On the other side, the Half Elf Hai’an was whispering with Wood, holding a map, his fingertips poking and pointing at it.
They were likely discussing the follow-up journey plan.
The Dragon Descendant Sava sat quietly by the fire with eyes closed, her tall figure resting quietly adjacent to the flas.
The spot where she sat was so close to the bonfire that the roaring flas nearly licked her toes, and the sparks falling from the firewood frequently landed on her body.
Yet her relaxed features and the faint tremor of fine scales on her skin clearly showed her enjoynt.
The Bronze Dragon lineage made her instinctively drawn to warmth even if she was not a cold-blooded creature.
With a subconscious glance at the fine sword beside her legs, Xia Nan was sowhat curious.
In his impression, thanks to the race’s inherent strength and bloodline magic power, Dragon Descendants were often strong warriors or powerful and mysterious magicians.
But Sava before him wielded a relatively light fine sword that was commonly seen in Ranger and Minstrel groups as her weapon, and based on information revealed by other team mbers, she was likely not a spellcaster.
This made Xia Nan quite interested in her fighting style.
Thinking about that agile and explosive body, what manner of combat could possibly release greater power from the fine sword than those heavy two-handed weapons?
"It can’t be a style that favors dexterity, can it?" Xia Nan speculated to himself, "That would seem to waste the racial talents of Dragon Descendants."
Shifting his gaze, he looked toward the last team mber, Vier, who was sitting in the center of the camp.
At this mont, the slender ponytail girl was quietly sitting cross-legged on a velvet blanket.
Her eyes were closed, but her expression appeared extrely focused.
Xia Nan guessed she was likely engaged in so sort of "ditation" type ntal training.
Yet strangely it seed she could sense his gaze out of thin air.
The mont Xia Nan’s eyes fell on her, Vier’s body, wrapped in an off-white robe, suddenly beca stiff.
Beneath tightly closed eyelids, the faint outline of eyeball movent could be seen, as if she was about to break out of her focused state at any mont.
Not wanting to disturb her, he withdrew his gaze.
Yet he felt even more puzzled.
Since their first eting, Vier had inexplicably given him a feeling of extre caution, even a hint of fear when interacting with him.
He had never seen her before, whereas the mage girl communicated and interacted with others in the team normally, clearly indicating it’s not a personality issue.
Then what was the reason?
This confusion reached its peak a few days ago when the team left River Valley Town and entered the wilds.
He recalled the six-mber team arranging their positions per their roles and fighting styles under Wood’s guidance.
Luca, as the front-line shield warrior, stood at the forefront, Sava stepped back a few positions, supporting the attack, Wanderer Wood protected the flank, while Hai’an, the escort target and also a long-range shooter, was shielded in the middle.
Vier’s position was relatively at the rear, with guardian spells at the ready.
Xia Nan was placed at the very back of the team, responsible for covering the rear.
He had no objection to this arrangent.
Not even needing to worry about unknown teammates backstabbing him, which was quite comforting.
But Vier walking ahead of him looked sowhat awkward.
Despite walking across the open plains, her body remained tense, her gaze sweeping around, the nape of her neck exposed as her ponytail swayed, often covered in goosebumps.
He had asked her proactively if there was sothing making her uncomfortable.
Vier simply hung her head without daring to et his eyes, stamring that it felt cold outside, making her body not very comfortable.
Though it’s true that mages like her, with ordinary Constitution attributes, could be affected by the environntal temperature.
But Xia Nan’s keen Perception ability made him feel she was hiding sothing from him.
Although he sensed no hostility, considering they would be spending almost a month together, caution was wise.
...
...
"Screech!"
Tangled in dense weeds, the thorny briars were forcefully slashed open with a well-used tal scimitar.
Breathing heavily, the skin stretched over bulging muscles was covered in sweat.
The tal axe blade hung from the waist, swinging violently with the body’s movents, and the ironwood shield was carried behind like a small turtle shell.
