your instincts are amazing, we're lucky to have you with us! - Seriously said Roga.
- Well, I'm a scout, hehehe. - Kai laughed stupidly.
- But I'm surprised that you believed me immediately and reacted lightning fast. - Kai said calmly.
- There's no room for pride in the Wasteless Wasteland, if one has a suspicion, one should react immediately. It is better to make one useless movement with an axe smashing the ground than to be injured by a sudden blow. - Seriously said Roga.
Looking at the big guy, Kai began to evaluate him a little differently. This guy although he was constantly serious, he wasn't stupid and vain. He could be relied upon.
- Commander Roga, I like you, people like you are always easy to do business with, haha! - Laughing, Kai said frankly.
- I can say the same, kid, hehehe! - Smiling a little, Roga said. It was the first time the seriousness was gone from his face, he seemed to really like Kai.
- Hey, what about us? Standing here, praising each other, and neglecting beauties like us! - Solina, the eldest of the sisters, said with a pout.
- Yes, yes, you're right, sister! - Naively supported her younger sister.
- Lady Solina, it's just that everyone appreciated you at the beginning of the expedition. If you look at you for a long time, it becomes difficult, hehehe. - Kai said teasingly.
At this moment, the other men were a bit surprised at such frank words, they couldn't afford such behavior.
"And this kid is a real man!" - Now each of them was thinking something similar.
- What kind of Lady am I to you, call me and my sister by our first names! - Solina said with feigned embarrassment. Her manner was indeed alluring.
At this moment, Kai was very glad that he was being tempered by the Queen of Lust, otherwise he might have even fallen in love. But right now, he was just calmly telling her everything he thought.
- Alright, alright, you can call me by my first name too, no need for all those majestic prefixes like lord and so on, hehehe. - Kai said jokingly again.
- Hahah! You're funny! Master and you're good for taking him! - The girl with brown hair named Keshi laughed.
- Be respectful, I'm your Master, besides, anyone could have taken the task, I didn't choose anyone, it's just a coincidence. - Rolling his eyes tiredly Fabian said. His student was indeed a troubled girl.
- Kai, but your instincts are really amazing! I'm at the middle stage of the Cloud Sphere, although I'm not as good in combat, but as a Master of the Array, my senses are sharper than others, but I haven't noticed anything either... - Fabian said thoughtfully.
- Well there's nothing strange here, I've been like that since I was a kid. - Kai said calmly.
It wasn't worth explaining to anyone that he had been through Asura Hell and King's Torture all the time and that he could see the Essence of Energy, but it was easy to write it off as an innate talent.
- All right, guys, let's go. Talk on the way, but don't let your guard down! - Said Roga, interrupting the conversation and pointing to keep moving forward.
The group began their movement. As they walked Fabian looked at Kai, and then slowly said:
- Listen, have you ever practiced Mastery of the Array? - He asked enigmatically.
At this moment, Kai's eyes glistened a little, he saw an opportunity to learn a little information about arrays. This would be very useful to him!
- Never, but they always piqued my interest, I was always looking at how the energy inside moved. - Said Kai with a delighted face, he seemed to be pretending to be on the same page as Fabian. He wanted to find out more information.
- What?! Have you figured out how energy moves by yourself!?!? - The man exclaimed in shock.
Kai realized that he probably should have presented the information differently, he didn't expect that his words would cause such a reaction....