Luka exerted force with both hands, tearing apart the thorns blocking the path on both sides, paving the way for those behind.
At present, it had been more than another ten days since the escort team left River Valley Town.
Starting from the wilderness outside the town, passing through a small patch of the Mist Forest back to the plains, and now approaching the woodland near the Pan Yun Province border.
The journey was cautious, avoiding major roads, and traversing mountains and waters; even for professionals like them, it was hardly an easy task.
Fortunately, Wood had chosen a relatively safe route, and along the way, they hadn’t encountered any pursuers from Neum or attacks from other sources.
Except for encountering two very small goblin communities in the Mist Forest, and so unlucky robbers who seed newly fallen and lacked insight three days ago.
The forr had already beco nourishnt enriching the forest and alleviated pressure on a certain team mber, while the latter had their heads twisted on the spot by the professionals, and their bodies were likely rotten by now.
"Rest here, we’ll set off again in twenty minutes!"
Beside the team, a shadow under the trees blurred suddenly, and Wood, observing cautiously left and right, stepped out and softly called to everyone.
No unnecessary noise was made; even Vier, the weakest in stamina, only moved her lips, silently reciting two spells, causing the glow of the temporary minor guardian spell to envelop the group.
Then, supporting herself on a tree trunk beside her, she sat down on the ground, sowhat laboriously, pulling a bottle of unknown effect potion from her waist pouch, and gulped it down.
Xia Nan had outstanding constitution, and the special effect of [Tidal Shaping] greatly saved him energy in these terrains that usually required much stamina.
In non-combat situations, for him to be completely exhausted while walking was almost impossible.
At present, he didn’t need rest and just took two steps back to guard against possible dangers around for those who needed a break.
His gaze involuntarily lifted, passing over the branches and leaves above.
What ca into view was a towering, vast mountain range with sparse vegetation.
——The lted Scale Mountain Range.
The natural boundary between Pan Yun Province and Yuan Sha Province, also their last obstacle to the destination.
Crossing the mountain ridge marks the end of this task: Nianshu Territory.
"Supplies are nearing depletion; it’s completely impossible to sustain us for the final stretch."
Dragon Descendant Sava also had abundant stamina, now having surpassed Luka, who originally led the way for the team, scrutinizing the road ahead.
"We need to find a place to resupply."
"There’s a town ahead." Wood took out a water pouch from his waist, handing it to Hai’an in front, speaking without looking back, "It’s safe there; we can stay for a few more days."
"Rest well, recover completely before climbing the mountain."
From River Valley Town to Nianshu Territory, he had planned this route nurous tis.
The supply points along the way, as well as alternate sites for resting, even additional routes in case of ergencies, had three options, ensuring no oversight in such places.
"If luck is on our side, in ten days, you can sit peacefully in a tavern in Nianshu Territory, enjoying a whole cold mug of malt beer."
"Haha, that would be ideal."
After more than ten arduous days of trekking, even Sava, whose personality was sowhat difficult to get along with, couldn’t help but imagine the scenario in Wood’s words, his gaze dazed.
Contrarily, Xia Nan, possibly due to the alleviation from the pressure of the dozen goblins who attacked the camp under the cover of night so days ago,
At present only weighed his empty water bottle, asking Wood:
"I sll a bit of moisture; there should be a small stream nearby. Perhaps after resting, we can..."
Thud——
Just as he spoke halfway, for so unknown reason, Xia Nan felt the surroundings suddenly beca incredibly silent.
The sound of his heartbeat resonated like drums in his ears.
"What’s wrong?" Wood, puzzled by Xia Nan’s behavior, put back the short dagger at his waist but had already drawn it again cautiously.
Imdiately, the translucent blue light shield, centered on Vier’s magic wand, engulfed the whole team.
Suddenly trembled, its color turning into a glaring bright red.
Then instantly shattered into fragnts of light.
Ang Long——
It was a deep and weighty roar from the sky above, as if countless giant drums were beating in the depths of the clouds, erasing all noise with its primal thunder.
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